Showing posts with label PJ Harvey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PJ Harvey. Show all posts

Friday, 2 April 2021

Reading The Outsider

 I haven't quite finished "The Outsider" and to me it is like something  that would be a set school text. Although the second part of it has taken a very unexpected turn, so I am still turning the pages and not sure exactly where it's going. I am glad I kept with it although I can't agree with JG Ballard's verdict on it though I would not dissuade anyone from picking it up and reading it.

I have finished the excellent "Apparitions" on Amazon Prime and am just surprised it didn't continue, but it then took me into "Harry Price: Ghost Hunter"  which also look excellent and in a vaguely similar vein, so that will be something else for me to watch.

April has not been a good start on the steps front as after two days  I am 5K steps down , that's about two miles, though having said that I did do 20K steps on the last day of March which was about 8.5 miles.

Given the things I've gone over in this post "The Words That Maketh Murder" by Polly Jean Harvey seems a pretty appropriate song.

Tuesday, 10 November 2020

896504


This is post 2344 , the next will have it's number as the title. We really can't do without numeracy, although politicians are fine without it. The number in the title is the dimensions of the video above. I thought this may be a good starting point for a post , but it's not really, I can't think of anything else to say about it , so I will mention the music that I have been listening to this week.

I started with some Roxette Greatest Hits then PJ Harvey "The Hope Six Demolition Project" , followed by Prince "1999" (which was released in 1982 so more numbers there, and in the PJ Harvey title) , and this was followed by Kate Bush "Director's Cut" which three CDs consisting of "The Red Shoes" , "Sensual World" then reworkings of songs from those albums, it is a very illuminating listen.

My latest is an Electric Light Orchestra box , which  does trace their fall from pioneering musos to prepacked pop purveyors. They are responsible for my second favourite album ever "ElDorado" and Jeff Lynne is a purveyor of some extremely muscular riffs on the earlier albums ("Ma-Ma Belle" and "10538 Overture") , he also revisits The Move's "Do Ya" which is possibly his finest moment , on "A New World Record" which is when they hit paydirt and the fall began.

I'm currently up to "Face The Music" and not sure if I will finish the whole box, but the first five albums are worth the price of admission, maybe on the next post we will find out how far I got.

Friday, 19 June 2020

#LikeNoOther #11 - Nadine Shah


I think this is #LikeNoOther #11 though I  may have missed one out as it's ages since I posted in this series. Nadine Shah has released a new album and the new album "Kitchen Sink"  (though just a thought Kitschen Sink would be a great album or book title)  doesn't let up.

Her music is not exactly danceable , but sounds like it doesn't conform to any norm. It has a highly percussive framework  which she and her band use to build the songs, and you finish every one thinking what the hell was that, I need to listen again.

Nadine , as far as I am concerned, falls in the same sprawling universe as all the other artists who have appeared in this series, but my immediate touchpoints are:


  • PJ Harvey
  • Siouxsie Sue and The Banshees
  • Captain Beefheart
  • The Incredible String Band
  • David Bowie
  • Ethiopiques
  • Tom Waits
There is a hell of a lot of original music around and it always amazes be that a combination of 12 notes can continually be moulded to give us something new and original. Nadine Shah continues to do that on every sone her and her band produces.

Watch and listen to the new single and your musical listening horizons will expand.

I've seen Nadine Shah twice and was very impressed both times. Her music is is as I've described and she has a very engaging stage personality as well so well worth going to see her, here are a couple of my reviews with some more video.

Monday, 7 August 2017

Ideas


I love showering but always find drying myself a bind and was thinking what a great idea a full body air drier would be. No wet towels , afterwards, no picking up wet towels to dry yourself with if you are not first in and just the feeling of warm air on your body would almost be like a mediterranean holiday. I love warm water on my body and warm air would be just as good.

The thing is many years ago what would be the next step, Yellow Pages? Your local libriary? If you asked friends they may think you are some kind of deviant... warm air on your naked body.... you pervert sir ... how dare you. But we use hair driers (or is it dryers?) , we use hand driers , and I do like the Dyson Airblade, and we also have fans to keep us cool when the weather is hot , so all the bits are there.

However thanks to Berners-Lee and Arpanet we have the Internet, the worlds biggest reference library and if you search Google for "full body drier" this is what you get. There are a lot out there. You can get this fairly snazzy one by Valiryo on Amazon, though at £900 to replace my shower towels I am still tempted. I don't know of any friends who have one.

So I had a great idea but found that someone had got there first, though if someone were to offer me a free one I would take it straight away.

Anyway , although it's Monday it looks like a gorgeous day so I will probably be walking into work and no doubt looking for things to video and photograph. Also this post is keeping up the #August50 and if I do another one tonight then I should be starting to get towards the 50 that I am aiming for.

So the song has to be Polly Jean Harvey's "Dry" ... one of those songs that is not on the artists album of the same name like Led Zeppelin's "Houses of The Holy" , what else could it be ... have a great Monday everybody...

Sunday, 13 November 2016

Rush Makes Formula One Watchable - #ALifeInNumbers #50



Well it's Sunday evening and this weekend has included a lot of catch up TV mostly involving lot's of gore, violence , and shouting, but that's enough about the election fallout. Though the reality has been American Horror Story (Roanoke not  the election) , Ripper Street , Arrow and the excellent Rush about Niki Lauda and James Hunt. I must say I do find Formula One (and virtually anything that has things running round a track) incredibly tedious but Rush is a truly wonderful film.

The weather has been most depressing, drizzling greyness and I have a garden covered in leaves that I could do with clearing but it's far too wet to do anything with it, and as it is going dark at around 4 pm I'm not sure I will get to do it til next weekend.

So back to #ALifeInNumbers and we hit 50 today. I am sure there are lots of possibilities but I have gone for the raucous "50 Foot Queenie" by Polly Jean Harvey. It's her second entry but she is one of my favourite singers, and this will certainly blow any cobwebs away. Not music to drift off too, but it's something from one of our most original talents.

So enjoy the weekend as it drifts away and prepare yourself for the challenges of this week.

Thank you for reading my friends and feel free to follow me by email.


Sunday, 9 October 2016

Counting Down With Polly Jean #ALifeInNumbers #14


14 is the first time I couldn't off hand think of a song so checked out my collection and there aren't all that many songs hiding in there. I decided to go with "Sixteen,Fifteen,Fourteen" by PJ Harvey and John Parrish from the album "A Woman A Man Walked By" which incidentally I was playing earlier today.

There were a few others , "The 14th of February" by Billy Bragg, "14 Black Paintings" by Peter Gabriel and 14 Days by Nick Lowe as well as various numbered Classical pieces, but the PJ Harvey one was the standout for me.

Polly Jean Harvey is one of my all time favourite artists and she was a great friend of Captain Beefheart who she would speak to about her albums and projects to get his opinions and advice.

My cold is still annoying me but hopefully it will improve in time for work tomorrow. I have had chocolate and that has soothed my throat no end.

Anyway that is my fourth post today, I don't know if that's a record for me, but this will be my last today.

Enjoy your Sunday evening and I hope you have a great start to a wonderful week.

Tuesday, 26 July 2016

Gravity Clones and Seven Nation Armies


One of those phrases that just came to mind for no apparent reason . Clone can be a noun or a verb in this context and Gravity can be a noun or an adjective. Again this could be used as a band name , like Beach Canaries that I used earlier on in the month.

I am thinking of posting a series of songs on here that for me just don't fit into what we expect. Captain Beefheart made me realise that technical ability was subservient to actual ideas. An idea put into practice is far better that the musical ability to play all the notes perfectly , though maybe I am saying that because I can't really play any instrument. The sort of artists that spring to mind are David Bowie , Beefheart , Zappa, PJ Harvey and Siouxsie & the Banshees and that's just a start.

We're coming to the end of July and next week we hit August , the days are getting shorter and soon people will be complaining that we haven't had a summer despite the current heatwave.

Remind You of Anything?
Yesterday I too a photograph in the stairway at work and a friend of mine remarked it reminded him of Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes which is a possibility of a cover for the band I am practicing with although they will be leaning towards the Postmodern Jukebox version so I've included both for you delectation. And that is another coincidence.

So it's a lovely day so enjoy it , it's turning out to be a great week



Thursday, 28 January 2016

I Love Polly Jean


This is a great reason for me to smile. One of my favourite artists PJ Harvey is to release a new album in the spring The Hope Six Demolition Project. a wonderful taster here

My Dad
Today is my dad's 81st birthday , I've sent him a card and present and a text and will phone him at a reasonable time. That's a pic of him as a boxer.

Really he can be a curmudgeon , but has always been there for me and always encouraged me to do what I want , I totally love him. He doesn't pressure me but does exasperate me at times. but can't all good parents be like that

Anyway we are nearly at the end of January , and nearly at the end of the week , and looking forward to lots of amazing stuff at the weekend and next week





Next week I have 3 nights out already penned in , so I cannot complain my life is boring, feel free to come with me , the ride is going to be immense and intense. As it's my Dad's birthday I am including two of my favourite boxing songs , "No Mercy" by Nils Lofgren and "Boom Boom Mancini by Warren Zevon.

Have a great Thursday everyone.

Friday, 20 November 2015

Phone A Friend Friday - #55 - 2011 - Polly Jean Harvey - Written On The Forehead


Friday is here and today is going to be a long day, it's been an intense week in a lot of ways but I have got a lot done, but amazingly run out of socks , well almost , despite the fact that the laundry basket is only half full and I don't think there's any of my socks in there. But it's going to be a a great night withe a screening of the film Tangerine at The Tyneside Cinema for Transgender Remembrance Day followed by a run down to Think Tank to see The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing , and then possibly a lie in on Saturday before finishing my friend's web site off about the Codonopsis plant family.

Anyway it would be a great idea idea to phone a friend or family member you have not spoken to for a while and maybe meet up for coffee or cake and have a hug and a catch up.

Hope you're is good.

PJH
The Odyssey reaches 2011 year 55. I didn't even look at the charts for this year because that was the year that my favourite female artist released "Let England Shake" one of the greatest albums of all time the difficulty came in choosing the song and I I eventually chose "Written On The Forehead" a brilliant anti war song , and it gives me a chance to add in Niney The Observers wonderful Blood And Fire that it samples. Written on the Forehead refers to either the practice used in military hospitals of identifying what the condition of an injured soldier was or it could be from Th eBook of Revelation 2:24 "His Name Will Be Written On Their Forehead" . I leave that for you you to look up.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone.

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

After All .... Busy Doing Nothing


What My Dad Says Goes ... Sometimes
Well feeling abit sore after yesterdays hospital visit and they're still not finished with me , although they are very happy with my positive attitude. The thing is today is a rest day but my dad has this attitude "If you're not working , you're doing nothing , and if you're doing nothing you should be working" and I'm feeling that way this morning. I love my dad , but am sensible enough to look after myself and rest when the doctors tell me too. He once broke hi foot , drove to hospital , got it sorted and they told him to get an taxi or ambulance to get home , but he still drove back.





Anyway I have a new Rough Trade subscription  album by Matthew E White called Fresh Blood , and I'd heard the single Rock and Roll is Cold on Radio 6 quite a bit and loved it and the album does live up to that song, well worth a purchase.

Also I watched the film "Good Vibrations" the story of the record label and one of the first songs I heard on it was Blood and Fire by Niney The Observer , which has an awesome chorus which I knew from PJ Harvey's Written On The Forehead from her wonderful Let England Shake album.

It's a beautiful day and as I write this now have the Hozier album playing with some wonderful gospel type call and response choruses. Anyway I am gonna have a busy day resting. You all have a great day.

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

On My Radio


Quixotic
Some mornings listening to the radio can actually lift you day. I've just heard that all the good weather will be in the North East, which is where I will be today and also I've heard an old record  "Too Tough To Die" by Martina Topley-Bird which is absolutely amazing , very reminiscent of PJ Harvey who is one of my favourite artists.

I'm going to have to check my digital library to see if I have the record , the problem is with over 80,000 songs , manually searching is not really an option. I do find it amazing that in 2015 so many organisation still use paper as a method of storing data that they need to search.

But anyway it turns out I don't have the record so that will have to be tracked down soon.

I know this has been a short post but given my outpourings yesterday I think I can be let off.

Anyway it's time for me to get off to work, so everyone have a good day today/