Guys, back in around 1993/4 someone I knew had a demo of four or so tracks that PJ Harvey had recorded with the horn section from a then current group, the name of which eludes me.
I've looked through her discography and haven't seen anything that seems to fit this description. Any bells going off?
― Noel Emits, Thursday, 10 August 2017 09:35 (six years ago) link
maybe the March 1993 peel session?
― StanM, Thursday, 10 August 2017 10:53 (six years ago) link
Yeah, the Peel session where she did Claudine the Inflatable One, Primed and Ticking, Wang Dang Doodle and Naked Cousin has a horn section, but I don't know who they were.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw5QXwuQgcs
― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 10 August 2017 11:00 (six years ago) link
Ah, cool. If not the same recordings then it's presumably the same setup. No horns credited on two tracks releases on Peel Sessions it seems.
My recollection is that the tape was manufactured and had some basic artwork. As in, not something recorded off the radio. Maybe there was a release mooted at some point.
― Noel Emits, Thursday, 10 August 2017 11:20 (six years ago) link
*the two tracks released on Peel Session 1991 - 2004
― Noel Emits, Thursday, 10 August 2017 11:21 (six years ago) link
Did some digging – the horns came from Gallon Drunk.
― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 10 August 2017 11:33 (six years ago) link
Iirc Gallon Drunk may have been the opening act on some or many dates of the tour?
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 10 August 2017 11:39 (six years ago) link
Yes, Gallon Drunk used to open for her back in 1993, at least on some dates.
Terry Edwards and James Johnston (both from GD) are now members of PJ's current touring band.
― mthrn, Thursday, 10 August 2017 18:04 (six years ago) link
I saw Gallon Drunk open for her in '93. I knew nothing about them at the time, but they had a baritone player who killed.
Scrawl was the other opener, and they were equally killer.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 10 August 2017 18:22 (six years ago) link
Really into acre of land
― done and dusted (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 06:52 (five years ago) link
More classic than the last album entirely
Love "Acre of Land" as well. IMO the last album wasn't as bad as some people made it out to be, but it definitely didn't enter my PJ top 5. The tour, though, was fantastic. She's an incredible live performer and it was a joy to see her (twice, lucky me!) with this big tight band. Apparently she's taking some time away from music now to focus on her lyric and poetry writing, so unfortunately it might be a while until she tours again.
BTW today is the 25th anniversary of Rid of Me!
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Friday, 4 May 2018 09:39 (five years ago) link
Indeed! Rob Sheffield on same
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pj-harvey-rid-of-me-25-rob-sheffield-pays-tribute-w519777
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 4 May 2018 17:33 (five years ago) link
The tour was incredible. Saw her in Seattle - no opening band and she’s on at like 9. Full 8-10 piece band with an intro military procession beat. Closed with tbyml, down by the water and importantly - the river. From the record Is this desire which pj has said is her favourite record but it also came from a place of immense pain. New songs worked better live but I’d say let England shake live confirmed it’s her master work
― That’s All Folks... (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 17:36 (five years ago) link
Will say the uh huh tour was absolute fire though. Floods drumming and klinghoffers 2nd percussion and guitar took tracks like the garden to another level. Highlight
My beautiful leah
― That’s All Folks... (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 17:38 (five years ago) link
Never seen her live.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 4 May 2018 17:41 (five years ago) link
You're missing out, my friend.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 4 May 2018 17:55 (five years ago) link
Alfred, come correct my man
― That’s All Folks... (Ross), Friday, 4 May 2018 18:44 (five years ago) link
Honestly, I think current Polly live is too austere, rehearsed and remote. I miss the guitar, I miss the band, I miss the occasional flashes of humor. Unless carrying around a sax (iirc) is her idea of humor.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 4 May 2018 19:44 (five years ago) link
she's come by my reckoning exactly zero times to South Florida in the last 20 years.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 4 May 2018 19:48 (five years ago) link
She was at Pitchfork last summer!
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 4 May 2018 20:05 (five years ago) link
*smacks head*
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 4 May 2018 20:14 (five years ago) link
i drove to LA just to see her last summer, don't regret it a bit
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 4 May 2018 20:18 (five years ago) link
Wanna feel old? Rid Of Me LP is 25 years old today
― Jeff W, Friday, 4 May 2018 20:41 (five years ago) link
Also loved the concert I saw during the White Chalk tour in 2008 -- a solo show with her playing the guitar, piano, keyboards, autoharp and a bunch of other stuff, very stripped down and intimate. She was chatty, often funny and seemed like a lovely, likeable person -- miles away from the well-rehearsed big band theatrics of the Hope Six tour (which I loved, too, albeit for very different reasons). As always incredibly charismatic and intense, locking eyes with audience members while playing.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Saturday, 5 May 2018 14:41 (five years ago) link
Hopefully this means a long career
https://variety.com/2018/dirt/real-estalker/pj-harvey-sierra-towers-condo-west-hollywood-1202845331/
― lost in sublimation (Ross), Wednesday, 20 June 2018 08:55 (five years ago) link
That's the flat from the "Who the Fuck" video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxcCN6BgO_k
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Wednesday, 20 June 2018 10:28 (five years ago) link
The "Dress" demo has dubstep wub-wub bass. A woman ahead of her time.
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Saturday, 25 July 2020 03:48 (three years ago) link
Getting down to her albs. Dry is such a classic. Rid of me is solid though I don't like that Dylan cover (and they are usually great), and did lol at some of the Slint-era tunings.
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 25 September 2020 11:26 (three years ago) link
A Woman, A Man: John Parish's Favourite PJ Harvey Recordings^Great stuff
― willem, Wednesday, 3 February 2021 09:39 (three years ago) link
The demo albums she's been putting out recently mostly go to show how fully formed her songs seem to have been from the start. The woman's a genius.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Thursday, 4 February 2021 01:24 (three years ago) link
I was dismayed to hear that my equal favourite album of hers, "Is This Desire?", was so traumatic for her to make.Also found it telling that the Hope Six track wasn't described at all, just the logistics of the recording. She kind of lost me after White Chalk.
― assert (MatthewK), Thursday, 4 February 2021 02:21 (three years ago) link
Fascinating read! I kind of love it that John is not even mentioning Stories.
I'm both very impressed and slightly disappointed by the TBYML and ITD demos - it's indeed amazing that these songs were pretty much fully developed while she was writing and demoing them at home BUT it makes for a less interesting listen than 4-Track Demos (which were so unlike Rid of Me).
I guess this might change with future volumes of the series - e.g. the LES and THSDP demos apparently were very minimal and the arrangements were developed while jamming the songs live in the studio (or rather church/art gallery) with the band - so they will be probably fairly different from the final versions.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Thursday, 4 February 2021 18:39 (three years ago) link
man the second record she did with Parish in 2009? DO NOT sleep on that, matthewk…that is a bit of a bummer that the creation of Is this Desire was so fraught…or is it? Isn't major creativity often fraught?
the Hope Six record is the only record she has ever made that I've actively disliked…but good grief these demo records are indeed staggering… like 80% of what you hear of the finished product of "A Perfect Day Elise," one of my favorite recordings ever, is right there in that demo… and when Parish talks about how there are two phases, the bare bones sessions and the expensive sessions, the latter were to gussy up "elise"…I wager "Catherine," the other one therein that I treasure, is intact from the former sessions…
― veronica moser, Thursday, 4 February 2021 23:24 (three years ago) link
The demo of "To Bring You My Love" is so menacing
― Joe Bombin (milo z), Saturday, 3 April 2021 19:08 (three years ago) link
I'm not a huge fan of the glossy production of Stories but the raw demo version of the album is pretty awesome. Such a strong collection of songs; I don't understand why Beefheart told her these were her weakest demos.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Saturday, 3 April 2021 20:04 (three years ago) link
The Let England Shake demos are out today and they're the best installment in the series so far IMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs_s2IkbGxwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18MpYe9Xwxkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jdCzt74OCohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgkWxTldY1s
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Friday, 28 January 2022 22:59 (two years ago) link
Oh man I hope they announce a b-sides collection please
― Cow_Art, Saturday, 29 January 2022 04:17 (two years ago) link
I need to give that album another chance. I could never get into it - the concept never seemed to translate well into a great musical experience - but I was a big fan of her work and I know plenty of people love Let England Shake. It even got to #2 in the P&J poll, albeit in a weak year.
― birdistheword, Saturday, 29 January 2022 21:03 (two years ago) link
(I should say, I'm still a big fan of her work, just not of her more recent albums.)
― birdistheword, Saturday, 29 January 2022 21:04 (two years ago) link
Listening to Rid of Me and its still staggering!
― JacobSanders, Saturday, 29 January 2022 21:26 (two years ago) link
never seen this before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpFSppgBpUc
― bulb after bulb, Sunday, 20 February 2022 18:32 (two years ago) link
Me neither! Seems like it was just before she made Dry.
― LeRooLeRoo, Sunday, 20 February 2022 19:03 (two years ago) link
Not a bad song but the male frontman has serious ewww vibes
― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 20 February 2022 21:06 (two years ago) link
everything is so cheesy til she starts singing! her voice cuts through the cheese, amazing!! 18 year old me loves to see it <3
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Sunday, 20 February 2022 21:40 (two years ago) link
A new interview in The Observer about her upcoming book (a narrative poem written in the Dorset dialect) offers this exciting tidbit:
She lets slip that she has a new album coming out next year and, although not supposed to be talking about it, allows herself to say: “I’m really pleased with it – and I’m my own harshest critic.”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/24/pj-harvey-poetry-dorset-orlam-interview
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 17:10 (one year ago) link
https://www.nme.com/news/music/pj-harvey-update-on-new-album-to-be-released-2023-3258356
https://www.nme.com/news/music/listen-to-pj-harveys-haunting-cover-of-leonard-cohens-who-by-fire-3294140
― StanM, Sunday, 21 August 2022 18:42 (one year ago) link
Loving recent Dylan, soundtracks by Sakamoto, and Greenwood and covering Leonard Cohen. Yup sounds like stuff PJ Harvey would like (in a good way)
― curmudgeon, Monday, 22 August 2022 20:07 (one year ago) link
I was pleased to see a Mica Levi shoutout, they’re a criminally underrated artist for me
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 22 August 2022 21:22 (one year ago) link
i appreciate her shoutout to rough and rowdy ways
― Karl Malone, Monday, 22 August 2022 22:27 (one year ago) link