Threw my bad fortune off the top of a tall building

Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

#313 : Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea - PJ Harvey (2000)

Polly Jean Harvey happy? Album number five found her in New York and in love, crowing “I’m immortal/When I’m with you” in the surging opener, “Big Exit.” Harvey had spent four records howling her sexual obsessions and romantic disappointments over stark postmodern blues. Her guitar attack was still forceful, but softened around the edges by marimba, piano, organ, and guest vocalist Thom Yorke, especially on the garage-y “Good Fortune” and the yearning “A Place Called Home” — mash notes to lovers in the big city.

Well, I was surprised to see this on the list and no mistake (but in a good way!).  Way back in the day, I was vaguely aware of PJ but had the view she was a bit of a noise-maker but not much else.  However, for some reason (Mercury Prize nomination/win, probably) I took a punt on this album - and I really liked it.  I hadn't listened to it in ages, but was expecting to still enjoy it - and I very much did so.  I appreciate the vocal style won't be to everyone's taste, but I think it's a good selection of tracks and her voice works particularly well when paired with Thom Yorke's (and that's certainly not going to be true for most people!)

Wikipedia doesn't have a great deal to say about the album, although I never realised that when it won the Mercury Prize, the ceremony was on the day of 9/11 - that must have been an "interesting" evening.  It's amusing that Rolling Stone claims this album finds her in New York, but it was recorded in the only slightly less glamorous location of Milton Keynes - however, if their US bias is the reason the album made it onto the list, then I'm happy they thought that.  

Her Wikipedia page is more interesting and well worth a read - the thing I took away from it is that the girl can't half play some instruments, crediting her with "vocals, saxophone, guitar, autoharp, piano, organ, keyboards, violin, cello, vibraphone, marimba, bells & chimes, percussion, djembe, bass, e-bow, melodica, zither, harmonica, harp, cigfiddle".  She's actually listed as a notable cig fiddle player - along with Charlie Brown of Peanuts fame :-).  She's also the only person to have won the Mercury Prize twice - so well done her!  "Customers also listened to" Sonic Youth (I guess they prefer her noise-making albums) and Kristin Hersh (for the more tuneful stuff).  But if you've not listened to this album then check it out, you might like it.

#312 : A Seat At The Table - Solange (2016)

Solange came into her own on A Seat at the Table, with songs she wrote mostly in the Louisiana town where her family had its roots. She includes spoken-word interludes from her parents as well as narrator Master P — as she said, “The album feels very, very Southern in my storytelling.” “Cranes in the Sky” is a soulful lament, anchored in Raphael Saadiq’s bass groove, while protests like “Don’t Touch My Hair” are about African American identity politics. “The hair journey of a black woman is so specific,” she explained.

I'd tried to get into Solange a couple of times, having listened to When I Get Home from 2019  and one of the other ones (there's a one in three chance it was this one!) but she had never really clicked with me.  But I was willing to give it another go...

...and I don't think it was this album I listened to before, because I quite liked it.  She's got a great voice and she uses it to good effect here - it's like a warm hug.  None of the tracks jumped out at me,  but it's another one that's in line for a relisten and I'd expect it to be a grower.

Wikipedia suggests the album is very much a black, female thang - which shows how much in touch with my roots as a black female I must be.  It also points out that track 6 features Lil Wayne who's been in the news this week because he received a pardon from Trump, which I'd have to say wasn't one I saw coming.  Apart from that, Wikipedia has very little to say of interest about the album - but her entry is much more interesting.  For starters, she's got quite a famous sister and I'm very pleased to see it includes a reference to her attacking Jay-Z in a lift - it was no less than he deserved! (as he pretty much admitted later)  

It's also amazing how everyone felt the need to comment when she grew her hair - being famous sounds like way harder work that I could be bothered with.  Fortunately my lockdown hair is only attracting ridicule from my daughters - but I know that the ensuing haircut is also going to attract ridicule as well, so that's just where we are here!  "Customers also listened to" a load of black female singers - some of whom I like, some not so much - but there was certainly enough here for me to explore her stuff a bit more.

#311 : On The Beach - Neil Young (1974)

Reeling from the losses that sparked Tonight’s the Night the previous year, Neil Young shelved that album for a while and made this one instead: a wild fireball of anger (“Revolution Blues”), nihilism (“For the Turnstiles”), and tentative optimism (“Walk On”). The album peaks on Side Two, a stoned symphony of grieving whose three songs (“On the Beach,” “Motion Pictures,” “Ambulance Blues”) are among the most emotionally real in Young’s catalog.

Last time we met Neil Young, I wasn't overly impressed (amusingly, he lost the round to an album I didn't even manage to find to listen to) but I promised to keep an open mind, so (sigh) here we go again.

But, it was a vast improvement on the last time (or I'm in a better mood) - I still don't particularly like his voice, but it felt a lot less whiny on this album and most of the tracks were at least passable.  I wouldn't go as far as to say I liked it, but I certainly hated a lot less than I was expecting - so if he can continue this upward trend, he's in with a chance of some positive comments by the fourth or fifth album!

Wikipedia doesn't have a lot to say about the album although the "Availability" section is interesting, noting that the album was only available on cassette and (bizarrely) 8-track cartridge during the 80s and 90s (and even then only briefly).  His Wikipedia page actually tells us more about the album - apparently it's one of his "Ditch Trilogy" albums, so-called to distinguish them from his previous "middle of the road" music.  I also learned he was married to Daryl Hannah - which I never knew! "Customers also listened to" a load of other Neil Young albums - I guess there's enough of them after all and one day, we might find one I like.  But not today (but credit where it's due, it's a vast improvement).

PJ for the win, but Solange might have been in with a chance if I knew that album better.

#316-314 - I didn't see this winner coming
#310-313 - Three "challenging" albums