Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Pretty self-explanatory
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sweetest punch
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 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.
JerseyPride78
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by JerseyPride78 »

Pitchfork review: 7.5/10

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/el ... clockface/

by Daniel Felsenthal
Contributor

ROCK

Alternating between loud, sumptuously produced rock and softer, Tin Pan Alley-inspired songs, the British singer-songwriter delivers a brooding set of songs about time’s ceaseless march.


Whoever said that rock’n’roll is a young person’s game was waiting to be proven wrong. Few know this better than Elvis Costello. Since he was a twenty-something in black-rimmed glasses, Costello’s talent for arrangement and pastiche pointed toward fruitful twilight years, particularly as he strayed from meat-and-potatoes rock and began to dabble in musical styles less invested in the cult of youth. Now 66, the British icon has only continued to diversify his interests over the decades, collaborating with the Roots and writing for the London Symphony Orchestra. Yet he’s shown himself to be at his best in two modes: making driving, surprisingly ageless rock and exploring the conventions of the American Songbook, as he did on his sublime 1998 Burt Bacharach collaboration, Painted From Memory. Costello’s latest, Hey Clockface, merges these potentially divergent sensibilities in an adventurous set of songs about time’s ceaseless march.

Costello no longer sounds quite so ageless. On the Fats Waller-quoting “Hey Clockface / How Can You Face Me,” Costello’s voice strains against gravelly limitations, complementing his elegiac lyricism. Always a wide-ranging writer, he’s managed to preserve his breadth while allowing a sense of mournful retrospection to give the record structure and focus. Affairs are related almost uniformly in the past tense, appearing far enough in the rearview mirror that Costello often substitutes wistful affection for his customary bitterness. Even sex seems more like a memory than a present reality; his “magic powers have drained,” he tells us on one song, quoting a lover who left him. He muses on his reflection throughout, wondering how others bear to look at him: Sure, faces age, but the thought that they might be windows to the soul is frightening in Costello’s world, where everyone’s past is checkered.

Musically, the album alternates between loud, sumptuously produced rock’n’roll and softer, Tin Pan Alley-inspired tracks, reflecting two disparate recording sessions. In Helsnki’s Suomenlinnan Studio, Costello played all the instruments, from the Fender Jazzmaster to the Rhythm Ace, buffing his pop-rock songwriting with a maximalist studio sheen that sounds more like St. Vincent than the Imposters. Costello even beatboxes on the curveball “Hetty O’Hara Confidential,” about a once-towering gossip columnist whose work has become outdated in an age when “everyone has a megaphone.” In Paris, Costello linked up with jazz players, including a cellist and a brass section, who improvised much of their performance. The Paris sessions yielded the record’s most powerful songs, such as “They’re Not Laughing at Me Now,” with its poignant flügelhorn trills, and “What Is It That I Need That I Don’t Already Have?,” a masterfully evocative exploration of the 32-bar form. The dueling approaches of the two recording sessions enrich each other, providing Hey Clockface with its yin and yang. Alone, either style might have seemed like predictable genre play for Costello at this stage in its career, but together, they make for an album that’s energetic and consistently surprising.

America’s rich musical history and ubiquitous cultural sway have long factored heavily into Costello’s work. Accordingly, to finish Hey Clockface he turned to a group of New York musicians who contributed their parts remotely. Bill Frisell, one of Americana’s great experimenters, layered guitar loops, as did versatile improviser Nels Cline. The present state of the country is all over the record, like a wraith haunting the American Songbook. After the fractured warmth of the Paris-recorded “I Do (Zula’s Song)” we get the sumptuous “We Are All Cowards Now,” its lyrics dipping into the voice of someone who’s scared of a government taking away their guns, while “No Flag” plays like a national anthem entangling nihilism and narrow-mindedness. “No sign for the dark place that I live/No God for the damn that I don’t give,” Costello sings; “We want everything and we don’t want to share/Outer space for the faces we fear.”

Hey Clockface’s Tin Pan Alley-bred schmaltz is self-conscious and even gleefully deliberate, yet there are moments when it can be overpowering. The speech that begins “Radio Is Everything” employs a dizzying series of internal rhymes (“screams,” “regimes,” “seems”; “that trivial, sniveling rosary, that ring-a-ding rosemary”) that are distracting in their florid excess. Yet by combining such mannered lyrical tropes with music that sounds alternately nostalgic and dystopian, Costello’s noirish atmospheres suggest another populist American tradition: the pulp mystery. His killer, of course, is time. On an album that has him narrating the decline of so many characters, Costello finally seems aware that the clock has it in for him, too.
sweetest punch
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

https://www.krone.at/2267388

INTERVIEW & ALBUM
Elvis Costello: „Wir sind lange nicht verloren“

Zwei Jahre nach seinem Grammy-veredelten Album „Look Now“ hat sich Kultmusiker Elvis Costello wieder die Freiheit gegönnt, zwischen allen Genres zu springen. „Hey Clockface“ ist gleichermaßen eklektisch und spannend wie ursprünglich und gediegen. Angesichts der Corona-Krise verfällt der 66-Jährige aber nicht in den „Virus-Blues“, sondern steckt voller Hoffnung und Optimismus.


Der Terminus Eklektizismus wurde für Menschen wie Elvis Costello erfunden. Der 66-jährige, eigentlich als Declan Patrick MacManus in die Welt gekommene Brite, hat in seinen fast fünf Karrieredekaden so gut wie kein Feld unbeackert gelassen und es stets tunlichst vermieden, sich allzu leicht in ein Genre einordnen lassen zu können. Zwischen Jazz, Country, Funk, Hip-Hop, Avantgarde Pop, Pub-Rock, New Wave und Soul war immer Platz für den Wahlkanadier, der nicht nur enge Freundschaften mit Größen wie Burt Bacharach und Paul McCartney pflegt, sondern mit Diana Krall auch eine Ehefrau hat, deren Lebensmittelpunkt die Musik darstellt. Auch wenn Costellos größte Glanzzeit in die 80er-Jahre zurückreicht, ist er eine nicht wegzudenkende Konstante am internationalen Musikhimmel. Das bewies nicht zuletzt das 2018 veröffentlichte, ungewohnt geordnete Album „Look Now“, das schlussendlich sogar mit einem Pop-Grammy ausgezeichnet wurde. Elvis Costello wäre aber natürlich nicht Elvis Costello, hätte er sich an die Erfolgsformel gehalten.

Drei Erfolgspfeiler

So musste eine komplette Trendumkehr her und das Ergebnis nennt sich „Hey Clockface“. Ein weiteres Stück persönlicher Anarchie, wie Costello sie sich im Laufe der Jahre öfter und selbstsicherer leistet. „,Look Now‘ habe ich mit meiner Band, den Imposters eingespielt“, erinnert sich Costello im Videointerview mit der „Krone“, „wir waren sehr diszipliniert, zugänglich und poppig. ,Hey Clockface‘ ist ein wesentlich spontaneres Album, das als solches gar nicht geplant war.“ Tatsächlich unterteilt sich das Werk in drei Kapitel. Zum einen gibt es die punkigen Helsinki-Songs, die Costello einsam und ohne einen dort beheimateten Musiker zu kennen im hohen Norden einspielte und sich damit „ein Gefühl wie 1977“ verschaffte. Dann gibt es die eleganten, wesentlich jazzigeren Paris-Songs, an denen er kurz vor Corona mit dem Le Quintette Saint Germain arbeitete und schlussendlich noch zwei Tracks, die während der Pandemie in einer Art Fernbeziehung mit Michael Leonhart und Bill Frisell in New York entstanden. Erst diese zwei Nummern, „Newspaper Pane“ und „Radio Is Everything“, vervollständigten für Costello das Puzzle.

„In Helsinki habe ich einfach Rock’n’Roll gemacht, damit habe ich überhaupt nicht gerechnet. Die Gitarre dominierte, Drums dazu, fertig. Wie in den alten Tagen. Paris war elegant, dort haben wir akribisch an den Songs gearbeitet. Als Corona kam, bin ich so schnell wie möglich heim zu meiner Familie nach Vancouver. Michael Leonhart schickt mir die zwei New-York-Songs und fragte mich, ob ich ein Teil seines Albums sein wolle. Mir gefielen sie aber so gut, dass ich die Songs selber haben wollte, also teilten wir sie schlussendlich“, lacht das wandelnde Musiklexikon, „plötzlich ergab alles einen Sinn und das Album stand. Dass sich all das auch noch unter diesen schwierigen Bestimmungen entwickeln konnte, hatte fast schon etwas Magisches.“ Einen eigentlich fragilen Song wie „The Whirlwind“ so rau und ursprünglich wie in Helsinki aufzunehmen, bezeichnet Costello launig als „mit einem Tablett voller Gläser durch den Boxring tänzeln“. Die musikalische Nostalgie zu seinen eigenen Frühwerken ist auf „Hey Clockface“ jederzeit zu hören. Was dem Album trotz aller Leidenschaft am Ende doch fehlt, ist eine stringente Linie.

Niemals die Hoffnung aufgeben

Sanfte Streicher und betörende Trompeten finden genauso Platz wie eruptive Klangausbrüche und geradlinige Rocker. Costello muss längst niemandem mehr etwas beweisen und kann sich nach 45 Karrierejahren locker auf seine allumfassende Leidenschaft berufen. Auch wenn der Musiker schon mal deutlich politischer positioniert war, zeigt ein Song wie „We Are All Cowards Now“, dass er mit der Weltlage alles andere als im Reinen ist. „Ich habe bewusst das ,we‘ eingebaut, weil ich mich nicht ausnehmen will“, erklärt er, „ich singe seit mehr als 40 Jahren über Liebe, Friede und Zusammenhalt. Wir sind derzeit in einer Lage, wo es verdammt schwer ist, sich diesen Optimismus zu bewahren, aber wenn ich meine Söhne ansehe, dann kann ich die Hoffnung nicht einfach aufgeben. Ein Song soll dir immer das Gefühl geben, dass du dich wehren kannst. Dass du etwas aktiv bewirken kannst. Als Künstler und Musiker habe ich die Möglichkeit, dir für drei, vier Minuten ein Leben zu geben, dass du nicht kennst. Damit verschwinden zwar nicht die Probleme der Welt, aber du kannst dich inspirieren lassen und von dort heraus selbst etwas Gutes tun. Du steigst für ein paar Minuten in jemand Anderes Schuhe und bist bereit für eine Veränderung.“

Costello nimmt nicht zuletzt als verantwortungsvoller Familienvater die Dinge lieber selbst in die Hand. „Ich halte es für falsch, nur defensiv zu sein und dauernd abzuwarten. Jeder kann in dieser schlimmen Lage etwas tun, um sich aus der gefühlten Ohnmacht, die das Corona-Virus mit sich bringt, zu entfesseln. Ich bin nicht so selbstverliebt, dass ich nur über die Isolation singe, aber mir ist es trotz allem wichtig zu vermitteln, dass wir positiv bleiben und Liebe ausstrahlen sollen.“ Dass die derzeitige Corona-Lage die Welt in den Abgrund stürzen könnte, glaubt Costello nicht: „Wir standen so oft davor und haben uns noch immer rausgezogen. Die wahre Tragik ist die Respektlosigkeit. Alle bilden verschiedene Meinungslager und lassen andere Ansichten nicht mehr zu. Ich kann mich nicht mit meinem 13-jährigen Sohn unterhalten und ihm sagen, es gäbe keine Zukunft. ,No Future‘ wurde Ende der 70er-Jahre schon in Punk-Songs prophezeit, aber wir alle wissen, das war mehr Gepose als ein richtiges Statement. Wir gehen derzeit viel zu viele Schritte rückwärts, aber das heißt nicht, dass wir verloren sind.“

Noch viele Pläne

Fernab seiner britischen Heimat nimmt Costello die Lage mehr als ernst. „Meine Mutter ist 93 und lebt ländlich im Nordwesten Englands, wo das Virus sehr stark ist. Mir ist es weder möglich, noch erlaubt sie zu besuchen und das tut mir weh. Es wäre auch verantwortungslos und egoistisch. Ich habe im Laufe des Jahres zu viele Freunde an dieses Virus verloren und es tut mir verdammt weh die immer lauter werdenden Stimmen zu hören, die meinen, das Virus wäre menschengemacht oder konzerngesteuert. Ich gebe niemandem die Schuld, aber man muss der Wahrheit ins Auge blicken können.“ Das Album selbst ist wesentlich entspannter und weniger ernsthaft, als die Welt drumherum. Der Titel „Hey Clockface“ ist von einem Song aus den 30er-Jahren inspiriert, der davon handelt, dass die Zeit nicht vergeht, wenn man auf seine Angebetete wartet, aber viel zu schnell, wenn man die Zweisamkeit genießt. „Es geht jedenfalls nicht um Sterblichkeit, dafür geht es mir zu gut. Ich habe noch viele Pläne und will auch so schnell wie möglich wieder in Österreich auftreten. Aus irgendeinem Grund, sind meine Albumverkäufe bei euch nicht so gut, aber die Gigs immer fantastisch. Bald können wir wieder gemeinsam feiern, bleiben wir optimistisch!“


—————————
Google translation:

INTERVIEW & ALBUM
Elvis Costello: "We are not lost for a long time"

Two years after his Grammy-refined album “Look Now”, cult musician Elvis Costello allowed himself the freedom to jump between all genres again. “Hey Clockface” is equally eclectic and exciting as it is original and dignified. In view of the Corona crisis, the 66-year-old does not fall into the "virus blues", but is full of hope and optimism.

The term eclecticism was invented for people like Elvis Costello. The 66-year-old, who actually came into the world as Declan Patrick MacManus, has left practically no field untilled in his almost five career decades and has always avoided being too easily classified into a genre. Between jazz, country, funk, hip-hop, avant-garde pop, pub rock, new wave and soul, there was always room for the Canadian by choice, who not only maintains close friendships with greats like Burt Bacharach and Paul McCartney, but also with Diana Krall Has a wife whose center of life is music. Even if Costello's greatest heyday goes back to the 80s, he is an indispensable constant in the international music sky. This was proven not least by the unusually ordered album “Look Now”, which was released in 2018 and which was ultimately awarded a Pop Grammy. Elvis Costello would of course not be Elvis Costello if he had stuck to the formula for success.

Three pillars of success

So a complete trend reversal was needed and the result is called “Hey Clockface”. Another piece of personal anarchy, as Costello has done more often and more confidently over the years. “I recorded 'Look Now' with my band, the Imposters,” recalls Costello in a video interview with the “Krone”, “we were very disciplined, approachable and trendy. 'Hey Clockface ‘is a much more spontaneous album that wasn't even planned as such.” The work is actually divided into three chapters. On the one hand there are the punky Helsinki songs that Costello recorded alone in the far north without knowing a musician who lived there, thus creating “a feeling like 1977”. Then there are the elegant, much more jazzy Paris songs that he worked on with Le Quintette Saint Germain shortly before Corona and finally two tracks that were created during the pandemic in a kind of long-distance relationship with Michael Leonhart and Bill Frisell in New York. Only these two numbers, "Newspaper Pane" and "Radio Is Everything", completed the puzzle for Costello.

"In Helsinki I just did rock'n'roll, I didn't expect that at all. The guitar dominated, drums to it, done. Like in the old days. Paris was elegant, we worked meticulously on the songs there. When Corona came, I went home to my family in Vancouver as soon as possible. Michael Leonhart sent me the two New York songs and asked me if I wanted to be part of his album. But I liked them so much that I wanted to have the songs myself, so in the end we shared them, "laughs the walking music dictionary," suddenly everything made sense and the album was there. It was almost magical that all of this could develop even under these difficult conditions. ”To record an actually fragile song like“ The Whirlwind ”as raw and original as in Helsinki, Costello humorously describes as“ with a tray full of glasses through the Prancing boxing ring ”. The musical nostalgia for his own early works can be heard at any time on “Hey Clockface”. What the album lacks in the end, despite all the passion, is a stringent line.

Never give up hope

There is space for gentle strings and beguiling trumpets as well as eruptive bursts of sound and straight rockers. Costello no longer has to prove anything to anyone and after 45 years of career he can easily refer to his all-encompassing passion. Even if the musician was positioned much more politically, a song like “We Are All Cowards Now” shows that he is anything but at peace with the world situation. “I deliberately built in the we because I don't want to look different,” he explains, “I've been singing about love, peace and solidarity for more than 40 years. We're in a position right now where it's damn hard to maintain that optimism, but when I look at my sons I can't just give up hope. A song should always make you feel like you can defend yourself. That you can actively make a difference. As an artist and musician, I have the opportunity to give you a life for three or four minutes that you don't know. This doesn't make the world's problems go away, but you can get inspiration and do something good yourself from there. You step into someone else's shoes for a few minutes and are ready for one change. "

Last but not least, as a responsible family man, Costello prefers to take matters into his own hands. “I think it's wrong to just be defensive and wait all the time. In this dire situation, everyone can do something to unleash the perceived powerlessness that the corona virus brings with it. I'm not so in love with myself that I just sing about isolation, but despite everything it's important to me to convey that we should remain positive and radiate love. ”Costello believes that the current corona situation could plunge the world into the abyss not: “We stood in front of it so often and still pulled ourselves out. The real tragedy is disrespect. All of them form different camps of opinion and no longer allow other views. I can't talk to my 13 year old son and tell him there is no future. 'No Future' was prophesied in punk songs in the late 1970s, but we all know that it was more of a pose than a real statement. We are currently taking far too many steps backwards, but that doesn't mean we're lost. "

Many more plans

Far away from his British homeland, Costello takes the situation more than seriously. “My mother is 93 and lives in the north west of England, where the virus is very strong. I am neither able nor allowed to visit them and that hurts me. It would also be irresponsible and selfish. I've lost too many friends to this virus over the course of the year and it really hurts to hear those voices getting louder and louder saying the virus was man-made or company-controlled. I don't blame anyone, but you have to be able to face the truth. ”The album itself is a lot more relaxed and less serious than the world around it. The title “Hey Clockface” is inspired by a song from the 1930s that tells the story that time doesn't go by when you're waiting for your loved one, but way too fast when you're enjoying togetherness. “It's not about mortality, I'm too good for that. I still have a lot of plans and I want to play again in Austria as soon as possible. For some reason, my album sales with you guys aren't that good, but the gigs are always fantastic. Soon we can celebrate together again, let's stay optimistic! "
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
jardine
Posts: 801
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by jardine »

Quick review II, A garden of earthly delights
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Arbogast
Posts: 248
Joined: Tue Nov 19, 2013 1:00 pm

Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Arbogast »

Yes, Sweetest...that's the one. Thanks
sweetest punch
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Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
Location: Belgium

Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/11/05/ov ... n-a4018871

‘Over leeftijd valt niet te onderhandelen’

Elvis Costello Zanger Op zijn nieuwe album ‘Hey Clockface’ staat Elvis Costello stil bij het passeren van de tijd en de zegeningen van ouder worden. „De tijd heelt alle wonden.”
Jan Vollaard

Nooit meer zou hij een nieuw album maken. In december 2007 werd een in de platenindustrie teleurgestelde Elvis Costello geciteerd door het tijdschrift Mojo. De makkelijke beschikbaarheid van mp3’s op internet had het opnemen van nieuwe muziek onzinnig gemaakt, vond hij. „Alles wordt gelekt, alles wordt gestolen”, sprak hij bitter. „Het heeft gewoon geen zin meer.”

Maar dat liep anders. Costello, 66 jaar geleden geboren als Declan MacManus in Londen, kwam op zijn schreden terug. De creatieve sappen bleven vloeien en het deze week verschenen Hey Clockface is alweer zijn zesde album sinds de gewraakte uitspraak, inclusief zijn samenwerkingsproject Wise Up Ghost met The Roots. Welkom terug, oude punkheld!

„Ik heb me nooit een punkmuzikant gevoeld”, zegt de veteraan van de Britse new wave aan de telefoon vanuit Canada, waar hij woont met jazzzangeres en echtgenote Diana Krall. „Ook de angry young man die mensen graag in me wilden zien was ik niet bewust. Ik schreef mijn songs vanuit het perspectief van een wereldvreemde computerprogrammeur die toevallig in de armen van producer Nick Lowe en het Stiff-label was gelopen. Het nummer ‘I’m Not Angry’ was mijn reactie op de mode-industrie waarin ik gewerkt had. Ik zette me af tegen alle poseurs die er in die tijd in Londen rondliepen.”

Elvis Costello ontwikkelde zich, van de pure pop van zijn hit ‘Oliver’s Army’ tot de countryzanger van Almost Blue. Hij zong modern klassiek met het Brodsky Quartet, coverde Charles Aznavours ‘She’ voor de soundtrack van Notting Hill en werkte met Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney, Allen Toussaint en The Roots aan een oeuvre dat inmiddels 26 albums beslaat. Zijn muziek varieert van folk tot jazz en van protestsongs tot liefdesliedjes.

Wat is er eigenlijk terecht gekomen van de belofte uit zijn lied ‘Tramp the Dirt Down’ uit 1989, waarin hij in snijdende woorden beloofde dat hij de aarde op het graf van de door hem gehate Margaret Thatcher zou aanstampen? De tijd heelt alle wonden, sust Costello. Hoewel hij de Iron Lady nooit heeft vergeven hoe ze de stakende Britse mijnwerkers in die economisch zware jaren liet zitten en hoe ze de Falklandoorlog met krijgszuchtige taal had goedgepraat. „Als ik alles wat ik in mijn songteksten heb beweerd letterlijk zou nemen, kwam ik niet meer aan een normaal leven toe. Vergeet niet dat ik ook de eerste was die Nick Lowe’s ‘What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding’ zong. Ik zocht geen oorlog; ik beet van me af in mijn songteksten.”

Los durven gaan

Hey Clockface werd nog juist voor de beperkende maatregelen ten gevolge van Covid-19 opgenomen in Helsinki, Parijs en New York. Het titelnummer met de strofe ‘Time is just my enemy’ klinkt ouderwets en grijpt terug op de New Orleans-swing uit het jazztijdperk. In juli 2018 moest Costello zijn tournee met begeleidingsgroep The Imposters vlak na een concert op het voormalig koninklijk paleis Soestdijk afbreken voor een medisch noodgeval. Het akkefietje mocht geen naam hebben, zegt hij. Na een operatie is hij volledig hersteld. Ziet hij ouder worden en het passeren van de tijd als een bedreiging? „Om eerlijk te zijn had ik nooit gedacht dat ik ouder dan vijftig zou worden. Ik leefde er flink op los en was arrogant genoeg om te denken dat goed voor jezelf zorgen iets voor de oudere generatie was. Mijn moeder is 93 geworden, dus dat gaf hoop. Het heeft geen zin om te hunkeren naar je vroegere zelf. Over je leeftijd valt niet te onderhandelen.”

Tweederde van het album maakte hij met het Parijse ensemble Le Quintette Saint Germain, aangevoerd door oudgediende Steve Nieve uit zijn band The Attractions. „Het verfrissende van die Franse muzikanten is dat ze los durven te gaan in hun spel. In New York tref je sessiemuzikanten die hun taak heel erg serieus nemen en daarom voorzichtiger te werk gaan. Dat losse beviel me goed.”

Een vraag die Costello-fans al veertig jaar bezig houdt: was het intro van ‘Oliver’s Army’ inderdaad afgekeken van ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’? „Steve Nieve speelde die pianopartij destijds als een geintje. In 2001 werkte ik met Anne Sofie Von Otter aan het album For The Stars. We vroegen ABBA’s Benny Andersson om een partij accordeon te spelen. Over ‘Oliver’s Army’ hebben we het niet gehad. Muzikanten begrijpen dat ze elkaar over en weer beïnvloeden. Benny is een gevend mens.”

—————————
Google translation:

”Age is non-negotiable"

Elvis Costello Singer On his new album "Hey Clockface", Elvis Costello reflects on the passage of time and the blessings of getting older. "Time heals all wounds."
Jan Vollaard

Never again would he make a new album. In December 2007, an Elvis Costello disappointed in the record industry was quoted by Mojo magazine. The easy availability of MP3s on the Internet had made recording new music nonsensical, he thought. "Everything is leaked, everything is stolen," he said bitterly. "It just doesn't make sense anymore."

But that turned out differently. Costello, born as Declan MacManus in London 66 years ago, retraced his steps. The creative juices continued to flow and Hey Clockface, released this week, is already his sixth album since the offending verdict, including his collaborative project Wise Up Ghost with The Roots. Welcome back, old punk hero!

"I've never felt like a punk musician," says the British new wave veteran on the phone from Canada, where he lives with jazz singer and wife Diana Krall. “I was also not aware of the angry young man that people wanted to see in me. I wrote my songs from the perspective of an unworldly computer programmer who happened to walk into the arms of producer Nick Lowe and the Stiff label. The song "I'm Not Angry" was my reaction to the fashion industry in which I had worked. I rejected all the poseurs who were walking around in London at that time. ”

Elvis Costello evolved from the pure pop of his hit "Oliver's Army" to the country singer of Almost Blue. He sang modern classical with the Brodsky Quartet, covered Charles Aznavour's "She" for the soundtrack of Notting Hill and worked with Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney, Allen Toussaint and The Roots on a body of work that now spans 26 albums. His music ranges from folk to jazz and from protest songs to love songs.

What actually became of the promise in his 1989 song "Tramp the Dirt Down," in which he made a sharp promise that he would trample the earth on the grave of the hated Margaret Thatcher? Time heals all wounds, soothes Costello. Although he has never forgiven the Iron Lady for leaving the striking British miners in those economically difficult years and for having justified the Falklands War with warlike language. “If I took everything I said in my lyrics literally, I would no longer have a normal life. Don't forget that I was also the first to sing Nick Lowe's "What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding". I wasn't looking for war; I bit off in my lyrics. ”

Dare to let go

Hey Clockface was recorded in Helsinki, Paris and New York just before the restrictive measures caused by Covid-19. The title track with the verse "Time is just my enemy" sounds old-fashioned and harks back to the New Orleans swing of the jazz era. In July 2018, Costello had to abort his tour with backing group The Imposters just after a concert at the former royal palace Soestdijk for a medical emergency. The thing was not allowed to have a name, he says. He made a full recovery after surgery. Does he see aging and the passage of time as a threat? “To be honest, I never thought I would live to be over 50. I was living on the loose and was arrogant enough to think that taking care of yourself was something for the older generation. My mother turned 93, so that gave hope. There is no point in craving your former self. Your age is non-negotiable. ”

He recorded two thirds of the album with the Parisian ensemble Le Quintette Saint Germain, led by veteran Steve Nieve from his band The Attractions. “The refreshing thing about those French musicians is that they dare to let loose in their playing. In New York you will find session musicians who take their task very seriously and therefore work more carefully. I liked that loose. "

A question that has occupied Costello fans for forty years: Was the intro to "Oliver's Army" really copied from ABBA's "Dancing Queen"? “Steve Nieve played that piano part as a joke at the time. In 2001 I worked with Anne Sofie Von Otter on the album For The Stars. We asked ABBA's Benny Andersson to play a part of the accordion. We have not mentioned "Oliver's Army". Musicians understand that they influence each other back and forth. Benny is a caring person. ”
Last edited by sweetest punch on Thu Nov 05, 2020 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
Posts: 5961
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

https://www.diepresse.com/5892543/elvis ... tisch-sein

Elvis Costello: „Rock'n'Roll sollte undogmatisch sein“

„Hey Clockface“ ist bereits die 31. Liedersamnmlung des alten Pop-Hornbrillenträgers Elvis Costello. Der „Presse“ erzählte er über seine Arbeitswut, die Magie des Radios, Wut und die Stimmung in finnischen Studios.

Die Presse: Das Jahr hat für Sie ja gut begonnen: Sie haben Ihren zweiten Grammy bekommen.

Elvis Costello: Ja. Seltsam nur, dass es der Grammy in der Kategorie „Best Traditional Album“ war. Die Lieder von „Look Now“ beziehen sich ja viel stärker auf Traditionen des Sixties-Pop als auf das Great American Songbook, das bislang in dieser Kategorie regierte. Aber egal, es hat uns sehr gefreut.

Hat der Corona-Lockdown die Arbeiten an Ihrem neuen Album beeinflusst?

Schon. Ich wollte das Album, das davor in Helsinki und Paris aufgenommen worden war, in New York fertigstellen. Das ging nicht mehr. Also flog ich nach Kanada zurück, wo die Situation nicht so gefährlich war. Auf diese Weise konnte ich auch unerwartet viel Zeit mit meiner Familie verbringen.

„Hey Clockface“ ist Ihr 31. Album. Was hat Sie eigentlich dazu gebracht, so viele Songs zu schreiben?

Es hat sich einfach so ergeben. Schon als achtjähriges Kind habe ich aus purer Freude am Schreiben Gedichte und kleine Spielszenen verfasst. Mit 14 Jahren habe ich meine erste Gitarre zur Hand genommen und Peter Greens „Man of The World“ gelernt. Ein guter Beginn, denn dieses Lied ist sehr schwierig. Andere meiner Lieblingssongs waren leichter, was für mich ziemlich befreiend war. Dass ich bald eigene Lieder schrieb, passierte ganz automatisch. Und dann stellte sich heraus, dass niemand anderer sie singen konnte. Also tat ich das selbst.

Bruce Springsteen litt einige Jahre an einer Schreibblockade. Sie nie?

Nein. Ein Grund dafür ist wohl, dass ich keinen Langzeitvertrag mit einem Label habe. Niemand sagt mir, wann ich etwas aufnehmen muss. Ich kann tun und lassen, was ich will. Vor 20 Jahren war ich bei einmal bei zwei Labels gleichzeitig unter Vertrag. Aber belastet hat mich das nie. Ich habe wahrscheinlich mehr Platten aufgenommen, als ich wirklich gewollt habe.

Und was hat Sie diesmal beim Aufnehmen am meisten gefreut?

Die Sessions in Helsinki und Paris. Das Arbeiten in fremden Städten löst in mir immer Fantasien von Detektiv- oder Spionageszenerien aus. Und Helsinki im Februar war großartig. Die Luft war klar und kühl. Ich fuhr täglich mit einer Fähre zum Studio. Dort arbeitete ich ohne Band, spielte sämtliche Instrumente auf meine Art ein.

Dort entstand auch „No Flag“, wo Sie Zeilen wie „I've got no religion“ und „I sense no future“ singen. Ein Song der Rebellion?

Ich sehe „No Flag“ gar nicht als Protestsong. Es ist einfach ein Gedankenspiel darüber, was passieren kann, wenn man ans Ende seiner Toleranz kommt.

Und was hat Sie zum hintersinnigen „We Are All Cowards“ inspiriert?

Die Erinnerung an meine regelmäßigen Wutausbrüche zu Beginn meiner Karriere. Damals leitete mich eine recht infantile Wut. Das Lied sollte keine Schuldzuweisung sein. Ich bin mitgemeint. Wir verstecken uns hinter Gewehren, hinter Religion, hinter philosophischen Ansichten, statt herausfinden zu wollen, was der andere fühlt. Das wollte ich einmal aus mir heraussingen.

Das finnische Studio haben Sie im Internet entdeckt?

Ja. Es sah sofort wie ein Ort aus, an dem ich Spaß haben kann. Bei den Vorgesprächen mit Ingenieur Eetü Seppälä stellte sich rasch heraus, dass dort niemand fixe Soundvorstellungen hatte. Das waren gute Voraussetzungen, denn Rock'n'Roll sollte prinzipiell undogmatisch sein. Ich kam mit nur einer Gitarre und einer alten Drummachine an, hatte grobe Skizzen für „No Flag“ und „We Are All Cowards“, für „Hetty O´Hara Confidential“ nicht einmal das. Das entstand aus dem Augenblick. Ein zünftiger Rhythmus und eine gute Story. Wenn das nicht Rock'n' Roll ist, dann weiß ich auch nicht.

Und waren die Pariser Sessions auch so hemdsärmelig?

Nein. Dort musste alles vorbereitet sein, denn die Pariser Lieder waren harmonisch anspruchsvoller. Mein musikalischer Langzeitpartner Steve Nieve nahm sich die Zeit, elegante Akkordwechsel zu ersinnen. Zudem heuerte er ein klassisches Quintett an. Aber auch hier wurde improvisiert. Wir hatten keine Rhythmusarrangements. Ich sang los, die Musiker spielten spontan dazu. Das war grandios. Ich hatte sofort das Gefühl, die brauchen keinen Reisepass, um das Genre wechseln.

Auf dem Album sind auch zwei Rezitative. Eines davon heißt „Radio is Everything“. Wie wichtig war Radio für Sie?

Als Kind war es sehr wichtig für mich. Es nährte meine Vorstellungskraft. Als Medium setzt es auf die Kreativität seiner Hörer, während Fernsehen alles abbildet. Im Vergleich zum Fernsehen ist Internet die reinste Bastelstube. Es lässt einen kreativ werden. Man muss nur aufpassen, dass man seine Kritikfähigkeit nicht einbüßt. Neben tollen Inhalten gibt es im Netz ja auch totalen Nonsense. Nur beim Radio kann nichts schief gehen.

Sie haben zuletzt auch an einer Vinyl-Neuedition Ihres Klassikers „Armed Forces“ gearbeitet. Warum?

Weil es mir wichtig ist, dass möglichst viele Menschen wieder das physische Album zu schätzen lernen. Es wurde ein schönes Objekt mit Comics, Postkarten und insgesamt sechs Alben. Ich bin nicht reich geworden durch meine Schallplattenverkäufe. Ich habe meine Gewinne stets reinvestiert. Das macht mich glücklich. Alles was ich will, ist weiterzuarbeiten.

—————————-
Google translation:

Elvis Costello: "Rock'n'Roll should be undogmatic"

“Hey Clockface” is already the 31st song collection by the old pop horn-rimmed glasses wearer Elvis Costello. He told the “press” about his work anger, the magic of the radio, anger and the atmosphere in Finnish studios.

Die Presse: The year started well for you: You got your second Grammy.

Elvis Costello: Yes. It's just strange that it was the Grammy in the “Best Traditional Album” category. The songs from “Look Now” relate much more to the traditions of sixties pop than to the Great American Songbook, which previously ruled this category. Anyway, we were very happy.

Has the corona lockdown influenced the work on your new album?

Nice. I wanted to finish the album in New York, which had previously been recorded in Helsinki and Paris. That was no longer possible. So I flew back to Canada where the situation wasn't that dangerous. That way I was able to spend an unexpectedly large amount of time with my family.

"Hey Clockface" is your 31st album. What actually made you write so many songs?

It just happened that way. When I was eight years old, I wrote poems and little play scenes for the sheer joy of writing. When I was 14 I picked up my first guitar and learned Peter Green's “Man of The World”. A good start because this song is very difficult. Other of my favorite songs were lighter, which was quite liberating for me. The fact that I was soon to write my own songs happened automatically. And then it turned out that no one else could sing them. So I did that myself.

Bruce Springsteen suffered from writer's block for several years. She never?

No. One reason for this is probably that I don't have a long-term contract with a label. Nobody tells me when to record something. I can do whatever I want. Twenty years ago I was under contract with two labels at the same time. But that never bothered me. I've probably made more records than I really wanted.

And what was it that made you most happy this time while recording?

The sessions in Helsinki and Paris. Working in foreign cities always triggers fantasies of detective or spy scenes in me. And Helsinki in February was great. The air was clear and cool. I took a ferry to the studio every day. There I worked without a band, played all the instruments my way.

There was also “No Flag”, where you sing lines like “I've got no religion” and “I sense no future”. A song of rebellion?

I don't see “No Flag” as a protest song at all. It's just a mind game about what can happen when you get to the end of your tolerance.

And what was your inspiration for the subtle “We Are All Cowards”?

The memory of my regular outbursts of anger at the beginning of my career. At that time I was guided by a rather infantile anger. The song shouldn't be a blame. I am meant. We hide behind guns, behind religion, behind philosophical views instead of trying to find out what the other is feeling. I wanted to sing that out of myself once.

Did you discover the Finnish studio on the Internet?

Yes. It immediately looked like a place to have fun. During the preliminary talks with engineer Eetü Seppälä it quickly became apparent that no one had fixed sound ideas there. These were good prerequisites, because rock'n'roll should in principle be undogmatic. I arrived with just a guitar and an old drum machine, had rough sketches for “No Flag” and “We Are All Cowards”, not even that for “Hetty O'Hara Confidential”. It came from the moment. A proper rhythm and a good story. If this isn't rock and roll, then I don't know either.

And were the Paris sessions so sleeveless?

No. Everything had to be prepared there, because the Parisian songs were more harmoniously demanding. My long-term musical partner Steve Nieve took the time to devise elegant chord changes. He also hired a classic quintet. But here too there was improvisation. We didn't have any rhythm arrangements. I started singing, the musicians played spontaneously. That was terrific. I immediately had the feeling that they don't need a passport to change genre.

There are also two recitatives on the album. One of them is called "Radio is Everything". How important was radio to you?

It was very important to me as a child. It fed my imagination. As a medium, it relies on the creativity of its listeners, while television depicts everything. Compared to television, the Internet is the purest tinkering room. It lets you get creative. You just have to be careful not to lose your critical faculties. In addition to great content, there is also total nonsense on the Internet. Nothing can go wrong with the radio.

You recently also worked on a new vinyl edition of your classic “Armed Forces”. Why?

Because it is important to me that as many people as possible learn to appreciate the physical album again. It turned out to be a nice object with comics, postcards and a total of six albums. I didn't get rich from my record sales. I've always reinvested my winnings. That makes me happy. All I want is to keep working.

Image
(C) Lens Ol’Toole
Last edited by sweetest punch on Thu Nov 05, 2020 1:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by wardo68 »

Amazon informed me on Thursday that my CD would arrive on Tuesday, then told me Tuesday it would arrive in 2-3 weeks. Nobody I spoke with there had any clue what was going on.

At any rate, I did Spotify it once, and I liked it, more than I liked Look Now. Hopefully my review will be up in a week or so.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Miclewis »

If anyone is interested in adding Shut Him Down into the track order; I think between Whirlwind and Hetty O’Hara (track 9) works really well.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by WindUpWorld »

I’m loving the new album, the range somehow coalesces together wonderfully. The albums that didn’t reach me in this way are Momofuku and For The Stars. But true for every EC collection is how much more they come together experiencing him perform some of the tracks in concert. It’s a bugger we’re deprived of this for the foreseeable.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Ymaginatif »

I think it's a very good album. But strangely enough, after every listen, I don't feel much urge to listen to it again soon. I almost have to force myself a few days later. Nor do I feel like I want to play it to other people.

Maybe it hit me at the wrong time (that sometimes happens with albums), but right now it just doesn't feel like that sort of album ...

Anybody else have that feeling?
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by bronxapostle »

Ymaginatif wrote:I think it's a very good album. But strangely enough, after every listen, I don't feel much urge to listen to it again soon. I almost have to force myself a few days later. Nor do I feel like I want to play it to other people.

Maybe it hit me at the wrong time (that sometimes happens with albums), but right now it just doesn't feel like that sort of album ...

Anybody else have that feeling?
not at all. as a guy who only listens to cds in the car these days; can't wait for my next 45 minute ride!
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by jardine »

i feel that way, Ymaginatif. excited about it, happy about it, but skipped through, three songs...love the sound of it, etc., but...with you, too....maybe the wrong time right now...


I need to add, though....look now and now clockface, a beautiful run of stuff, heartening, strong, venturous, new sounds and beautiful songs, and so, with no hesitation, a big bravo overall...after all these years, i've stopped trying to decide any sort of rank ordering. i feel sort of stepped back a bit and just being amazed at the breadth and length and depth, and each new addition just makes this amazement increase.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

https://americansongwriter.com/hey-cloc ... um-review/

With a New Wildly Eclectic Album, Elvis Costello Takes Another Stab at Punching the Clock

Elvis Costello | Hey Clockface | (Concord)
Three out of Five Stars


Elvis Costello has always been something of a musical chameleon, beginning with the post-punk insurgence that typified his efforts for the budding Stiff Records label, followed by his sudden shift in midstream to country, classical and then, shockingly enough, his decision to attempt ballads of the bedroom variety in the company of a most unlikely collaborator, Burt Bacharach. He’s continued to pursue that tack throughout most of his career, seemingly intent on keeping his listeners guessing at practically every turn.

Costello’s new album arrived with little fanfare, but it seems to suggest that he’s intent on pursuing his muse to even more deliberate extremes, doing so in a manner that’s more incongruent than ever before. He switches guises frequently and apparently at ease, hewing mainly towards the nocturnal nuance of cool, caressing balladry (“They’re Not Laughing At Me Now,” “The Last Confession of Vivian Whip,” “I Do (Zula’s Song),” “What Is It That I Need That I Don’t Already Have?” and “Byline,” the latter being the loveliest song in the set), along with occasional hints of classic swing and lounge-type jazz (the title track typifying the former, “I Can’t Say Her Name” characterizing the latter.). Costello’s cool, caressing croon serves him well, given it’s as much a trademark of his seminal style as his arched intentions were early on.

Yet even within these broader parameters, Elvis shows a willingness to toss in some unexpected twists. The ominous opener “Revolution #49, with its dire, dramatic spoken narrative, sounds like an attempt to penetrate the Moody Blues’ cosmic conscientiousness. His attempt at hip-hop on “Betty O’Hara Confidential” and cantankerous heavy metal mayhem trumpeted on “No Flag” (“I’ve got no religion, I’ve got no philosophy, “I’ve got a head full of ideas and words that don’t seem to belong to me.”) each seem out of sync, adding further to the odd mishmash that characterizes the album overall.

How Hey Clockface will be judged alongside Costello’s seminal classics — My Aim Is True, Armed Forces, This Year’s Model et. al. — remains to be seen. After all, some would argue that his last essential album was All This Youthful Beauty, released some two dozen years before. It might also be argued that Hey Clockface is Costello’s attempt to redefine himself as a more mature performer, one cognizant of the fact that he has an aging audience seeking subtlety and sentiment. Indeed, as the title suggests, time is ticking away, ensuring relevance becomes more a priority than rambunctiousness.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

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https://www.smh.com.au/culture/music/el ... 56aus.html

Elvis Costello's ultimate working holiday

In those wild, crazy, carefree days of early 2020, before the plague shut down the world and before his latest album was even an idea, Elvis Costello was touring the UK and eyeing off a few days free of commitments.

So he set off for studios in Helsinki, and then Paris, with a batch of new songs, and a plan to go without a plan.

It was a move that would surprise no one who has noted that since 1977 the man has released 30 studio albums – with bands, orchestras, jazz groups, classical quartets, as a duo, and solo – produced a score or more of other people’s albums, been involved in countless collaborations, written an album over a single weekend for a pop singer he had never actually met (Wendy James of the short-lived Transvision Vamp) and pumped out more than 60 singles.

“It seems wildly ambitious to say that you took a detour from a tour in England to go to Helsinki for the day: it’s not something we can really imagine right now,” Costello says from the “cabin” on Vancouver Island where he’s spent the past six months with pianist/vocalist wife, Diana Krall, and their twin teenage sons.

“But at the time it seemed logical. I wanted to go somewhere where I had no history at all. I found the studio, it looked like a place I could have fun, and the people were very welcoming.”

The studio was a short ferry ride from the centre of Helsinki, “so you got a bracing lung-full of air every morning”, and he worked alone with an engineer for eight hours each day, returning to his hotel at night with at least one song pretty much complete, albeit raw.

“I don’t play drums so I just went in and said ‘the beat goes like this’ and I played the engineer a little sort of memo on my phone with the beat, and he said why don’t we just use that?” Costello says. “We put it up to the speakers and weirdly enough it sounded really great, then we added the other sounds and as you can probably hear, the approach of even the tuned instruments is to play the accents that would otherwise be other parts of the drum kit. I didn’t have to suddenly learn to be John Bonham or anything.”

Two days/three songs later, he arrived in Paris knowing only that some musicians had been lined up to record with him. Neither he nor they had any intention of doing anything as conventional as preparing arrangements or even suggestions for what to play.

“When I got to Paris, it was actually [longtime collaborator/keyboard king] Steve Nieve’s birthday and also the celebration of the delivery of his French passport. You have to picture I was crammed into his apartment in Paris with 25, 30 people all linking arms and singing Le Marseillaise in his honour, like a scene out of Casablanca,” says Costello. “I mean, people eating birthday cake off each other’s plates - all things that just a couple of days later would be insanity, suicidal.”

Having survived the party sans-Covid, the next morning Costello offered the ensemble of drums, clarinet, piano, trumpet and cello only the chord changes and a melody. Their job was to respond to it immediately. After all, there were only two days lined up.

The high-risk endeavour didn’t just hold together, it thrilled him.

“Everything they did on instinct was exactly what I wanted to hear,” he says.

And when a few months later two songs he had just co-written over the internet with American jazz trumpeter Michael Leonhart (and recorded in yet another city, New York, while Costello was in Canada doing the vocals), somehow bridged the tones and themes of the Helsinki and Paris recordings, Costello unexpectedly had himself a new album, Hey Clockface.

It worked, but how could he have been so blasé about planning? Blame it on Paris, where Costello had previously stepped in for adventurous, avant garde-associated guitarist Marc Ribot on some shows with Nieve, and featured as a vocalist, opposite Sting, in Welcome To The Voice, a ground-shifting, partially improvised French/English opera written by Nieve and his librettist wife, Muriel Teodori.

That experience was partly memorable because “I got to beat Sting up every night,” Costello says, but perhaps more usefully, “I had got the idea that there were people in France who perhaps don’t ask for your passport when you move from one kind of music to another”.

And that was heaven for an ever-restless composer who picked up his second Grammy this year, for his album with long-time band, The Imposters, Look Now, a companion piece to his first Grammy, shared with Burt Bacharach for their anything-but-improvised, classic pop-structured, Painted From Memory.

Which is great and all, but admit it, we all want to know a bit more about this laying of fists on Sting.

“I played the chief of police in the story and he played a steelworker who was in love with an opera singer – the kind of thing they were trying to stamp out,” explains Costello. “It was a very unusual experience, not least of all because I had to dress up in this extraordinary costume and sing a very, very difficult piece of music. And then beat Sting up.”

Unlike Sting’s former Police bandmate, drummer Stewart Copeland, who regularly brawled with his lead singer, this was all approved. Artistic even.

“He did encourage me: ‘it’s got to be a bit rougher than that’,” says Costello, who then waits a beat before adding drily. “He was method acting.”
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

Hey Clockface entered at #39 in the Top 100 in the UK: https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-ne ... ns__31556/
Hey Clockface entered at #16 in the UK Record Store Chart, Top 20: https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2020/11/di ... bum-e3-af/
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Fishfinger king »

sweetest punch wrote:https://americansongwriter.com/hey-cloc ... um-review/


How Hey Clockface will be judged alongside Costello’s seminal classics — My Aim Is True, Armed Forces, This Year’s Model et. al. — remains to be seen. After all, some would argue that his last essential album was All This Youthful Beauty, released some two dozen years before.

I think he's getting confused with Brutal Use!
Can't you see I'm trying to change this water to wine
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by WindUpWorld »

That would be an excellent title for a My Darling Clementine EP of early tracks.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

Hey Clockface enters at #21 in Belgian Ultratop Albums: https://www.ultratop.be/nl/albums
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by verbal gymnastics »

sweetest punch wrote:Hey Clockface enters at #21 in Belgian Ultratop Albums: https://www.ultratop.be/nl/albums
That’s the chart by which artists measure success :lol: :lol:
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

verbal gymnastics wrote:
sweetest punch wrote:Hey Clockface enters at #21 in Belgian Ultratop Albums: https://www.ultratop.be/nl/albums
That’s the chart by which artists measure success :lol: :lol:
At least 250 copies sold!!
:)
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by jardine »

Big time, Bill, big time. Toppermost.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

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https://www.repubblica.it/venerdi/2020/ ... 272768005/

Elvis Costello: confessioni di un ex punk per caso
di Giuseppe Videtti

Dalla sua casa di Vancouver, via Zoom, il musicista ci parla del suo nuovo album. E di come un cancro (superato), l'età e questa pandemia lo hanno cambiato


"Sono venuto in Italia da piccolo, due volte, con mio padre, era il 1966, abbiamo fatto il giro completo, cinque giorni in una città e cinque in un'altra, in pullman, con altri turisti. L'ultima volta a Roma è stata dieci anni fa, un concerto, 43 gradi all'ombra, una giornata da incubo; poi una magica passeggiata a mezzanotte, la città deserta, un incontro a tu per tu con la storia. Il mio primo concerto lì fu uno special per la Rai al Piper Club, mi pare fosse il 1980, all'epoca dell'album Get Happy!!".

Elvis Costello, 66 anni, londinese, al secolo Declan Patrick MacManus, si diverte a ricordare. Nella diretta Zoom da Vancouver, dove vive con la moglie (la pianista e cantante jazz Diana Krall) e i loro due gemelli tredicenni, si comporta esattamente come in un'intervista vis-à-vis. Sembra ancora un ragazzo, capelli scompigliati e l'inseparabile montatura da secchione con lenti graduate. Ci fu un tempo, all'inizio degli anni Ottanta, in cui con il gruppo degli Attractions, fu protagonista di una seconda British invasion, insieme a Sex Pistols, Jam, Clash e Damned: un esordio fulminate (My Aim Is True, seguito a ruota da This Year's Model e Armed Forces) proprio in quell'anno di (dis)grazia (1977) in cui il punk mise a soqquadro la scena rock. Non era convinto del suo ruolo di celebrity, non lo è mai stato. Neanche oggi, nonostante la sua presenza nella Hall of Fame sia stata certificata nel 2003. In Radio Is Everything, uno dei brani del nuovo album Hey Clockface (il 36°), canta, "I sound much better than I look, Like a hero in a book", vale a dire che, come per l'eroe di un romanzo, la sua musica è di gran lunga superiore all'immagine.

Durante il lockdown non ha smaniato sui social in cerca di visibilità, versando emoticoni di lacrime per un disco o una serie di concerti rimandati. "È stata l'occasione per trascorrere del tempo in famiglia" esordisce. "Normalmente i gemelli vengono con noi d'estate durante i concerti, ma quando vanno a scuola non ci vediamo molto. Quest'anno è stato diverso, stiamo insieme praticamente da marzo. Creativamente, ho iniziato la lavorazione di questo disco mesi prima del lockdown. Quando tornai a Vancouver, a marzo, il lavoro era quasi finito. Da quel momento ho composto e registrato in casa moltissime canzoni, ho anche scritto un dramma radiofonico. Certo, poi ci sono le dolenti note, io sbarco il lunario con l'attività live, lo stesso vale per mia moglie...".

Siamo di nuovo in piena pandemia, la produzione discografica è faticosamente ripresa ma i concerti sono ancora una chimera, almeno in Italia. Lei crede che il mondo dello spettacolo riuscirà a superare questo periodo drammatico?

"Non posso fare previsioni, abbiamo scritto a matita le date dei concerti del 2021. Già a marzo il pubblico non si sentiva al sicuro nelle sale da concerto. Non si può suonare davanti a gente spaventata né voglio mettere a repentaglio la mia salute e quella della mia équipe. È difficilissimo rispettare il distanziamento sociale nel nostro lavoro. Dall'inizio della pandemia a oggi la situazione è stata gestita in maniera incoerente, almeno in Gran Bretagna, e in modo caotico negli Stati Uniti. Anche nazioni iper-civilizzate non sono state in grado di fornire supporto e cure adeguate alla popolazione. La pandemia ha evidenziato la debolezza della classe politica. Ora la comunità scientifica dovrebbe dare risposte chiare anche per rispetto e compassione nei confronti delle vittime e delle loro famiglie invece di straparlare nei talk show. L'impressione è che abbiamo perso tempo prezioso. Siamo in ritardo, come lo siamo sui problemi dell'ambiente".

Vuol dire che l'emergenza sanitaria si è trasformata in un dibattito politico?

"Esattamente! E questo sarebbe positivo, se la discussione fosse stata costruttiva e non strumentalizzata a fini elettorali. Finora ho visto solo proclami finalizzati ad accrescere il potere personale di questo o quel leader. Cerco di tenermi al di fuori da questo dibattito, mi dico: sei un artista, fai il tuo lavoro. Ma ho anche composto una canzone che si chiama We Are All Cowards Now (Adesso siamo tutti codardi); non voglio essere annoverato tra i pavidi. L'avevo scritta pensando all'uso indiscriminato delle armi, mettendomi con fierezza tra quelli che non ne avrebbero mai imbracciata una. We Are All Cowards Now parla del coraggio di amare - oggi è molto più facile odiare - senza scendere nel luogo comune del peace & love anni Sessanta. Parlo della stessa ingiustizia e della stessa diseguaglianza sociale che esisteva in America quando avevo l'età dei miei ragazzi. Abbiamo cercato di ammantare tutto con il pretesto della civilizzazione e del progresso tecnologico, ma il capitalismo è marchiato: considera le persone come pedine, materiale usa-e-getta, oggi come allora".

Nel brano Newspaper Pane lei canta: "Quando uno si trova dove sono io adesso, può sentirsi diversamente, la scogliera precipita bruscamente, cade dentro il mare". Dov'è che si trova adesso?

"Ho avuto un trauma un paio di anni fa, quando mi dissero che avevo un tumore. Fortunatamente l'hanno asportato senza conseguenze, ma fino a quel momento non avevo mai combattuto con la malattia e un cancro è qualcosa che richiede tempo per essere superato, anche se sei una persona positiva e piena di energia. L'ho metabolizzato ristabilendo alcune priorità. Non ho paura della morte in sé, né del futuro o del tempo che passa, sono felice di aver vissuto così a lungo, ma quando vedi che i tuoi amici cominciano ad andarsene - e quando hai la mia età è piuttosto comune - inizi a riflettere e a guardare l'altra faccia della medaglia: ho una madre di 93 anni che ancora viene ai miei concerti, due figli adolescenti, una moglie di dieci anni più giovane che ora è nella stanza accanto, sono qui a parlare con un giornalista italiano: questi sono privilegi...".

Nonostante la malattia, lei sta invecchiando benissimo. Come fa a tenersi in equilibrio tra lavoro, famiglia e tempo che passa?

"Forse ho esaurito le altre opzioni quando ero più giovane, ahahahah. Magari ho anche alzato un po' il gomito in passato, ma non mi sento colpevole. Fortunatamente non sono mai stato alcolista o tossico: a un certo punto mi sono reso conto che l'alcol mi rallentava, e ci ho dato un taglio. Invecchiando ti rendi conto che devi cambiare comportamenti, soprattutto se sei consapevole che l'abuso di sostanze crea false prospettive - pensi di essere più creativo e coraggioso, ma è un'illusione; se vuoi avere un rapporto autentico con qualcuno hai bisogno di autenticità. Mi sento ancora figlio della middle class, uno che non ha mai smesso di lavorare dall'età di 17 anni".

Che aspettative aveva agli esordi? Lei ha cambiato genere spesso e inaspettatamente, collaborando con Bacharach, McCartney, Anne Sofie von Otter e il Brodsky Quartet.

"Nessuna ambizione, nessun traguardo prefissato. Volevo fare musica e basta. Incisi tre album in diciotto mesi, le cose cominciarono ad andare velocemente, ma ero abbastanza lucido per capire che non mi interessava la vita da popstar, che era solo un incidente di percorso. Da ragazzino sentivo mio padre cantare alla radio, anche mio nonno era un musicista, sapevo che quello non è necessariamente un mestiere per diventare ricchi e famosi. Sbarcavano il lunario suonando, ed è questo che volevo fare io. Alcune cose sono successe per caso, altre perché le ho volute fortemente, come l'incontro con Chet Baker nel 1982 (Shipbuilding), l'amicizia con T-Bone Burnett, la collaborazione con Paul McCartney. Avevo bisogno di imparare, non ho fatto l'università, non leggevo libri - leggo ancora pochissimo - , impegno tutto il mio tempo a scrivere canzoni".

Il brano No Flag riecheggia i suoi dei primi anni punk, quando scelse questo impegnativo nome d'arte...

"...Fu un'idea del mio manager, lo fece per attirare l'attenzione e dare una mano di vernice all'anonimo impiegato di un'azienda di cosmetici. Ci misi del mio col cognome Costello, che appartiene alla famiglia di mia madre (in realtà nessuno mi chiama Elvis, gli amici e mia moglie mi chiamano EC). All'epoca era considerata una scelta di rottura, per questo nel 1977 non esitarono a metterci in cartellone con gruppi come Damned e Clash, anche se c'era una differenza enorme tra il loro punk e la nostra musica. Diciamoci la verità, tecnicamente suonavamo molto meglio, ma non avevamo l'attitudine rivoluzionaria di Joe Strummer, che io adoravo. Ma allora non faceva differenza, era la musica che veniva dal basso che funzionava. Punk non era un'etichetta con la quale mi identificavo, perché già agli esordi scrivevo canzoni influenzato da stili diversi, dal country al ragtime. Fu un'opportunità, cavalcai l'onda".

————————————-
Google translation:

Elvis Costello: Confessions of an ex-punk by accident
by Giuseppe Videtti

From his home in Vancouver, via Zoom, the musician tells us about his new album. And how a cancer (passed), age and this pandemic have changed it

"I came to Italy as a child, twice, with my father, it was 1966, we did the complete tour, five days in one city and five in another, by bus, with other tourists. Last time in Rome it was ten years ago, a concert, 43 degrees in the shade, a nightmare day; then a magical walk at midnight, the deserted city, a face-to-face encounter with history. My first concert there was a special for Rai at the Piper Club, I think it was 1980, at the time of the album Get Happy !! ".

Elvis Costello, 66, from London, aka Declan Patrick MacManus, likes to remember. In the Zoom live from Vancouver, where he lives with his wife (pianist and jazz singer Diana Krall) and their thirteen-year-old twins, he behaves exactly like in a face-to-face interview. He still looks like a boy, tousled hair and the inseparable geek frame with prescription lenses. There was a time, in the early 1980s, when with the group of Attractions, he was the protagonist of a second British invasion, together with Sex Pistols, Jam, Clash and Damned: a fulminate debut (My Aim Is True, followed by rotates from This Year's Model and Armed Forces) precisely in that year of (dis) grace (1977) when punk turned the rock scene upside down. He wasn't convinced of his celebrity role, he never was. Not even today, although his Hall of Fame presence was certified in 2003. In Radio Is Everything, one of the tracks from the new album Hey Clockface (36th), he sings, "I sound much better than I look, Like a hero in a book ", that is to say that, as for the hero of a novel, his music is far superior to the image.

During the lockdown he did not freak out on social media in search of visibility, shedding tears emoticons for a record or a series of postponed concerts. "It was an opportunity to spend time with the family," he begins. "Normally the twins come with us in the summer during concerts, but when they go to school we don't see each other much. This year has been different, we have been together practically since March. Creatively, I started making this record months before the lockdown. . When I returned to Vancouver in March, the work was almost done. Since then I have composed and recorded many songs at home, I have even written a radio drama. Of course, then there are the painful notes, I make ends meet with the live activity, the same goes for my wife ... ".

We are again in full pandemic, record production has been painstakingly resumed but concerts are still a chimera, at least in Italy. Do you believe that the world of entertainment will be able to overcome this dramatic period?

"I can't make any predictions, we have penciled the dates of the 2021 concerts. As early as March, the public did not feel safe in concert halls. of my team. It is very difficult to respect social distancing in our work. From the beginning of the pandemic to the present, the situation has been handled inconsistently, at least in Britain, and chaotically in the United States. Even hyper-civilized nations are not been able to provide adequate support and care to the population. The pandemic has highlighted the weakness of the political class. Now the scientific community should give clear answers also out of respect and compassion towards the victims and their families instead of ranting on talk shows. The impression is that we have lost precious time. We are late, as we are on environmental problems ".

Does this mean that the health emergency has turned into a political debate?

"Exactly! And this would be positive, if the discussion had been constructive and not exploited for electoral purposes. So far I have only seen proclamations aimed at increasing the personal power of this or that leader. I try to keep myself out of this debate, I tell myself : you are an artist, do your job. But I also composed a song called We Are All Cowards Now; I don't want to be counted among the timid. I wrote it thinking about the indiscriminate use of weapons , proudly placing myself among those who would never have embraced one. We Are All Cowards Now speaks of the courage to love - today it is much easier to hate - without falling into the commonplace of the peace & love of the Sixties. I speak of the same injustice and of the same social inequality that existed in America when I was my kids' age. We tried to cloak it all under the pretext of civilization and technological progress, but capitalism is branded: consider people as pawns, disposable material, now as then ".

In the song Newspaper Pane she sings: "When one is where I am now, one may feel differently, the cliff falls abruptly, falls into the sea". Where is he now?

"I had a trauma a couple of years ago when they told me I had a tumor. Fortunately they removed it without consequences, but up until that point I had never battled with the disease and cancer is something that takes time to overcome. , even if you are a positive and energetic person. I metabolized it by restoring some priorities. I am not afraid of death itself, nor of the future or of the passing of time, I am happy to have lived so long, but when you see that your friends start leaving - and when you're my age it's pretty common - you start thinking and looking at the other side of the coin: I have a 93-year-old mother who still comes to my concerts, two teenage children, a wife of ten years younger than he is now in the next room, I'm here talking to an Italian journalist: these are privileges ... ".

Despite the disease, she is aging very well. How do you keep the balance between work, family and passing time?

"Maybe I ran out of other options when I was younger, hahaha. I may have raised my elbow a little bit in the past, but I don't feel guilty. Luckily I've never been an alcoholic or a drug addict: at some point I realized that alcohol was slowing me down, and I cut it off. As you get older you realize you have to change your behavior, especially if you are aware that substance abuse creates false perspectives - you think you are more creative and courageous, but it is an illusion; if you want to have an authentic relationship with someone you need authenticity. I still feel like a child of the middle class, someone who has never stopped working since the age of 17 ".

What expectations did you have at the beginning? You have changed genres often and unexpectedly, collaborating with Bacharach, McCartney, Anne Sofie von Otter and the Brodsky Quartet.

"No ambition, no set goals. I just wanted to make music. I made three albums in eighteen months, things started to go fast, but I was lucid enough to understand that I didn't care about life as a pop star, that it was just an accident. . As a kid I heard my father sing on the radio, my grandfather was a musician too, I knew that this is not necessarily a job to become rich and famous. They made ends meet by playing, and this is what I wanted to do. Some things happened by chance. , others because I wanted them strongly, like meeting Chet Baker in 1982 (Shipbuilding), friendship with T-Bone Burnett, collaboration with Paul McCartney. I needed to learn, I didn't go to university, I didn't read books - I still read very little -, I spend all my time writing songs ".

The song No Flag echoes his early punk years, when he chose this challenging stage name ...

"... It was my manager's idea, he did it to attract attention and give a coat of paint to the anonymous employee of a cosmetics company. I put mine with the surname Costello, which belongs to my family. mother (actually nobody calls me Elvis, friends and my wife call me EC). At the time it was considered a breaking choice, so in 1977 they did not hesitate to put us on the bill with bands like Damned and Clash, even if there it was a huge difference between their punk and our music. Let's face it, technically we sounded much better, but we didn't have the revolutionary attitude of Joe Strummer, which I loved. But then it made no difference, it was the music that came from below. that worked. Punk wasn't a label I identified with, because from the very beginning I wrote songs influenced by different styles, from country to ragtime. It was an opportunity, I rode the wave. "
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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FrankieJ
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2014 1:41 pm
Location: England

Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by FrankieJ »

Has anyone received any Hey Clockface merch they have bought from the official shop yet? I know the vinyls are delayed but I’m interested to see how decent the clothing is etc. Bit of a gamble when it has to ship so far with extra costs.
Miclewis
Posts: 181
Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:21 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Miclewis »

I ordered the CD and the deck of cards - nothing on either, not even a status email.

But I also bought the 24-bit download from prostudiomasters.com - so I have been enjoying the album beyond crappy MP3s.
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