137. Ben Blacker on Elvis Costello 'Blood & Chocolate'

Our returning champion Ben Blacker, TV (Puss in Boots,Supernatural), stage (Thrilling Adventure Hour) and comic book(Thunderbolts) writer (as well as the host of the Writers Panelpodcast) joined me over coffee and bagels in Los Angeles to talk about a classic 80s LP from Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Blood and Chocolate. We talk about how the album serves as a 'sequel' to Costello's "This Year's Model", Elvis's distinctive recurring trick of opening his records with his solo voice, why Elvis is artistically like Woody Allen, how his lyrics have been misunderstood over the year, the way the Attractions helped sell the humour of 'I Hope You're Happy Now', how Elvis reinterprets his back catalogue and what the hell 'Tokyo StormWarning' is about. My Favorite Album is a podcast unpacking theg reat works of pop music. Each episode features a different songwriter or musician discussing their favorite album of all time- their history with it, the making of the album, individual songsand the album's influence on their own music. Jeremy Dylan is a filmmaker, journalist andphotographer from Sydney, Australia who has worked in the musicindustry since 2007. He directed the the feature music documentary<a href= "http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fjimlauderdalemovie.com%2F&t=NTNjOTdjZmE0NWI3NTQxMTM1ZGViM2M1ZmMxZTJkZTM2ZmQyN2QxNSxIU0dSUmdDdg%3D%3D" target="_blank">Jim Lauderdale: The King of BrokenHearts (out now!) and the feature film BenjaminSniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins, in addition to manycommercials and music videos. If you've got any feedback or suggestions, drop us a line at<a title="Email us!" href= "http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=mailto%3Amyfavoritealbumpodcast%40gmail.com&t=OTI0OGIwNTViMzI5YjBkMzgxZjVhNWQ4ZTA4YzA4YmJhMDE4ZTliYixIU0dSUmdDdg%3D%3D" target="_blank">[email protected].