I really love Rob Ellis' drumming on PJ Harvey's earlier albums as well as stuff from "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea" and "Uh Huh Her." His drumming complimented PJ's guitar playing and singing. What does anyone think?
Many thanks for that. Really interesting insight into someone who seems to have contradictory characteristics - very shy, diffident, rather nervous, yet selfish & impulsive at the same time. Got the feeling there was an awful lot he wasn't going to tell us about!
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 7:31 pm
by Scuttlescub_51
I agree with you, diogenesagogo.
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:25 pm
by AineteEkaterini
stimpy wrote:This may be of interest
Yes, thank you indeed, I would never have looked for that. Rob Ellis has always struck me as a seriously good musician, rather more than Polly herself really: but I'm not musical at all so that's just a layperson's impression.
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 6:53 pm
by Scuttlescub_51
AineteEkaterini wrote:
stimpy wrote:This may be of interest
Yes, thank you indeed, I would never have looked for that. Rob Ellis has always struck me as a seriously good musician, rather more than Polly herself really: but I'm not musical at all so that's just a layperson's impression.
Great point, AineteEkaterini.
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2018 6:18 pm
by stimpy
AineteEkaterini wrote:
stimpy wrote:This may be of interest
Yes, thank you indeed, I would never have looked for that. Rob Ellis has always struck me as a seriously good musician, rather more than Polly herself really: but I'm not musical at all so that's just a layperson's impression.
I follow Rob on Twitter, which is where I saw the link.
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 10:53 am
by Giusy
Hy!
I've always thought that without Rob Ellis' drumming,PJ' songs would have been a little bit banal.
He is so clear but never foregone,powerful and destabilizing at the right point (just think to Man-size,for example:masterpiece of uneven tempo).He knew how to underline PJ songwriting better than others.
I still miss him,never admitted the others .
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:50 pm
by Scuttlescub_51
Giusy wrote:Hy!
I've always thought that without Rob Ellis' drumming,PJ' songs would have been a little bit banal.
He is so clear but never foregone,powerful and destabilizing at the right point (just think to Man-size,for example:masterpiece of uneven tempo).He knew how to underline PJ songwriting better than others.
I still miss him,never admitted the others .
I truly agree with you, Giusy!
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2019 3:57 am
by BobSimms
He is a genius drummer, really one of the best. The intricacies he worked into her already very odd songs (all those weird time signatures, which no music journalists ever discuss! WTF!) are magical. Agreed about “Man-Size”, which is my favorite PJH song, but really his drumming is nuts on most of her songs. Even a song in 4/4 like “Dress” still has accents on odd beats, it always keeps you off balance.
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:51 pm
by bruise
A nice interview with bits of insights about his time with the trio and his drumming style on the first two albums
Re: Rob Ellis
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 9:09 pm
by Scuttlescub_51
I will always consider Rob Ellis as one of the best alternative/punk blues rock drummers in the world.
