Look Now , October 2018

Pretty self-explanatory
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sweetest punch
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by sweetest punch »

And No Coffee Table wrote:
millaa wrote:I don't know if this has been discussed already, but a couple of UK retailers are listing the double vinyl version with 4 different tracks. It's probably an error because the way they have been labelled are the same, but anyone know anything?

Everyone’s Playing House
The Lovers That Never Were
If You Love Me
Down On The Bottom

https://www.recordstore.co.uk/recordsto ... WYO0000000
https://thesoundofvinyl.com/*/Pre-Order ... WYO0ASN000
I'm still wondering if this really exists! It's now release day, and the two websites linked above plus this one are the only ones I can find that have this track listing.

Has anyone seen a copy?
Someone at the Steve Hoffman forum has ordered from Sound Of Vinyl and says this deluxe vinyl version contains the “regular” bonus tracks: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/e ... 91/page-13
:(
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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And No Coffee Table
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by And No Coffee Table »

sweetest punch wrote:Someone at the Steve Hoffman forum has ordered from Sound Of Vinyl and says this deluxe vinyl version contains the “regular” bonus tracks: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/e ... 91/page-13
:(
It sure looks like it doesn't exist. But how did a fake track listing end up on those sites?
InvisibleMan
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by InvisibleMan »

Unluckily I'm not liking the album at all, except for Under Lime, Unwanted Number, Suspect My Tears and not much else.

Lots of boring piano ballads that feel like whining, pale, uninspired leftovers from Painted From Memory (which I liked).
io strombazzo!

Ombre nel sole
bronxapostle
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by bronxapostle »

InvisibleMan wrote:Unluckily I'm not liking the album at all, except for Under Lime, Unwanted Number, Suspect My Tears and not much else.

Lots of boring piano ballads that feel like whining, pale, uninspired leftovers from Painted From Memory (which I liked).

Im thinking you will feel different after a few more listens. Probably more still after you see them played live....if history repeats itself.
Heats101
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by Heats101 »

Fishfinger king wrote:
Heats101 wrote: Being churlish Dishonour The Stars and He's Given Me Things are not in the same league as the others but ....time will tell. Just a thought on Mr & Mrs Hush and the comparison theme; to my ears I immediately think of some of the songs on River in Reverse i.e. Elvis's vocal delivery, Davey's? harmonies and the Horns etc.
Totally disagree about Dishonour The Stars and He's Given Me Things - I think they are both great songs and the equal of much else on the album - though I salute you for the correct spelling of Dishonour.

Yes - I see the Mr & Mrs Hush and River in Reverse connection - Six Fingered Man / International Echo territory.

It's great to hear the love for I Let The Sun Go Down -it seems like an odd subject for a song but it totally works and is quite affecting.

Wasn't Diefenbaker the dog in 90s Canadian comedy drama Due South? It used to be one of my wife's favourites.
Indeed time has told and I am warming to these two songs more after repeated listens.
Album debuts at no 14 on the UK charts. Probably the best we can expect these days.
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krm
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by krm »

bronxapostle wrote:
InvisibleMan wrote:Unluckily I'm not liking the album at all, except for Under Lime, Unwanted Number, Suspect My Tears and not much else.

Lots of boring piano ballads that feel like whining, pale, uninspired leftovers from Painted From Memory (which I liked).

Im thinking you will feel different after a few more listens. Probably more still after you see them played live....if history repeats itself.

Live gigs is a completely different topic. The album itself starts growing after a few listenings, which is not surprising at all.
sheeptotheslaughter
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

Album debuts at no 14 on the UK charts. Probably the best we can expect these days.[/quote]

Shame as it was number 7 in the midweek chart. Must be the highest an Elvis Album as entered the chart for a while. Imagine if it had actually got any airplay on Radio 2. No coinciedence their album of the week Jess Glynne is number 1.
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
sweetest punch
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by sweetest punch »

https://g1.globo.com/pop-arte/musica/no ... abar.ghtml

Acaba, 2018? Elvis Costello minimiza tensão atual: 'Em 1963, diziam que mundo ia acabar'

Ao G1, cantor inglês fala de Brexit, Trump, Paul McCartney, 'She', 13 anos longe do Brasil e álbum novo: 'Espero que faça produtores de shows se lembrarem de que estou na ativa'.

Nada mais parece tirar Elvis Costello do sério. Antes conhecido por ir do modo mais pacato ao mais insano em segundos, agora ele parece falar sobre qualquer tema como se estivesse narrando uma compra de pão na padaria.

Tanto faz, o pragmatismo domina. O assunto pode ser uma cirurgia recente para retirada de um tumor, uma zoada de Paul McCartney, o fato de para alguns ele ser "o cara que canta 'She', daquele filme lá", Brexit ou 13 anos sem tocar no Brasil...

Durante 20 minutos de papo por telefone com o G1, o cantor londrino de 64 anos só deixa seu jeitão blasé de lado ao falar do seu recém-lançado disco "Look Now".

Quando o assunto foge do "uptown pop" de seu 25º álbum de estúdio, ele pega na mão da lógica e vai, mas com alguma ternura.

Costello fala da amizade com o argentino Sebastian Krys, ouvido com Sandy & Junior e astros do pop latino antes de produzir seu disco, e prefere não revelar quais artistas ouve: "Escuto coisas que você ficaria até surpreso por eu saber que existem".

G1 - Como é trabalhar com o Sebastian Krys e como o conheceu?

Elvis Costello - Eu conheço Sebastian há 10 anos. Nos conhecemos em Miami e nos tornamos amigos. Tivemos oportunidade de trabalhar juntos antes algumas vezes... Gravei com uma banda produzida por ele em Los Angeles.

É muito complexo o trabalho de produção e Sebastian é o cara que nos faz ter certeza de que só gravamos aquilo que realmente queríamos ouvir. [risos] Quando eu estou na frente do microfone, quero me concentrar. Ele é um cara muito dedicado, tem ótimo senso de humor e entende o que é estar em uma banda.

Quando estamos juntos tocando, passamos juntos por coisas que acontecem na vida de todo mundo. A gente cresce, eu espero que cresça, seus filhos ficam velhos, seus amigos ficam velhos e você perde alguns deles...

G1 - Eu assisti ao seu show em Belo Horizonte, na sua segunda vinda ao Brasil. O que você lembra daquela noite e da vinda anterior?

Elvis Costello - Eu estive aí com uma big band, no Free Jazz Festival [em 1997]. Minha primeira experiência de show no Brasil não foi como sendo a atração principal do meu show, mas como só mais um convidado de uma banda. É claro que eu acabei tocando músicas pouco comuns... Foi uma experiência incrível visitar o Brasil pela primeira vez. É um lugar sobre o qual você fantasia muito vendo fotografias, filmes e ouvindo músicas. Daí tive a chance de ver tudo por mim mesmo.

Quando voltei com o Imposters, lembro que tocamos no mesmo festival, mas tinha trocado o nome [Tim Festival, em 2005]. Foram shows bem intensos. É claro que a gente estava tentando juntar no show tudo o que a gente já tinha gravado, porque não sabíamos se teríamos outra oportunidade de tocar no Brasil. Não sabíamos quais músicas os brasileiros conheciam também. Tentamos escolher quais conseguiam representar o nosso som.

G1 - Por que nunca voltou?

Elvis Costello - Eu gostaria de voltar. Mas não temos planos para agora. Com certa frequência, temos conversas. O problema, você sabe, é que ao falar de América do Sul você está falando de vários países. Você tenta fechar com mais de um país, mas há diferença na confiança de que dará público. Por isso, a maior chance de tocar é mesmo em festivais. É complicado fazer só um show.

G1 - Já me disseram que eu me pareço com você. Como é saber que tem gente no Brasil que olha um homem branco de óculos de aro grosso e fala 'Elvis Costello'?

Elvis Costello - É estranho, porque quando eu comecei falavam que eu usava "óculos do Buddy Holly". Sempre vai acontecer isso, alguém comparando alguém com alguém famoso... Mas não sei se todo garoto no mundo que seja... hipster... necessariamente pense no meu nome quando compra esse tipo de óculos, mas alguns sim.

G1 - Eu meio que fiz isso.

Elvis Costello - [Risos] Que bom.

G1 - Para a maioria dos brasileiros, você é 'o cantor de 'She', daquele filme com a Julia Roberts'... Para outros, é o um cara importante do rock. Como é ter esses dois tipos diferentes de público?

Elvis Costello - Bem... [longa pausa] Ter uma música como essa ['She', versão do sucesso do francês Charles Aznavour] que tem tanto sucesso, que foi trilha de um filme exibido em todo mundo... É possível que eu não estivesse falando com você se não fosse um filme de tanto sucesso como "Um lugar chamado Notting Hill".

Filmes conseguem ir a lugares onde eu não conseguiria ir. Não controlo isso... Tem gente que só conhece uma música minha. Sorte minha que conhecem pelo menos uma! Pelo menos sabem meu nome. Para mim, o outro lado do mundo é um mistério. Eu tenho, como dizem, um cartão de visita. Ele permite que as pessoas possam ir atrás de outras músicas. E quando eu faço shows tento fazer isso, incorporar todos os tipos de música que eu faço.

Eu tenho muitas possibilidades: piano, orquestra, banda, cantar olhando nos olhos do público... Eu sempre aprendo algo fazendo tipos diferentes de música. A vida vai passando e vou aprendendo...

G1 - Paul McCartney disse recentemente que usou Auto-Tune em uma música, mas não a lançou. Uma das razões é que ele disse que você iria falar 'Poxa, que m... é essa, Paul'. Você diria isso mesmo?

Elvis Costello - [Risos] Eu acho que ele falou isso porque houve vezes em que estivemos juntos no estúdio gravando e daí ele tinha uma ideia sobre uma parte da música e eu tinha uma ideia totalmente diferente... Ele deve ter se lembrado de casos assim e fez essa brincadeira. Mas eu entendi o que ele quis dizer.

Às vezes, quando você tenta fazer algo que é inesperado, é normal pensar no que um ou outro amigo vai dizer. Então, fico lisonjeado que tenha pensado em mim. É engraçado, porque eu nunca diria o que ele deve ou não fazer. É um prazer tê-lo conhecido. Eu nunca imaginei que quando era fã dos Beatles teria chance de escrever músicas com ele.

G1 - Você disse que não gostaria que esse disco fosse anunciado com as frases: 'Lembra desse cara? Bem, ele fez um disco que vai te fazer lembrar que você gostava dele'. Então, qual seria a melhor forma de definir o disco?

Elvis Costello - Não sei, não é o meu trabalho pensar neste tipo de coisa. [Risos] Mas posso dizer que é um disco de uptown pop realmente bom, lindamente tocado e gravado. Estou muito agradecido por ter feito parte dele. Ouvir minha voz nestas músicas me fez bem.

G1 - Como ter sido diagnosticado com câncer te afetou na hora de escrever e gravar o disco?

Elvis Costello - Não afetou em nada as composições, porque já tinha escrito tudo. Mas preciso esclarecer uma coisa: as pessoas exageraram ao falar disso. E não quero que fiquem preocupados. Os médicos identificaram algo [um pequeno e agressivo tumor sobre o qual ele não dá detalhes] que precisava ser removido, antes que eu ficasse realmente doente. Eu não fiquei mal.

A imprensa exagerou um pouco, não sei por que falaram isso, mas ficou parecendo que eu tinha uma doença grave. Mas era mais cansaço da cirurgia, por isso cancelei shows. Vou sair em turnê a partir de novembro e acho que o que aconteceu ficou no passado agora. Sou sortudo. Mas obrigado por perguntar...

G1 - Sendo um bom observador, como você analisa os tempos que estamos vivendo, com notícias como o Brexit e o governo Trump?

Elvis Costello - Talvez essa seja uma das vantagens de ter a idade que tenho. Minhas primeiras memórias são de 1963... Todos diziam que o mundo ia acabar amanhã. Eu tinha oito anos, lembro que o presidente Kennedy foi assassinado e daí veio Richard Nixon, o Vietnã... Você via aquelas imagens da guerra toda noite, crianças sendo queimadas com napalm.

Se você presta atenção no que está acontecendo no mundo quando é jovem ou criança, você pensa que está vivendo o pior momento da história. Pergunte aos meus pais o que eles pensavam sobre o que eu estava sentindo sobre o mundo. Eles cresceram durante a crise de 1929, viveram com a segunda guerra mundial...

Mas também com o outro lado, com o que é corajoso, nobre, certo... E agora ainda temos esse monte de aparelhos para escrever um monte de coisas que não são verdades. Não acredito no que os outros falam. Especialmente, nos políticos. São mentirosos e não confio em nenhum deles. Gostaria que o mundo tivesse mais pessoas que eu admirasse.

G1 - E o que você vem escutando de música neste ano?

Elvis Costello - Eu lembro de um monte de discos que eu ouvi, mas eu não gostaria de fazer uma grande lista para você agora... Eu acabaria esquecendo algo. Eu prefiro não ficar falando pros outros o que venho ouvindo. É que muda muito também.

Às vezes, ouço música lançada há muito tempo. Mas outras vezes eu escuto coisas que você ficaria até surpreso por eu saber que existem, sabe? Eu tento ser bem mente aberta, gosto de ser surpreendido. Não sou sentimental... Gosto dos discos que eu gosto, sabe?

———————-
Google translation:

Is it over, 2018? Elvis Costello minimizes current tension: 'In 1963, they said that the world would end'

To G1, English singer speaks of Brexit, Trump, Paul McCartney, 'She', 13 years away from Brazil and new album: 'I hope it makes show producers remember that I'm active'.

Nothing else seems to take Elvis Costello away from the serious. Once known to go from the quietest way to the most insane in seconds, now he seems to talk about any subject as if he were narrating a bread purchase at the bakery.

Either way, pragmatism dominates. The subject may be a recent surgery to remove a tumor, a hoax of Paul McCartney, the fact that for some he is "the guy who sings 'She', from that movie there," Brexit or 13 years without touching Brazil. .

During a 20-minute phone conversation with the G1, the 64-year-old London singer only makes his point when he talks about his newly released album "Look Now".

When the subject runs away from the uptown pop of his 25th studio album, he picks on the hand of logic and goes, but with some tenderness.

Costello talks about friendship with Argentine Sebastian Krys, heard with Sandy & Junior and Latin pop stars before producing his album, and prefers not to reveal which artists he hears: "I listen to things that you would be surprised to know that they exist."

G1 - What is it like working with Sebastian Krys and how did you meet him?

Elvis Costello - I've known Sebastian for 10 years. We met in Miami and became friends. We've had the opportunity to work together a few times ... I recorded with a band he produced in Los Angeles.

Production work is very complex and Sebastian is the guy who makes sure we only record what we really wanted to hear. [Laughs] When I'm in front of the microphone, I want to concentrate. He is a very dedicated guy, has great sense of humor and understands what it's like to be in a band.

When we play together, we go through things that happen in everyone's life. We grow, I hope it grows, your children grow old, your friends get old and you lose some of them ...

G1 - I attended your show in Belo Horizonte, on your second visit to Brazil. What do you remember about that night and the previous coming?

Elvis Costello - I was there with a big band at the Free Jazz Festival [in 1997]. My first experience of show in Brazil was not as the main attraction of my show, but as just another guest of a band. Of course I ended up playing unusual songs ... It was an incredible experience to visit Brazil for the first time. It is a place that you fantasize about seeing pictures, movies and listening to music. Then I had the chance to see everything for myself.

When I came back with Imposters, I remember playing the same festival, but I had changed the name [Tim Festival, 2005]. It was very intense shows. Of course, we were trying to put together everything that we had recorded, because we did not know if we would have another opportunity to play in Brazil. We did not know what songs the Brazilians knew. We tried to choose which ones could represent our sound.

G1 - Why did you never come back?

Elvis Costello - I would like to return. But we have no plans for now. Quite often we have conversations. The problem, you know, is that when you talk about South America you're talking about several countries. You try to close with more than one country, but there is a difference in trust that you will give public. So the biggest chance to play is even in festivals. It's complicated to do just one show.

G1 - I've already been told that I look like you. What's it like to know that there are people in Brazil who look at a white man with thick rimmed glasses and speak 'Elvis Costello'?

Elvis Costello - It's weird, because when I started it said that I wore "Buddy Holly glasses". It will always happen, someone comparing someone with someone famous ... But I do not know if every kid in the world is ... hipster ... I must necessarily think of my name when I buy this type of glasses, but some yes.

G1 - I kind of did it.

Elvis Costello - [Laughs] That's good.

G1 - For most Brazilians, you are the singer of 'She', from that movie with Julia Roberts' ... For others, it is the one important rock face. What's it like to have these two different types of audience?

Elvis Costello - Well ... [long pause] Have a song like that ['She', successful version of the Frenchman Charles Aznavour] that is so successful, that was the trail of a movie shown worldwide ... It is possible that I was not talking to you if it was not for a hit movie like "A Place Called Notting Hill."

Movies can go places I could not go. I do not control this ... There are people who only know one song of mine. Lucky me they know at least one! At least you know my name. For me, the other side of the world is a mystery. I have, as they say, a business card. It allows people to go after other songs. And when I do shows I try to do this, incorporate all kinds of music that I do.

I have many possibilities: piano, orchestra, band, singing looking into the eyes of the audience ... I always learn something by doing different types of music. Life goes by and I'm learning ...

G1 - Paul McCartney recently said he used Auto-Tune on a song, but did not release it. One of the reasons is that he said that you would say 'Wow, what the ... that's it, Paul.' Would you say that?

Elvis Costello - [Laughs] I think he said that because there were times when we were together at the recording studio and then he had an idea about a part of the song and I had a totally different idea ... He must have remembered cases So did this joke. But I understood what he meant.

Sometimes when you try to do something that is unexpected, it is normal to think about what one or another friend will say. So I'm flattered you thought of me. It's funny because I would never say what he should or should not do. It's a pleasure to meet you. I never imagined that when I was a Beatles fan I would have a chance to write songs with him.

G1 - You said that you would not like this album to be announced with the phrases: 'Remember this face? Well, he made a record that will remind you that you liked him. ' So what would be the best way to set the disk?

Elvis Costello - I do not know, it's not my job to think about this sort of thing. [Laughs] But I can say that it's a really good pop uptown record, beautifully played and recorded. I am so grateful to have been part of it. Listening to my voice in these songs made me feel good.

G1 - How have you been diagnosed with cancer affected you when writing and recording the album?

Elvis Costello - It did not affect the compositions at all, because he had already written everything. But I must clarify one thing: people exaggerated in talking about it. And I do not want you to be worried. The doctors identified something [a small, aggressive tumor over which he does not give details] that needed to be removed before I was really sick. I did not look bad.

The press exaggerated a little, I do not know why they said it, but it seemed that I had a serious illness. But it was more fatigue from surgery, so I canceled shows. I'm going on tour from November and I think what happened is in the past now. I'm lucky. But thanks for asking ...

G1 - Being a good observer, how do you analyze the times we are living with news like Brexit and the Trump government?

Elvis Costello - Maybe that's one of the advantages of being as old as I am. My first memories are from 1963 ... Everyone was saying that the world would end tomorrow. I was eight years old, I remember that President Kennedy was murdered and from there came Richard Nixon, Vietnam ... You saw those images of war every night, children being burned with napalm.

If you pay attention to what is happening in the world when you are young or child, you think you are living the worst moment in history. Ask my parents what they thought about what I was feeling about the world. They grew up during the crisis of 1929, they lived with the Second World War ...

But also with the other side, with what is brave, noble, right ... And now we still have this bunch of gadgets to write a lot of things that are not true. I do not believe what others say. Especially in politicians. They are liars and I do not trust any of them. I wish the world had more people than I admired.

G1 - And what have you been listening to music this year?

Elvis Costello - I remember a lot of records I've heard, but I would not want to make a big list for you now ... I would end up forgetting something. I'd rather not tell others what I've been hearing. It changes a lot too.

Sometimes I hear music released long ago. But other times I listen to things you'd be surprised to know I exist, you know? I try to be very open minded, I like to be surprised. I'm not sentimental ... I like the records I like, you know?
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
johnfoyle
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by johnfoyle »

With that feature

Elvis Costello poses in New York in September 2018 during the release of the album 'Look Now' - Photo: Matt Licari / Invision / AP

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johnfoyle
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by johnfoyle »

This feature in an Italian publication has this playlist posted on Twitter. It's behind a paywall -

https://www.corriere.it/la-lettura/18_o ... b9a5.shtml

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https://twitter.com/mavipitty/status/10 ... 5400080384

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johnfoyle
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by johnfoyle »

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johnfoyle
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by johnfoyle »

https://variety.com/2018/music/news/elv ... 202977011/

Album Review: Elvis Costello and the Imposters’ ‘Look Now’

Recording with his band the Imposters for the first time in 10 years, the rocker doesn't aim for the raging power of their live shows, but a sumptuous combination of '60s pop and dramatic musical theater.

By CHRIS WILLMAN
Oct. 11 2018

Somewhere along the way — well, actually, we can pinpoint the time: about 10 years ago — Elvis Costello went from being rock’s most prolific great recording artist to its least prolific. (No, we’re not counting Steve Perry in this.) That’s how we reconcile two seemingly irreconcilable numbers, one of them being that “Look Now” is his 31st album and the other being that he’s only released one full-length record since 2010. It’s not that he’s actually disappeared off the radar; it’s that he was effectively trading in studio time for exploring his existing repertoire on the road, where he was anything but MIA. His annual shows with the Imposters (the successor to his seminal backing band the Attractions) have been furious affairs in which Costello only seemed to be using his 60s to speed up, quite literally. For those 150 minutes or so a night, seeming to average about 150 bpm, the foursome could easily convince you they were the world’s greatest rock and roll band. So maybe a return to the studio meant they’d be trying to channel all that ridiculous energy onto a record?


Far from it. On “Look Now,” Costello and the Imposters are the world’s greatest pit band. That’s said knowing that it may come off as an insult to non-theater geeks, or to the contingent of fans who didn’t wait patiently all these years just to get what sound like excerpts from an unproduced Off Broadway musical. But it’s meant as a raging endorsement of Costello’s rage-free side. So many of his finest recordings, from “The Long Honeymoon” to “God Give Me Strength,” have had an intimacy to the music and a “We join this narrative already in progress” quality to the storytelling that could fool you into thinking they were show tunes, plucked from the second act of some particularly naturalistic piece of musical theater. In the case of “Look Now,” a few are just that.

Costello has spent much of his discography’s “missing years” working on yet-unproduced shows, including a collaboration with pal Burt Bacharach that would have shaped their “Painted From Memory” joint album into a full evening of drama. Rather than let those songs languish in the elusive search for investors, he’s pulled a couple for “Look Now,” and thrown in some other numbers he’s performed over the years but never recorded — like a two-decades-old co-write with Carole King — for what is in part a collection of what friends of the theater used to call trunk songs.

If you’re not a musicals guy or gal, or if you’re part of the vocal minority in the Costello fandom that thought the “Painted From Memory” album was a slow, overdramatic slog beaten down by too much vibrato, I’m probably not making “Look Now” sound like much fun. It is. The album is on the elegant side, to be sure, but it’s elegance with a distinct pulse, as the Imposters lean into soulful swing and Costello avoids the outright belting that you either loved or didn’t in the ’90s to do the most nuanced cooing and yelping of his career.


And if you’re not particularly attuned to his aptitude for pop opera, there are a dozen other influences here you’d notice first. A lot of them are from the 1960s. Motown-Tamla is the template for “Unwanted Number,” among the songs that have the performer embracing female background vocals for one of the very few times of his career. “I Let the Sun Go Down,” a breezy tune about the decline of the British empire, features strings and French horn and has strong whiffs of both Ray Davies and the Beatles, as if Costello wanted to prophetically pay homage to the recently deceased Geoff Emerick, who worked on some of the baroque stuff by the Fabs as well as Elvis’ own “Imperial Bedroom.” “Suspect My Tears” is vintage ’60s easy-listening-R&B at its catchy finest, fooling you into thinking you’re listening to a weirdly paranoid lost Bobby Goldsboro song before Costello’s falsetto reminds you he’s a Bobby Womack guy through and through. In the liner notes, he mentions his satisfaction when someone in the studio invoked the Fifth Dimension, and he wryly refers to a vocal chorale he formed with his late-middle-age associates as “the
Jackson 65.”

Meanwhile, the still-living specter of Bacharach hangs over some of the songs he had nothing to do with, like “Why Won’t Heaven Help Me,” which threatens to turn into “I Say a Little Prayer” at any moment. Costello can certainly match or even outdo Bacharach when it comes to weird build-ups of pop chord progressions that you don’t entirely wrap your brain around until the fourth listen. To that end, you could read even the songs that don’t sound anything like his mentor as a kind of Burt response.

Lyrically, Costello is less about wordplay these days. You’ll find some of that in the way he makes the title of “Under Lime” allude to cocktail garnishments and burial practices. But the 2018 Costello is more into poetry than punnery, and these 12 songs are full of moving moments, even though they’re nearly all character sketches. It’s his most female album ever; at least five of the songs are narrated by a woman character. “Unwanted Number” (assignment writing from the 1994 “Grace of My Heart” soundtrack he’s just gotten around to recording himself) is from the point of view of a pregnant teenager vacillating between boldness and shame. Two songs from the stalled Bacharach musical, “Don’t Look Now” and “He’s Given Me Things,” catch a painter’s subject in the first flush of flattery over serving as a muse and her eventual return to his studio after she’s become a wealthy man’s bride. In “Stripping Paper,” a divorcée scrapes off wallpaper, exposing the pencil growth charts of an estranged daughter and the old patterns against which she and her ex threw themselves in the throes of passion. Any of these songs beg to be heard sung by a woman, in or out of the theater. Getting to hear them sung by one of rock’s most sensitive and passionate male vocalists isn’t bad, while we wait.


If you like guitars, of course, you are SOL — or at least if you want to hear the garage-y sound that Costello does so well on tour and was doing on record as recently as the 10-year-old “Momofuku.” Pianist Steve Nieve is the driver here, and not even the Nieve of Vox-crazed days but a nimble, controlled accompanist; Pete Thomas, a brilliantly bashy drummer, is doing a lot of tasteful rim-shot percussion. But ornate doesn’t have to mean fussy. The guys who made “Pump It Up” merit even more of our admiration for having spent these decades learning how to masterfully dial it down. And Costello? It’s so funny to be seeing him, after all this time, making a great cake of an album that doesn’t really sound that much like any of the 30 before it.
jardine
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by jardine »

Okay, I understand. I've got old ears, but I got so concerned with the "crowded" sound of this CD and talk over at another board about compression and so on, that i decided, after a looooooong time, to buy a new turntable, and to buy Look Now on vinyl. I am now officially amazed at the difference, how spacious the vinyl sound is, the depth, whatever this is properly called. This is probably partly wishful listening on my part (can i copyright that?), but, e.g., i can now clearly hear the wind arrangements under stripping paper and others. I can hear the depth and complexity of the whoosing middle eight of i let the sun go down far better than on the cd, on earphones or otherwise.

So, after a couple of listens, I think that this is one of the most wonderful, rich, ambitious, artful works that himself has ever done, and I can't praise enough the Imposters -- complex, clever, and fitting, playing that is just extraordinary and such a pleasure to listen to, always curious and interesting, like the melodies and the voice. In short, yahoooo! And a gigantic thank you, after all these years, for all these years.
Last edited by jardine on Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
Poor Deportee
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by Poor Deportee »

This has surely been noted before - and if so, I apologize - but 'Burnt Sugar' feels like a lyrical sequel to 'Long Honeymoon.' Could be the same character cast.

The songs in this collection I'm not hearing are Dishonour the Stars, He's Given me Things, and Hush. I really believe the former is just too prim a lyrical conceit, but I still give the other two time to grow on me. The rest is gold.
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
sweetest punch
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by sweetest punch »

Look Now enters at 46 on the Billboard 200 (https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200 ) and is number 1 on the Americana / Folk album chart ( https://www.billboard.com/charts/americana-folk-albums ).
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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migdd
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by migdd »

Americana/Folk album chart??????? :roll:
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And No Coffee Table
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by And No Coffee Table »

He used the American spelling of "dishonor" so he could qualify for the Americana chart.
johnfoyle
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by johnfoyle »

https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/music- ... -look-now/

Wednesday, 24 Oct 2018

Elvis Costello: complex pop songs

By Paddy Kehoe

RTE (Irish TV/radio)


The Elvis Costello fan forum is busy and those fans are interested in every twist and turn. There has been a lengthy debate as to whether Steve Nieve’s piano is intentionally or accidentally low in the mix on the first track, Under Lime. ( :D :D :D )

Piano included, soft or loud, who cares too much, as Under Lime is the appealing opener which chugs along pretty much business as usual Costello and The Imposters-style. The mild pomp of strings, woodwinds and horns is added in for divilment.

Then there is a Steely Dan vibe to the backing singers – never thought one could write that about an Elvis Costello record - On Burnt Sugar is So Bitter. A pleasingly discordant brassy riff plays the song out, that discord supposedly a paradigm for the bitterness.

Sting got away with four potentially pear-shaped words, to wit "that book by Nabokov" in Don’t Stand So Close To Me. Those few little words worked on that song because they sat so neatly on the metre of the song. However, like poets name-checking contemporary musicians, quoting writers is a risky business. Costello has never had much truck with showing off any kind of book learning, yet he has always come across as a particularly literate, alert lyricist. Stripping Paper shows him to be still the supple, imaginative wordsmith charting his old specialty, domestic upheaval, a thread which all seemed to begin with Alison.



He takes an ordinary activity like peeling wallpaper and make it serve his purpose to build the sly tableau. I got time on my hands I’m/ just stripping paper/It’s amazing what you will find/ Stripping paper/ When you get down to the past. The route here is reminiscent of Indoor Fireworks and it confirms the enduring gift.

Suspect my Tears is a little soul gem, while Why Won’t Heaven Help Me begins almost Bossa Nova-style in the verse before the chorus lifts it bodily into the suburbs of Motown.

Photographs Can Lie - music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Elvis - continues the domestic discord drama, yet it doles out few clues as to the mystery of the imbroglio. It's like listening in on the frantic one side of a phone call on some discreet BBC TV drama of the 1970s. Yes, the man has rarely has done straight confessional.

The tender He’s Given Me Things was also co-written with Bacharach and its import leaves you wondering. Is it about prostitution, is it about money, is it about love? Who knows. It's a thoughtful last track in the whole affair.

The live shows will undoubtedly be terrific when these songs will come into their own, but the short bursts of brassy soul and expressive ballads on Look Now are enough to be going on with. There is the odd echo here and there of the works of the Thin White Duke himself. So, file maybe under 'complex pop' as you might indeed file much of Bowie.
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by verbal gymnastics »

And No Coffee Table wrote:He used the American spelling of "dishonor" so he could qualify for the Americana chart.
:lol:
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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migdd
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by migdd »

verbal gymnastics wrote:
And No Coffee Table wrote:He used the American spelling of "dishonor" so he could qualify for the Americana chart.
:lol:


:lol: :lol: :lol:
jardine
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by jardine »

"On Burnt Sugar is So Bitter. A pleasingly discordant brassy riff plays the song out, that discord supposedly a paradigm for the bitterness." Paradigm isn't the right word, but the idea is fabulous. I noted that discord a few pages back, but didn't make the connection to its "bitter" sound. Very nice insight. Took me a while, even, to think of "Sugar," who is now so bitter. Slow on the uptake, i guess.
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docinwestchester
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by docinwestchester »

johnfoyle wrote:https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/music- ... -look-now/

Wednesday, 24 Oct 2018

Elvis Costello: complex pop songs

By Paddy Kehoe

RTE (Irish TV/radio)


The Elvis Costello fan forum is busy and those fans are interested in every twist and turn. There has been a lengthy debate as to whether Steve Nieve’s piano is intentionally or accidentally low in the mix on the first track, Under Lime. ( :D :D :D )
Still too low.
bronxapostle
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by bronxapostle »

:( :D :D remix it. eq it up your way, burn it to cdr and ENJOY it.
Hawksmoor
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Re: Look Now: new album announced!

Post by Hawksmoor »

Poor Deportee wrote:This has surely been noted before - and if so, I apologize - but 'Burnt Sugar' feels like a lyrical sequel to 'Long Honeymoon.' Could be the same character cast.

The songs in this collection I'm not hearing are Dishonour the Stars, He's Given me Things, and Hush. I really believe the former is just too prim a lyrical conceit, but I still give the other two time to grow on me. The rest is gold.
Lots of songs here that could work as sequels to other Costello songs, but yes, I agree that 'Burnt Sugar' is an easy fit with 'The Long Honeymoon'.

Might be a fun competition to come up with our own would-be sequels. Weirdly, for me (or perhaps not so weirdly), I can easily imagine playing 'I Let the Sun Go Down' immediately after 'Battered Old Bird', and/or 'He's Given Me Things' immediately after 'That's Not the Part of Him...'

There are parts of 'Isabelle in Tears' that strongly remind me of 'Josephine', too. Both are rather 1920s names, of course (with apologies to any Isabelles or Jospehines reading this), and the line about throwing an ashtray at him echoes the line 'he took a walk in the dark with a dish from the stand'.

'Isabelle' is still a stand-out for me. Listening to it is like watching somebody dancing brilliantly on ice. It's delicate, funny, sad, and the vocal performance is note-perfect. The delivery of 'so I-tripped-up-the-stairs' to onomatopoeically resemble somebody tripping up the stairs is breathtaking.
migdd wrote:Americana/Folk album chart??????? :roll:
Just labels. Always amuses me that Richard Thompson, to this day, gets filed in the 'folk' section of most CD stores. Presumably some kind of relic memory that he was in Fairport forty years ago. Pretty much every solo LP Thompson has made since the early 1970s has been (stylistically) a standard pop/rock LP, yet he's always missing from the pop/rock racks.
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