Okay, I have gotten copies of both "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" and "Rid of Me" (the last one took awhile to get here). I liked "Stories" quite a lot and "Rid of Me" is a very guitar heavy album. I liked it, too but not as much as Stories but they were both very good. I think Polly Jean has made a new fan. I will get some more albums of hers in the future but there are other stuff that I want to get first. I'm going to give Sonic Youth another shot and buy "Daydream Nation" again. If I have to, I will listen to nothing but that album for a solid week. With as much stuff that I have and like, I know I will eventually like that album or at least I hope.
The only PJ Harvey song I know is this one: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DPswnZolFGE&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DPswnZolFGE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> This was always on MTV2 and VH1 9 years ago. I saw her when she opened up for U2 when they came in 2001.
Reviving this thread as I bought today 4 CDs (well really 6 but the other 2 were Nick Cave and Captain Beefheart): Souvlaki - Slowdive Long Division - Low Lazer Guided Melodies - Spiritualized Playing With Fire - Spacemen 3 Any thoughts or comments about these albums - I know that several people have commented on the Slowdive one but I didn't see much on the other 3 bands (and nothing on Low at all).
The best PJ Harvey album was "4-Track Demos". Since then its been downhill. And the best shoegazer album of alltime is "Spooky" by Lush.
I'm a big PJ Harvey fan and own all her stuff. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned "To Bring You my Love," which has more of a blues feel to it. Great album. Another one that no one usually mentions is "Is this Desire?" which is a lot less guitar and more instrumenal and experimental. Got mixed reviews, but I really liked it.
Here's some reference : Shoegaze : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoegazing Jesus and Mary Chain : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jesus_and_Mary_Chain Sonic Youth : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_youth My Bloody Valentine : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Bloody_Valentine_(band) In the genre - Slowdive, Swervedriver, Curve, and Ride all have interesting material. The genre is marked by churning, dicordant guitars, intentional introspective trance induction, repetition and variation as a design element, and, esp, a differentiation between play speed, which is emotive and fast, and song tempo, which is often quite slow. This is expressed as evocative of an ecstatic experience - if the musicians are in frenzy, but the song is just churning forward like the sea.
Daydream is probably their best...but at the same time maybe not as "accessible" as those other albums. I like some of their newer stuff also- Murray Street and Rather Ripped in particular.
This is the only PJ Harvey song I know. Its pretty catchy. Spoiler <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q3BgcLc7Lck&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q3BgcLc7Lck&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>
Those two are essential, I have t***** many times to both. I would say that Lazer Guided is the perfect comedown album.
spiritualized is probably my favorite band of the past 20 years. if i made a list of top 10 concerts they are in there at least twice w/ their 1997 liberty lunch show possibly being the best show i have ever seen (or maybe 2001 la zona rosa w/ the 13 piece band). lgm is their first album - its got a different aesthetic than their later stuff - less noise and more focus on melodies and cool sounds that pop out of nowhere - great album though - love the bass guitar work throughout - and the melodic interplay going on - as someone said, great 'comedown' music. i think i remember that you are a sigour ros fan - you will like slowdive than. their last album is called pygmalion - half the band had quit and their label had already said they were going to drop them so they made this really meditative, new-agey album. all their stuff is good, but i like that one best.
i love the fact that pj has never stuck w/ the same sound from album to album. is this desire is probably the one that sounds least like her others, but its really, really good. dry and rid of me are my favorites though.
say what! i guess you cant go wrong w/ any, but dont dis on daydream yo! if i was trying to turn someone onto sonic youth though, i would tell them to check out goo first.
Agreed on both counts. "To Bring You My Love" is my favorite with "Is this Desire?" being second. It's probably her most underrated album, where I feel like "Stories from the City..." is her most overrated. As for Souvlaki it took about three listens, but I was hooked. Playing with Fire is still pending...I think I've listened too it twice and still haven't "got it." I need to take a break soon and just listen to the stuff I've purchased over the past 6 months. There's also a new band that just released their first album called The Big Pink, which I wouldn't call shoegaze but they do have some elements (namely the guitars and keyboards). The vocals are more britpop and the rhythm and bass lean a little more towards techno (big beats, booming bass). They might be a little too "pop" for some, but I've liked what I've heard so far. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OA3twi3iSNQ&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OA3twi3iSNQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
another influence on PJ is Nick Cave. I have her second album Rid of Me and her third album To Bring You My Love. Mick Harvey played bass and organ on To Bring You My Love, he also played with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and I think has a And on Murder ballads PJ sing with Nick on the track Henry Lee. Any case To bring you my Love is a good album, the tracks are kind of slow, and much like Nick Cave and Tom Waits vocal heavy. You will hear similarities between her work and there’s right away. Rid of Me may be a bit more up-tempo but if it is its not by much. All in all if you like Nick Cave and Tom Waits, you will like these two albums. I cant really speak to the rest of her collection. Manny in your 'what are you listening to now' thread I think you have posted some of Nicks albums, but If you don’t have any Nick Cave, get Henry's Dream Murder Ballads and there is another album out there: Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Friends A flower's Dance Collection, its very good.
Thanks van. Yea, I just started getting into Nick Cave as I noticed that Mick Harvey had played on Stories with PJ but was a member of the Bad Seeds as well as The Birthday Party. At first, I thought that he was her husband but found out that was not the case. But yea, I have 2 Cave albums right now in "Let Love In" and "The Boatman's Call". Boatman's Call was praised very highly by allmusic but after one listen, I wasn't feeling it. However, Let Love In was a different story - after the first listen, I found it to be very good and very powerful stuff. I just ordered his debut, "From Her to Eternity" and was planning on getting "Tender Prey", "Dig Lazarus Dig", and "Your Funeral..My Trial" but I can definitely add the 2 you mentioned to the list. I have a feeling that before it is all said and done, I will be wanting to get every Nick Cave studio album, lol.
Never got the album but "Horror Head" was a classic by Curve. Got lots of airplay on 120 Minutes or whatever it was called back in the day. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_4xMR7mYPWU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_4xMR7mYPWU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
maybe I am confusing the term "dream-pop" but these are some of the artists I have in my dream pop folder.... <object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5903463&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5903463&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/5903463">Catamaran</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/candyclaws">Candy Claws</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JENEsCumKOM&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JENEsCumKOM&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tR9VzRd0l-s&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tR9VzRd0l-s&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MjnpCd7sAqI&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MjnpCd7sAqI&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oHTFmJk7fH0&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oHTFmJk7fH0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
