14 months?

[jardine]

since national ransom...any thoughts/stirrings/hopes for 2012? all we've had is sparkling day Bacharach rumors and live boxes in over a year.

[krm]

I hope that "sitting" will be released within 2012!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhott7TobgA&

[Kevin Davis]

I'm grateful that Elvis is a productive enough artist for 14 months without a full release to feel like a long time.

[Jack of All Parades]

I would like to see him do the daring thing and not record for a good period of time- recharge the batteries, play with the boys, see the world with the family, walk away for awhile, stockpile the good ones for a future release in the years to come. Indulge himself for a number of years. He has nothing to prove to anyone at this point in his career. Hey- why not work on that long rumored memoir. That could be the new release.

[migdd]

I'd imagine that EC and the guys will continue to tour with the Big Wheel throughout 2012. It may turn out to be the longest-running, most successful tour of his career thus far.

Like Chris, I'd rather Elvis not throw together another album until the time is right. He's put out so much material in the last decade and it's time to recharge, take stock, have some fun and take on other projects until the time is ripe to venture back into the studio. What's the sense of putting out another collection of songs unless the muse blesses him with some really great ones that would fit into a cohesive collection? It might be another five years, or ten. Also, the stars need to align to provide a solid marketing plan to put the album across to it's potential audience. No artist wants to "scream into the void".

My daughter recently upgraded to a newer iPod and I've inherited her Zune (far superior, imo). I've uploaded all of EC's albums and have been rediscovering many songs that I've not given a listen for quite some time (at least since the Rhino re-issues) during long walks and jogs. So much great material to rediscover. It's given me the itch to attend future wheel dates to see what gems he and the Imposters cull from his incredible catalogue.

[sweetest punch]

See also this thread: http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... f=2&t=9158

[Neil.]

If Elvis isn't going to release any material this year, my hope is that his musical goes well (though it's a tough sell: Elvis is a very funny lyricist, but his style is so mordant that I can't quite see him pulling off the more shallow humour of Austin Powers).

The other thing I hope for, as always, is a worldwide cover version smash hit by a young artist. As I've said a zillion times before, I want Motel Matches to become a standard - and I can imagine Town Cryer and I'm In The Mood Again doing the same.

P.S. An Oscar for 'Sparkling Day' would be nice, but as the film tanked at the box office, I'm not sure it's going to happen. And it's not one of his greatest moments, so perhaps it'd be better to wait a bit longer.

[sweetest punch]

Although "Momofuku", "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane" and "National Ransom" all have their moments, I hope that Elvis will write / choose 12 great songs for his next album and record them in a way that could appeal to a broader audience. Big sales can't be expected, but an album that gets noticed beyond our fanbase would be great.

Maybe now is the time for a covers album. He played a lot of covers with the Sugarcanes. On the Revolver tour with The Imposters they played no less than 24 unreleased covers so far ( http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... olver_Tour ). A fine selection from these covers could make a great album.

Or he should try a standards album. A fantastic band for this kind of music shouldn't be hard to find, isn't it Paul McCartney? .

[Jack of All Parades]

I really think he could wait a considerable time before committing anything down to tape in a studio. I like your notion of a cover record as long as it really rethinks the original. As to a 'standards' record I have always found them, for the most part, to be a last gasp effort by a former 'big' artist to remain relevant. I just cannot think of him in that mode at this time.

[Kevin Davis]

I really think he could wait a considerable time before committing anything down to tape in a studio. I like your notion of a cover record as long as it really rethinks the original. As to a 'standards' record I have always found them, for the most part, to be a last gasp effort by a former 'big' artist to remain relevant. I just cannot think of him in that mode at this time.

Really? I think some of his best vocal performances from the last decade have leaned that direction--"You Hung the Moon," "A Voice in the Dark," "Jimmie Standing in the Rain," the "Smile" covers, "Let's Misbehave," all of North. I can't envision how a standards album by Elvis, who has detoured down that avenue so many times throughout his career, could be seen as some kind of desperate ploy for relevance--it's not like it would be a strange move for him, after all.

I think this idea of "taking some time off to recharge" is overly romantic and impractical, as if an artist who goes into some kind of self-imposed exile to think about art instead of just doing it is inevitably going to emerge on the other side as a more vital force. How many times historically has that really proven to be true? Conversely, how many times does it just result in an overhyped, underdeveloped "comeback" album that points only to the intervening vacation as an opportunity to have lost the plot? It seems, at this point, pretty clear that music is what Elvis does for fun, and impulse has always been one of the major cornerstones of what he does. I'm glad to be proven wrong, but I'd suspect that while some extra editing might clean up some of the clutter that appears on most EC albums, it also might soften some of the outlandish creative bursts that account for his greatest achievements. My suspicion is that a five-years-in-the-making comeback would end up being an extremely average, extremely unremarkable Elvis Costello album.

[bronxapostle]

i'm with you Kevin...NO TIME OFF FOR OUR BOY! i bet we get a new release, or at the VERY least, the premiere of a DOZEN new songs before twenty twelve ends. unless he was NOT joking when he said back in October something like "back when i used to write songs." tho i surely smelt b.s. when he uttered it! maybe he'll do his lovely opposite of what he says trick and give us TWO new long players...that's what I HOPE FOR, NOT a lay-off.

[verbal gymnastics]

I also think 2012 will see the continuation of the Songbook tour with a few non-wheel shows thrown in. There'll probably be a few solo shows as well.

On the recording front, it'll be interesting to see how this goes. The illness (and subsequent passing) of his father understandably led to an uncreative period. I wonder if there will be either a new covers album or a new album of older unreleased material.

I think Elvis is someone who can't sit still.

[Jack of All Parades]

Kevin- with you in that I think music is his life blood- but I feel he can afford at this point in his creative life to step back for an extended period of time- there should not have to be this feeling that an album a year is required. As to those songs of his from the past fifteen years that are the most compelling, of which you mentioned several, they are exceptional pieces to my ear and I never think of them in a 'covers' context. I simply suggest stockpile, cherry pick the prime ones, in the years to come and then come back with a record that is on his terms when it really means something to him. I have followed with interest his comments on the state of the recording industry and his relationship to it these past years. If he really is so disgusted with the industry then I suggest step back.

I am also not talking about recharging as a means to find his 'inner artist'. That is silly to me, as well. I just think he, like any person, would benefit by putting the 'phone off the receiver'. I suspect he can afford to do it for a far longer period than I could. Step back and enjoy his family and the world around him. He has earned it. I always admired how Lennon walked away for a sabbatical.

The one thing that I would love from him, and I think you mentioned this on another thread as well, is for him to do more Spectacle type shows or for him to do a regular radio gig on XM/Sirius radio or NPR. This is a natural venue for him and I think it generously engages his greatest strengths- his curiosity, his encyclopedic information base and his ability to build and maintain a conversation. These days I treasure his archival skills.

[jardine]

I'm not sure if his productivity is linked at all to "an album a year is required"--hmm, might be...

Lennon's sabbat resulted in and was preceeded by mostly lousy music.

stepping back from your life blood? hmm

just some random thoughts. his compulsion to produce/create...he could afford to step back from it, i'm not sure what his motive to do so might be...

but i sure do agree re spectacle and npr suggestions. I just love listening to him and all those lovely connections he himself loves so much

I guess my deepest hope is that he really tried something new/big/venturous/different. that would be a good way to sort of "step back" from the ordinary and let his life blood take a real new risk. I found that there were hints of that w. National Ransom.

of course, I've been listening A LOT to the smile sessions box the past few weeks, so I might not be in a good position to even think about this clearly!!

[cwr]

The only time we've seen him essentially take a "sabbatical" from the steady stream of records resulted in him stockpiling songs and returning with WIWC. Which is a fun album that some people love but which is probably more divisive on these message boards now than NORTH.

And I while I enjoy that record, it's hardly his strongest batch of songs.

I agree that another covers album would be welcome. I've long wanted him to continue with Volume 2 of Kojak Variety.

Personally, I'd rather him record as often as possible. I don't think there's any evidence to support the idea that NOT writing and recording "re-charges" his batteries. If anything, he does his best work when he gets on a roll and pumps out album after album, song after song. He gets on a roll.

Then again, you can't really blame him. He seemed to give it all he had with NR and the sales were dismal despite his best efforts to really promote it. He got more attention telling people NOT to buy the box set than he did for putting out a double LP of really good songs...

[jardine]

both before and after kingofamerica and blood/chocolate were somewhat extended periods w. little recording (like now, around 14 months or so each), after ending w. spike, but neither as long as before wiwc...

looking down the disco-graph, we've been quite spoiled, time-wise. plus, I also wonder, also, about the lack of reaction to National Ransom and this particular 14 months

[Kevin Davis]

Kojak Variety 2 could really be cool, especially if he took it a different direction than the first one but kept the idea of a generally unified aesthetic approach. A few styles I'd really love to hear him explore in depth would be Porter/Gershwin-style standards (I've always really enjoyed the "But Not For Me"s and "Let's Misbehave"s of Elvis's catalog), trad Irish balladry (a full EC/Chieftans album would pretty much be a holy grail for me at this point), and--perhaps of greatest interest to me--a collection of more modern material by songwriters who are younger than him. I can think of a handful of songs from the last ten years I'd love to hear him do. I doubt an album like that would be received well at all, but musically it could really be an adventure.

Ultimately I respect what any artist chooses for him- or herself, but Elvis's track record seems to be that he consistently pumps out albums that I thoroughly enjoy about 70-80% of, and astonishingly not at the expense of the occasional album that I enjoy 100% of. Not including fringe releases (live stuff, "Cruel Smile," "Il Sogno," albums where EC isn't the primary vocalist), we got 7 releases between 2001 and 2010--"WIWC," "North," "Delivery Man," "River in Reverse," "Momofuku," "SPS," and "National Ransom." If that's the what we get from his being a workhorse, I say let the man work. If you reduced those to a 2- or even 3CD "cream of the crop" collection, you'd lose far too much stuff that might be considered extraneous to a more consciously edited program of material but add a great deal of color to Elvis's body of work as it stands--especially when you also factor in all the one-offs, odds and sods, etc.

[fred darden]

singles, like in the old days

[docinwestchester]

He got more attention telling people NOT to buy the box set than he did for putting out a double LP of really good songs...

So true!

I'm sure that he's still writing new songs. Release them individually and sell them on iTunes, amazon, his website, etc. Play them live, along with the classics. Go for it with Burt once again. And please go ahead with season 3 of Spectacle. Plenty of work in 2012 if he's up to it.

[Poor Deportee]

EC can do what he wants, he'll get no quarrel from me...but I'm not sure I see any need for an extended hiatus. This would only make sense to me if his work had been of lethargic quality, but my feeling is that his latest records have been quite entertaining: MF a blast, SP & S sonically delicious if somewhat desultory, and NR a real career highlight. By contrast, the period from ATUB (1996) to RIR (2006), while it had good moments, often seemed unfocused and creatively devoted more to slightly precious craftsmanship than bona-fide inspiration. So I'd say EC has been on a good little run and wouldn't mind him keeping it up.