Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Pretty self-explanatory
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Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by johnfoyle »

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8zWISDhpjm/


Suomenlinnan Studio

What an amazing week we’ve had with @elviscostello #musicproducer #producer #producerlife #musicstudio #studio #legend #create


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Suomenlinnan Studio
A recording studio and music production environment on the beautiful island of Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland. More info on our website, link below

http://www.suomenlinnanstudio.fi/
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by bronxapostle »

Oh yessss, "a WEEK they've had"??? Amazing news. Hope he threw together an entire lp rapidly. Love that work ethic when he employs it. Whatever he gives us, I'm glad.
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by sulky lad »

bronxapostle wrote:Oh yessss, "a WEEK they've had"??? Amazing news. Hope he threw together an entire lp rapidly. Love that work ethic when he employs it. Whatever he gives us, I'm glad.
He's just relentless, isn't he - awesome man!
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by Neil. »

Please God a new album!!!
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by Neil. »

Okay, I feel the need to feverishly speculate.

1) No mention of The Imposters. Could this be a small side project? Took one week. Is that a long time or not in terms of producing a record?

2) Not mentioning The Imps doesn't mean they weren't there. They'll be tight as a band cos of rehearsing for the new UK tour, so perhaps Elvis has taken the opportunity to make another record with them before releasing them into the wild after the tour.

3) Face in the Crowd record? No sign of a show yet - perhaps he's impatient to get an official record of it down, but as a band record, rather than a cast album (cos there's no cast that we know of yet, and they never record cast albums until well into the run of a show).

4) Mixing of the Spanish language album? But that was with Sebastian Krys - why would these other non-Spanish producers get involved?

5) Maybe a film soundtrack by Elvis? A Finnish film?

6) JUST PUT US OUT OF OUR MISERY ELVIS AND ISSUE A PRESS RELEASE!!! :wink:

7) CANNAE WAIT!
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by FrankieJ »

A week isn’t long, but I suppose it depends how each artist works. Beatles recorded an album in a day!

I’d say as another possible option, it could be no actual recording at all. Maybe mixing and working on something to do with that much-loved record (Get Happy!!) for the anniversary? Wasn’t something suggested about that coming up soon? But yeah, I’d much rather it be some new material of some kind!
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by sulky lad »

I didn't get an invite about dealing with any live material so I think we can safely rule that aspect out! :shock: :cry:
However, I doubt if it's anything to do with AFITC as I reckon it would need orchestrating to a high degree and it doesn't look like that's on the cards within a week. So that leaves us with some remastering of old stuff or a brand new album ( or maybe just a snapshot EP solely for people attending the U.K. tour) - just to spite BA :wink:
Don't worry, I'll buy you a copy if it does come out BA!
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by FrankieJ »

Another studio?
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

These studios are situated in Paris: https://www.lesstudiossaintgermain.com/

Revolution #9??
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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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by docinwestchester »

sweetest punch wrote:These studios are situated in Paris: https://www.lesstudiossaintgermain.com/

Revolution #9??
9th album of some sort?
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by Top balcony »

EC in cluemaster mode again! He must have time on his hands during rehearsals in Liverpool for the imminent tour.
Revolution 9 was a Beatles 'sound collage' from The White Album : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_9
John Lennon is credited with, among other things, 'mumbling'.
To quote from a Merseybeats song covered by EC I'm Really Mystified!
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Re: Elvis in Les Studios Saint Germain, Paris, February 2020

Post by Man out of Time »

If Elvis is recording in Paris, my guess would be that it is for one of Steve's projects (another album like Together (2013)?), or at least a track in which Steve is involved. Possbly a Record Store Day release in April?

Elvis was in Paris for Steve's birthday.

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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

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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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by verbal gymnastics »

But Elvis told me he was visiting friends in Helsinki...
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by Goon Squad »

verbal gymnastics wrote:But Elvis told me he was visiting friends in Helsinki...
........no, he told me ! :wink:
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by And No Coffee Table »

sweetest punch wrote:Elvis was working on a new album in Helsinki and Paris:
http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... =2&t=11478
https://www.facebook.com/stevenieveoffi ... 902698299/
Quick transcript of the relevant portion:

"We were making a record while we were planning this tour. I went to Helsinki and I cut some music on my own and then I flew to Paris. I was hitting all the hotspots, you have to say. I flew to Paris on Steve's birthday. We celebrated in the most beautiful way at your apartment, and that was the last time I was in a gathering of people, other than at a football match, for just purely pleasure. To hear everybody sing 'Happy Birthday To You' and we did much what we're doing now, we were singing songs around the piano. Everybody sang 'La Marseillaise' because you also got your French passport and that's why you're safely there, and I'm really glad you are.

But you know, can we tell people — hey, who's going to stop us, Steve, if we tell people — we were in the studio. We cut, how many, nine songs in two days. We cut all these songs and we were going to start again with all the band. The songs Steve and I cut, they were with a group of friends in Paris. They were some wonderful musicians: Renaud and T.T.(?) and Michel and Antoine..."

(Muriel says Antoine — a.k.a. AJUQ — was on drums.)

"...and Steve, of course, leading the band, and I was doing what I do, and they were all, you know, songs that I wanted to cut in this really unusual way. And I don't know, we're trying to find, right now I can't get ino the studio to edit or mix or do any of that stuff you do before you release things. Maybe we'll try and get those out to you, because the other thing that this contagion cost us was three days that we had held at Abbey Road immediately after the show in Birmingham that we had to postpone. We were going into the studio to cut as many things as we could cut in three days while we were all, while our blood was up, as they say.

Our pal Sebastian Krys, you know, he was willing to fly even when things were good and then the border situation changed and he couldn't do that. And so I called up a pal of ours, and I ain't going to say his name, but I said to him, 'Would you come and produce this session for us?' and he said, 'well, you know, old chap, I don't really do that kind of thing anymore,' and I said, 'Yeah, but you know that I know that you can.' And one of these days we're all going to be back in the studio with that gang of people, and maybe it won't be too long. It's the way everybody feels right now, when is life going to go back to normal. You can probably guess who that person is if you followed our career..."
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/elv ... 234578267/

Elvis Costello Premieres New Song, Reveals Album Plans on Pianist Steve Nieve’s Webcast
The singer-songwriter said he already recorded nine songs with Nieve that could be released soon, and hinted that cajoling a famous former producer to join them in the studio could bear fruit.
By Chris Willman

Elvis Costello’s keyboard player of 43 years, Steve Nieve, has been doing a daily live-stream show from his home in France for more than three weeks, in which he often plays the compositions of his longtime musical partner. Easter Sunday’s webcast featured a surprise half-hour appearance by Costello himself, who joined Nieve for remote collaborations on several old songs as well as a brand new one, with plenty of chat in between about the pandemic and discussing recording projects that are in the can and yet to come.

Costello revealed that in February, they’d gone into a studio in Paris to record nine songs in two days with a group of local musicians Nieve had assembled — tracks that he hopes to release soon if he can get back into a studio to mix them. They performed the “world premiere” of a new song, “Hey Clockface,” near the end of the webcast, a number that, although they didn’t specify, presumably was part of those Parisian sessions. (Listen to the new song at about the one-hour point in the archived Facebook Live video: https://www.facebook.com/stevenieveoffi ... ?ref=tahoe )

Moreover, Costello strongly hinted that he has been working on luring Nick Lowe back into the studio to produce the next sessions he’ll do with his regular backing band, the Imposters, of which Nieve is also a part. He said they’d had time booked at Abbey Road in London last month, possibly with this semi-mystery producer, before the halt of business in England put a premature stop to their European tour as well as the recording dates.

“Let’s be not quite so coy. Usually we are really keen on keeping everything super to ourselves until we’re ready to go,” Costello said. “We were making a record while we were planning this tour. I went to Helsinki and I cut some music on my own. And then I flew to Paris. I was hitting all the hot spots, I have to say! … Can we tell people? Hey, who’s going to stop us, Steve, If we tell people? We were in the studio. We cut, how many, nine songs in two days. And we were gonna start again with all of the (Imposters) band.”

Costello continued, “I mean, the songs that Steve and I cut, they were with a group of friends in Paris. … They were all songs that I wanted to cut in this really unusual way. … Right now I can’t get into the studio to edit or mix or do any of that stuff you do before you release things. Maybe we’ll try and get that out to you.

“Because the other thing that this contagion cost us was three days that we had held at Abbey Road immediately after the show in Birmingham that we had to postpone. We were going into the studio to cut as many things as we could cut in three days while our blood was up, as they say.” Costello said the plan had been to go back in with Sebastian Krys, who produced “Look Now,” the Elvis Costello & the Imposters album that won the traditional pop Grammy in January, “then the border situation changed and he couldn’t do that.

“So I called up a pal of ours. And I ain’t gonna say his name. But I said to him, ‘Would you come and produce this session for us?’ And he said, ‘Well, you know, old chap, I don’t really do that kind of thing anymore.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but you know that I know that you can.’ And one of these days we’re all gonna be back in the studio with that gang of people. And maybe it won’t be too long. It’s the way everybody feels right now: When is life gonna get back to normal?”

Costello added that “you can probably guess who that person is if you’ve followed our career,” then cemented the idea that it was Lowe by suggesting that he and Nieve perform “a song that somebody else wrote,” which, of course, was Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.”

(Lowe produced all but a couple of Costello’s albums from his 1977 debut “My Aim is True” through 1986’s “Blood & Chocolate,” then returned as a session bass player, but not producer, for much of 1994’s “Brutal Youth.” He’s stayed out of the producing game and concentrated on his own work for the last three decades.)

The new song Costello debuted with Nieve is called “Hey Clockface,” he confirmed to Variety after the webcast. Its jauntiness harks back to a more Tin Pan Alley time, with the singer facing off against a clock that demands his lover go away (“Hey clockface, I really wanna know / Why is it when we’re apart you always take it slow / And when she’s here you always say it’s almost time to go”).

“I couldn’t hear a note Steve was playing,” he said later, “but that was the fun of it. It’s not about perfection right now but fun and spirit.”

Because of time lags in their admittedly not advanced technology, Costello turned off the sound he was receiving from Nieve to sing and play acoustic guitar by himself, with Nieve joining in on piano. Besides the Lowe song and the new composition, they also performed “High Fidelity” and “Almost Blue” as a duo. Prior to and after Costello joined the webcast, Nieve played “Beyond Belief,” “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes,” “Poor Fractured Atlas,” “Monkey to Man,” “Passionate Fight” and “The Favourite Hour.” Nieve’s stepson, Ajuq, who often joins him on the road for his own shows, participated as either vocalist or drummer, as he has every day since they and Nieve’s wife, Muriel Teodori, began their daily quarantine broadcasts.

Nieve’s show, “The Daily Improvisation,” takes place at 19.00 Paris time, 2 p.m. ET and 11 a.m. PT every day. Costello lauded his accompanist’s efforts to perform for a half-hour to an hour every day and said, “I’ll say this directly to you at the risk of embarrassing you. This has been a generous and inspiring thing you’e been doing every day. … Maybe this is one of the lovely things that has come out of this awful moment is that we are reminding ourselves to play. When they say ‘play music,’ sometimes we forget, it’s play like you did as a child.”

(For Variety’s joint interview earlier this year with Nieve and fellow rock keyboard great Benmont Tench, read here: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/ste ... 203505874/ ).

Costello discussed the pandemic and how he was waiting for cues from the British government, in vain, as he began to realize he and the Imposters would not make it to the end of their tour in mid-March. He noted that bassist Davey Faragher, who earlier had revealed he was diagnosed with COVID-19, is recovering, and expressed surprise that more people did not have it from “eight of us traveling on a tour bus very close together.”

He also acknowledged two friends that had died in the last week, John Prine, “who was more somebody I greatly admired and (was) really, really lucky to get to know him a little bit,” and “our dear friend” Hal Willner. (Read Costello’s tribute to Willner here: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/elv ... 234575021/ ).

“We are isolating as everyone is right now, isolating together, myself and Diana (Krall) and Dexter and Frank. And we are isolated even from the Internet a lot of the time. It’s not so much broadband as narrowband out here. And that’s not a bad thing, except the boys have to do their schooling online, so for hours of the day the grownups of the house have to turn their devices off. Which is also maybe a good thing, because we get time to write.”

He also mentioned a cover he had put up on his social media, of the Temptations’ “I Wish It Would Rain,” a song about self-quarantining and avoiding human contact under different circumstances, that he’d recorded for an online seder he participated in this week. “Because heaven knows if it rained, then everyone would stay in instead of head to the seaside. But it’s a beautiful song to sing any time.”
I Wish It Would Rain: https://youtu.be/nKw2NGYVpN8
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by Neil. »

Hey Clockface - new song!!! Lovely melodic ditty in the 'Slow Drag w Josephine' mould - very 1930s!
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by sulky lad »

Neil. wrote:Hey Clockface - new song!!! Lovely melodic ditty in the 'Slow Drag w Josephine' mould - very 1930s!
Yeah, spot on Neil, I thought it had a vaudeville feel - pretty exciting - much more for me than a Spanish spoken-sung TYM! :shock: :wink:
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by verbal gymnastics »

sulky lad wrote:
Neil. wrote:...pretty exciting - much more for me than a Spanish spoken-sung TYM! :shock: :wink:
Spot on.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

A certain CWillman from LA posts on the Steve Hoffman Forum: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/ ... 20.948655/

DeeThomaz said: ↑
I interpret EC’s comments to suggest he envisions the 9 Paris tracks as a separate project from the postponed Abbey Road Imposters sessions, if so we might very well see 2 albums from him in the foreseeable future. Or it wouldn’t be unprecedented from him to combine the best material from both sets of sessions into one album.

What I got from it -- and admittedly there is a lot of room for extrapolation -- is that initially he was recording with the intention of one album, but now that the nine Paris tracks are there essentially done except for the mixing while there's little promise of doing anything else for a long time, he realized the Paris sessions could make a nice stand-along digital album. So how tough will it be to convene a mixing session during a pandemic...

If we eventually got an entire Nick Lowe-produced Imposters album instead of half of one (he also mentions separate sessions in Helsinki, and who knows what those were like), the interruption could have a small silver lining.

I personally know of two other EC projects that are in the can, though -- neither consisting of new recordings of his --that were planned for release this year or early next year. If everything he's involved with gets pushed back to 2021... it'll all still come out, I'm sure, but I suspect things will be parceled out at a pace slower than the glut some of us would be fine with.
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by Neil. »

sweetest punch wrote:
DeeThomaz said: ↑
I personally know of two other EC projects that are in the can, though -- neither consisting of new recordings of his --that were planned for release this year or early next year. If everything he's involved with gets pushed back to 2021... it'll all still come out, I'm sure, but I suspect things will be parceled out at a pace slower than the glut some of us would be fine with.


"Two other EC projects that are in the can... neither consisting of new recordings of his."

Ambiguity - so do they consist of old recordings of his (e.g. the Sebastian Krys stuff)

Or does this mean 'projects that he's involved in where someone else is the main artist - i.e. has he been producing other artists?

This person needs to tell us, and pronto!
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by Man out of Time »

One of the two projects that Dee Thomas refers to as “in the can” could be a second album of material from “The New Basement Tapes” sessions at Capitol Records in Los Angeles, produced by T-Bone Burnett?

There were reportedly 40 or so tracks recorded, some being alternate takes on the same Dylan lyric. Only some of these would include an EC vocal.

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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

More about a possible sequel to The New Basement Tapes project in this interview with T-Bone Burnett from 2015: http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... 5&start=25

https://www.billboard.com/articles/busi ... tive-music

Capitol Records' VP of A&R T Bone Burnett on Elton John's 'Beautiful' New Record, Taylor Swift vs. Apple and Making Music for 'True Detective'

(...)
Were you happy with the New Basement Tapes project, where Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Jim James and others wrote and ­recorded new music for unreleased Bob Dylan lyrics from 1967?

Well, I’m thrilled with the way the recording sessions came out. That project was one of the most extraordinary events of my life, and I feel like it’s still a work in progress. We got five people that didn’t know each other together for 10 days and wrote and recorded 45 new songs. It was epic, and I don’t think that really came across yet. There’s a film we’re editing now that I think may end up being the definitive version of that whole event, a concert film we shot at the Montalban, where everybody backed each other up with a vengeance. It was a one-time, one-night-only show, and Marcus Heiny, who has done some stuff with us at Capitol before and has done a lot of stuff with Mumford and Sons, came and filmed it. It was guerrilla filmmaking, to be sure. I mean, we decided to do it that morning, practically. That show was really the fruit of the whole experience. By the way, there are another 20-some-odd songs that we haven’t released yet, and we might put out another album of that stuff next year. I look forward to being a steward of all of that material over the next several years.
(...)
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Re: Elvis in Suomenlinnan Studio, Finland, February 2020

Post by And No Coffee Table »

On Facebook, Steve Nieve mentions "co-writing a song with EC during my birthday 2020, just before some intense recording with him in Paris."

On Sunday's The Daily Improvisation, Steve suggested on a future episode with the theme "songs with girls' names" he and EC could play "a song that no one knows about." Could this be the same song?
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