Shiv Shankly

There's plenty of material recorded with the Brodskys that could make up a bonus disc, so it'll be interesting to see what they come up with. The version of "God Only Knows" EC did with them is a must.

Also, EC has a new album in collaboration with Allen Toussaint coming out in May. Per Billboard and the elvis-costello.com news site:

"Costello's recent collaborations with Allen Toussaint will appear on "The River in Reverse," due in May via Verve Forecast. The material on the set includes new songs co-written by Costello and Toussaint, as well as fresh versions of several vintage Toussaint songs.

With producer Joe Henry, the pair recorded in November in Toussaint's native New Orleans with Costello's band, the Imposters, and several members of Toussaint's band. Conducted amid the city's massive recovery effort, the sessions are thought to be among the first there since Hurricane Katrina struck in late August."

Shiv Shankly

Oh yeah, the track listing for My Flame Burns Blue, in case anyone hasn't seen it:

1. Hora Decubitus
2. Favourite Hour
3. That's How You Killed Before
4. Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue
5. Clubland
6. Almost Blue
7. Dust
8. Speak Darkly My Angel
9. Almost Ideal Eyes
10. Can You Be True?
11. Put Away Forbidden Playthings
12. Episode Of Blonde
13. My Flame Burns Blue (Blood Count)
14. Watching The Detectives
15. God Give Me Strength

cdollaz

Apparantly this is the breakdown for the Juliet Letters bonus disc:

THE JULIET LETTERS BONUS DISC

1. SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet
The bonus disc opens with a studio recording of the Irish folk tune from the Brodsky Quartet's 1994 album Lament, featuring a guest vocal from Costello.

2. PILLS AND SOAP (LIVE) Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet
3. KING OF THE UNKNOWN SEA (LIVE) Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet
4. SKELETON (LIVE) Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet
These Costello/Brodsky performances recorded July 28, 1995 at London's Meltdown festival are previously unreleased. The songs "King Of The Unknown Sea" (written by Costello and Michael Thomas) and "Skeleton" (written by Michael Thomas) have never been released in any form.

5. MORE THAN RAIN (LIVE) Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet
6. GOD ONLY KNOWS (LIVE) Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet
7. THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE ME (LIVE) Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet
The Costello/Brodsky versions of Tom Waits' "More Than Rain," Brian Wilson and Tony Asher's "God Only Knows," and Jerome Kern and Herbert Reynolds' "They Didn't Believe Me" originally appeared in 1993 on the promo-only CD Live At New York Town Hall. The promo also included a version of "I Almost Had A Weakness," not included here.

8. O MISTRESS MINE John Harle with Elvis Costello
9. COME AWAY, DEATH John Harle with Elvis Costello
Elvis sings the words of William Shakespeare in John Harle's adaptation of portions of Twelfth Night. Both songs originally appeared in 1996 on Harle's album Terror And Magnificence along with a third Costello-sung piece, "When That I Was And A Little Tiny Boy," which does not appear here.

10. PUT AWAY FORBIDDEN PLAYTHINGS (LIVE) Elvis Costello & Fretwork
11. CAN SHE EXCUSE MY WRONGS (LIVE) Elvis Costello, Fretwork & Composers Ensemble
These previously unreleased performances were recorded July 1, 1995 at the Meltdown festival. "Put Away Forbidden Playthings" was written by Costello and later recorded by Fretwork without Costello on the 1997 album Sit Fast and by Costello without Fretwork on 2006's My Flame Burns Blue. "Can She Excuse My Wrongs" was written by 16th century composer John Dowland.

12. FIRE SUITE 1 Roy Nathanson with Cyrus Chestnut & Elvis Costello
13. FIRE SUITE 3 Roy Nathanson with Elvis Costello
14. FIRE SUITE REPRISE Roy Nathanson with Elvis Costello
These three songs represent Costello's entire contribution to Fire At Keaton's Bar & Grill, the concept album released in 2000 by Jazz Passengers saxophonist Roy Nathanson.

15. GIGI (LIVE) Elvis Costello & Bill Frisell
16. DEEP DEAD BLUE (LIVE) Elvis Costello & Bill Frisell
Seven songs from Costello and Frisell's June 25, 1995 set at Meltdown were released on the CD Deep Dead Blue. Rhino has no plans to reissue that CD, but two of its tracks are included here: Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "Gigi" and Costello and Frisell's own "Deep Dead Blue."

17. UPON A VEIL OF MIDNIGHT BLUE (LIVE) Elvis Costello & The Punishing Kiss Band
The Punishing Kiss Band (a combination of the Brodsky Quartet and seven additional musicians) was formed for the sole purpose of accompanying Elvis in a June 28, 1995 set at Meltdown. Elvis has yet to record a studio version of his song "Upon A Veil Of Midnight Blue," but he has released live versions on the video A Case For Song and the album My Flame Burns Blue. This version is previously unreleased.

18. LOST IN THE STARS Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet
After regularly featuring this Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson composition in their concert performances, Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet recorded this studio version in 1994 for the film and album September Songs — The Music Of Kurt Weill.

cdollaz

My Flame Burns Blue came yesterday and it is awesome. Further proof that EC's voice fits well with any type of music (at least the types he has tried so far). Definitely worth picking up.

I just bought one of each of the following:

and


Each are hand-embellished on canvas 12 x 12.

I have signed copies of both King Of America and This Years Model, so these will go great along side them on the wall.

Buford T Pusser

Where did you buy those? I want the camera one.

cdollaz

The artists name is Howie Green and his site is:

http://www.hgd.com/gallery/index.htm

For each album cover, he has a few size and medium options. I got the album-sized versions. The largest are 30 x 30 and that would be bad ass.

I think he only sells the mounted canvas versions on his site. If you would prefer flat canvas or paper, they are sold at www.rockpopgallery.com

He has quite a few other really cool ones, particularly The Clash-London Calling, Stones-Black And Blue, and a good Tom Waits one.

funstan

EC just played the Grand Ole Opry with Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings. It was great, it was the first time my son had seen EC. Two great shows.

Here is the link if anyone wants to hear it. It is from 2/17 & 2/18.http://www.wsmonline.com

My Flame Turns Blue is awesome.

Buford T Pusser

Have you gotten them yet? He puts paint over the print or did I read that wrong?

The two you have are my faves of what I could see in the wallpaper tiny size. Maybe I need to explore more and will notice larger pix of all the available images.

That 30X30 would be nice.

cdollaz

I just ordered them yesterday. Should be here in a week or so. Yes, he hand embellishes them by taking the canvas print and then painting on it. It makes each piece unique as artists do not embellish each in the same way.

Somewhere on the site they have a pic of a regular album size up against the largest one, which I think is 44 x 44 (not 30 x 30 as I thought above). Just look around his site abit.

I personally prefer the stretched canvas as it doesn't have to be framed and has some texture, but a cheaper option would be the paper editions, although I don't believe they are limited editions.

Buford T Pusser

Well let me know what you think after it arrives. I'm tempted to get the large one for the music room.

I'll have to look at the site a bit more. Stretched canvas or nothing for me.

DJLinus

cdollaz - Those look very nice. Thanks for bringing those to our attention. I'll definitely bookmark the artist's site and revisit it later when my art budget opens up a bit.

As for My Flame..., I really want it, but I'm tightening my media buying belt again (stupid student loan payments), so I'm going to have to wait on this one.

cdollaz

My 2 pieces came in over the weekend and they look great. I think the large ones would be awesome.

Buford T Pusser

Mrs. Pusser gave the approval for Elvis and the camera. The spot where I was going to put it won't hold the large one. *sniff

I'd forgotten about the new cd bookshelf being so high. There's a few more spots that might work. One is a very horizontal space behind the TV/stereo but it seems like it would be better to have three images.

I'm not sure there are three I love but I need to look more. I like the two Elvis but wouldn't want all of him. He's one of my faves, but not quite that much.

Gamblor187

Just ordered my tickets for the Elvis/Allen Toussaint show in June in Ann Arbor!

Second row of the mezzanine. Dead center!

Gamblor187

Just a reminder that "River In Reverse" comes out this Tuesday. There's a regular release and another one that includes a DVD.

Shiv Shankly

Excellent show as always last night (in Ann Arbor); the man certainly gives value for money, as the show lasted about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Cool to hear "Tears Before Bedtime" live.

Gamblor187

Agreed! Other than the woman doing interpretive dance in front of me and blobking my view most of the time, it was a fantastic show. It was the sixth time that I've seen him live and definitely the best show of the bunch.

The set list from last night's show (with thanks to the Elvis Costello list):


01 (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding
02 Monkey To Man
03 On Your Way Down
04 A Certain Girl
05 Clown Strike
06 Tears, Tears, and More Tears
07 Poisoned Rose
08 Tears Before Bedtime
09 Broken Promise Land
10 Freedom For The Stallion
11 The River In Reverse
12 Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?
13 Nearer To You
14 Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
15 Play Something Sweet
16 Bedlam
17 Dust
18 Watching The Detectives
19 I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
20 High Fidelity
21 Pump It up

First encore:

22 Professor Longhair medley
23 Ascension Day
24 What Do You Want The Girl To Do
25 Wonder Woman
26 International Echo
27 Alison/Tracks Of My Tears
28 Clubland
29 All These Things
30 Six-Fingered Man

Second encore:

31 That's How You Got Killed Before
32 Yes We Can Can
33 The Greatest Love
34 Working In A Coal Mine
35 Fortune Teller
36 The Sharpest Thorn

The Antipodean

So how is "River in Reverse"? I've been torn based on reviews I've seen. I worry it's another "North" (easily the worst of Costello's albums I've bought). Anyone heard it yet?

Lokimok

What's on the bonus DVD?

http://verveforecast.com/sweeps/defa...issite#buttons

Gamblor187

It's easily the best of his recent collaborations. (Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who really likes "Painted From Memory" but was somewhat disappointed with "My Flame Burns Blue".) There are some ballads on the album, but thanks to Touissant and the Crescent City Horns, they feel nothing like the songs on "North". Rather than the syrup of that album, "The River In Reverse" is a blend of R&B, blues, soul, and funk with a distinct New Orleans flavor. At least half of the songs on "River In Reverse" are from Toussaint's vast songbook and Elvis pulls them off quite well. The remaining songs were penned by Costello with arrangements by Toussaint and display a sense of anger and outrage, much of it due to Katrina and its aftermath, that has been a bit lacking from Elvis lately.

I'll admit to be only slightly familiar with Toussaint before this CD, but now I can't wait to pick up some of his stuff.

Final Grade: B+

If you go to www.elviscostello.com, you can hear samples of all the tracks.

And I really want to encourage everyone to go see this show. Absolutely unforgettable! The addition of the Crescent City Horns added so much to the show, playing on most (or maybe even all) of the songs. (Keep an eye on Joe, the trombone player...incredibly entertaining, even when he's not playing.) These new arrangements made it possible for me to enjoy even "Pump It Up", a song which I've grown extremely tired of hearing live. GO SEE THIS TOUR!

Gamblor187

A half hour documentary on the making of the album. Entertaining and a nice freebie, but nothing spectacular.

Shiv Shankly

The VH1 Classic "Decades Rock Live" thing dedicated to EC is debuting tonight at 8 PM EST. I'm sure they'll be playing it several more times, so if you miss it tonight, there will be plenty of other chances to see it.

And for anyone who is into EC concert recordings, the final show of the River in Reverse tour from New Orleans on the 18th is now being torrented, and it's excellent.

funstan

Just watched the Decades Rock Live concert w/ EC, Death Cab for Cutie, Fiona Apple, and Billie Joe Armstrong. Fiona Apple took a geniunely creepy EC song "I Want You" and turned it into a psychotic masterpiece.

auto

Costello albums set for another round of reissues
By Jill Menze

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Universal Music's reissue arm has acquired 11 albums from Elvis Costello's early catalog, with plans to re-release the British musician's material via deluxe editions, compilations and box sets.

The albums acquired begin with Costello's 1977 debut, "My Aim Is True," and continue through "This Year's Model" (1978), "Armed Forces" (1979), "Get Happy!!" (1980), "Almost Blue" (1981), "Trust" (1981), "Imperial Bedroom" (1982), "Punch the Clock" (1983), "Goodbye Cruel World" (1986), "King of America" (1986) and "Blood and Chocolate" (1986).

Although these albums have already been reissued in expanded form by Rykodisc as well as Rhino, Universal Music Enterprises promises its new versions will be the "definitive reissues." The company also plans to produce limited edition releases for its Hip-O Select imprint, DVDs of videos and concerts and usher Costello's music into new formats such as ringtones.

Costello just wrapped a tour with Allen Toussaint in support of their collaborative Verve Forecast album, "The River in Reverse." He will also be heard singing "Little Boxes," the theme song for the Showtime series "Weeds," on its August 14 season premiere. The track will be sung by a different artist during each episode, including Englebert Humperdinck, Death Cab For Cutie, Ozomatli and Regina Spektor.

Reuters/Billboard

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WHAT!!! This is bizarre. I can't imagine them besting the Rhino reissues or what fans are going to buy these AGAIN. Seems silly to me when there is so much music out there to be remastered and reissued with goodies. Talk about beating a dead horse.

cdollaz

Releasing live material - good
Re-issuing albums AGAIN - bad