Artier Things

NOTE: The release of The Juliet Letters has made this page increasingly outdated. I hope to update it soon.

ARTIER THINGS

"Artier things" is a phrase used by reissue co-producer Gary Stewart in Billboard to describe a proposed Costello album "that collects a lot of his artier things, records he did with the Jazz Passengers, things that reflect a jazz and classical flavor." Obviously "artier things" is not intended as an actual title or even a working title, but until another name emerges, it will be used on this website to identify this project.

The original Billboard article indicated Artier Things "might be issued with" Rhino's version of The Juliet Letters. Although some fans have interpreted this to mean that Artier Things would be the bonus disc for The Juliet Letters, I believe this to refer to separate releases scheduled to come out at the same time.

However, a later interview with Stewart failed to make any reference to Artier Things, which may indicate that the project had already been abandoned. Until this project is mentioned again, its prospects should be considered dubious at best.

Nevertheless, this page will feature wild speculation about its contents.

SPECULATION

Since Gary Stewart mentioned "records he did with the Jazz Passengers," the most obvious choices are Elvis' two contributions to the Jazz Passengers' 1997 album Individually Twisted, "Aubergine" and "Doncha Go 'Way Mad." (These are discussed on the All This Useless Beauty page.)

Among the other previously released possibilities:

"Mistress Mine," the 17-minute song sequence on which Elvis collaborated with John Harle on the latter's 1996 album Terror And Magnificence. (Discussed on the All This Useless Beauty page.)

"May 17th," the brief guitar instrumental released in 1993 on the CD accompanying the Ferrington Guitars book. (Discussed on the Mighty Like A Rose page.)

"A Town Called Big Nothing" and "Return To Big Nothing," both from the 1987 single by The MacManus Gang. Although seemingly more of a goof than an attempt at "artiness," these lighthearted tracks may not be entirely out of place on this collection, and Elvis did claim in 2002 that "'Big Nothing' will appear on a future release." (Discussed on the Blood & Chocolate page.)

"Weird Nightmare" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me," both previously released covers which did not make the Kojak Variety bonus disc.

Arguably included among "records he did with the Jazz Passengers" would be Roy Nathanson's 2000 solo album Fire At Keaton's Bar & Grill. Although it dates from after the period covered by the Rhino reissues, it does not seem out of the question that Rhino might license later material for this project. However, Elvis' three contributions ("Fire Suite 1," "Fire Suite 3," and "Fire Suite Reprise") may not really work outside the context of the original album. Other later recordings include "Invisible Lady" with the Charles Mingus Orchestra (released on the 2002 album Tonight At Noon, credited to the Mingus Big Band) and the reworkings of "Toledo" and "I Still Have That Other Girl" on Bill Frisell's 1999 album The Sweetest Punch.

As for unreleased material, there are several intriguing possibilities from 1995's Meltdown Festival, which was professionally recorded. These include Elvis' own Meltdown performances, such as two songs (including Elvis' own "Put Away Forbidden Playthings") with the "pre-Classical" viol sextet Fretwork, a short set with the Jazz Passengers, and the entire performance by the "Punishing Kiss Band" (described on the Juliet Letters page). The previously released Deep Dead Blue, a seven-song collaboration with Bill Frisell, also comes from Meltdown and could be considered among Elvis' "artier things."

If the recordings with a "classical flavor" were allowed to include music composed by Costello but performed by others, that would open the door to four pieces premiered at Meltdown that remain unreleased in any form: "The Trouble With Dreams" and "Malicious Observer" sung by Mary Wiegold, "Punctured Dreams" sung by Patricia Rozario, and "Edge Of Ugly" performed by the London Philharmonic. Of a similar vein but not from Meltdown is "Three Distracted Women," a song cycle written by Elvis and performed by Anne Sofie von Otter and the Brodsky Quartet in 1996. It could be a bit awkward for these compositions to appear on the same disc as Elvis' own performances, but it seems extremely likely that Costello would eventually like for these pieces to find a home somewhere.

Any or all of Elvis' previously released film and television scores would also fit the bill: 1988's The Courier, 1991's G.B.H., and 1995's Jake's Progress, the latter two co-written by Richard Harvey. These could fill a two-disc set on their own, so if they were to be included as part of Artier Things, it would presumably be in the form of edited highlights.

A final possibility is Elvis' instrumental score for a version of Tom Thumb narrated by John Cleese as part of the Rabbit Ears series of children's stories adaptations. Elvis composed the music in 1993, and although the radio version was broadcast in 1995, the proposed video and CD versions never materialized. The music was revived in 1997 for a concert staged by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

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