Elvis Costello & The Roots - Wise Up Ghost

I will surely be eyeing these tracks through more of a Declan-size spectacles, being a fan of Elvis' for a while. But I am excited about the collaboration. The Roots have done amzing things on the late night show, and particularly with EC- who has graced the stage with them more than once.

 

Skip ahead to track three, which seems to our first cohesive track. "Refuse To Be Saved" is basically an Elvis rap with some sparse samples and horn blasts. The lyrical theme is little more than a sleazy portrait of downtown and the band brings some hot jazzy funk to back him up. I would add some background girl vocals to add to the hotness, but what's there is quality.

 

Up to that track, and what will keep several songs from connecting, is that the pairing seems to be daring each other. Elvis by himself can let his words get in his way. He's got a brilliantly huge vocabulary, but sometimes he tries to say it all at once. And I can't tell here if the band is going faster to catch up to him or vice versa. It gets a little messy sometimes.

 

"Stick Out Your Tongue" is an example of a (kind of beautiful) mess where the band rocks a slow jam while Elvis jams some lyrics of his previous songs into something entirely new. It's too obscure for a general audisnce to make the connection, but fun nonetheless. And another "Come The Meantime" brings the album's only main guitar whail while ?uestlove grooves over a Loveage sample.

 

The record is certainly not perfect, and a completely out-of-place Bacharach-ish ballad closer aside, the next-t-last track is damn near perfect and garners my review an extra half-star. The title track comes on like an epic movie theme closing credits. Like Shaft meets Rocky meets Gone With The Wind. A haunting orchestral riff bleeds into a dark rhythm and the strings are backed with guitar and horns. It's a true song of the year contender and should have finished the album.

 

A great collaboration which can make a Costello fan's head spin with the possibility of re-recording catalog albums. (3.5 of 5 stars)