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

[Man out of Time]

Thanks to John for spotting the article in "Spin" whatever that is. He pasted this in bold, but I think it bears repeating:

"The Elvis Costello Fan Forum, so far the best compendium of information on the release,"

Reading that sentence makes me proud, but also alarmed. If we here are the best source of information on a new release, what happened to journalism or record companies?

Is there a deliberate policy of disinformation and rumour on the part of the artists involved and Blue Note records? Can no one write a story about this release with any detail in it (clearly not Mojo magazine)? Does this make anyone more or less likely to listen to or buy this music? Questions, questions.

MOOT

[migdd]

Agree with you, MOOT. However, I think the mystery and anticipation of whatever it is that this collaboration has produced might outweigh, at least for me, the instant gratification that any premature spoilers may offer.

[MOJO]

If we here are the best source of information on a new release, what happened to journalism or record companies?

MOOT

Journalism - GONE. Record Companies - Floundering. Who knows what they do other than collect money... at least the big labels. (Sorry, not in the biz, so I don't know what's going on.)

However, maybe there is something to say about crowdsourcing. Check it out and make some bitcoins or swagbucks. So, there is hope EC board fans. Dream big and live like a pauper. Sign up today (or not):

URL for Crowd Flower redacted. Site is no longer used by a crowdfunding company. --drspooky

MOJO

[Jeremy Dylan]

Record Companies - Floundering. Who knows what they do other than collect money... at least the big labels. (Sorry, not in the biz, so I don't know what's going on.)

Here is my general defense of record labels:

Scout, sign and develop artists.
Pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for recording sessions, producers, music videos and more with not guarantee of recouping.
Pay tour support to help young artists afford to go out on the road in support of their albums.
Help developing artists find songs to record or if they write their own, help decide which songs should make the album.
Pay for construction and maintenance of artist websites.
Manufacture and distribute artist recordings in various formats, including CDs, vinyl and various digital platforms.
Market artists recordings, including using their clout to get lesser known artists on to major television shows and radio programs.
Distribute and market singles.

That's just a few things record labels do for artists. Yes, they do often want a say on the creative side of things, but since they're assuming all the financial risk I don't think this unreasonable. And it's not like record labels are staffed by accountants making creative decisions. Many, if not most, record executives started out on the creative side, and it's not unusual to move back and forth. Don Was is currently President of Blue Note Records and is an artist (half of the duo Was Not Was), a great bass player and a storied producer (the Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Elizabeth Cook, etc.). Tony Brown was Elvis Presley's keyboard player, then Emmylou Harris's keyboard player, then a producer of countless great country records while President of MCA Records during the 90s.

Many artists want 100% creative control over their recordings, with no label interference. Nothing wrong with that. Like Elvis and the Roots have done with this project, artists are free to pay for their own recordings, make every decision themselves, then shop the finished product around to a label. But to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from a label so that you can make an album and then turn around and complain they want a big cut of the money or some input into where their cash goes is a little hypocritical.

[Lester Burnham]

H.A.M., for those not in "the know", stands for "hard as a motherfucker".

[Jeremy Dylan]

You learn something new every day.

[MOJO]

Thanks for the record label rap/lowdown, JD. By the way, I watched your Lauderdale doc.
Well done. Congrats! I just saw Jim play with Buddy M and it was a good show. He does have a sense of humor. I like that.

Peace.

As for H.A.M - oh my, sounds interesting, very, very interesting.

MOJO

[seanpointblank]

H.A.M., for those not in "the know", stands for "hard as a motherfucker".

Wow, I've heard that phrase several times and always assumed it had something to do with actual ham.

[MOJO]

H.A.M., for those not in "the know", stands for "hard as a motherfucker".

Wow, I've heard that phrase several times and always assumed it had something to do with actual ham.

OK, enough already with the HAM jokes. Not cool, really. Let's keep it a family-friendly forum. Lester apparently had a few pints, no doubt.

[MOJO]

Here is my general defense of record labels:

Scout, sign and develop artists.
Pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for recording sessions, producers, music videos and more with not guarantee of recouping.
Pay tour support to help young artists afford to go out on the road in support of their albums.
Help developing artists find songs to record or if they write their own, help decide which songs should make the album.
Pay for construction and maintenance of artist websites.
Manufacture and distribute artist recordings in various formats, including CDs, vinyl and various digital platforms.
Market artists recordings, including using their clout to get lesser known artists on to major television shows and radio programs.
Distribute and market singles.

That's just a few things record labels do for artists. Yes, they do often want a say on the creative side of things, but since they're assuming all the financial risk I don't think this unreasonable. And it's not like record labels are staffed by accountants making creative decisions. Many, if not most, record executives started out on the creative side, and it's not unusual to move back and forth. Don Was is currently President of Blue Note Records and is an artist (half of the duo Was Not Was), a great bass player and a storied producer (the Stones, Bonnie Raitt, Elizabeth Cook, etc.). Tony Brown was Elvis Presley's keyboard player, then Emmylou Harris's keyboard player, then a producer of countless great country records while President of MCA Records during the 90s.

Many artists want 100% creative control over their recordings, with no label interference. Nothing wrong with that. Like Elvis and the Roots have done with this project, artists are free to pay for their own recordings, make every decision themselves, then shop the finished product around to a label. But to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from a label so that you can make an album and then turn around and complain they want a big cut of the money or some input into where their cash goes is a little hypocritical.

OK, so I finally read the complete post here... Sorry, I didn't have time to read it until now.

Your record biz comments make sense. It is like a lot of internet start-up ventures, but the only difference is that the entrepreneurs (the creative guys that pitched the idea to the VCs along Sand Hill Road), are actually given the independence to run with their idea. Your comments above sort of indicate that the creative process is driven by the label themselves which then creates a manufactured/controlled approach to the artist/business model.

I am talking about pure independence, and a platform for artists to truly feel the sense of creativity without the dark cloud of financial liability. The record labels should try to work on a platform that supports this - creativity with boundaries around financial investment.

As for your mention of Don Was - I worship the dude, but, come on, he is so dialed-in to the scene. It cancels out the real issues facing common artists/poets/writers.

And yet, in closing, I am admit my clueless-ness, because I am who I am, and that's who I am.

Godspeed (especially to me who is currently looking for work).

Peace,

MOJO

[johnfoyle]

Ref HAM - how fabulous that Elvis' 'n co. have smuggled that into so many news account ! They must be wetting themselves with laughter at the seemingly casual proliferation of it.

[Lester Burnham]

H.A.M., for those not in "the know", stands for "hard as a motherfucker".

Wow, I've heard that phrase several times and always assumed it had something to do with actual ham.

OK, enough already with the HAM jokes. Not cool, really. Let's keep it a family-friendly forum. Lester apparently had a few pints, no doubt.

I didn't, and that's what it means. I'm from Philly, as is ?uestlove, and that expression is pretty popular around here.

[Neil.]

Can it be September now, please? Ta.

[docinwestchester]

Can it be September now, please? Ta.

Maybe you can track down one of those white label releases from Record Store Day.

[sweetest punch]

The Washington Post seems to have more info (and some nice photos): http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertain ... story.html

Grammy winners Elvis Costello and The Roots team up on new album, ‘Wise Up Ghost’

NEW YORK — When Elvis Costello and The Roots teamed up for a new album, they knew their pairing was unlikely and unconventional, so they secretly recorded music without the approval of their record labels.

“Sometimes if you ... get the record company involved, then people have ambition rather than starting to play, so we started to play,” Costello said in a recent interview.

“We did it without a label or deadline pressure,” said Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson as he sat next to Costello. “This absolutely was a passion project.”

They began recording “Wise Up Ghost,” which will be released Sept. 17, two years ago. It’s a moody, 12-track album that features both new songs and others borrowed from Costello’s catalog, including the drum-filled “Sugar Won’t Work,” which samples from “You Left Me in the Dark,” and the soft and simple “Tripwire,” which takes from “Satellite.”

The Roots first collaborated with Costello on NBC’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” where the hip-hop group is the house band. They also worked with the 58-year-old British rocker at a Prince tribute concert in March.

“This is like our dream — that’s all I can say,” a smiling Questlove said. “This is the first project at ‘Fallon’ where I’m making my musical dreams come true.”

Longtime Roots collaborator Steven Mandel co-produced “Wise Up Ghost” with Questlove and Costello.

“The thing I like most of all, the drums are really loud,” Costello said. “I’m singing quite close, not having to yell to get it over.”

The Roots released a collaborative album with John Legend in 2010. A year later, they released an album with Betty Wright.

Questlove says working alongside Costello, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was scary.

“I was worried in case it didn’t work. I knew I’d be the bad guy,” he said.

[Poor Deportee]

The Washington Post seems to have more info (and some nice photos): http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertain ... story.html

Grammy winners Elvis Costello and The Roots team up on new album, ‘Wise Up Ghost’

NEW YORK — When Elvis Costello and The Roots teamed up for a new album, they knew their pairing was unlikely and unconventional, so they secretly recorded music without the approval of their record labels.

“Sometimes if you ... get the record company involved, then people have ambition rather than starting to play, so we started to play,” Costello said in a recent interview.

“We did it without a label or deadline pressure,” said Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson as he sat next to Costello. “This absolutely was a passion project.”

They began recording “Wise Up Ghost,” which will be released Sept. 17, two years ago. It’s a moody, 12-track album that features both new songs and others borrowed from Costello’s catalog, including the drum-filled “Sugar Won’t Work,” which samples from “You Left Me in the Dark,” and the soft and simple “Tripwire,” which takes from “Satellite.”

The Roots first collaborated with Costello on NBC’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” where the hip-hop group is the house band. They also worked with the 58-year-old British rocker at a Prince tribute concert in March.

“This is like our dream — that’s all I can say,” a smiling Questlove said. “This is the first project at ‘Fallon’ where I’m making my musical dreams come true.”

Longtime Roots collaborator Steven Mandel co-produced “Wise Up Ghost” with Questlove and Costello.

“The thing I like most of all, the drums are really loud,” Costello said. “I’m singing quite close, not having to yell to get it over.”

The Roots released a collaborative album with John Legend in 2010. A year later, they released an album with Betty Wright.

Questlove says working alongside Costello, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was scary.

“I was worried in case it didn’t work. I knew I’d be the bad guy,” he said.

Thanks for this. Are we to understand that it involves new versions of old EC songs (like SP & S, by far the worst aspect of that mixed bag of a record)? Or just samples culled from earlier EC songs? If the former, I will be bummed out. If the latter - that could be neat.

[Lester Burnham]

Sounds like samples.

[MOJO]

Hey Lester B - I was born/raised in Philadelphia, but never heard the H.A.M. term. I left the town more than 20 years ago, so maybe I missed the rise in popularity of the term, HAM. The only cool things I remember about Phila. was Silk City, The Bank, The Painted Bride, Ishkabibbles, and Schoolly D, yo!

[Lester Burnham]

Hey Lester B - I was born/raised in Philadelphia, but never heard the H.A.M. term. I left the town more than 20 years ago, so maybe I missed the rise in popularity of the term, HAM. The only cool things I remember about Phila. was Silk City, The Bank, The Painted Bride, Ishkabibbles, and Schoolly D, yo!

Nice! I was born in the 'burbs, moved to the Northeast in 2010, and now live in South Philly. As far as I know (my fiancé is more of a dancer/clubber than I am!) only Silk City is still around. And HAM really only became "popular" within the past year or two. It's certainly a term I can't wait to see go away, though I have a feeling it'll endure, much like "jawn"!

[And No Coffee Table]

Steven Mandel mentions that saxophonist Korey Riker plays on the album.

On his own site Riker writes:

"Wise Up Ghost" the forthcoming record from Elvis Costello & The Roots to be released September 17, 2013 on Blue Note Records! I'm very fortunate, excited, honored, lucky, all that to be a part of this record. I'm on an album that's coming out on Blue Note Records? BLUE NOTE RECORDS!?!?! Awesome. Can't wait to start playing this material live.

[verbal gymnastics]

So it's Elvis Costello and The Roots ie not EC with The Roots or EC meets The Roots.

It'll be interesting to see if there are any new EC songs on the album. I was wondering if he had managed to be able to write new material since his father passed away.

Whilst I am looking forward to this album, I never feel the excitement of his collaborative albums. If it was a new EC and the Impostors album I'd be a lot more excited. The collaborations just don't do it for me I'm afraid.

[sweetest punch]

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... -1.1358578

[Poor Deportee]

So it's Elvis Costello and The Roots ie not EC with The Roots or EC meets The Roots.

It'll be interesting to see if there are any new EC songs on the album. I was wondering if he had managed to be able to write new material since his father passed away.

Whilst I am looking forward to this album, I never feel the excitement of his collaborative albums. If it was a new EC and the Impostors album I'd be a lot more excited. The collaborations just don't do it for me I'm afraid.

I'm sure you're not alone in that sentiment, Verbal. The EC I really want to hear from is the EC of National Ransom: fundamentally a solo act, or at least primary songwriter/frontman, working with great backing musicians (whether the Imposters, the Sugarcanes or someone else) to execute brilliant Costello material. Elvis's songwriting is, at its best, both highly distinctive and riveting; his collaborative efforts have generally seen him watering down his distinctive authorial voice in the name of either sharing the floor or fidelity to a particular musical form defined by his collaborator.

That's not to say they've been bad, not by a long shot. But like you, I find they don't have the unique excitement of his best work.

[ice nine]

What is with Questlove's hair?

[bronxapostle]

GUYS PLEASE!!!!!!! stop bellyaching! any NEW Elvis is good Elvis and of COURSE there will be NEW songs. what do you think this is: KOJAK VARIETY MEETS THE ROOTS??? if we were stuck in limbo wondering "IF" we would "EVER" get a new release on this May 30th, THEN we would have a right to be moaning and groaning. embrace the newness coming our way....YOU WILL ENJOY WHAT YOU GET!!! that's an order.