The Garden, a PJ Harvey Discussion Site

erik7778910 wrote:"Stories" sounds great. There's a few songs that don't pop as much as I'd like - "Whores" and "Big Exit" being two of them but I think that also comes down to mastering choices. So happy to finally have this one on vinyl!

Yes.
https://guitar.com/review/album/the-gen ... pj-harvey/
"A big part of Stories… was the bell-like tones of her 60s Gibson Firebird"

To me, Stories is unique among her albums in that I like the studio album better than the live shows. The demos for Stories peels off some of the sound, but leaves the essence intact with no distractions. For all the other albums, in particular ITD, I like the live shows better.

DrDark wrote:To me, Stories is unique among her albums in that I like the studio album better than the live shows. The demos for Stories peels off some of the sound, but leaves the essence intact with no distractions. For all the other albums, in particular ITD, I like the live shows better.

Funny, it's almost the opposite for me. Stories is the album I probably enjoy the least in her discography; I can admire it for being a solid pop-rock record but never actually feel like listening to it - the sound and the production are probably partially to blame. But over the years I've warmed up to some of the songs in their live incarnations (I particularly liked some of the versions she played as a trio with Rob and Mick in 2003, as well as solo renditions of "Big Exit" and "Horses").

DrDark wrote: "A big part of Stories… was the bell-like tones of her 60s Gibson Firebird"

I feel fairly certain she did not even have that guitar at the time she recorded this album. It didn’t make an appearance until 2003 and then was used widely after that. I hear the Telecaster and the Broadkaster. Unless there’s some photographic evidence of the Firebird being around back then.

That’s an otherwise very good article. It’s vanishingly rare to read anything about her guitar playing, especially re: that album. To that end it got a little disappointing when it seemed the author was just regurgitating details about it from all over the timeline, whether they were relevant to Stories... or not. (Her list of amps, the influence of Parish on her guitar playing, which I suspect didn’t last beyond Automatic Dlamini). I should probably pick up the album on vinyl now that I have a chance, even if just for the 4 songs I really like.

https://www.popmatters.com/pj-harvey-stories-city-demos

Have the 2 Parish collaboration albums been officially announced as in the demo pipeline? I know DHALP was released on vinyl last November, but there was no demo release also right?

Didn't John say in some interview they're not releasing demos for the collaborative albums because they would just be pretty much his instrumentals?

Is there any hope of a B sides demo album at the end of all this? Obviously some are probably the demo already like Kick It To The Ground for example. But songs like Memphis, The Bay etc it would be so great to hear demos of them. Plus The Northwood which I am dying to hear a full version of (if it exists).

wangdangdoodle wrote:Is there any hope of a B sides demo album at the end of all this? Obviously some are probably the demo already like Kick It To The Ground for example. But songs like Memphis, The Bay etc it would be so great to hear demos of them. Plus The Northwood which I am dying to hear a full version of (if it exists).

I kinda hope she's gearing up to surprise us with a new album the month after the last vinyl reissue hits. Probably very wishful thinking though and, yes, I would love a b-side release too.

I received my 50ft Queenie shirt - and promptly returned it. The print looked great but it was quite see through and thin especially for the price.

somme wrote:

wangdangdoodle wrote:Is there any hope of a B sides demo album at the end of all this? Obviously some are probably the demo already like Kick It To The Ground for example. But songs like Memphis, The Bay etc it would be so great to hear demos of them. Plus The Northwood which I am dying to hear a full version of (if it exists).

I kinda hope she's gearing up to surprise us with a new album the month after the last vinyl reissue hits. Probably very wishful thinking though and, yes, I would love a b-side release too.

https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/pj- ... ouse-point

The Peel Sessions 1991-2004 getting reissued on May 28th - didn't expect this one to be included in the series!

I was fairly sure it would be, but not certain. Extremely pleased that it is.

I like that When Under Ether demo a lot.

Song is one of my favourites anyway.

Can't fit the whole current lineup in the thread title, so just for posterity:

Uh Huh Her + demos — April 30th (tomorrow!)
The Peel Sessions — May 28th
White Chalk + demos — June 25th

Which probably means A Woman a Man, Let England Shake and Hope Six for July-September, hopefully a B-sides/rarities compilation before Christmas to cap the whole thing off, and — wishful thinking! — a new LP early next year.