New album for 2013: "Wise Up Ghost" (with The Roots!)

[sweetest punch]

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/m ... vicii.html

Elvis Costello & the Roots, “Wise Up Ghost”

By the time he stops making music, there may not be a collaborator Elvis Costello hadn’t met. His latest album follows this trademark experimentation; a partnership with avant-funk collective The Roots, these new songs offer deep grooves and dreamscape enhancements that freshen Costello’s sound and vocal bite. Shimmering guitars, horns, drum loops, and melting strings combine the grit of the Blaxploitation soundtrack era and sexiness of late night cabaret. For the Roots, this collaboration breaks them out of the late night television rut to flex their strength as inventive stylists who create new atmospheres by pulling from lyrical moods. In delivering these shadowy visions, Costello’s singing is his most expressive in years. Wise up, indeed.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertain ... story.html

Music Review: Backed by the Roots, Elvis Costello sounds mad, which is good

Enough with Velvet Elvis. This year’s model of Elvis Costello features a collaboration with the Roots that inspires his angriest singing and best album in many years.

“Wise Up Ghost” covers topical turf as Costello rails about the tense and troubled times. The title cut calls for a revolution, “Come the MEANTIMES” offers dark ruminations on faith and the flag, and “TRIPWIRE” considers the combustible combination of fear, hatred and armies.

Costello also lets loose on love gone wrong, as he has done on many of his best songs. “She’s pulling out the pin ... that lets her hair fall down,” he sings on “(She Might Be a) GRENADE.”

Writing with Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and producer Steven Mandel, Costello dials back his melodic ambitions, and for a change he sings songs that don’t exceed his range. Built more on riffs than hooks, the music has the verve of new wave, the directness of punk and the groove of 1970s R&B, with Questlove’s snare and Costello samples among the hip-hop flavorings.

The hybrid gets good mileage, and Costello’s venomous vocals energize much of the set. But on the closing piano ballad, “If I Could BELIEVE,” he oversings and reverts to his worst role — EC, square.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/life-an ... e-up-ghost

Elvis Costello gets his groove back with Roots' collaboration "Wise Up Ghost"

Classic rocker Elvis Costello has got his groove back. Teaming up with The Roots, Costello returns to the scene with his latest project, Wise Up Ghost.

With the help of The Roots, Costello sounds revitalized and more energetic than he has in some of his latest works. His signature wail, always teetering between being on and off pitch, is confident as ever on top of the vintage, hip-hop beats The Roots are known for. The partnership between a seasoned rock icon and a relatively young, but experienced, band represents a bold move by both parties, resulting in a successful collaboration.

Wise Up Ghost is a collection of 12 solid, funky tracks laden with catchy melodies and tremolo-heavy guitar riffs. The Roots’ instrumentation allows Costello’s voice to drift between different settings and contexts — a musical experiment that is the product of the collective genius of this talented bunch of musicians.

A trumpet sounds, sometimes accompanied by another one harmonizing on top of it. A Rhodes piano hammers out a riff that leads into a beautiful string arrangement that closes out the song. And of course, thumping bass guitars cruise side-by-side with the classic sound of Roots’ drummer Questlove — simply a sexy reward for listeners.

Some songs are Costello-centered ballads, such as the gentle “Tripwire.” Some are Motown-infused parades, such as the album opener “Walk Us Uptown,” in which The Roots’ influence clearly bleeds through. Many songs, such as “(She Might Be A) Grenade,” are a remarkable blend of both Costello’s and The Roots’ signature styles, and are the album’s high points. The album’s closer, “If I Could Believe,” could be a stand-alone Costello track — a soft piano ballad that punctuates the album perfectly after several tracks of exhausting variety.

Once an aging musician who seemed to be losing relevance, the brave, new collaboration has once again breathed life into Costello’s persona. Wise Up Ghost recycles musical ideas from rock, hip-hop and funk, but is spun with ingenuity that makes every song on the album innovative and entertaining.

[sweetest punch]

http://chimes.biola.edu/story/2013/sep/ ... llaborati/

Elvis Costello gets down with The Roots for a soulful collaboration

That guy with the glasses your dad liked when he was in college and Jimmy Fallon’s band did an album together? They most certainly did. Collaborations are always at least somewhat anxiety-inducing, even more so than a new album from a favorite band. In a collaboration, you’ve got two independent parties coming together in the attempt to form a cohesive whole. So, on a simplistic level, you’ve got twice the chance to excel and twice the chance to fail. Also, either party can mess it up for the other. Luckily, “Wise Up Ghost” is the product of two incredible musical mainstays who gel together more consistently than would’ve been expected.

COSTELLO AND THE ROOTS COLLABORATE

Let’s start with Elvis Costello. For this writer, no debut album is better than this man’s “My Aim is True.” It’s a record I’ve been obsessively fond of since before I was 10 and, at 21, nothing has changed. It still might be my favorite album of all time. “This Year’s Model,” “Armed Forces,” “Get Happy!!” and “Trust” are all veritable Costello classics and some of the best albums of their era. But I’d be remiss to say this idol of mine has waned in his ability since the early ‘80s. Since “Trust” in particular, he just hasn’t had the same angry-young-man bite that his early work displayed with such directness.

Then there’s The Roots, a band known far and wide for their groovy — in the literal sense — virtuosity. Founding member, Questlove, has drummed out hip-hoppy soul beats better than most of his contemporaries since the start. The rest of the band is shot through with funky depth and an effortless take on what’s really cool about living on this madman’s planet. Bass, horns, guitar — all are volcanic in their muted, modern attacks on lesser instrumentation.

SONGS REFLECT COSTELLO'S LYRICAL GENIUS

The two are far less of an odd couple than would appear at first glance. The Roots have never been the most bleak of hip-hop groups and Costello has never been the most rock-centric of the punk era. Indeed, his “Get Happy!!,” released in 1980, was a tribute to the old school R&B and soul The Roots are fondest of emulating and propagating. Instrumentation is way more centered around Questlove’s people. If you muted the vocals, there’s nothing to set it apart from most other Roots records. But turn the vocals up and you realize how subtle and right-on this collaboration really is. As soon as Costello starts singing, you realize these songs couldn’t have been made without him. They’re so stamped with his sense of lyricism and melody that it’s hard to say either side of the partnership is more responsible at the end of the day.

“Walk Us Uptown” opens the record with Costello liltingly querying the listener while the drumbeats flit about like a guy in the electric chair. The track has the same sort of dark, mystic earthliness present on old Costello tracks like “Watching the Detectives” or “Goon Squad.” “Sugar Won’t Work” is a slow jam with a classic sensibility, allowing The Roots to let loose their more sentimental side during the chorus. During the verses, it’s all rhythm. “Viceroy’s Row” and “Wise Up Ghost” come near the end but both have a midtempo power it’d be foolish to deny. It’s there the strength of the collaboration really makes itself decisively known.

Elvis Costello has a legacy it’d be difficult to tarnish. Even after a long run of sub-par albums, he still hasn’t lost the respect of music fans far and wide. Bringing in The Roots was a good idea for the bespectacled troubadour. He’s always had the brain for it, but they’ve got the soul. This record is like an AED shock to the heart. It may well get Costello going again. Here’s hoping.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.impactnottingham.com/2013/09 ... -up-ghost/

Album Review: Elvis Costello and The Roots – ‘Wise Up Ghost’

When I heard Elvis Costello and The Roots were doing an album together, I instantly thought of that website with pictures of awesome people hanging out together. Once the excitement wore off, I then realised it’s pretty likely to be a mediocre album, where an aging legend struggles to strike a middle ground with one of the most experimental Hip-Hop acts around today.

Luckily, what they ended up actually making is pretty damn good. The only major disappointment is it’s not the Elvis-Costello-Hip-Hop mash-up many of us may have fantasised over. Although Costello had always made it clear this ‘wasn’t going to be his Hip-Hop album’, it would have been nice if Black Thought was still rapping in it. This is arguably made up for by the quality of Costello’s lyrics, however, which are very good indeed. Similarly, the guest appearance of La Marisoul adds some flare. Her duet with Costello on ‘Cinco Minutos Con Vos’ is one of the tracks where the power of the ‘Roots-Costello’ collaboration comes through most, with Questlove’s production playing a vital role.

Whilst the album may not be as experimental as some may have liked, its key strength is how natural it feels. Anyone who’s seen the The Roots live will know they love to just stand around and jam. A lot of Wise Up Ghost just sounds like Costello and The Roots having the time of their lives jamming in the studio; several of the albums’ tracks simply have to be faded out at the end. This ‘jamming’ approach means we get some brilliant skatting, most likely from Douglas, as well as really aiding the passion in Costello’s singing.

‘Walk Us Uptown’ makes a lot of sense as the choice of first single. It has the best juxtapistion of Costello’s singing with Questlove’s more Hip-Hop style production techniques as well as featuring a range of the instruments used in the album. The rest of the album’s songs vary dramatically; including piano ballads such as ‘If I Could Believe’ and more funky electronic tracks like ‘Stick Out Your Tongue’. It’s pretty likely the two acts didn’t have much of an idea of the sort of music they wanted to make together. Regardless, it sounds like when they were in the studio they were on the same wavelength; enjoying themselves and remaining sharply focused on the sounds they made. Resultantly, there’s some great music here.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.michigandaily.com/arts/09roo ... t-review17

The Roots join a reinvigorated Costello on the suave 'Wise Up Ghost'

If they both weren’t so hip, the collaboration between a 59-year-old singer-songwriter and a hip-hop band might seem absurdly hilarious. Luckily, Wise Up Ghost, the collaborative album by Elvis Costello and The Roots, features two of the coolest musicians from separate corners of the music industry.

The music is smooth, funky, mostly what you’d predict from the combination of their sounds. Suave guitars, Costello’s characteristic vocals, sexy saxophones and driving beats are all reminiscent of a Curtis Mayfield-era soul album. The novelty of the collaboration doesn’t wear off for the entire 56 minutes, so they had to be doing something right.

Career-wise for Costello, the album proves to be imaginative and progressive; pairing up with a black hip-hop band from Philadelphia directs his appeal toward a younger audience. But Costello isn’t entirely new to the world of black music genres: His music has always been laced with reggae and Motown. So for an artist that has been around since the 1970s, this matchup revives his discography after 2010’s mediocre National Ransom. Regardless of whether this choice was purely business or just plain fun, Costello and The Roots made a wise decision. Besides — what else do you do when you’ve been making music as long as these guys have?

The only thing missing that would make Wise Up Ghost stellar: Black Thought’s rap. What the album could be (an experimental concept album like Undun) far exceeds what it actually became. For fans of these two artists, the fantasy of Black Thought’s rhymes atop Costello’s weird lyricism sparked excitement. But after perusing the songs, listeners may feel cheapened, cheated — The Roots’ presence seems less vocal than originally perceived. Costello undeniably outshines the band; in an interview, he claimed outright that it’s not his “hip-hop album.” Which, on some level, pardons the album from its utter lack of transparent hip hop.

However, at some points, Costello enters a hip-hop-esque form of singing; he exaggerates the rhymes on lines like, “Just because I don’t speak the language doesn’t mean I’m blind to the threat / But I thought there was more to forgiveness than we conveniently forget.” Sure, it’s not rapping (that might be a lot to ask of Costello), but it’s charged with a hip-hop attitude, and songs like “Stick Out Your Tongue” and “Refuse To Be Saved” do feature stabbing words and lyric-heavy rhythms. Even the album art makes a nod toward the poeticism of Wise Up Ghost — mimicking the poetry editions of old City Lights book jackets, like Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl.”

What’s present on the album: an uninhibited and animated Elvis Costello. Layered atop cinematic swelling strings and sharp syncopated drumbeats, Costello croons poetically about politics, among other topics. The songs are gritty, moody and full of humidity — a thick, instrumental, vintage soul album infused with subtle hip hop. Though, the album as a whole is unremarkable and a far cry from the artists’ genius works, such as The Roots’s Undun or Costello’s My Aim Is True. But for those interested in hearing Costello pontificate over Questlove’s beats, Wise Up Ghost presents a quality product.

[John]

Crikey - has there ever been so many good reviews?

Here's a nice video clip

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/ ... ship-watch

[sweetest punch]

http://prettymuchamazing.com/reviews/el ... e-up-ghost

Review: Elvis Costello & The Roots – Wise Up Ghost

I’ll admit it: when I first heard that Elvis Costello was teaming up with the Roots for a full-blown, album-length collaboration, I feared the worst. It seemed too much like sheer spectacle — the idea seemed too novel; the proposed synthesis of styles too incongruous.

I’ll admit this, too: I’ve never been so completely wrong in my assumptions about a record. In the world of pop, more often than not you can smell the tripe from a mile away, and while it would be a mistake to say that I expected Wise Up Ghost to be quite that bad, I certainly didn’t expect it to be even half as great as it is.

Musically speaking, it’s a melange of what on first blush seem to be discordant tones and textures. The impossibly tight Roots rhythm section beats up against ornate string sections; guitars sometimes peal above the fray; computer sounds crop up at intervals (dig the sound of a Mac’s volume control on the opening cut); horns abound. The result would be cacophony in less than expert hands. Instead, because the Roots are nothing if not expert, it all comes together to form a symphony of sorts — unflinchingly modern, yes, but also steeped in the past (Costello and ?uestlove both are astute students of music history, and the sound of this record is as strong a testament to their combined acumen as anything you’re likely to hear).

That brings us to Mr. Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus himself. To Costello’s infinite credit, he remains one of the most adventurous musicians of his (or for that matter any) generation. He’s recorded with George Jones and Allen Toussaint and written with Paul McCartney and Burt Bacharach, to name only some of the more prominent examples. He’s prolific, to boot — since the turn of the century, he’s released something like 10 studio albums. Of course, the natural consequence of all this is inconsistency — at times, Costello has delivered unqualified triumphs (e.g., The Delivery Man); more often, his reach has exceeded his grasp and his work has suffered as a result.

Here, he delivers, contributing lyrics and vocals that stand proud alongside his very best work. Costello lives up to his reputation as rock’s preeminent wordsmith (Dylan aside, of course), spitting bile, oozing sap, and dropping jokes like bombs. Religious imagery figures prominently on nearly every track, from the tongue-in-cheek (maybe?) parable of “Walk Us Uptown,” the heresy of “Refuse to be Saved,” to the twisted travelogue of “Wake Me Up.” Specific lines and general concepts bleed between the tracks, weaving for the listener a complex, perhaps even impenetrable thematic tapestry that’s no less engrossing for its inscrutability. Moreover, Costello’s vocal technique has only improved with time, and he handles these difficult lines with typical aplomb.

I’ve been spinning this album and nothing else for the past few days, worrying that perhaps my enthusiasm for it would wane after repeat hearings. It hasn’t — if anything, it only gets better each time out. It’s rare that a record comes along that so boldly states its own greatness, and it’s rarer still that such an album actually lives up to that promise. Wise Up Ghost does. [B+]

[sweetest punch]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainm ... story.html

Elvis Costello and The Roots

Wise Up Ghost

Three stars out of five

Friction causing sparks or a seamless melding are the two best case scenarios with musical collaboration. Lulu is the worst. While the pairing of veteran British songsmith Elvis Costello with American soul and hip-hop purveyors The Roots is by no means a disaster on par with the Lou Reed and Metallica mash-up, rarely does it deliver anything inspired or sustained enough to classify it a truly successful union. The best moments on Wise Up Ghost — songs such as Refuse to Be Saved, Come the Meantimes and (She Might Be A) Grenade — come off like extended funk jams, with Costello’s brooding Brit imbued with sense of playfulness that suits and matches wonderfully with The Roots. The least are those song in which Costello dictates and dominates and The Roots take a back seat entirely, such as the piano-driven If I Could Believe and the overly precious Tripwire. Most of the record, however, falls somewhere in between, with their being neither enough sparks nor harmony to bump the middle-of-the-road adult rock into music that resonates. Perhaps that says more about the material than the marriage, but the best or worst collaborations should transcend that to make it something memorable.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/blog/2 ... play-roots

Elvis Costello and the Roots: Wise Up Ghost

With its trebly, drum-slapping, relatively lo-fi production, Wise Up Ghost actually sounds most like My Aim Is True, among all other Elvis Costello albums. The pre-Attractions backing band on that record was the California-to-London country outfit Clover. Here, it’s Jimmy Fallon’s house band, the Philadelphia-to-Manhattan hip-hop crew the Roots, led by drummer Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, who’s also the musical director of Fallon’s Late Night.

Costello, Thompson, and Steven Mandel are credited with the production and, in nearly every case, the composition of the songs. In keeping with the hip-hop-flavored situation, they incorporate samples from some of Costello’s past recordings. Much more prominently, though, they borrow old Costello lyrics, to the point where four of the songs are basically self-covers with new names: “Refuse to Be Saved” (alias “Invasion Hit Parade” from Mighty Like a Rose), “Stick Out Your Tongue” (“Pills and Soap” from Punch the Clock), “Wake Me Up” (“Bedlam” from The Delivery Man, with a refrain from the title track of The River in Reverse), and “(She Might Be a) Grenade” (“She’s Pulling Out the Pin,” another Delivery song).

Of course, the self-covers have mostly new music as well as new names — and throughout, the Roots ripple supremely, from the delicious syncopations of “Walk Us Uptown” to the slow soul of “Tripwire.” That said, Thomas is no Pete Thomas. Furthermore, I’m not always happy with the strings; on “Sugar Won’t Work,” particularly, their appearance in the chorus (along with Costello’s over-crooning) isn’t in keeping with the verses (whose guitar and rhythm section point and poke like the best of the Meters). These are relatively small drawbacks, however, for an album that celebrates the easier side of early ’70s funk and R&B — an era that, after all, occurred only a few years prior to My Aim Is True.

Besides, the album’s three best tracks are home runs. First there’s “Cinco Minutos Con Vos,” one of the places where the strings really work, because everything else is here, too: deep bass groove, sweet horns, heavy wah-wah guitar, and an exquisite, semi-quivering duet vocal from La Marisoul, lead singer of the L.A.-based Mexican-American band La Santa Cecilia. Then there’s the deliciously disturbing title track, which begins with an ominous descending piano figure that’s eventually joined by stinging guitar before the full Roots enter with a buzzy, jazzy backdrop, resulting in a cinematic, longform creation that’s a distant relative to something like “I Want You” from Blood & Chocolate. And last but not least, the album closes with “If I Could Believe,” a primo Costello ballad done straight — all the better to feature poignant lyrics like these:

If I could believe
Two and two is five
Two wrongs make a right
Well then, man alive
Lost in my insolence and sneers
That might sound like prayers
If I could believe

[sweetest punch]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... 699.column

'Wise Up Ghost'
Elvis Costello and the Roots
(Blue Note)

3 stars (out of 4)

Serial collaborators Elvis Costello and the Roots join forces on "Wise Up Ghost" (Blue Note), an album that plays it scrappy and loose – as if neither had anything to lose. It's also a pointed and chilling state-of-the-world album. In a world in which government surveillance, chemical weapons and citizen revolts are ascendant, "Wise Up Ghost" provides an appropriately nerve-racking soundtrack with a desperate message: Indifference is death.

The unlikely collaboration was forged by Costello's frequent appearances on the "Late Show with Jimmy Fallon," where the Roots are the house band. Costello, Roots drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Roots producer Steven Mandel do most of the heavy lifting; they write and produce the entire album. They've made what sounds like a noir song cycle that borrows from hip-hop, neo-soul and dark-night-of-the-soul singer-songwriter concept albums without fully embracing any of those genres. The stylistic ambiguity is precisely the point – it gives the project an instability rare for veteran artists with distinctive voices to project and loyal fans to satisfy.

Costello can come off as a dilettante in some of his genre-bending projects, but with Questlove he revels in sparse, edgy shadowplay and his understatement as a vocalist is matched by the musicianship. A masterful drummer, Questlove dials everything back and leaves plenty of space. The songs are on constant edge, a state of tension without release, as if anticipating a detonation that never arrives but is always a threat.

"She's pulling out the pin," Costello sings, the movie-script-worthy opening line for "(She Might Be A) Grenade." Strings bend and recede around him, keyboards stab and Questlove navigates, as the singer turns a femme fatale into a terrorist. In an album full of paranoid narrators, trouble drifts like nerve gas. "Don't open the door cause they're coming/Don't open the door because they're here" becomes the fearful mantra on the deceptive lullaby "Tripwire," with its chiming bells and lulling vocals.

The flair for disorientation flags in the second half. Tempos drag in the Latin-flavored "Cinco Minutos Con Vos" and the static "Viceroy's Row," and the title track is a mood piece that never climbs out of neutral. But even these misfires feel like experiments that fell short, while the rest of "Wise Up Ghost" revels in its uneasiness.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/i ... thers.html

Wise Up Ghost
Elvis Costello & the Roots (Blue Note)

No, Elvis Costello doesn’t rap on this CD. Nor does Roots frontman Black Thought, who declined to participate in his group’s collaborative project. "Wise Up Ghost" is probably best understood as Roots drummer-producer Questlove’s investigation of Costello’s deep discography. Many "Ghost" songs airlift whole stanzas of lyrics from prior Costello material — and the Roots fit these old verses with fresh beats dredged from the bayous of New Orleans. Costello discards most of the old melodies, keeping only the cadences of his old couplets intact. The protest song "Pills and Soap" is refashioned into "Stick Out Your Tongue"; the rarity "Pulling Out the Pin" becomes "(She Might Be) A Grenade." Questlove and Costello seem particularly drawn to "Spike" and "Mighty Like a Rose," a pair of ornate mid-period albums brimming over with ideas. "Tripwire" is built around a riff from "Satellite," "Refuse to Be Saved" uses almost all the words from "Invasion Hit Parade," and the spirit of "Chewing Gum" and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band instrumentals on "Spike" show up all over the set. These experiments do intrigue, even if the amount of recycled material here is somewhat disconcerting — especially given the formidable talents of the principals.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/ ... host-songs

Elvis Costello And The Roots – Wise Up Ghost And Other Songs

In a 2002 interview, Elvis Costello bemoaned the relatively cool reception of his many collaborative albums: “They’re not side projects… I give them all my time and attention. The attitude since [1996 album] All This Useless Beauty has been, Why doesn’t he knock it off and make an Elvis Costello record?”

Costello has steadfastly refused to “knock it off” in the 11 years that have followed those comments. During that time, he’s written and recorded with artists as diverse as jazz pianist Marian McPartland, R&B legend Allen Toussaint and the London Symphony Orchestra. Wise Up Ghost And Other Songs is his latest collaborative work and perhaps the most intriguing yet: a 12-track album produced with American hip-hop veterans The Roots, recorded over a year in a series of experimental sessions after Costello met the band as a guest on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon – the television show for which they act as the house musicians.

Wise Up Ghost… is attracting significantly more attention than any of Costello’s previous collaborative works. It’s easy to understand why that’s the case: at first glance, the union between a 59-year-old former punk rocker from Liverpool with a cooler-than-thou hip-hop act from Philadelphia is an incongruous one. And yet there’s always been an R&B undercurrent to Costello’s music. Despite his reputation as a master wordsmith, his songs have always displayed plenty of rhythmical nous. Moreover, 1980’s Motown- and Stax-obsessed album Get Lucky!! is a career highlight.

Across Wise Up Ghost…, The Roots should prove themselves to be the perfect foil for Costello’s voice and words. The division of labour throughout the record remains the same: Costello sings, The Roots provide the music, while each song – barring the closing piano ballad If I Could Believe – is credited to Costello and The Roots’ QuestLove. Listeners hoping to hear Costello rapping alongside The Roots’ MC Black Thought will come away disappointed, although that’s probably for the best.

Any album that’s billed as the outcome of jamming sessions always threatens to be aimless and self-indulgent, but that’s not the case here. Sure, Wise Up Ghost… has a loose, off-the-cuff feel that stems from the experimental nature of its genesis but, in contrast, the songwriting maintains the tightly-coiled intensity that’s Costello’s stock-in-trade.

Walk Us Uptown, Sugar Won’t Work and Refuse To Be Saved are the most overtly funky tracks on the album, each one constructed out of QuestLove’s limber drumming, seductive organ licks, swaggering basslines and the occasional burst of saxophone. These tracks conjure up a late-night, cinematic feel reminiscent of Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield’s 1970s output, yet their tasteful minimalism ensures that they also feel utterly modern.

Come The Meantimes, Viceroy’s Row and Cinco Minutos Con Vos (featuring a delectable guest turn by La Marisoul of Mexican-California band La Santa Cecilia) are the tracks which, musically speaking, veer the closest to straight hip-hop. Indeed, take Costello’s vocal off the latter and it could have been lifted straight from The Roots’ 1999 classic Things Fall Apart. In the midst of all this is Tripwire, a sweet ballad that’s among Costello’s most straightforwardly pretty songs.

Throughout the album, Costello quotes lyrics from his back catalogue. Long-time Costello fans will have fun spotting the references to some of his back catalogue’s deepest cuts: Refuse To Be Saved quotes from Mighty Like A Rose’s Invasion Hit Parade; Wake Me Up (“…with a slap or a kiss”) is a call-back to 2006’s The River In Reverse; (She Might Be A) Grenade is a re-imagining of Pulling Out The Pin from 2004’s The Delivery Man.

But this isn’t an exercise in re-heating old work. Instead, Wise Up Ghost… finds Costello re-contextualising his back catalogue in a manner that invites comparisons to hip-hop’s penchant for sampling. For example, Stick Our Your Tongue mashes together lyrics from 1983’s Pills And Soap and Hurry Down Doomsday, another Mighty Like A Rose number. It’s likely that Costello spotted a thematic link between the two songs that was ripe for exploration: Pills And Soap is a veiled swipe at the British media’s response to the Falklands War, while Hurry Down Doomsday appears to be a commentary on cultural imperialism. Coupled with The Roots’ sinister backing, this hybrid of a song seethes with anger.

Wise Up Ghost And Other Songs is undoubtedly a smart and richly-detailed album, but it’s not offputtingly cerebral. This is an album that’s aimed equally at the head and the feet. Not only is it one of Costello’s best collaborative efforts, it’s also one of his best albums full stop. Recommended for Costello newcomers and long-time believers alike.

[The Gentleman]

Wow-- "Can You Hear Me?" is strange and fabulous. A bizarre amalgam of "Radio Silence," "Complicated Shadows," and "American Gangster Time" (seemingly due to the fact that the all share references to "gangsters"-- do I detect a new Spinning Songbook jackpot?) all tied together with the continuously recurring title line (itself from "High Fidelity"). Hypnotic!

[verbal gymnastics]

Came home expecting to find Verbal, Sulky and whoever else celebrating the UK release. Where are you? A couple of people on the 'countdown' thread only. For my own part my glorious plans to 'rush my money to the record shops' went pear-shaped due to about 5 too many issues to deal with at work. So I will go in the morning en route to work, or I'll spend the week not making it! Hope they have it ...

I would love to give a report but having ordered the CD over the webbernet to arrive on Monday, the website I bought it from, WOWHD, has it as a backlog so heaven knows when it will arrive in a funny way I'm hoping there's a backlog due to so many people ordering it.

The Bob Dylan and Franz Ferdinand CDs arrived though so that's some consolation. I think I'll watch the New York gig for the time being.

The irony is that this is that I'm not a fan of his collaborative albums but this one has earned rave reviews everywhere and I found myself looking forward to hearing it on its release.

[Emotional Toothpaste]

I've given it a couple spins and I wish I hadn't read the rave reviews. I don't see what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately, other than a couple of tracks like If I Could Believe, Tripwire, and Sugar Doesn't Work . . . this album for me just doesn't work. Sounds like Elvis sings the Fugees, very percussive, background party hipster music with a drum beat loops that stay about the same volume throughout and only varies slightly in its syncopation with some of my less-than favorite Elvis songs draped over in a semi-rap, semi-mumbled form. I even heard some Il Sogno in there and it brought it all frightfully back and over and over again. Ouch!

Not being a hater, I'll try and stay with it . . . but its not going to be easy.

[John]

I would love to give a report but having ordered the CD over the webbernet to arrive on Monday, the website I bought it from, WOWHD, has it as a backlog so heaven knows when it will arrive in a funny way I'm hoping there's a backlog due to so many people ordering it.

That's a few of us waiting on the CD from WOW HD. I did email a complaint but they have not replied. Unfortunately I just don't think they ordered any in. If ITunes is representative then very few of us are ordering it in the UK. It has now fallen the number 113 on the UK chart compared with 15 in the US. Flying high at number 5 on the Amazon US chart; I wonder if it could reach number 1 on that chart after tonight's TV appearance?

BBC Radio 6 had it as their album of the day with 5 different tracks played.

[History History]

Just cancelled my order for WUG with WOWHD.

Watching this instead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y7oLu3yrzc

[John]

Chart update - now at number 2 on US Amazon chart.

[Otis Westinghouse]

After all my Old Skool trumpeting about hauling my ass down to lovely Fopp, I did, and the bastards only had the regular edition for £10. They went to check the morning's deliveries, no sign, so they took my name and said they'd set one aside. I said fine then asked how much, £20 bloody quid. First they omit it from their list of 8 or so Mon 16th significant releases of the week, then this, then the guy sez 'yeah, it's pretty good, but it peters out a bit toward the end.'. All this 15 mins after mailing I can get it delivered for £11.30 or something off Amazon Marketplace.

So then I went to Waterstones to get the new Pynchon on its day of release. £2 off £20, nearly £5 more than Amazon's £13.26.

Shit, I love to support the shops, but guys, was I really going to part with £38 when I can get it all online for £24? No.

Death of the High Street part 36...

Making do with the Brooklyn Bowl for now. Very lovely.

[Neil.]

Oh my God, I'm listening to "My New Haunt" on Spotify! Why did they leave this off the main album?!!! Amazing!

[John]

Has anyone in the UK actually got a copy of the deluxe CD? If so, where did you get it from?

[pophead2k]

My deluxe copy just arrived via UPS in the U.S. at 7:00 pm EDT. Getting ready to hear bonus tracks for the first time. Crazy about this album and the Brooklyn Bowl stuff.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Grrr, ordered off Amazon Marketplace. Nagiry was one option. Used them before, they were fine, but they only had 1 in stock, so I thought one of you lot would beat me to it and tried 'Marvelio-UK' thinking the name was a giveaway, but the despatch dates make it look like US supply:

Your estimated delivery date is:
Friday, September 27, 2013 -
Thursday, October 17, 2013

For crying out loud! Ah well, so much for the thrill of release date.

[migdd]

Chart update - now at number 2 on US Amazon chart.

Quite a feat! Looking forward to the Billboard report in a few days.