EC to release Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

[buzz]

Thanks Neil for your prompting but like good wine these things take time to listen and digest. So here's my offering of a review of the new album, don't forget I have no credits or lyrics to go by (other than what you good people online have already ascertined) So here's my first ever album review, enjoy!

When EC included the brilliant Impatience as the throw away bonus track of North it was clear that he was a musical craftsman who could turn his hand to any musical genre. We may still be awaiting the great Latin album but with Secret, Profane & Sugarcane he shows that an attention to musical detail can reap enormous dividends. The prospect of songs spanning 10 years, recorded in 3 days was unnerving (could these songs hold together as a single work?), songs that were further divided by culture as well as style. However it is this division and contradiction that makes this a quintessentially EC album as well as breaking new ground with a sonic harmony that is a T-Bone’s speciality (Scarlet Tide would not be out of place here).

The orchestral crafting of the 4 secret songs included here (She Handed Me A Mirror, How Deep is the Red (without Andersen’s opening verse), She Was No Good, Red Cotton) is used for all compositions and show great thought and planning and nothing left to chance. The playing and use of the instruments to colour the composition is exquisite. His voice is prominent throughout, leading the melody and the accompanying musical performances highlight and contrast moments in the narratives as they unfold. Within these stories there are the usual cast of miscreants and the lovelorn that are close to or well past the limit of self control. The sin of the individual (Hidden Shame, I Felt the Chill) and the guilt of the collective (Red Cotton) are ingrained in this work, with these themes spanning continents and time. His descriptions of slavery and the association of England and the American South with the crime offer deep regret without becoming preachy or shallow.

All this is encapsulated in a thoroughly Southern American sound of country, cajun and rootsy rock. The Crooked Line makes me want to yee-ha well before EC goes for broke and conjures up an image of music out of doors pleasing the dancing folk. Passion is never far from his mind, be it murderous (Complicated Shadows) or romantic (My All Time Doll) but the characters find themselves locked in self-imposed (I Dreamed Of My Old Lover) or literal prisons, ambivalent about escape or liberation from their demons. Never does EC depart from the script to rant and rave, no Button My Lip or Dissolve here to cause any dissonance; he keeps it all in control showing mastery and self awareness.

Fans can also be harsh critics and there are brief moments of disquiet. There a couple of tracks when his voice weakens and maybe the 3 day recording time was too much for his vocal chords as time drew to a close. Thankfully Emmylou in The Crooked Line saves the day as her vocal fades in mid phrase. Furthermore She Was No Good opens like a nursery rhyme ends abruptly without conclusion.

SP&S is a thoroughly satisfying listen and the culmination of many years of hints and aspirations, with the colour red and its symbolic resonance appearing continually. The predominantly acoustic sound should soar even further when taken to a live stage with Down among the Wines and Spirits and Sulphur to Sugarcane (Oh the women in Columbus!) expanded from their solo performances previewed in recent shows. Do I hear the Archies in there? The upcoming gigs with the Sugarcanes should be highly enjoyable as this is music meant to be played live. His quote of ending his shows with Changing Partners would be a fitting round up and one in which the love filled EC lets his feelings truly show.

[charliestumpy]

I can hardly wait to receive my official commercial copy of this album all bar one of which tracks most of us have heard many times.

I enjoy the new songs (which probably will be on an album in 2 years) from current tour.

On the other hand, Bob-team made sure that almost everyone had heard from his current No 1 album only 1 track freely given on his official website.

I like DPAM/RZ and many others, and feel that with right approach to his publicizers' sharing his abilities that others too would appreciate DPAM.

I am pleased that I chose not to fork out WAY too much to join Costello official site-scam, and hope that those who did receive due recompense very soon.

Today when not out I shall play my older Costello 45s (haven't bothered with the 'new one' farce ...).

[Neil.]

Thanks for that review! Looking forward to it. You mentioned orchestrations for the Hans Christian Anderson songs - ah, that's interesting - thought it was all bluegrass kinda stuff.

I don't really understand all this fuss about so-called 'old' songs - they're only old if you make bootlegs/download songs from the 'net. The only song on the album that's a remake is Complicated Shadows - the rest have never been made as real, 'studio' takes. The previously released Hidden Shame was only a demo. The rest you've heard from live shows - it's not Elvis's fault if you've heard them before from bootlegs. What's wrong with him keeping songs stockpiled? As mentioned before, fans can be really harsh.

[johnfoyle]

You mentioned orchestrations for the Hans Christian Anderson songs - ah, that's interesting - thought it was all bluegrass kinda stuff.

I think Buzz meant that the basic melody of the orchestrations is reproduced in the bluegrass setting. In fact I'm pretty sure that's what he meant because that's what can be heard on the new album. Yes, I too have it. I've been holding back on commenting because it wouldn't be fair seeing as so few have the album. I'lll still hold back because I don't have the time right now to write properly. I feel even less able to do so because Buzz has written so brilliantly about it . Uncannily he has articulated a lot of what I was thinking !

[migdd]

Vinyl to be released in the US on May 26?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0025K ... 390_snp_dp

[mood swung]

In spite of myself and momofuku, I am getting excited about this release.

[buzz]

Thanks John for explaining the orchestral reference I made. The attention to detail he uses with the orchestral versions is used here but with different acoustic instruments (worlds apart). The songs are sublime and worth geting excited about. Maybe John when you heard as much EC as we have we end up thinking uncannily alike having never met. That's what being fans does to us!!

[invisible Pole]

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/elv ... 3492.story

Elvis Costello Reveals 'Secret' New Album

Being able to revisit pieces from his unfinished opera about the life of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen was a welcome "surprise" for Elvis Costello on his new album, "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane."

The set, due out June 2 on Hear Music and produced by T-Bone Burnett, includes four songs from "The Secret Songs," a commission by the Royal Danish Opera. They weren't initially planned to be part of "Secret...," but fortuitous circumstances allowed Costello, Burnett and the all-star group of players they'd assembled, and dubbed the Sugarcanes, to take them on.

"I started out with songs I felt we could achieve very easily," Costello said during a conference call with reporters to promote his appearance at this year's Bonnaroo Music and Art Festival. "The vividness of those recordings suprised me, and emboldened by them getting into the can pretty quickly...I was able to try these other songs that were a little more intricate. And the ease with which these musicians expressed them allowed me to really sing them and really tell the stories."

Costello told Billboard.com that "Secret..." came about because "I had the idea to work with my friend T-Bone Burnett (who also produced 1986's 'King of America' and 1989's 'Spike') and to make an acoustic record." The two recorded it during a three-day session in Nashville with Jerry Douglas on dobro, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Mike Compton on mandolin, Jeff Taylor on accordion and Dennis Crouch on double bass. "We sat around in a semicircle where we could see each other very readily," Costello recalled. "I was able to direct things and people took the initiative...and they played just beautifully. The playing of the musicians was so responsive it just flowed.

"It's mainly, I guess you would say, bluegrass instrumentation, but they're playing my songs. They're not playing traditional bluegrass songs, and they don't sound like bluegrass songs. They're ballad form. Some of them are ragtime...It's always good to try and find new ways to play songs and to find new sounds to express songs you've already written."

Besides material from "The Secret Songs" the album includes a pair of tunes Costello wrote for Johnny Cash and three co-writes -- two with Burnett, including "The Crooked Line," which features harmony by Emmylou Harris, and one ("I Felt the Chill") with Loretta Lynn.

Costello will perform solo on June 13 at Bonnaroo but has shows with the Sugarcanes slated for either side of the festival. He plays in North America in June and August, with a pair of concerts in Japan in early August.

Gary Graff, Detroit

[verbal gymnastics]

I've had the album for a little while now and I love it. My fave track is The Crooked Line. It reminds me a lot of The Scarlet Tide and I agree that the latter would not be out of place on this album.

I think I'll buy the Japanese issue though. Might as well do it in style

[Ypsilanti]

Just saw this on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ELVIS-COSTELLO-Secr ... otohosting

[thepopeofpop]

Just saw this on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ELVIS-COSTELLO-Secr ... otohosting

Yes I saw one on eBay about 2 weeks ago. It's amazing with all these promo copies floating around that the album hasn't leaked onto the internet yet.

[sweetest punch]

iTunes in Belgium has Femme Fatale as a bonustrack en What Lewis Did Last as a pre-order only track.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 4&s=143446
UK: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 4&s=143444

In USA the pre-order only track is Dirty Rotten Shame: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 5&s=143441
My All Time Doll is already for sale as a single track! http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 0&s=143441

[sweetest punch]

Hear 30 second audioclips of the complete album here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Profane- ... 521&sr=1-7

[Jack of All Parades]

Have heard numerous cuts on the local sudent radio station WFUV-what excites me right now is the ability to work in a local reference- the city of Poughkeepsie- into a song- "From Sulfur to Sugar Cane"-that has my ears piqued at this time- general feel- this will not be a big seller-just popular amongst the "devoted".

[Ypsilanti]

general feel- this will not be a big seller-just popular amongst the "devoted"

I don't know...maybe this record is bound for a better destiny. To my amazement, I've heard "Complicated Shadows" on WXRP in NYC a bunch of times in the past few weeks. It appears to be in their regular rotation. That seems pretty promising. And I think the ranks of the "devoted" may have increased a bit since Spectacle. Plus, Bluegrass is much more in the mainstream than it was a few years ago. I feel hopeful.

[The Gentleman]

iTunes in Belgium has Femme Fatale as a bonustrack en What Lewis Did Last as a pre-order only track.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 4&s=143446
UK: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 4&s=143444

In USA the pre-order only track is Dirty Rotten Shame: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 5&s=143441
My All Time Doll is already for sale as a single track! http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 0&s=143441

Although I would have liked to have seen it on the album itself, it's nice to see "Dirty Rotten Shame" isn't consigned to be a vinyl-only track. After 14 or so years, "London's Brilliant" is still vinyl-only, as would be the case with "Do You Know What I'm Saying" if not for an obscure promo!

What's with the different tracks for different territories, though? Yes, I understand why CDs in Europe and Japan have bonus material, but does Apple's strategy suggest they believe that, say, american Elvis Costello fans would find "What Lewis Did Last" less appealing that their Belgian friends?

[sweetest punch]

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/i ... i-formats/


Extract:

Burnett has started a new venture called Code, which aims to do for music what THX did for
movie-theater sound: set standards that ensure the best possible quality. The first Code album, John Mellencamp’s Life, Death, Love and Freedom (which Burnett produced), will be released July 15th in a two-disc package: a standard CD and an audio-only DVD with superior sound quality that will play on any standard DVD player. The package will also include iPod-playable AAC files ripped straight from the masters, which Burnett says results in better sound. He expects Elvis Costello to release his next album with Code and is talking to numerous other artists.

The "Code" project seems to be vanished??

[thepopeofpop]

We might see the "Code" release as part of a "Deluxe" Edition in a few months if the album sells better than expected.

Alternately he could just release the album as high quality downloads. Elvis was complaining to Newsweek about low quality downloads - he should lead the way and offer FLAC downloads, in both CD-quality (16 bit, 44.1 kHz sampling rate) format and also "Code" quality (24 bit, 96 kHz sampling rate) format for the audioheads.

[scamp]

I know I'm probably late with this but I thought I would post anyway. I don't know how long this will be up.

http://www.elviscostello.com/

[sweetest punch]

Hear 30 seconds of What Lewis Did Last here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002B3 ... 80&sr=1-24

[cwr]

So it looks like "What Lewis Did Last" will be available to buy in the US as a single track on amazon, is that what I'm seeing there?

If so, I'm thrilled. It was looking like that track was going to be vinyl-only in the US, but available on iTunes in other countries.

[johnfoyle]

So it looks like "What Lewis Did Last" will be available to buy in the US as a single track on amazon, is that what I'm seeing there? If so, I'm thrilled. It was looking like that track was going to be vinyl-only in the US, but available on iTunes in other countries.

Or on CD in Japan.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=UCCO-3012

[chickendinna]

Since I'm A completeist idiot, I went ahead and ordered the Japanese version of S,P & S...Total out the door was About $40 bucks.Yikes!!! Elvis,please don't release any more bonus track variations to S,P & S.I can't afford it

[johnfoyle]

Total out the door was About $40 bucks.Y

It's costing me , including handling etc, c. €25.

[The imposter]

I'm Getting round to thinkng about placing my order for the new album. As with every official release I will faithfully BUY an original copy.,but the question once again is which version to go for? Obviously I want all the available tracks... Should I go with the Japanese version again with the 15 tracks.. ? It's ridiculously expensive. Maybe I should just wait, an expanded version could be available 6 months down the line...? I have no vinyl now, (too impractical, for me) which I fear is the way the industry is returning to now, (in an attempt to offer something tangible, collectable & original) I'm hoping that someone soon posts a version of Dirty,Rotten Shame, (the exclusive vinyl only release) soon, in a digital format that I can listen to. Then again, If the official site would only make all this content available in one place.. well, I might even subscribe....