― Justyn Dillingham, Tuesday, 9 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tim, Tuesday, 9 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
"Uh Huh Her." Thoughts on the new PJ Harvey?
...to keep us going for a while.
However, talking about her as a whole -- I'm going through a relisten of everything building up to the show on Tuesday (might even dig up all the B-sides if I can manage it), and that meant Dry earlier (good songs, couple of great performances, strong without being compelling) and Rid of Me now (holy fuck what a great album -- what a *GREAT* album).
It seems to me that she's very easily slipped over the line that separates initially promising start to ever more unique figure to finally someone with an actual continuing career well over a decade while still remaining interesting, to me at least. And all on the same label still, eight albums on (allowing for the fact that Dry got picked up by Island here and counting the Parish collaboration). Not bad, more thoughts later...
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 25 October 2004 03:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― NED RAGGGETT, Monday, 25 October 2004 03:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 25 October 2004 04:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 25 October 2004 05:26 (nineteen years ago) link
S
― Soukesian, Monday, 25 October 2004 06:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― sometimes i like to pretend i am very small and warm (ex machina), Monday, 25 October 2004 07:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 25 October 2004 15:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Monday, 25 October 2004 17:58 (nineteen years ago) link
"Sheela-na-gig" has been on repeat for several days now in Winamp.
― Richard K (Richard K), Monday, 25 October 2004 18:20 (nineteen years ago) link
been with her stuff since 'sheela'
live performances in the past have been disappointing against the records *but* a recent live encounter proved her at the at the absolute apex top of her game. great tunes/performance/band the whole thing.
catch while you can...
― john clarkson, Monday, 25 October 2004 18:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Momus (Momus), Monday, 25 October 2004 21:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 25 October 2004 21:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:44 (nineteen years ago) link
Dance Hall is indeed a very good album as you said over on the monster thread, but I think it's very subtle and requires a lot of relistening -- it's about the only album that the cover of "Is That All There Is?" aside I can't immediately recall a full song from it, even though I've heard it a lot. Hrm.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:46 (nineteen years ago) link
(if I were the "heckling type", which is not necessarily the case)
― Thea (Thea), Monday, 25 October 2004 23:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― Piers (piers), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 00:21 (nineteen years ago) link
Hey, you better not. ;-)
Seeing her tonight, rah! Hm. Wonder if she'll mention Peel.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 14:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 14:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 14:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 14:31 (nineteen years ago) link
I say classic, if only for Rid Of Me (which I only own on tape and never can listen to for this reason, really really REALLY need to get it on CD), To Bring You My Love, and Uh Huh Her. Everything else is pretty good (Dry) to crap (Dance Hall).
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 14:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:03 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 17:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― Thea (Thea), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 18:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 18:56 (nineteen years ago) link
I wonder if she'll play the same set. If I weren't packing boxes I'd go again.
― Thea (Thea), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 19:01 (nineteen years ago) link
I'd imagine he was himself.
(Are you going to be at EJL's party on Saturday? If not, I will pout.)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 19:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― Thea (Thea), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 19:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 16:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 16:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 04:04 (sixteen years ago) link
― Soukesian, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 07:11 (sixteen years ago) link
― JN$OT, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 07:51 (sixteen years ago) link
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:03 (sixteen years ago) link
― edde, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 13:43 (sixteen years ago) link
Pitchfork: Some people talk about songwriting like a trade, and for other artists it seems more muse-driven, more fickle, more spontaneous. Do you ever get writers' block? Harvey: I've never thought of it as writers' block, but I definitely have periods of greater or lesser activity. I think that's pretty natural. The key is not to panic when you're in one of the troughs of creativity. Because that's so valuable, there's so much learning to be done in that. In the moment, I feel like I'm in that space. It's not resting, it's almost like treading water and gathering information and trusting that it will come around again, and it will. I see it on a greater scale with projects, really. I can see, over the eight or so albums that I've done, some of them reach great peaks of creativity, where everything lines up and works well, but then you go through lesser phases, and then it will happen again. I think that's completely natural. Sometimes you see artists burning very brightly, and they'll have three or four projects in a row that are absolutely incredible. But I think it's very hard for anyone to sustain that time after time after time. Some people do, but they burn out quite quickly. Or they die or something. (laughs) But in lots of artists that I admire, I see the peaks and troughs that (they) move through.
Harvey: I've never thought of it as writers' block, but I definitely have periods of greater or lesser activity. I think that's pretty natural. The key is not to panic when you're in one of the troughs of creativity. Because that's so valuable, there's so much learning to be done in that. In the moment, I feel like I'm in that space. It's not resting, it's almost like treading water and gathering information and trusting that it will come around again, and it will. I see it on a greater scale with projects, really. I can see, over the eight or so albums that I've done, some of them reach great peaks of creativity, where everything lines up and works well, but then you go through lesser phases, and then it will happen again. I think that's completely natural. Sometimes you see artists burning very brightly, and they'll have three or four projects in a row that are absolutely incredible. But I think it's very hard for anyone to sustain that time after time after time. Some people do, but they burn out quite quickly. Or they die or something. (laughs) But in lots of artists that I admire, I see the peaks and troughs that (they) move through.
from the Pitchfork interview today.
and all of a sudden, i'm really curious which albums PJ considers to be her peaks and troughs. what do you guys think? does she agree with consensus on her work, or does she love the stuff that's not as universally loved?
― stephen, Monday, 5 November 2007 16:17 (sixteen years ago) link
she talks later in the interview about burning out on touring "a few years ago" during the Uh Huh Her tours with the full band. does she see Uh Huh Her as a lesser album, due to burning out on playing the songs live, "losing the edge" as she puts it?
― stephen, Monday, 5 November 2007 16:26 (sixteen years ago) link
I've read that she considers Is This Desire? to be her best.
― jaymc, Monday, 5 November 2007 16:36 (sixteen years ago) link
oh awesome! i don't know about "best" but it's certainly my favorite, and probably the most similar to White Chalk mood-wise. gawwwwd it's underrated in her discography.
i think at one point -- senior year of high school? -- i called Is This Desire? my favorite album of all time.
― stephen, Monday, 5 November 2007 16:41 (sixteen years ago) link
I think a lot of critics underrated it because it was the follow-up to To Bring You My Love, which was at the top of so many year-end lists in 1995 -- but I agree with you, I think it's great. Maybe not my favorite, but I like it better than TBYML, at any rate.
― jaymc, Monday, 5 November 2007 17:02 (sixteen years ago) link
what's yr favorite?
― stephen, Monday, 5 November 2007 17:03 (sixteen years ago) link
These days it's probably Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, although it used to be 4-Track Demos.
― jaymc, Monday, 5 November 2007 17:05 (sixteen years ago) link
i like both of those very much
― stephen, Monday, 5 November 2007 17:06 (sixteen years ago) link
one of those artists where i can see any album argued (legitimately) as her best. with maybe 1 exception in a 7-8 album career. now *that* is fuckin consistent.
― stephen, Monday, 5 November 2007 17:08 (sixteen years ago) link
Only today, after about a dozen listens, did I discover that the vinyl version of White Chalk is supposed to be played at 45 rather than 33 EVEN IF IT DOES NOT SAY SO ANYWHERE ON THE FUCKING LABEL.
― Eyeball Kicks, Monday, 5 November 2007 18:38 (sixteen years ago) link
It sounded pretty cool at 33 though, maybe better.
― Eyeball Kicks, Monday, 5 November 2007 18:39 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm listening to 'White Chalk' just now. Silence is definitely perhaps the best. Most of the album got a bad reception live however. Mostly piano
― o-ess, Monday, 5 November 2007 19:06 (sixteen years ago) link
-- jaymc, Monday, 5 November 2007 16:36 (2 hours ago) Link
And she's right, of course. :-)
― Turangalila, Monday, 5 November 2007 19:09 (sixteen years ago) link
She was every bit as good as I'd hoped and expected at the recent live show (I went to the second night in Glasgow).
Given that, I'm more than a little tempted by the London show that's just been announced for next year at Gunnersbury Park. What's that like as a venue, if anyone has been? I also only know Big Thief from the others on the bill, in case there's anything in particular I should check out to aid decision making.
PJ Harvey announces her only London summer performance of 2024 at Gunnersbury Park, a Grade II listed parkland venue within walking distance of Acton Town and Ealing Broadway, on Sunday 18th August 2024.PJ Harvey says, “I’m grateful to Gunnersbury Park for inviting me to curate this event. I have chosen what I feel to be some of the most exciting artists working today. With them I hope to be able to give the audience an emotional, heartening and uplifting experience.”The line-up includes special guests Big Thief, Tirzah, and Shida Shahabi.
PJ Harvey says, “I’m grateful to Gunnersbury Park for inviting me to curate this event. I have chosen what I feel to be some of the most exciting artists working today. With them I hope to be able to give the audience an emotional, heartening and uplifting experience.”
The line-up includes special guests Big Thief, Tirzah, and Shida Shahabi.
― brain (krakow), Monday, 23 October 2023 12:11 (six months ago) link
Saw her last month and all I can say is her current show is insanely good—perhaps not surprisingly, I have never seen her be anything less than stellar live, but she still exceeded my expectations. She had a small four-person backing band featuring John Parish and James Johnston from Gallon Drunk/Bad Seeds and a pretty simple but theatrical staging (old furniture scattered all over lol). The first half focused just on I Inside the Old Year Dying performed from the beginning to the end (and boy how this album comes alive in concert!) and then the second hour was pretty much a back catalogue dive, from Let England Shake through favs from Is This Desire (“The Garden”!) and To Bring You My Love to early work like "Man-Size" or "Dress". Vocally impeccable and she hasn’t lost an ounce of her charisma.
And yes, she’s doing festivals/open air shows in Europe next year and then a tour of the US in the fall—don’t miss!
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Saturday, 4 November 2023 20:11 (five months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtYDx_2L1mo
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 6 November 2023 21:13 (five months ago) link
Cool. Miss rockin' Polly. That trio ruled.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 6 November 2023 21:17 (five months ago) link
That Gunnersbury Park show...
― Indexed, Thursday, 16 November 2023 15:58 (five months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSUgrhmtXIw
― ufo, Friday, 17 November 2023 15:12 (five months ago) link
Glad I held off on the London show now, with more dates just announced, including Halifax at The Piece Hall, which looks like a really nice venue. Might look into heading there instead.
― brain (krakow), Monday, 27 November 2023 10:54 (four months ago) link
the 13 Oct Paris show will be on Arte's youtube channel in two days:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30IJIexCS24
― StanM, Monday, 4 December 2023 11:28 (four months ago) link
I've been working my way through the mass of Harvey vinyl I've acquired in the past couple of years (demos, B-sides box, neglected albums).
Let England Shake demos might be my favorite demo disc. It's startling to hear those songs paired back and raw.
Hope Six demos are better than the actual album. If she had just released those through a web site or as a smaller project it would probably have a better reputation. It's still not great by any means, but smallness helps it.
― Cow_Art, Monday, 4 December 2023 14:29 (four months ago) link
cool, I'll give those a listen. I haven't actually listened to the demos for any of these (other than the old 4 track Demos release); I picked up the Peel Sessions record but that was it.
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Monday, 4 December 2023 22:50 (four months ago) link
late to the new one but really liking it, sounds like her ghost made a record
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Monday, 4 December 2023 22:52 (four months ago) link
that Paris concert just started streaming fyi
― donna rouge, Wednesday, 6 December 2023 19:06 (four months ago) link
I've been a doubter but no more, that is a fantastic show. What an artist.
― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 6 December 2023 22:38 (four months ago) link
yes, I needed to see the live performances to get me over the line re: the album again (this seems to be the pattern with me and her albums now)
― StanM, Wednesday, 6 December 2023 23:56 (four months ago) link
3 songs missing from the complete show: 16 Angelene, 17 Send His Love to Me and 24 C'mon Billy
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pj-harvey/2023/lolympia-bruno-coquatrix-paris-france-2ba3443a.html
― StanM, Thursday, 7 December 2023 10:44 (four months ago) link
Angelene is a big favourite, I'm glad she's comfortable going back to it.
― assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 7 December 2023 11:31 (four months ago) link
yeah wish those were included; this is a great show
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Saturday, 9 December 2023 23:35 (four months ago) link
fitting she closed this with White Chalk, I've been thinking that's the album the new one is most like (also an album lots of people had a hard time with; it's one of my favorites, I like her gothy shit)
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Saturday, 9 December 2023 23:38 (four months ago) link
oh maybe I should listen to the new one then, I love White Chalk
― Colonel Poo, Sunday, 10 December 2023 00:01 (four months ago) link
sounds like her ghost made a record
this is an accurate description
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Sunday, 10 December 2023 00:43 (four months ago) link
gave several of the demo discs a partial listen over the past day; some are interesting, some are not; some have replay value, some don't (some of the ones for Is this Desire sounds like the demos were just overdubbed and worked on to become the final versions). The most illuminating thing about Let England Shake was how those songs appear to have been written around samples from other tracks; suddenly "gonna take my problems to the united nations" makes total sense, the entire drum rhythm for the song comes from Summertime Blues.
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Monday, 11 December 2023 20:38 (four months ago) link
Great new interview / live session from World Cafe:https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2023/12/15/1219342795/pj-harvey-album-i-inside-the-old-year-dying
Offers some candid insights into writing Hope 6:
I can remember whilst I was writing The Hope Six Demolition Project album, which was the album prior to this one, it felt like hard work. I had to really graft to get anything good, and that seemed to continue. And even the songs that I was writing, I felt like they were just missing the mark for what I really wanted to be doing. It was such a struggle, and it was not enjoyable. I thought, “I’m not enjoying this, this is feeling more like homework you’ve got to do than the love of my life”. And I just kept thinking, “Keep working through it, just work through it, it will pass”. And it didn’t, really.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Friday, 15 December 2023 18:33 (four months ago) link
She's been reading my posts: "each of the subsequent records, despite having a few notable songs, felt like homework, 'this-is-for-your-own-good' art."
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 15 December 2023 18:48 (four months ago) link
I can't find that quote in the interview page - has it been edited, maybe?
― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 15 December 2023 23:02 (four months ago) link
^ I transcribed it from the audio interview, the quotes on the website are just excerpts
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Saturday, 16 December 2023 08:36 (four months ago) link
Oh nice! Will listen.
― assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 16 December 2023 10:23 (four months ago) link
PJ Harvey ticketmaster pre-sale today for some shows in North America
password is NOISELESS
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 27 February 2024 20:19 (one month ago) link
Got my ticket !!!
― LeRooLeRoo, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 00:33 (one month ago) link
got 4th row at the Greek. probably the first time I've spent over $100 for a ticket, but worth it. other than the reading/mini-set she did in the fall, haven't seen her in 20 years.
― bulb after bulb, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 00:48 (one month ago) link
i’ll be further back in the greek, nearly considered buying closer but i don’t get paid til later in the week. went to her last show there on the ‘hope six’ tour, can’t waitttt
― donna rouge, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 05:19 (one month ago) link
I briefly considered getting a ticket but just couldn't pull the trigger for a $100+ ticket considering I like but don't love her album from last year and I know she'll play older tracks and it'll be a great show overall but why do shows have to be so fucking expensive these days fuck this
― Murgatroid, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 05:23 (one month ago) link
Not a fan of Terminal 5 here in NYC, the venue really sucks for multiple reasons, but I guess the tradeoff is that the show's GA with tickets being $85 including fees. Is the Greek really nice?
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 06:00 (one month ago) link
Pondering a ticket
― Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 09:42 (one month ago) link
I'm glad to finally be on my proper jouney with PJI've danced around it for years
― Swen, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 12:04 (one month ago) link
really assumed the masonic shows in SF would be fully seated but apparently floor is GA, which is fine. Happy these tickets were only $75, completely reasonable for how amazing this is going to be.
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 14:14 (one month ago) link
DC show at Anthem appears to be GA too
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 15:24 (one month ago) link
for the floor
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 15:28 (one month ago) link