Wise Up Ghost
Wise Up Ghost | |||||||||||
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Studio album by Elvis Costello and The Roots | |||||||||||
Released | September 17, 2013 | ||||||||||
Recorded | 2012–2013 | ||||||||||
Genre | Funk,[1] R&B[1] | ||||||||||
Length | 55:54 | ||||||||||
Label | Blue Note | ||||||||||
Producer | Elvis Costello, Questlove, Steven Mandel | ||||||||||
Elvis Costello chronology | |||||||||||
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The Roots chronology | |||||||||||
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Wise Up Ghost is the collaborative studio album by Elvis Costello and The Roots. The album was released on September 17, 2013, by Blue Note Records.[2][3][4] The album's first single "Walk Us Uptown" was released on July 23, 2013.[5]
On September 10, 2013, Costello appeared on stage at an Apple Inc. Event, performing three songs and promoting the album.[6]
Background
In January 2013, it was announced that The Roots and Elvis Costello were working on an album.[7] On May 29, 2013, it was announced that the album would be titled Wise Up Ghost and would be released on September 17, 2013.[8] In July 2013, in an interview with entertainment.ie, Questlove spoke about how the album started, saying: "Elvis first came on the Jimmy Fallon show in 2009. I knew he was a fan of the Voodoo album I did with D'Angelo, so we asked if he would be open to the idea of “remixing” his stuff. He was into it, so we did these radical versions of "High Fidelity" and "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea", and he loved it. Then we did that a second time the next year, and then last year he was on when the show did a Bruce Springsteen tribute week. At that point, I kinda subliminally put out the idea of a larger collaboration. I was passive-aggressively suggesting it—I was too afraid to actually say, “Let's make a record together."[9]
Elvis Costello also spoke about how the album started, saying: "We were walking off the set of the show together after we did “Brilliant Disguise” and Quest dropped this little code phrase to me. I don’t think I ever want to tell people which band, which singer, and what record he named, but I knew what he meant right away. While I knew we couldn’t make that record, I hoped that we might be able to make this record. It seemed like a good playground, a fabulous ride, to go in and play with a great band that has a broad-minded view of music. It felt like anything was possible."[9] Costello also explained the writing process for the album, saying: "Somebody would lead the way, the same way as any song construction. It was done in dialogue rather than in performance—like the game Exquisite Corpse, where one person's story follows the other, or when you fold a paper doll and then draw the legs on. We had already played together, we knew what that felt like, but we wanted different perspectives. We were really about a work-in-progress, mixing from day one, and developing as the ideas came through. But we didn't need to discuss it very much. We never had one conversation about what we were trying to do, we just did it. We played and the picture emerged, and then you try to sharpen the picture."[9]
Questlove also spoke about the writing process, saying: "Most powerful songs first have to sound powerful as a skeleton. So usually we started with just drums and piano, and if it was strong as a two-man project, then we'd go to next level and bring in the band. We would riff ideas, nonsensical words, then flesh that out once we had format down, and then Elvis would come back with lyrics and vocal parts intact. We started last August and, through December, once or twice a week he'd stop by. Initially we were emailing tracks, but we wanted real-time exchange. We recorded a lot of it in our tiny little dressing room at 30 Rock, not a traditional studio, but Elvis had no hang-ups about that."[9] Questlove spoke about the recording process, saying: "We have like 4000 tracks in a database, so we gave a drum track to Elvis, and days later he came back with a full-fledged demo. We tried two more, then three more, and the next thing you know, we had something on our hands. With no label and no deadlines, the process could stay really relaxed."[9] Elvis Costello also explained the recording process, saying: "We didn’t know what form it might take, whether it was a song or an EP or what. But ideas kept tumbling out, and they seemed connected by an approach to rhythm and lyric writing. I don't know the name for this music. It's a cauldron full of powders and potions, frogs and fingers, and that's what I call rock and roll—because that's what it was, originally. I'm not much bothered about the labels, though. What I care is whether we like it and can stand by it."[9]
Critical reception
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 77/100[10] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [11] |
The A.V. Club | C+[12] |
Chicago Tribune | [13] |
The Daily Telegraph | [14] |
NME | 7/10[15] |
The Observer | [16] |
Paste | 8.7/10[17] |
Rolling Stone | [18] |
Spin | 8/10[19] |
Slant Magazine | [20] |
Wise Up Ghost was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 32 reviews.[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, saying "This is an exquisitely detailed, imaginative record that pays back dividends according to how much knowledge, either of Costello or the Roots or their idols, a listener brings to the album. It's not exactly alienating but Wise Up Ghost does require work from its audience, and the more you know -- and the more you listen -- the better it seems."[11] Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club gave the album a C+, saying "At this point in his career, an album-length experiment like Wise Up Ghost seems to satisfy Costello artistically, thanks to his chameleon tendencies, but there isn’t much to add to the best of either catalog. Costello is the pop equivalent of a shark: He must keep moving through fresh artistic ground—or doubling back across territory he hasn’t touched recently—in order to survive. Though that movement helps Costello maintain a consistent level of output, that process doesn’t always leave essential records in his wake."[12] Kitty Empire of The Observer gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Devotees of Elvis Costello will find this collaboration with hip-hop band the Roots a more labour-intensive listen, perhaps, than the casual arriviste. These tracks are densely self-referential, borrowing lyrics and themes from Costello's past. Most politically, there is a sequel, of sorts, to his Falklands-era screed, Shipbuilding, called Cinco Minutos Con Vos, which imagines the view from the south Atlantic. What's new, though, is the Roots's mutating groove and how well it chimes with Costello's delivery, alternately gruff, sour or soulful."[16]
Robert Ham of Paste gave the album an 8.7 out of 10, saying "That this collaboration would end up working so well should really be of little surprise to longtime fans of Costello. His ‘70s and ’80s work often bore the influence of the same R&B, soul and funk records that the Roots clearly adore. But via the Attractions or any of his other backing bands, those forces were often swallowed up beneath a maelstrom of pub-rock antics and Phil Spector-style productions."[17] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying "Another dubious Elvis Costello genre exercise? Actually, this collab is something sturdier and more interesting: a pained set about decaying culture long on verbose vitriol and (obviously) wicked grooves – think a dyspeptic What's Going On or a soul-powered Armed Forces."[18] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune gave the album three out of four stars, saying "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."[13]
Jim Farber of the New York Daily News gave the album four out of four stars, saying "Wise Up Ghost” contains some of the most fleshy and smart work of either act’s career. It’s a perfect nexus of talents, reining in Costello’s excesses while giving the Roots a new, literary context."[21] Colin McGuire of PopMatters gave the album an eight out of ten, saying "Some people turn their obsessions into careers, the singer argues at one point during “Stick Out Your Tongue”. Elvis Costello and the Roots? Well, they already have the careers. With Wise Up Ghost, though, they now also have a great album."[22] Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times gave the album a positive review, saying "Gather some stones and make them atone," sings Costello on “Come the Meantimes,” a line that captures the essence of “Wise Up Ghost.” A heavy work both thematically and musically, it shows one of the great songwriters of the last three-plus decades at yet another artistic peak. If you've ever fallen in love with a Costello record, be prepared for a new obsession."[23] Nick Coleman of The Independent gave the album four out of five stars, saying "There’s something artificial and experimental in the project’s very DNA, but that need not be a bad thing, and it isn’t."[24]
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 18,000 copies in the United States.[25] In its second week the album sold 6,000 more copies bringing its total album sales to 25,000.[26]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Walk Us Uptown" | Elvis Costello, Ahmir Thompson, Steven Mandel | 3:22 |
2. | "Sugar Won't Work" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 3:31 |
3. | "Refuse To Be Saved" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 4:23 |
4. | "Wake Me Up" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 5:52 |
5. | "Tripwire" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 4:28 |
6. | "Stick Out Your Tongue" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 5:28 |
7. | "Come The Meantimes" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel, Ronald Dunbar, Daphne Ann Dozier, Edythe Vernelle Craighead | 3:53 |
8. | "(She Might Be A) Grenade" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 4:36 |
9. | "Cinco Minutos Con Vos" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 5:01 |
10. | "Viceroy's Row" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 5:01 |
11. | "Wise Up Ghost" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 6:27 |
12. | "If I Could Believe" | Costello | 3:58 |
Deluxe CD bonus tracks | |||
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No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
13. | "My New Haunt" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 4:39 |
14. | "Can You Hear Me?" | Costello, Thompson, Mandel | 6:27 |
15. | "The Puppet Has Cut His Strings" | Costello, Thompson, Ray Angry | 4:57 |
Personnel
- Marisol "La Marisoul" Hernandez - Featured Artist, Translation, Vocals
- Questlove - Drums, Producer, Composer
- Ray Angry - Bells, Clavinet, Farfisa Organ, Keyboards, Organ, Piano
- Robert Berg - Viola
- Sally Berman - Violin
- Diane Birch - Vocals (Background)
- Damon Bryson - Sousaphone
- Alex Budman - Clarinet (Bass)
- Matt Cappy - Flugelhorn, Horn Arrangements, Trumpet
- Mark Cargill - Violin
- Bob Carr - Bassoon, Contrabassoon
- Mike Cashin - Assistant Engineer
- Danny Clinch - Photography
- Steve Cook - A&R
- Elvis Costello - Ampeg Baby Bass, Composer, Guitar (Baritone), Guitar (Distortion), Guitar (Rhythm), Horn Arrangements, Melodica, Organ, Piano, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals, Wah Wah Guitar, Wurlitzer Piano
- Drew Dembowski - Bass
- Kirk Douglas - Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
- Assa Drori - Concert Master, Contractor
- Eric Eylands - Production Assistant
- Chris Farr - Flute, Horn Arrangements, Saxophone
- Mike Ferrill - Violin
- Brent Fischer - Conductor, Orchestration
- The Brent Fischer Orchestra - Featured Artist on tracks 2, 3, 8, 9 and 12
- Sam Fischer - Violin
- Nicole Frantz - Creative Director
- Alex Gorlovsky - Violin
- Ben Greenman - Liner Notes
- Zach Hochkeppel - Product Manager
- Keith Horn - Production Assistant
- Steve Hughes - Euphonium
- Guadalupe Jolicoeur - Translation
- Roland Kato - Viola
- Mark Kelley - Bass
- Anna Kostyuchek - Violin
- Sebastián Krys - Vocal Engineer
- Dave Kutch - Mastering
- Steven Mandel - Engineer, Horn Arrangements, Mixing, Producer, Composer
- Miguel Martinez - Cello
- Colin Nairne - Session Coordinator
- Pino Palladino - Bass
- Kazi Pitelka - Viola
- James Poyser - Keyboards, Piano
- Bill Reichenbach - Contrabass Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba
- Korey Riker - Horn Arrangements, Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor), Saxophone
- Frank Rodriguez - Production Assistant
- Felix Romero - Production Assistant
- The Roots - Primary Artist
- Claris Sayadian-Dodge - Production Assistant
- Coco Shinomiya - Art Direction
- Brendan Steele - Assistant Engineer
- Richard Stolz - Vocal Engineer
- Ahmir Thompson - Composer, Producer
- Kevan Torfeh - Cello
- Cecilia Tsan - Cello
- Frank "Knuckles" Walker - Bells, Chimes, Percussion, Tambourine
- Don Was - A&R
- Ken Wild - Bass
- Elizabeth Wilson - Violin
- Eli Wolf - A&R
Charts
Charts (2013) | Peak position |
---|---|
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[27] | 31 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[28] | 66 |
US Billboard 200[29] | 16 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[30] | 29 |
References
- 1 2 McFarland, Kevin (2013-09-17). "Elvis Costello And The Roots: Wise Up Ghost | Music | MusicalWork Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - Wise Up Ghost (Deluxe) by Elvis Costello & The Roots". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-09-17. Retrieved 2013-08-22.
- ↑ "Wise Up Ghost: Elvis Costello & The Roots: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-08-22.
- ↑ "The Roots and Elvis Costello Announce Collaborative Album Wise Up Ghost". Pitchfork. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2013-08-22.
- ↑ "Walk Us Uptown: Elvis Costello And The Roots: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-08-22.
- ↑ "Live Blog: Apple's September 10 phone event | Macworld". Live.macworld.com. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ↑ Hudson, Alex (2013-01-23). "The Roots and Elvis Costello Plot Collaborative Album • News •". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ Hudson, Alex (2013-05-29). "Elvis Costello and the Roots Officially Announce Collaborative Album: 'Wise Up Ghost' • News •". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "MusicNews | Interview: Elvis Costello and Ahmir '?uestlove' Thompson on the making of 'Wise Up, Ghost'". entertainment.ie. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 lesdmd (2013-09-13). "Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs - Elvis Costello,The Roots | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 McFarland, Kevin. "Elvis Costello And The Roots: Wise Up Ghost". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 Greg Kot (2013-09-13). "Elvis Costello and Roots review; Wise Up Ghost reviewed". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ "Elvis Costello and the Roots, Wise Up Ghost, review". Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ "NME Album Reviews - Elvis Costello & The Roots - 'Wise Up Ghost And Other Songs'". Nme.Com. 2013-09-12. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 Kitty Empire. "Elvis Costello & the Roots: Wise Up Ghost – review". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 Robert Ham (1999-02-22). "Elvis Costello and The Roots: Wise Up Ghost". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- 1 2 Will Hermes. "Elvis Costello The Roots, 'Wise Up Ghost'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ Colter, Seth (2013-09-13). "Elvis Costello and the Roots, 'Wise Up Ghost' Review". Spin.com. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ "Elvis Costello and the Roots: Wise Up Ghost". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ "Elvis Costello and The Roots, 'Wise Up Ghost'; Avicii, 'True': Album reviews". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ McGuire, Colin. "Elvis Costello and the Roots: Wise Up Ghost". PopMatters. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ Roberts, Randall. "Album review: Elvis Costello & the Roots' assured 'Wise Up Ghost'". latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ Nick Coleman (2013-07-29). "Album review: Elvis Costello & the Roots, Wise Up Ghost (Blue Note/Decca) - Reviews - Music". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ↑ Tardio, Andres (2013-09-25). "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 9/22/2013". HipHopDX. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
- ↑ Tardio, Andres (2013-10-02). "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 9/30/2013". HipHopDX. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
- ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Elvis Costello & The Roots – Wise Up Ghost". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
- ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Elvis Costello & The Roots – Wise Up Ghost". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ↑ "Elvis Costello – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Elvis Costello. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
- ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.