Elvis Costello and The Roots - Wise Up Ghost

Release Date: 17 September
Label: Bluenote Records
Rating: 8.0 out 0f 10

In one corner of music of the day we have a Mr. Will.i.am, also known as Douchebag Extraordinaire. Lending his "talents" to the likes of many other douchebags, he has singlehandedly contributed to more collaborations and career rescues than any other artist recently. His finger in everyone else's pie.
Then there's a Mr. Pharrel Williams. Only if you are a 45 year old mormon could you have missed either of his number one singles released this year. On "Get Lucky" he schmoozed  up to Daft Punk, sending the song into legendary airplay status. On "Blurred Lines" he once again rescued a turd stain of a record and ensured top of the charts success for a thoroughly mediocre effort (Daft Punk's 'Random Access Memories' had exactly one good track, and that was the one provided by Skateboard P aka Pharrel).

What do these uber producers have to do with our album in question. Nothing, except for the fact that, like the over-exposed jerk-wads, The Roots' illustrious career has cosied up to many a great collaborator, the results being both fresh, unique, timeless and pertinent. Nowhere else is it truer than on 'Wise Up Ghost', with Elvis Costello.

With the first single 'Walk Us Uptown' being released back in July, critics and fans alike wondered what a collaboration between a dinosaur/punk legend and an uber funky soul and hip-hop band would be like. In short, it sounds destined. Which is kind of always the way The Roots sound when collaborating. There is some juju that happens in the production process, I am sure of it. Funky, soulful, effortlessly cool and young Roots enhance, mould and emphasize the gritty, authentic, meaty talents of Costello. One would have thought that it might sound contrived. Nothing could sound more casual and correct though. Costello likened the making of the album to the game of 'Exquisite Corpse', where one person adds his own words to the previous persons words to make a story. This kind of bring and share effort is apparent, as no one element outshines or shadows the other. Elvis' vocals perfectly blend with the trip-hop beats, horn sections and funk basslines, blurring age and race lines perfectly. It's not all Roots inspired stuff here either. On the sexy, woozy '(She Might Be) A Grenade', Costello shines in the paired down, horn led, dub echoed vocals. It sounds like something from one his more recent albums.
The perfectly complimentary styles are, of course, the star of this show. At 15 tracks long, this is a beast of a collaboration. A well thought out beast, but a beast never the less. It takes a lot of listening to, but once again, they make it easy for us. By dropping in largely instrumental pieces like 'Cincos minutos con vos', the listener is released from having to concentrate to hard, and instead is transported to a Mexican beach club at 1am. The addition of La Marisoul's vocals are a genius idea.

The following track 'Viceroy's Row' is yet another surprise and one more perfect blend of the two styles on offer here. This album is very fair. To the contributing artists and the listener. There is very little self indulgence here and yet it is obvious that they are enjoying themselves.

Perhaps most staggeringly, the focus never seems lost, through the constantly varying shades and attitudes. Whether it's the smoky, jazz club vibe, the rockier punk/funk sounds or even the soaring string sections, the guys are having fun experimenting here, whilst staying true to each other's sounds.
The title track is possibly the most ambitious on the album, complete with elaborate string sections, a James Bond vibe and some bold crashing percussion. It's the best pallette cleanser you could hope for.

This kind of collaboration - one that transcends genre, generation, race and expectations - is the future of music production. Once ventured into these dangerous, exhilarating, defining landmarks, it is impossible to "un-venture". They have set a bar with this album. The ultimate mic drop. What else y'all got. We all just got owned.
WVS.