The Seldom Seen Kid
| The Seldom Seen Kid | ||||
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| Elbow studio album | ||||
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Publication |
2008 |
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| Label (s) | Fiction Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, vinyl |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
about 57 minutes |
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Craig Potter |
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Studio (s) |
Blueprint Studios (Manchester) |
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The Seldom Seen Kid (German: The rarely seen child) is the fourth studio album by the British musical group Elbow . It won the 2008 Mercury Prize for Best British Music Album. With over 600,000 units sold in Great Britain alone, Elbow also achieved commercial success for the first time.
History of origin
The Seldom Seen Kid is the first album that Elbow produced entirely themselves. The group had already started the previous album, Leaders of the Free World , on their own, but needed outside support in the end. The group composed the songs in the studio. Craig Potter calls the entire process "very democratic". The lyrics and the arrangements for string instruments and bass are all by Guy Garvey. Craig Potter was responsible for the technology and mixing of The Seldom Seen Kid .
Seldom Seen Kid was the nickname of the composer Bryan Glancy, who died in 2006. The album was named in his honor.
Subjects and title list
"The ebb and flow of the disc feels like it's advancing some unknowable plot [...]"
"The ebb and flow of the album seem to be driving an unrecognizable plot [...]"
- Starlings - 5:05
- The Bones Of You - 4:49
- Mirrorball - 5:50
- Grounds For Divorce - 3:39
- An Audience With The Pope - 4:28
- Weather To Fly - 4:29
- The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver - 5:14
- The Fix - 4:28
- Some Riot - 5:23
- One Day Like This - 6:34
- Friends Of Ours - 5:01 am
- We're Away - 1:59
In The Fix is Richard Hawley to hear the voice and guitar playing contributed to this song.
"Concept album would be too much to say, but the songs on The Seldom Seen Kid always have an inner connection , they deal with the big questions of life, love, aging, friends, drinking and melancholy."
The most successful single from the album Grounds for Divorce deals with the death of a friend of the band, Bryan Glancy, from the Manchester music scene. His nickname was “ Seldom Seen Kid ” (German: “rarely seen child”) and the song expresses the hope to drink with him again one day. Because Glancy's nickname is mentioned in the text, Grounds for Divorce is implicitly the title track of the album.
Publications
The Seldom Seen Kid was released on Fiction Records on March 17th, 2008 in Great Britain and on April 25th in Germany. Geffen Records released it on April 22nd, 2008 in the USA. From July 10, 2009, the album was available in a special version with the two additional songs Hotel Istanbul and Lullaby .
| The Seldom Seen Kid Live At Abbey Road | |
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| Live album from Elbow | |
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Publication |
2009 |
| Label (s) | Fiction Records |
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Format (s) |
CD + DVD |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
about 59 minutes (CD) |
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Studio (s) |
Abbey Road Studios (London) |
On January 17, 2009, Elbow re-recorded the entire album with the BBC concert orchestra and the London Chamber Choir Chantage at Abbey Road Studios . Nick Ingham arranged The Seldom Seen Kid for the 52-piece orchestra and 20-piece choir. The musicians were led by Mike Dixon. Richard Hawley came on briefly to perform The Fix .
Some of the songs on the album were performed live in front of an audience for the first time that evening. The approximately one-hour recording has been available since March 30, 2009 together with a DVD under the title The Seldom Seen Kid Live at Abbey Road . The duration of the CD differs by a few minutes from the studio recording due to short announcements and applause from the audience. The DVD contains the recording of the event, an additional soundtrack with comments from all members of Elbow and the music video for One Day Like This .
Chart successes and awards
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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The Seldom Seen Kid achieved its greatest chart successes in Ireland and Great Britain. In the top 75 album charts there, it lasted 132 weeks with several re-entries, i.e. about two and a half years (as of January 2012). On November 21, 2008, the British Phonographic Industry awarded the album after the first 300,000 units sold with the platinum record . After another 300,000 sales, the album went double platinum on April 24, 2009.
Already on their debut album Asleep in the back were Elbow 2001 for the Mercury Prize nominated. But it wasn't until The Seldom Seen Kid that they finally won the award for best British music album on September 9, 2008. In May 2009 Elbow also received the Ivor Novello Award , a prize for songwriters and composers, twice. Grounds for Divorce won for best contemporary song and One Day Like This received the award for best song musically and lyrically.
Following the release of The Seldom Seen Kid , Elbow won other awards. These include a BRIT Award for best British music group in 2009 and an NME Award for their outstanding contribution to British music in 2009.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sam Inglis: Craig Potter: Recording The Seldom Seen Kid. In: Sound on Sound . December 2008, accessed October 29, 2010 .
- ↑ a b Jasmin Lütz: Triumphal procession with emotionally charged melodies. In: laut.de . Retrieved October 29, 2010 .
- ↑ a b radioeins Popsplits. Grounds for Divorce - Elbow. In: radioeins.de. Archived from the original on January 19, 2011 ; Retrieved January 19, 2011 (Background information on Grounds for Divorce).
- ↑ Joshua Klein: Review of the album. In: Pitchfork . April 16, 2008, accessed November 10, 2010 .
- ↑ Andreas Borcholte: Review of the album. In: Spiegel Online . April 22, 2008. Retrieved October 29, 2010 .
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↑ a b Chart sources album / singles:
- Elbow in the Official UK Charts (English)
- Elbow on the US Billboard 200
- ↑ Albums of the Year. Shortlists 2001. In: mercuryprize.com. Retrieved November 12, 2010 .
- ↑ Elbow elated at Mercury Prize win. In: BBC News . September 9, 2008, accessed November 4, 2010 .
- ^ 2009 Ivor Novello awards: The winners. In: BBC News . May 21, 2009, accessed November 4, 2010 .
- ↑ Elbow crowned BRITs Best British Group by David Hasselhoff. In: New Musical Express . February 18, 2009, accessed November 10, 2010 .
- ↑ Elbow win Outstanding contribution award at Shockwaves NME Awards. In: New Musical Express . February 25, 2009, accessed November 10, 2010 .