Elbow (wiki) is undoubtedly one of the most unappreciated bands in the world, partly because it's very difficult to immediately start loving them, despite their lovely British accent which most British singers on the global music scene seem to magically forget when they start to sing?! These guys don't make catchy pop songs, they make something a million times better, which makes it all the more difficult for them and you to connect. I will try to help a little, if I can. The band has released it's sixth studio album this March titled "The Take Off and Landing of Everything" (wiki) which is different from all the previous albums in that since this album, they have always recorded together in the studio and for the first time ever, they wen't to record their bits separately and are now learning to actually play the songs together after the release. For me personally, you can hear that a little when you listen to the album a couple of times at first as it feels a bit different but then it get's to classic Elbow again and you drift in the music as you always have. So on the listening guide, I'd say don't start from the end, ie the latest album, nor would I suggest that you start from the back. Elbow's first albums have less of a composure as a whole so it's hard to listen to the albums through and through (particuarly Asleep in the Back (wiki) and Cast of Thousands (wiki) ) but if you already know the band's latest material well, you will find many exciting things when you return to their roots and listen to the first albums later on.
So where to start? First of all to lay down a marker, I suggest a few songs to listen to and to decide whether it sounds interesting enough to explore further. Good ones to kick off with would be obviously their big hit song "Grounds for Divorce" (youtube) (wiki) from 2008. Most people that don't know Elbow well but have heard of it, know this song to associate with the band. Another highly addictive personal recommendation of mine would be "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver" (youtube) from their album "Build a Rocket Boys!" (wiki), a 2011 release. I've purposely linked a youtube video to the live version performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra because the song is beautiful yet very powerful in it's simplicity and if you listen to the studio version later, you will probably find that the difference in the power and broadness of the sounds isn't as enormous as one would assume in such a comparison, stating the excellence of their studio work. The full concert of Elbow performing with the BBC Symphony Orchestra is very much worth watching as well as this song, also available on youtube. Lastly I suggest "High Ideals" (youtube) which I wouldn't be amazed at all if you recognized straight away from the distinctive bass line in the intro, I've heard many times this intro has been put into good effect as a soundtrack clip - most recently I remember it being used on BBC: Top Gear at some point.
And these last suggestions bring me to a very clear aspect on Elbow's music. Part of why it is so hard to instantly like them on first note is that their studio work is extremely layered and incredibly composed both musically and technically for that matter. Their material and the finished product is so refined it feels like they've spent 3 years perfecting each song and as you listen to one of them 10 times or 50 times you will discover new layers of instruments, ambients and harmonies that you feel like you've never heard before, each run through. For me that is what makes Elbow's music everlasting, I don't get tired of it because there's so many things to discover in there. It's admirable that in throwing together such a rich sound in their music, Elbow is able to keep it from falling into overkill and becoming "too varicoloured", it doesn't exhaust the listener. That doesn't mean I want to listen to them 24/7, it's still in a way a niche genre amongst the alternative styles of music so it can't be absorbed in just any mood, state or time as you will. As everything, it has it's own place. So my recommendation to "How to listen to Elbow" is that you buy an album or two and listen to them A LOT. Take in consideration what I mentioned earlier, better not to kick off from the newest or the oldest Elbow you can find, best to start with either "The Seldom Seen Kid" album (wiki) from 2008 which contains among other genius pieces, "Grounds for Divorce", or the more recent "Build a Rocket Boys!" (wiki). And what I mean by listening to it a lot is not that you should take the time to listen to Elbow, forget everything, sit in your room and wait for yourself to me mesmerized. Not at all. By "a lot" I mean keep it playing whenever it feels right, both as background music when you're doing stuff and if you can, do some concentrated listening as well, because in my view the first step in falling in love with Elbow is that you get used to and familiar with the songs, maybe you want to read the lyrics while you listen and unravel the stories that the very talented and symphatetic Guy Garvey, singer/songwriter in the band, has composed into the words. It's all good however you approach it, as long as you keep it in your ears. Don't expect that you put a track on the very first time and go "Oh my god, this is amazing!", instead wait for it to grow on you and then you will be amazed when you train yourself to listen to all the layering.
Of course this is all just my personal perception and I cannot speak for anyone else who starts to listen to Elbow just because I jab on about something to do with layers and tower crane drivers and just... what? I leave you with one of my favourites after exploring more of Elbow, "Powder Blue". The ending of this song is just... pure genius.
