Critic’s favorites meet critic’s favorite. Both The Roots and Elvis Costello have not quite made it into the public consciousness. At least, feuilletons all over the world have been praising every single record they’ve come up with. Now Blue Note is releasing their collaborative album »Wise Up Ghost«, probably leading the cultural scene to clap their hands until they’ll bleed. This album seems to be the perfect fit for elderly gentlemen: None of the tracks are really catchy, if anything sticks, it’s the brass-section on »Cinco Minutos Con Vos«, but that’s really it. The whole project has absolutely nothing to do with HipHop, Costello is merely using The Roots as a backing band. And the musicians around Questlove have come up with melodies so dusty that they couldn’t fit Costello any better. »Tripwire« is traipsing around, has a nice melody to offer, but the whole album lacks new ideas, those that carry us away, enlighten us, thrill us. Costello and The Roots don’t do much more than re-heat blues and soul on »Wise Up Ghost«. In its cool perfection, it might evoke a few warm words, but unfortunately this record includes nothing that the fans would expect from such a collab. The individual parts seem to complement one another, but they don’t manage to merge. It is what it is: music for critics on standard radio stations after 10 p.m.
Aya
Hexed!
Hyperdub