Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Pretty self-explanatory
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bronxapostle
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by bronxapostle »

Ymaginatif wrote:
bronxapostle wrote:well, no one can stay angry with that sincerity in these troublesome times
I can :lol:

(but don't worry, I won't bore you with my frustration :wink: )

Lol....maybe this will make you happy, FOR ME!!! :D :)

Darn, couldn't upload photo, my SIGN O TIMES box landed.
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Ymaginatif
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Ymaginatif »

bronxapostle wrote:
Ymaginatif wrote:
bronxapostle wrote:well, no one can stay angry with that sincerity in these troublesome times
I can :lol:

(but don't worry, I won't bore you with my frustration :wink: )

Lol....maybe this will make you happy, FOR ME!!! :D :)

Darn, couldn't upload photo, my SIGN O TIMES box landed.
Ah! You'll enjoy that one - CD or vinyl? 8)
bronxapostle
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by bronxapostle »

VINYL...I GOT THE 1999 TOO. 23 NEW LPS. stay tuned for my YouTube of my 40 YEAR PRINCE vinyl collection, coming soon i hope. Thank you friend!
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by docinwestchester »

bronxapostle wrote:VINYL...I GOT THE 1999 TOO. 23 NEW LPS. stay tuned for my YouTube of my 40 YEAR PRINCE vinyl collection, coming soon i hope. Thank you friend!

Image
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Shellacandvinyl
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Shellacandvinyl »

Finally received my copy, along with the CD, and it was definitely worth the wait. It sounds so much better. You could really feel the bass on the Helsinki compositions. I was indifferent to "No Flag" when it first came out on streaming but I'm really digging it now. The sequencing is great despite the distance between recording locations. I had been worried that this would be another National Ransom, which sounded all over the place in my opinion.

I will miss the transition from "Newspaper Pane" to "I Do" on vinyl, "I Do" starts side 2. There is a lot of space in the runout grooves so why not make it a triple LP and do an etching on the fourth side. It's such a small quibble though when I think more and more about how great this album is.
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Ymaginatif
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Ymaginatif »

bronxapostle wrote:VINYL...I GOT THE 1999 TOO. 23 NEW LPS. stay tuned for my YouTube of my 40 YEAR PRINCE vinyl collection, coming soon i hope. Thank you friend!
Looking forward to that! 8)
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Ymaginatif »

Shellacandvinyl wrote:Finally received my copy, along with the CD, and it was definitely worth the wait. It sounds so much better. You could really feel the bass on the Helsinki compositions. I was indifferent to "No Flag" when it first came out on streaming but I'm really digging it now. The sequencing is great despite the distance between recording locations. I had been worried that this would be another National Ransom, which sounded all over the place in my opinion.

I will miss the transition from "Newspaper Pane" to "I Do" on vinyl, "I Do" starts side 2. There is a lot of space in the runout grooves so why not make it a triple LP and do an etching on the fourth side. It's such a small quibble though when I think more and more about how great this album is.

IMG_30492.jpg
I agree, the 3 songs per side is a bit short, and the sides even LOOK only half full. I'm not so much a fan of the empty 'etched' side, but if it's done well, it can look quite beautiful. (I'm thinking of Concert For George vinyl, or Wings At The Speed Of Sound Archive Version). Mind you, it probably would have made it more expensive ...
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Ymaginatif
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Ymaginatif »

docinwestchester wrote:
bronxapostle wrote:VINYL...I GOT THE 1999 TOO. 23 NEW LPS. stay tuned for my YouTube of my 40 YEAR PRINCE vinyl collection, coming soon i hope. Thank you friend!

Image
It seems you all deserve a Prince symbol in your avatars! :lol:
bronxapostle
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by bronxapostle »

is that the MOST beautiful outer cardboard box you ever saw Ymaginatif??? :) :lol: :lol: :lol:

now, how can i throw THAT in the recyclable bin???
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Ymaginatif »

bronxapostle wrote:is that the MOST beautiful outer cardboard box you ever saw Ymaginatif??? :) :lol: :lol: :lol:

now, how can i throw THAT in the recyclable bin???
I know ... But I gave mine to the gerbils ... I must draw a line somewhere ... My house is already full of stuff ... i can't be expected to keep empty boxes too now ... I know ... I know ... :lol:
bronxapostle
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by bronxapostle »

Okay...I'll just cut a nice square of the PEACE sign and bring the rest to the recycling gods.
Last edited by bronxapostle on Sat Dec 12, 2020 8:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hawksmoor
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Hawksmoor »

Ymaginatif wrote:I agree, the 3 songs per side is a bit short, and the sides even LOOK only half full. I'm not so much a fan of the empty 'etched' side, but if it's done well, it can look quite beautiful. (I'm thinking of Concert For George vinyl, or Wings At The Speed Of Sound Archive Version). Mind you, it probably would have made it more expensive ...
Graham Parker's live double-LP The Parkerilla has an unusual format. He can't stand it, apparently, and it was a 'contractual obligation' LP, but it was actually my introduction to GP and I love it to this day.

However, I digress. My point is that it has three live sides, with four songs on each, and the fourth side is a studio, disco-inflected re-recording of 'Hey Lord Don't Ask Me Questions'. Which I think spins at 45rpm, whereas the other three sides spin at 33rpm, of course.

My memory may be failing me on the last point - is that a thing? Can you have a record where one side plays at 33 and the other at 45?
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by fred darden »

Guided by Voices have a few ep's that do that.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by docinwestchester »

Hawksmoor wrote: Graham Parker's live double-LP The Parkerilla has an unusual format. He can't stand it, apparently, and it was a 'contractual obligation' LP, but it was actually my introduction to GP and I love it to this day.

However, I digress. My point is that it has three live sides, with four songs on each, and the fourth side is a studio, disco-inflected re-recording of 'Hey Lord Don't Ask Me Questions'. Which I think spins at 45rpm, whereas the other three sides spin at 33rpm, of course.

My memory may be failing me on the last point - is that a thing? Can you have a record where one side plays at 33 and the other at 45?
I checked my copy. It's 33 1/3:
Image

Awful version, somehow chosen to be a single:
bronxapostle
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by bronxapostle »

yes doc...a horrible mash up of PUMP IT UP meets BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE!!!

thanks for the verification of the rpm pal.

i must say....we are the most OCD fans of them all. lol nearly ANY question usually gets answered around here in NO TIME FLAT!!
Hawksmoor
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Hawksmoor »

bronxapostle wrote:yes doc...a horrible mash up of PUMP IT UP meets BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE!!!

thanks for the verification of the rpm pal.

i must say....we are the most OCD fans of them all. lol nearly ANY question usually gets answered around here in NO TIME FLAT!!
Indeed. As noted, The Parkerilla was my introduction to GP and I still adore it. But I can see that it's a little shoddy and 'contractual obligation'. The intro 'how's New York? Still got some life in you, yeah?' is actually tacked on to the front of two different tracks!
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sweetest punch »

https://www.in-muenchen.de/stadtleben/p ... 45380.html

Best Of 2020: Unsere Alben des Jahres

(...)

3. ELVIS COSTELLO - Hey Clockface

Der Boden schwankt. Die Digitale Revolution fordert ihren Tribut. Klimawandel, Pandemie, Rassismus, Autokratien und Ochlokratien, Diskriminierung von Minderheiten, Misogynie, Antisemitismus und vieles mehr haben die Menschheit fest im Griff und sie ist zu Recht verunsichert. Doch wie konnte es soweit kommen? Costello immerhin weiß wie man all dem nun begegnet, bevor es um uns geschehen ist: „Love is the one thing we can safe“, stellt er in „Revolution 49“ gleich zu Beginn klar und macht Mut, denn wenn wir wenigstens dies begriffen hätten, könnte im Prinzip ja kommen was da will. Die Liebe – und zwar zu allen Menschen, Tieren und der Mitwelt – sollte eigentlich allmächtig und allgegenwärtig sein und wäre sie unter den Menschen weiter verbreitet als Gier, Hass, Neid, Gleichgültigkeit, Ausgrenzung, Ungerechtigkeit und Missgunst, wir könnten das Paradies haben. Auch im Diesseits wohlgemerkt, was erstrebenswert wäre, denn ein paradiesisches Jenseits konnte bisher nicht ernsthaft nachgewiesen werden. Derweil aber soll’s um die Musik gehen und die ist im Falle von Costellos neuem Album geradezu himmlisch geworden.

Zusammen mit seinem extra hierfür zusammengetrommelten Ensemble – dem „Le Quintette Saint Germain“ feat. Haus- und Hof-Pianist Steve Nieve, der ihn auch beim herausragenden „North“-Album maßgeblich begleitete, Mickaél Gasche an Trompete, Flügelhorn und Serpent, dem Cellisten und Percussionisten Pierre-François „Titi“ Dufour und Renaud-Gabriel Pion an verschiedenen Klarinetten, Saxophon, Flöte und Horn – vermag Costello mit den großartigen Songs und seiner außerordentlichen Stimme durchaus zu verzaubern. So viel dann auch zur Paris-Fraktion, denn „Hey Clockface“ wurde darüber hinaus auch in Helsinki – wo Costello überwiegend alleine arbeitete – und in New York, wo ihm der Gitarrist Bill Frisell in all seiner Extravaganz genauso zur Seite stand wie der Arrangeur und Trompeter Michael Leohnhart, aufgenommen. Und genauso bunt und abwechslungsreich wie sich das hier liest, klingt „Hey Clockface“ dann auch. Und man spürt freilich all die Liebe – nicht nur zur Musik – die Elvis Costello hier zu einem wahren Meisterwerk inspirierte, denn, wir erinnern uns: „Love is the one thing we can safe“. So lasst uns endlich danach handeln, und lieben, bedingungslos jeden und alles, und lasst uns das bewahren und schützen, bevor es endgültig zu spät ist!

Fazit: Für mich das Beste was Elvis Costello seit dem überragenden Album „North“ aus dem Jahr 2003 veröffentlicht hat.

Anspieltipps: Alle, klar. Ganz besonders aber: „No Flag“ und „Hetty O Hara Confidential“ für alle, die es gerne ein bisserl flotter haben, sowie „They’re Not Laughing At Me Now“, „I Do (Zula‘s Song)“, „The Last Confession of Vivian Whip“, „Byline“ und „The Whirlwind“ denen die Balladen mehr liegen.

—————————————————
Google translation:

Best Of 2020: Our albums of the year

(...)

3. ELVIS COSTELLO - Hey Clockface

The ground sways. The digital revolution is taking its toll. Climate change, pandemic, racism, autocracies and ochlocracies, discrimination against minorities, misogyny, anti-Semitism and much more have a firm grip on humanity and it is rightly unsettled. But how did it come to this? Costello at least knows how to deal with all of this before it happens to us: "Love is the one thing we can safe", he makes clear in "Revolution 49" right at the beginning and gives courage, because if we had at least understood this , in principle what might come. Love - for all people, animals and the world around us - should actually be omnipotent and omnipresent and if it were more widespread among people than greed, hate, envy, indifference, exclusion, injustice and envy, we could have paradise. Also in this world, mind you, which is worth striving for, because a paradisiacal afterlife has not yet been seriously proven. In the meantime, however, it's supposed to be about the music, which in the case of Costello's new album has become downright heavenly.

Together with his ensemble - the "Le Quintette Saint Germain" feat. House and court pianist Steve Nieve, who also played a key role in the outstanding “North” album, Mickaél Gasche on trumpet, flugelhorn and serpent, the cellist and percussionist Pierre-François “Titi” Dufour and Renaud-Gabriel Pion on various clarinets , Saxophone, flute and horn - Costello is able to enchant with the great songs and his extraordinary voice. So much for the Paris faction, because “Hey Clockface” was also in Helsinki - where Costello mostly worked alone - and in New York, where guitarist Bill Frisell was just as much at his side in all his extravagance as the arranger and Trumpeter Michael Leohnhart, recorded. And “Hey Clockface” sounds just as colorful and varied as this reads. And of course you can feel all the love - not only for music - that inspired Elvis Costello to create a true masterpiece, because, we remember: "Love is the one thing we can safe". So let's finally act on it, and love it, unconditionally everyone and everything, and let's keep and protect that before it's finally too late!

Conclusion: For me the best that Elvis Costello has released since the outstanding album “North” from 2003.

Check-out tips: Everyone, of course. But especially: "No Flag" and "Hetty O Hara Confidential" for everyone who likes it a little faster, as well as "They're Not Laughing At Me Now", "I Do (Zula's Song)", " The Last Confession of Vivian Whip ”,“ Byline ”and“ The Whirlwind ”who prefer the ballads.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
Hawksmoor
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Hawksmoor »

Lovely review. I think that, as the weeks go by, this LP is moving quickly from the 'hmm, interesting way of producing an LP in lockdown' phase into becoming one of Elvis' most warmly regarded LPs, by fans and by critics. I'm still playing it at least once a day and would seriously put it above Look Now right now. And for me, that's saying something - I think Look Now is a towering achievement. This might top it.

Although I should add that there's nothing on Hey Clockface that's quite as good as 'Isabelle in Tears'. That still floors me every time, just astonishing songwriting.
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Arbogast »

"Look Now" is "a towering achievement"??? Jesus....
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Whilst I like Look Now and Hey Clockface, they’re not go to albums for me - they’re both albums where I’m happy to skip tracks.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
Hawksmoor
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Hawksmoor »

Arbogast wrote:"Look Now" is "a towering achievement"??? Jesus....
OK, thanks for that.

Well, I quite like it. :D
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by migdd »

Hawksmoor wrote:
Arbogast wrote:"Look Now" is "a towering achievement"??? Jesus....
OK, thanks for that.

Well, I quite like it. :D

I do too! :)
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Arbogast »

"quite like it" is miles away from "towering achievement," no?
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by sulky lad »

verbal gymnastics wrote:Whilst I like Look Now and Hey Clockface, they’re not go to albums for me - they’re both albums where I’m happy to skip tracks.
Once again, you prove you are really my twin brother !
I will say that i'll skip fewer tracks on Hey Clockface than on Look now and I've generally always preferred Elvis' "band" albums to his off-shots. Hey Clockface has some amazing ballad songs and the playing especially on the Paris recordings is perfect - in the climate we live in, it may well be a three storey achievement rather than a tower but it's never gong to eclipse the adrenaline rush of some of his much earlier albums - that's not to say it isn't great however! This fence is getting narrower by the sentence!
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Re: New album Hey Clockface released October 30, 2020

Post by Hawksmoor »

Arbogast wrote:"quite like it" is miles away from "towering achievement," no?
It is, apologies. I was being a little facetious about what I took to be an unusually harsh judgment. Humorous tone not always easy to convey via the written word. :)

But I do think Look Now is a towering achievement. That thing that he's alluded to in interviews, about not making a straight-up rock-n-roll record, or an identikit version of Imperial Bedroom, or whatever, but instead trying to make a new-sounding record that reflects where he and the Imposters were at in 2018 - I think he really nailed that. I think it sounds definitively 'Elvis Costello' but also sounds different from any of his other LPs, which, 40 years and 30-odd LPs into your career, is a pretty neat trick to pull off.

For me, there are five tracks on there that would be immediate contenders for my all-time Top Twenty ('Don't Look Now', 'Burnt Sugar', 'Stripping Paper', 'I Let the Sun Go Down' and 'You Shouldn't Look at Me that Way'), and three tracks that I would immediately consider for my Top Ten ('Under Lime, 'He's Given Me Things' and 'Isabelle in Tears').

The arrangements and musical execution of the songs are superb, and his vocals are terrific throughout. 'Under Lime' as a sequel to 'Jimmie' is chilling and exciting at the same time. 'She thought 'I can't believe it's happening to me' - does she mean she can't believe she's getting attention from a big star-name, or does she mean she can't believe predatory abuse is happening to her? 'I Let the Sun Go Down' feels like a fantastic 21st century companion-piece to 'New Lace Sleeves'.

Equally, 'He's Given Me Things' feels like the dark underbelly of 'I Want You' (not like 'I Want You' wasn't pretty dark to begin with :D) but this feels like the counterpart in the woman's voice. OK, it's a subjective judgment, and based on my own position as a mid-fifties bloke, but seriously, I could listen to 'He's Given Me Things' on the headphones at 2:00am with a vodka and cry myself to sleep every time.

'Isabelle in Tears' - who could resist that joyous onomatopoeia of 'so I tripped-up-the-stairs', the audacious near-rhyme of 'memory' and 'incendiary', or the moment when it flips from arch observation into genuine passion: 'Can you admit your love? Can you confess her worth?'

Lyrically brilliant and musically deft, this is fully deserving of a Grammy over Michael Bublé and John Legend, who quite frankly, are nowhere near this standard. There are a couple of misfires ('Adieu Paris' and 'Dishonor the Stars' - oh dear, the title consistently in American English), and I get that Imperial Bedroom and Get Happy! don't really have any misfires.

So yeah - subjective opinion. But I'm not being ironic. I do think Look Now is a 'towering achievement'. :D
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