The Garden, a PJ Harvey Discussion Site

It was sold on Ebay

Courtney having a little rant

https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/musi ... r3z-addoor

I did ask PJ Harvey to come back – I wanted just one of her great iconic Stones guitar riffs. We have a relationship; I've endorsed her over the decades, but she chose not to respond to me. So I wrote her about how f***ing rude that was. Her manager tried to smooth things over, but it's not okay – she hasn’t played rock music in 100 years! Her first five albums are great; after that, she ventured into art space (though I do love The Last Living Rose, which feels like a John Donne poem with... WTF? A tuba?).

Lol that made me chuckle. I mean, Polly probably must have pondered a restraining order at some point over the years

Queen Kwong https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2myOfXvhos

Queen Kwong: PJ Harvey’s debut album, Dry, іs my favorite album оf all time — not just for its artistic brilliance but for the profound impact іt had оn my life. It was the album that made me realize my power as a woman, a musician, and a storyteller.

I had a unique upbringing. I spent my childhood splitting my time between a nightclub and
a hotel my dad owned. It was an unstable and often chaotic existence, where music became my only solace. At thirteen, I befriended a bellman at the hotel who became my unlikely mentor іn rebellion. Ten years my senior, he introduced me tо all the indie rock greats. Sitting іn his car one day, he put оn a CD оf PJ Harvey’s Dry. From the moment іt started, I was transfixed.

As the song “Water” spilled through the shitty speakers, the music felt alive — pulsing with raw, untamed energy. I was hearing a new language I innately already understood. PJ Harvey’s voice — feral and defiant, yet vulnerable — spoke directly tо something primal within me. Her jagged guitars, thumping bass lines, and the stark production gave sound tо my inner chaos. For the first time, my world made sense. That was the moment when I chose my path as a musician, оr rather, іt chose me.

Dry became my guide tо claiming space іn a world that often felt indifferent оr hostile. It taught me the power оf my story, embracing imperfection, and being unafraid tо make people uncomfortable. Tracks like “Dress” and “Sheela-Na-Gig” showed me that women could be unapologetically loud, forceful, and wholly themselves.

The album didn’t just shape my approach tо music; іt defined my sense оf self. It permitted me tо exist outside the boundaries оf being polished оr palatable. Harvey’s work affirmed that there was strength іn being visceral and real. Tо this day, Dry holds up, as powerful and transformative as іt was the first time I heard it, and “Water” remains a touchstone іn my life, marking the moment everything shifted — the moment I found myself.

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Nilüfer Yanya !

PJ Harvey superfan
CG: Another thing you told me last time we talked about Painless was that your sister and her CD collection, especially turn of the century pop-punk, inspired you. I don’t think everybody would assume that the through-line to this record started with, like, blink-182 is the band you cited. I’ve never forgotten that. Have you seen any rock bands on tour lately? Anything moving you particularly that might sound like your record or might not sound anything like the music that you make?

NY:. I saw PJ Harvey and I’m like a creepy superfan.

CG: Does she know?

NY: Well, I don’t know, because we did a cover of a song in our set and we had to get it, like, approved when I recorded the cover with Jazzi. Me and Jazzi did a version we released. So I feel like I’m a bit of a stalker. [Laughs.]

CG: I’m sure she’s very flattered.

NY: I don’t know, she’s probably just doing her thing. She’s an icon.

https://wnxp.org/record-of-the-week-nil ... hod-actor/

https://youtu.be/6T7popeC_5Q?t=264

Robert Plant crediting Polly for the decision to work with Albini at around 4:24

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and a few comments from Elvis Costello
https://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/ind ... April_1994

Q: Have you heard anyone who's made you fear for your job?

I don't think anyone would want my job (laughs). PJ Harvey I really liked for the sound and the overall commitment. I loved Björk's album. To me it sounded like a dance album arranged for a jazz quartet. I've always liked her voice though. I remember going to see her with The Sugarcubes and your man with the trumpet was shouting his fucking head off. I was like, Shuddup! I can't hear her sing! Lyrically, I liked Aimee Mann's record. She has that ability, like Chris Difford, to draw you into her world through sheer attention to detail. To me, it's very reassuring that three of the albums I've liked most are by women. The guys are just boring at the moment, the young guys more boring than anyone. There's too much shoe-gazing and "Help me feel my pain" music and "Mummy I wet my trousers again" music. It just doesn't say anything to me.

Q: If they ever printed the lyrics to Get Happy!! people would be saying, Oh so that's what he's singing!

(Laughs) But isn't that fun? I much preferred R.E.M. before they started giving you the words. It was much less interesting when I found out what he was singing. It seems a shame to write them down because the fumbling for the thought in the moment that he did it, with a lovely expression of the voice, was actually more touching. He always stops short of really letting go, doesn't he? He's not a full-out type of singer. But I loved the first two albums when you didn't know what the hell he was on about. I found the same thing with PJ Harvey. The atmosphere of it is great but I had no idea what she was singing about and do you know what? I don't care. I'm not the right age. From what I could gather, it seemed to be a lot about blood and fucking. But I don't need to pore over it like someone who identifies directly with her. I don't want to be one of these middle-aged guys who turns up with the baseball hat on the wrong way round.


https://elviscostello.info/wiki/index.p ... r_24,_1994
Elvis Costello and others program their ideal Christmas night TV schedule.
9.05pm — The Sublime And The Ridiculous

A Christmas blockbuster of unforgettable music moments from TV's archives. Highlights include Van Morrison (vocals and drums!) and The Chieftains with a storming St Pat's Day rendition of "Raglan Road"; NBC's Tonight Show host Jay Leno following a bizarre line of questioning into the messy end of sheep farming following PJ Harvey's mighty solo version of "Rid Of Me"; a pasty-faced Rolling Stones sitting cross-legged at the feet of Howlin' Wolf in a vintage US clip; Daisy Chainsaw on The Word; sensitive '70s singer-songwriter Judy Sill breaks down and begs OGWT viewers to "please buy my album" so that she may avoid the martyrdom of opening for "snotty rock 'n' roll bands" — without any obvious irony, she then performs her fine song "Jesus Was A Crossmaker"; an extremely drunken singer is flown in painful pantomime harness and dumped onto studio floor in TOTP's rather literal visual interpretation of "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" (artist unknown).

https://elviscostello.info/wiki/index.p ... r_10,_2003
yes, the Clash, who has taken up the legacy? What remains of them?

Not much, Strummer himself for years had a band, the Mescaleros, which went in a completely different direction than the Clash. He was an extremely gifted person, he had an extraordinary open-mindedness. There are bands that apparently have nothing, or little, to do with punk: Radiohead's Thom Yorke and PJ Harvey. I think she is one of the most intense performers today, she is incredible, deep and strong like Howlin' Wolf.

someone whose been in the news lately - zak starkey!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEqSkxozfLC/

therealzakstarkey

check her early 3 piece line up she play badass guitar -drummer is exceptional- they all weave she leads the band really amazing far out trio

Guy Garvey

Has anyone you’ve ever met made you feel starstruck?
Polly Harvey. I’ve met her on several occasions and every time I talk bollocks. We had a long-haul plane where we were sat too close for her to ignore me, and she went to sleep listening to Laughing Stock, I saw it on her iPod. In the morning, she woke up to me watching Barry Lyndon, and she said, ‘That’s my favourite film ever.’ And I said, ‘You went sleep listening to my favourite record ever’. And then we had a bit of a freer chat. But before then, just gibberish.

https://thenewcue.substack.com/p/the-ne ... elbows-guy

more a mention than appreciation

CUBZOA • BARCELONA (TAKE 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtoK8HuaQIc


I think its an ok song...

Eric Avery (Jane's Addiction)
I found this comment pretty funny...

twincitizenmnmusic 51 w
Saw you play with John Frusciante in 2004 at the Knitting Factory and PJ was at that show! So many epic musicians showed up that night.


ericaveryinsta 51 w
@twincitizenmnmusic yes! That night. I was thinking about that last night because seeing pj in that audience in 2004 I went up to her and did something I never do. I said, “May I shake your hand? I adore what you do.” She shook it without saying a word.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C__y5W2pDqS ... 297898418/



Halsey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnZpS_HtPF8 from 6min 13s in

From Rob Ellis' instagram post about the 25th anniversary of Stories:

Today marks 25 years since @pjharveyofficial album “ Stories from the city, stories from the sea” was released…25 years… bloody hell!

I have such fond memories of making this record & touring it, some remarkable events that occurred around it, notably 9/11 , us being on tour in Washington D.C that day & being woken up at 8.30 by @weeflah74 our lovely technician to say “look out your window & turn on the tv!” for me to do so & have a view of the pentagon with smoke rising above it, and watching the twin towers being hit again live on tv at the same time, and the rest of that day spent waiting to leave a city, which by lunchtime, had armoured cars posted on every street corner….not before Polly, somewhat surreally had to also go on live tv to the UK that same afternoon to accept the mercury prize which had been awarded to the album THAT DAY! Of course these last 25 years since have been hugely momentous for everyone, it seems to have marked some sort of pivot point for the world for sure. It’s pretty strange that I have this, quite joyous sounding record to also mark that moment for me.

It was certainly a joyous record to make, the most fun I ever had during my years working with Polly for sure, I think we all felt that at the time, myself, Polly, @mick_harvey9 and @reprohead who coproduced the album with us. This record occasionally unfairly gets a bad rap in that it’s sometimes considered to be a bit of a deliberate pop “sellout”, but it was not recorded in any cynical way at all, and was just a natural reflection of how we were all feeling at the time … besides, that misses the fact that nearly half the record ( the sea half? has some of the most beautiful melancholy songs Polly had ever written up to that point..

So many fond memories making this record, too many to list here, but highlights include…taking a whole afternoon to try and get the drums on Kamikaze down… exhausting! Listening to the new mixes of what would become Kid A & Amnesiac with Thom Yorke in a van en route to Oxford after recording his vocals. Polly, Mick, Head’s great artistry and laughter ( and not forgetting great mix from @victorvanvugt) & great photos from @mochnaczmaria

To which Cristiano Godano (singer/songwriter/guitarist of Italian band Marlene Kuntz) replied:

Thanks to this wonderful record we asked you and Head to work with us, as you know… Hugs from Cuneo, Rob!

Wow love the Thom Yorke trivia !