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Post by maarts on Jun 2, 2004 7:40:46 GMT -5
Bow,
Many many congratulations to you, your wife and family! Keep on glowing! Hope the new ball 'n chain lets you post here once in a while....
Cheers, I'm raising a glass right now on your health.
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Post by bowiglou on Jun 2, 2004 13:39:26 GMT -5
thank you kindly!!!....and yes, I don't have too many ankle burns!!
well, I did have Dry and wasn't overwhelmed, but loved Stories.....I do see Mary's point about what initially sparked one's interest in the artist may impact one's subsequent reception when they change direction.......but I definitely don't put her in the cluster of Dido, etc, but as Drum commented more that of Chrissie Hynde........edgy, but melodic!!!
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Post by PC on Jun 2, 2004 15:17:27 GMT -5
Yeah, I wouldn't compare PJ Harvey to Dido either, even if Stories is slicker than her other releases. Maybe this is just me, but there seems to be a melancholy air about some of the tracks on that album, musically if not lyrically. It's not nearly as accessible as a Dido or Fiona Apple album, hence why it didn't even go gold, allowing it to win the 2001 Mercury Prize.
~PunkChick
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Post by koolkat on Jun 2, 2004 18:17:43 GMT -5
I for one can't stand Dido. That type of 'vagina music' does absolutely nothing for me. Not only that but all her songs sound identical. From what I've heard from her latest release, it just sounds like a re-hash of her debut album.
Chrissie Hynde and Patti rule though. Actually, when I first heard "Good Fortune" I thought it sounded a lot like Patti Smith.
"Dancing Barefoot" is one of my favourite rock songs ever, and her version of "When Doves Cry" is to die for.
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Post by maarts on Jun 3, 2004 7:44:33 GMT -5
...but who has listened to PJ Harvey's latest one?
I only had the chance to have a cursory listen and the first response was...ok. I know it's difficult to keep on recapturing the same wow-factor the way albums like Dry and Rid Of You have. I also must admit that I have gotten 'over' PJ and though I really enjoyed seeing her at the Big Day Out two years ago, I couldn't help but think that her music didn't have the same kind of appeal to me as it had all those years ago when I bought Sheela-na-gig. Stories was not bad when I heard it at first, Uh Huh Her one is slightly better on the back of some good songs like The Letter. But I have a feeling that in a few months I won't remember too mucy about this one.
The new Datsuns though...now there's a fun album that will find its way in my layer more often...and I'm looking forward to finally getting in some Martinis- Joey Santiago's alter-egoband!
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Post by phil on Jun 3, 2004 9:51:52 GMT -5
The "Festival d'été de Québec' s programmation is out and while I don't think this is a banner year for "renowned" international artists, I'm pretty excited about the African contingent lined up to commemorate the "SuperFrancoFête" 30th Anniversary.
Here's the list of shows I'll be sure to attend ...
- Los de Abajo / Yerba Buena
Mexican Ska/rock ... ??
- Shurum Burum (?) : David Buchbinder
from the "Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band"
plus ... LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE !!
CIRCUS MUSIC ... YEAH !!
- Desert Blues (Tartit - Afel Bocoum - Habib Koité)
- Oumou Sangaré (female singer from Mali)
- Kékélé (Congolese Rhumba )
- The Nits (??) Maarts ... ?
- VILLE ÉMARD BLUES BAND : Old friends of mine who reformed their 60's band to include a bunch of their children ... !!
Can't wait for that one !!
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Post by Mary on Jun 3, 2004 13:34:21 GMT -5
Wait a minute, is PJ Harvey's new album actually out already? Man I'm out of it. I though it was coming out soon, but not yet available. In any case, despite my lukewarm feelings about Stories, I'm impressed enoug with PJ's work in general that I'll certainly pick up the new one.
Let me try to explain one more time my disappointment with Stories... a lot of my less, um, musically curious friends, all of whom used to hate early PJ Harvey stuff and think she just sounded "weird" or "insane" - all of them were suddenly really surprised to hear how "great" Stories was. i.e., almost all of the songs were really conventionally structured, almost immediately accessible, and PJ really reined in her more abrasive vocal traits. Now, I'm not a terrible music snob who dislikes anything accessible. There are tons of highly accessible albums in my collection that I really love - it's just that I think there's already dozens of artists out there who can do that sort of tuneful rock really well, whereas PJ brought something different, something unique, something a little darker and rougher to the table. I really appreciated her for doing that, and so it's sad to see her lose that edge, and in the process, lose what I think was a distinct personality that stood out from the ordinary rock and roll crowd. It's like, yeah, I love Chrissie Hynde too, but I'd be alarmed if Diamanda Galas' next album sounded like the Pretenders - I used to kind of image PJ was working a similar territory to Diamanda, and people who can do that are so rare, that I'd prefer if they didn't moderate over time.
Hope that makes sense without sounding too snobby!!
NP: The Rezillos - Can't Stand the Rezillos (song: Flying Saucer Attack)'
Cheers,
M
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Post by bowiglou on Jun 3, 2004 13:44:06 GMT -5
...actually, it doesn't sound snobby at all Mary.........you like a certain style that you associate with PJ, and seeing her go into more conventional territory is too much of a deviation from her style that initially endeared you........I felt the same way when, though it was "experimental" in some ways, when Weller segued into Style Council or Costello to opera/jazz/classical or Joe Jackson to swing..........I was drawn to the jam/costello/jackson based on their rocking-ways, thus their departures, though understandeable that an artist wants to (and probably should) flex their musical muscles into hitherto unexplored domains, may confuse many of us erstwhile fans.............
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Post by RocDoc on Jun 3, 2004 15:26:25 GMT -5
Do not miss Yerba Buena, Phil....I've had their latest, 'President Alien' for awhile and it's friggin great!
Er, whatever happened with that OTHER festival? The one with Ellery Eskelin(and some others who I forgot...)
That Habib Koite's part of Orchestra Baobab, isn't he?
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Post by phil on Jun 3, 2004 15:59:57 GMT -5
Doc ~ I bailed out of the "Festival de musique actuelle de Victoriaville" because eldest son was having his "Genius" provincial tournament the same weekend ...
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Post by bowiglou on Jun 3, 2004 16:41:46 GMT -5
what the hell is a "genius"provincial tournament?......MENSA for kids?
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Post by maarts on Jun 3, 2004 17:08:22 GMT -5
Pop-band with its feet firmly rooted in folk and, sometimes avantgarde. The band is formed by singer Henk Hofstede and keyboardplayer Robert Jan Stips, who earned his musical degree in bands like Supersister in the late 60s. Fairly easy listening without the bad connotations- they write very intelligent songs, varying from songs about their Dutch soccer club days, Nescio, railwaystations, the ubiquitous forlorn lovesongs and even cows. Nothing hilarious or comical about it, they sound very serious and are a damn good band.
It was released here last week, Mary. Come to think of it, it might be out next week in the US. Stupid, those variances in releasedates worldwide.
No, Habib Koite's from Mali, Baobab's from Senegal. Koite only played with his own band, Bamada.
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Post by maarts on Jun 3, 2004 17:21:16 GMT -5
Mary- nice post about your Stories-experience- didn't think at all it sounded snobbish, but may I ask this?
* Was perhaps one of the reasons you had developed an 'antipathy' towards SFTCSFTS because your 'musically curious' friends developed a liking for it?
* PJ herself has admitted to have grown in many ways while recording her music. She felt she didn't need the Steve Albini-abrasiveness of previous production because her songs themselves had grown a bit more in stature, beyind the post-feminist agenda that was dominant in many of her lyrics- since she hasn't perceivaby moved away from the musical template she had set up earlier, why do you feel it's more of a crime for her to move away from her 'punkish' roots whereas
Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders certainly have become more mainstream on their later albums? I am not suggesting that you would have let Hynde get away with 'going commercial' either?
It's the old stick to your sound vs innovate or die-debate in a sense. Some people would love their favourite artists to stick to their familiar sounds whereas some others (including reviewers) would like to see artists move on and explore (exploit?) new roads...
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Post by bowiglou on Jun 3, 2004 19:20:02 GMT -5
well Maarts..there are some artists and band that I have liked in the past that have taken some interesting detours...beatles, bowie, etc and I very much appreciated their curousity...but then when Weller, for example, formed Style Council I very much missed his bite and intensity......same with Costello.....so it does vary in terms of the type of artist....
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Post by Mary on Jun 3, 2004 19:47:01 GMT -5
To try to answer your excellent questions, maarts...
* Was perhaps one of the reasons you had developed an 'antipathy' towards SFTCSFTS because your 'musically curious' friends developed a liking for it?
those were my LESS musically curious friends, just to be clear...
...but no, that's not why I developed an "antipathy" (I don't know why this word is in quotes, I don't think I ever used it! my feelings on SFTCSFTS are much more moderate than "antipathy" would suggest!!) I was actually just using that as an example after the fact to try to explain what it was about the album that put me off somewhat - but I was put off by the album long before I ever played it for my friends and began to discern a pattern in who did and didn't like it.
* why do you feel it's more of a crime for her to move away from her 'punkish' roots whereas
Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders certainly have become more mainstream on their later albums? I am not suggesting that you would have let Hynde get away with 'going commercial' either?
Again, these aren't really my words and they make my position out to be much too strong...I don't think it's a "crime" for PJ to move away from her roots, I just think her roots were bringing a certain unique flavor to the overall pop music world that is unlikely to be cultivated by anyone else.
To oversimplify vastly, imagine there were three artists on earth: Artist X, Artist Y, and Artist Z - and they all made very different music from one another. Then imagine that one day Artist X put out an album that sounded just like Artist Y - a good, well-crafted album, but one that was clearly mining territory Artist Y had already mined quite effectively. I would think this would be a loss for the music world, which once offered three styles of music, and now only offered two. Obviously a world with hundreds of thousands of different artists and styles is going to be infinitely more complicated, but still, I think my complaint against Miss Harvey is similar to my complaint against Artist X. In a world of increasing homogeneity, I appreciate the freaks and rebels and misfits who stand out as unique personalities, on the margins of mainstream respectabilty, and it does make me a little sad to see them lose that outsider's perspective.
Let me also stress this is absolutely not in any way about an antipathy to change or innovation. For one thing, I don't think there's anything innovative about Stories - in fact, I think her earlier albums were more innovative. Innovation can't be measured only against an artist's own previous work, but also against the wider musical palette of contemporary popular music. Against this palette, I think Rid of Me cuts a more unique presence than Stories. And there are many artists I like who I've stood by after they've gone through significant changes - I've been one of the loudest defenders of Sandinista! on these boards, so it's not just about demanding that artists remain within their inititial box. Clearly I appreciate the Clash (and Wire, and Nick Cave, and Sleater-Kinney...) for attempting to expand their musical palette. So it's not just a knee-jerk insistence that artists remain where they always were - the content of the change is relevant. What are they changing from? What are they changing to? Who is being challenged by these changes? etc etc.
Finally, as for chrissie hynde, I probably wouldn't be a huge fan of her later work - but the only Pretenders albums I've bothered to purchase are the debut and Learning to Crawl, so that's really the only Chrissie Hynde that I'm familiar. When I say how much I love Chrissie Hynde, I'm definitely thinking of her circa the early to mid 80s.
phew. i think that's everything!!
Cheers,
M
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