The Seldom Seen Kid
Encyclopedia
The Seldom Seen Kid is the fourth studio album
by the progressive rock
/alternative rock
band Elbow
. It was released by Fiction Records
on 17 March 2008 in the United Kingdom
and was released by Geffen Records
on 22 April 2008 in the United States. The album debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart
and won the Mercury Prize
in 2008.
, who contributes guest vocals, lead guitar and co-songwriting on "The Fix." The Seldom Seen Kid also incorporated dynamic range
and made note of this in its packaging, by promoting Turn Me Up! in the album's packaging.
The title of the album is taken from one of the characters who appears in US author Damon Runyon
's humorous, idiosyncratic tales of gangster life on New York's Broadway in the 1920s. In addition to appearing as a lyric within the album's first single, "Grounds for Divorce," The Seldom Seen Kid is also a nickname, given by Guy Garvey's father, to Bryan Glancy, a fellow Mancunian musician and friend of the band who died suddenly in 2006. The closing track, "Friend of Ours," as well as the liner notes of the album, are dedicated in his memory.
, the highest charting position of the band's career so far. The album was released in the UK in three versions: a regular CD in a super-jewel box, a digipack CD (both with one bonus track, "We're Away") and a double 12" vinyl LP.
The song "Grounds for Divorce" was featured in a TV ad for the video game Left 4 Dead
. It is also featured in the trailer for the 2008 Coen Brothers
film Burn After Reading
. Samples of the song are also featured on the motoring series Top Gear. Furthermore, "Grounds For Divorce" has also been featured in a promo-ad for the 6th season of the hit TV-show House
, as well as the Rescue Me
season 5 episode Jump on 25 August 2009. It was also featured in the soundtrack for Colin McRae: Dirt 2
. "Grounds For Divorce" was also a background track in the 2011 season finale of "In Plain Sight" on USA Network. The song also appears on the soundtrack for the video game Driver: San Francisco
in 2011.
"Mirrorball" appears on Skins
in 2009 on series 3 episode "Katie and Emily".
A version of the song "One Day Like This," without lyrics, was used as background and theming for the BBC
's coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games
. It was used in adverts for the film The Soloist
, as well as an episode of Waterloo Road
, and was included in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley
.
On 17 January 2009, at Abbey Road Studios
in London, the band played the album live with the BBC Concert Orchestra
(conducted by Mike Dixon), featuring London choir Chantage
. BBC Radio 2
broadcast the audio recording on Saturday 31 January, whilst the filmed event was made available on BBC interactive television via the red button
.
The band released a special limited edition CD/DVD set of the performance, entitled The Seldom Seen Kid Live at Abbey Road, on 30 March 2009.
, which both gave Elbow their fourth consecutive 9/10 album rating.
The album won the Mercury Music Prize in 2008, an achievement which Guy Garvey declared to be "the best thing that's ever happened to us." The band were previously nominated for the award in 2001 with their debut album Asleep in the Back
.
Commercially the album was well received, opening at number five on the UK album charts, but faded away quickly. However, after the Mercury nomination the album saw a revival to gain gold status, with its second single "One Day Like This" re-entering the top 40 singles listing after the award win. The album had a steady chart run afterwards (including a re-entry in the top ten), enabling it to benefit from the busy Christmas
market, and eventually reach over 300,000 sales, making it eligible for platinum status.
In July 2011, The Seldom Seen Kid climbed from No. 103 back to No. 59 in the album's 159th charting week, making it having charted for more than 3 years there.
The band also won Best British Group at the 2009 Brit Awards and picked up two awards at the 2009 Ivor Novello Awards. "One Day Like This
" won Best Song and "Grounds for Divorce
" was Best Contemporary Song.
Additional musicians
Production
at Abbey Road Studios
on 17 January 2009. A special limited edition CD/DVD set was released by Fiction Records on 30 March 2009, featured inside a small box with individual card sleeves for each disc, as well as five postcards featuring photos of each band member, and a special booklet with photos commemorating the recording.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Elbow
Elbow (band)
Elbow are an English rock band. They have played together since 1990 and recorded five studio albums, the most recent of which is Build a Rocket Boys!, released in March 2011...
. It was released by Fiction Records
Fiction Records
Fiction Records is a UK label founded by Chris Parry in 1978 that is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. Formerly independent, the label is now owned by Polydor, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.-History:...
on 17 March 2008 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and was released by Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
on 22 April 2008 in the United States. The album debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
and won the Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
in 2008.
Production
The album was recorded at Blueprint Studios in Manchester, and is the first Elbow album to be entirely self-produced, mixed and recorded without any outside help. The bulk of the record was written and performed by the band, aside from a guest appearance from singer-songwriter Richard HawleyRichard Hawley
Richard Hawley is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer. After his first band Treebound Story broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. He later joined the band Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker...
, who contributes guest vocals, lead guitar and co-songwriting on "The Fix." The Seldom Seen Kid also incorporated dynamic range
Loudness war
The loudness war or loudness race is a pejorative term for the apparent competition to digitally master and release recordings with increasing loudness.The phenomenon was first reported with respect to mastering practices for 7" singles...
and made note of this in its packaging, by promoting Turn Me Up! in the album's packaging.
The title of the album is taken from one of the characters who appears in US author Damon Runyon
Damon Runyon
Alfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the...
's humorous, idiosyncratic tales of gangster life on New York's Broadway in the 1920s. In addition to appearing as a lyric within the album's first single, "Grounds for Divorce," The Seldom Seen Kid is also a nickname, given by Guy Garvey's father, to Bryan Glancy, a fellow Mancunian musician and friend of the band who died suddenly in 2006. The closing track, "Friend of Ours," as well as the liner notes of the album, are dedicated in his memory.
Release
The album debuted at number five on the UK Albums ChartUK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, the highest charting position of the band's career so far. The album was released in the UK in three versions: a regular CD in a super-jewel box, a digipack CD (both with one bonus track, "We're Away") and a double 12" vinyl LP.
The song "Grounds for Divorce" was featured in a TV ad for the video game Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X...
. It is also featured in the trailer for the 2008 Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
film Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...
. Samples of the song are also featured on the motoring series Top Gear. Furthermore, "Grounds For Divorce" has also been featured in a promo-ad for the 6th season of the hit TV-show House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, as well as the Rescue Me
Rescue Me (TV series)
Rescue Me is an American television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.The show...
season 5 episode Jump on 25 August 2009. It was also featured in the soundtrack for Colin McRae: Dirt 2
Colin McRae: Dirt 2
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 is a racing game released in September 2009, and is the sequel to Colin McRae: Dirt. This is the first game in the McRae series since McRae's death in 2007. It was announced on 19 November 2008 and features Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, Tanner Foust, and Dave Mirra...
. "Grounds For Divorce" was also a background track in the 2011 season finale of "In Plain Sight" on USA Network. The song also appears on the soundtrack for the video game Driver: San Francisco
Driver: San Francisco
Driver: San Francisco is a sandbox-style action driving video game developed by Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft. The game formally was unveiled at E3 2010 and was released in Australia on September 1, 2011, Europe on September 2, 2011 and North America on September 6, 2011 on...
in 2011.
"Mirrorball" appears on Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
in 2009 on series 3 episode "Katie and Emily".
A version of the song "One Day Like This," without lyrics, was used as background and theming for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
. It was used in adverts for the film The Soloist
The Soloist
The Soloist is a 2009 American/French/British drama film directed by Joe Wright, and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The screenplay by Susannah Grant is based on the book, The Soloist by Steve Lopez...
, as well as an episode of Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (TV series)
Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...
, and was included in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley
The Official BBC Children in Need Medley
"The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" is a cross-over single by Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band. It is the official Children in Need Single for 2009, and was released on 21 November 2009. The song was shown for the first time on Children in Need 2009. The cover art is a parody of the cover...
.
On 17 January 2009, at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
in London, the band played the album live with the BBC Concert Orchestra
BBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra....
(conducted by Mike Dixon), featuring London choir Chantage
Chantage
Chantage is a London based chamber choir conducted by James Davey. Drawing singers from all over the country and all walks of life, the choir won the 2006 Radio 3 Choir of the Year competition....
. BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
broadcast the audio recording on Saturday 31 January, whilst the filmed event was made available on BBC interactive television via the red button
Red Button (Digital Television)
Red Button is a button on the remote control for certain digital television set top boxes in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and By Directv in the USA. It is for interactive television services such as BBC Red Button and Astro...
.
The band released a special limited edition CD/DVD set of the performance, entitled The Seldom Seen Kid Live at Abbey Road, on 30 March 2009.
Reception
The album has received nearly unanimous praise from media outlets, including the NME and Planet SoundPlanet Sound
Planet Sound was a Teletext music page on ITV and Channel 4 in the UK. It was broadcast on analogue Teletext from page 340, and on digital Teletext from page 820. From May 24, 2007, Planet Sound was also available to read online via the Teletext website...
, which both gave Elbow their fourth consecutive 9/10 album rating.
The album won the Mercury Music Prize in 2008, an achievement which Guy Garvey declared to be "the best thing that's ever happened to us." The band were previously nominated for the award in 2001 with their debut album Asleep in the Back
Asleep in the Back
Asleep in the Back is the debut album by British rock band Elbow, first released in May 2001. The title track, "Asleep in the Back", was only included as a bonus track on later editions of the album after it had been released as a single and became the band's first Top 20 hit...
.
Commercially the album was well received, opening at number five on the UK album charts, but faded away quickly. However, after the Mercury nomination the album saw a revival to gain gold status, with its second single "One Day Like This" re-entering the top 40 singles listing after the award win. The album had a steady chart run afterwards (including a re-entry in the top ten), enabling it to benefit from the busy Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
market, and eventually reach over 300,000 sales, making it eligible for platinum status.
In July 2011, The Seldom Seen Kid climbed from No. 103 back to No. 59 in the album's 159th charting week, making it having charted for more than 3 years there.
The band also won Best British Group at the 2009 Brit Awards and picked up two awards at the 2009 Ivor Novello Awards. "One Day Like This
One Day Like This
"One Day Like This" is the second single from Elbow's fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid, released on 2 June 2008 on two 7" vinyl records and one CD single. "One Day Like This" debuted at #39 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 2008, marking Elbow's seventh UK Top 40 single. After 14 weeks, the single...
" won Best Song and "Grounds for Divorce
Grounds for Divorce (song)
"Grounds for Divorce" is the first single from Elbow's fourth studio album The Seldom Seen Kid.-Background:The single was released on 10 March 2008 as the band's first release on Fiction Records across two 7" vinyl records and one CD single...
" was Best Contemporary Song.
Track listing
- On the UK version of the album, there is 23 seconds of silence after "Friend of Ours" before "We're Away" begins, making its running time 5:01.
Personnel
Elbow- Guy GarveyGuy GarveyGuy Edward John Patrick Garvey , is the singer/guitarist in the band Elbow, as well as a presenter for BBC 6 Music and A&R manager of Skinny Dog Records...
– vocals, string and brass arrangements - Mark Potter – guitars
- Craig Potter – keyboards, trumpet
- Pete Turner – bass
- Richard Jupp – drums
Additional musicians
- Richard Hawley – vocals, lead guitar on "The Fix"
- Ian Burdge – cello, backing vocals
- Prabjote Osahn – violin, backing vocals
- Stella Page – violin, viola, backing vocals
- Ben Parsons – cornet
- Nick Smart – cornet, flugel
- Matt Ball – trombone
- Sheona White – E-flat horn
- Tim Barber – trumpet
- Elbow Choir – backing vocals
- Angela Thwaite – backing vocals
- Louise Turner – backing vocals
Production
- Craig Potter – production, mixing
- Danny Evans – additional engineering on "Grounds for Divorce" and "Friend of Ours"
- Danny McTague – additional engineering on "One Day Like This"
- Tim Young – mastering
- Mazen Murad – mastering on "We're Away"
- Oliver East – artwork
- Red Design – design
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 28 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 39 |
| French Albums Chart | 108 |
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q Q (magazine) Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology... |
UK | 50 Best Albums of the Year | 2008 | #8 |
| WAN2 | Hungary | 20 Best Albums of the Year | 2008 | #20 |
| The Fly The Fly (magazine) The Fly is a free music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. The magazine is published by the HMV owned MAMA Group.The magazine started as a listings leaflet in Camden, north London, for the Barfly music venue on Chalk Farm Road... |
UK | Best Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #1 |
| NME NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... |
UK | Albums of the Year | 2008 | #17 |
| OOR | The Netherlands | 50 Best Albums of the Year | 2008 | #6 |
Singles
- "Grounds for Divorce" (10 March 2008) [released and deleted in the same week] UK# 19
- CD: b/w "Hotel Istanbul" – 7:01
- 7" #1: b/w "Our Little Boat" – 2:58
- 7" #2: b/w "A Regret" – 1:09
- "One Day Like This" (18 March 2008 – US; 2 June 2008 – UK) UK# 35
- US: one-track digital download only
- CD: b/w "Lullaby" – 3:13
- 7" #1: b/w "Every Bit the Little Girl" – 4:32
- 7" #2: b/w "Li'l Pissed Charmin' Tune" – 3:44
- "The Bones of You" (29 September 2008)
- Promo CD: "The Bones of You" (radio edit) – 3:06
- Digital download: b/w "The Bones of You" (Live at Manchester Academy) – 4:47
The Seldom Seen Kid Live at Abbey Road
The Seldom Seen Kid Live at Abbey Road was recorded live with the BBC Concert OrchestraBBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra....
at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
on 17 January 2009. A special limited edition CD/DVD set was released by Fiction Records on 30 March 2009, featured inside a small box with individual card sleeves for each disc, as well as five postcards featuring photos of each band member, and a special booklet with photos commemorating the recording.