Author: Michael
PJ Harvey – I Inside the Old Year Dying (2023)
It’s been several years since PJ Harvey has released an album and it may not get the juices flowing for some to read it’s based on her long form poem, Orlam. Those people however would be wrong. Working with producers Flood and John Parish for I Inside the Old Year Dying, Harvey keeps the album moving with the longest song clocking in at just over 4 minutes.
The best songs here are the ones that reference Elvis Presley including the acoustic guitar track “Lwonesome Tonight” and the clattering beats of “August”. One of the best moments on the album is the solid drum beat on “A Child’s Question, August” and the deadpan chorus of “love me tender/tender love” sung with actor Ben Whishaw.
The title track is louder with dissonance and distortion before disappearing in a quick 2 minutes. There is a dark atmosphere of dread on “All Souls”, a distant bass bangs away on “I Inside the Old I Dying”. On these tracks, PJ Harvey adds texture and changing moods that is kept up through this album. I Inside the Old Year Dying sounds like it could be filled with 10 minute slogs but instead flies by like the wind on a dark summer’s night.
7.5/10
…wandering…
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes (2023)
Jason Isbell is having a helluva year. HBO is home to the very good Isbell documentary, Running With Our Eyes Closed. He is set to appear in the Martin Scorsese movie Killers of the Flower Moon and he just released his new album with his band the 400 Unit, Weathervanes. The album opens immediately with Isbell’s voice on “Death Wish”. Eventually strings appear, piano twinkles with percussion bits. Another reviewer likened it to The Cure, this is an apt description – a country Robert Smith singing of loving someone suffering through depression.
That song is a departure from the rest of the album. “Cast Iron Skillet” has a bit of a twist on modern country with the line, “Don’t wash the cast iron skillet/Don’t drink and drive, you’ll spill it”. A warm acoustic guitar envelopes “Strawberry Girl” while “King of Oklahoma” tackles the hard luck story of a chap trying to stay afloat while thinking, “never thought I’d wind up this far behind”. Isbell lets his voice soar on “Middle of the Morning”. The lockdown track inspired by his personal experience is a good one where he makes the claim that “I’m tired of living in the moment and sleeping through the dream”. An adult remembering that he wanted to be a spaceman.
Isbell’s musical gift is making smart lyrical choices. Two of the standouts see him thinking about far bigger issues than the usual hunting/fishing/drinking songs that fill modern country radio. “Save The World” immediately ups the intensity on a track about a school shooting in Nashville and how to process what that means for the country and his family. “White Beretta” tells the story of Isbell driving his girlfriend to the abortion clinic back in the late 90s. Not sure if they are making the right decision, he let the girl make the decision regardless of his mental struggles.
Jason Isbell’s music on Weathervanes expands the palette and also pulls it back into familiar country territory. There are bits of keyboard, atmospheric moments, and several times where he adds 80s rock into the mix. But it still goes back to the stories he tells on songs like “Volunteer” that tells of a boy being raised by parents who were just kids. He doesn’t always hit those heights but there are enough great moments on Weathervanes where Isbell reaches for being one of America’s great storytellers.
8/10
Q2 2023 Read It
George R.R. Martin’s fourth book in the Songs of Ice and Fire series, A Feast For Crows, comes in at a mere 976 pages. Martin wrote a lot more for the novel but instead split up the plotlines and moved them to the next book. This means the reader gets very little Jon Snow or Dany Targaryen. Some of the storylines are not as interesting as others. The scenes taking place in Dorne and the Iron Islands are not nearly as interesting as Cersei’s scheming, Jaime and Brienne’s relationship, or Arya becoming no one. Not as intense as the first three books but still entertaining, especially as it ends with Cersei in much trouble and begging for her brother’s help.
8/10
There have been several great books written about the astonishing career The Smiths over the years. This list includes Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance by Johnny Rogan, Songs that Saved Your Life by Simon Goddard, and A Light That Never Goes Out by Tony Fletcher. Perhaps it rubbed Morrissey the wrong way watching others write about both his life and his band without him having a say in the matter so 10 years ago he published his own autobiography that includes his life after The Smiths. The book starts out on a high note as Steven Patrick Morrissey writes about growing up in Irish Manchester in the 60s and 70s. Across 100 pages, it brings to life the areas and homes that he lived in as a boy then teenager.
For readers expecting an equal amount of love put into writing about his music, they will be sorely disappointed. Instead, Morrissey writes extensively about his court proceedings with former Smiths drummer Mike Joyce. Then takes endless swipes at managers, record labels, ex-bandmates, etc. It turns into a slog of reading about perceived slights and encounters with other singers. The book then finishes as a sort of tour diary where he writes about concerts, towns and theatres. It’s a tiresome read that is sadly light on the music he’s created over the years.
5/10
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari is one of those books that appears everywhere since it was published in 2016. It appears on bestseller lists, critics lists, front and centre in bookstores, and on Instagram pages – all for good reason. Harari writes about 70,000 years of evolution, development, and accomplishments of Homo Sapiens. This includes subjects such as empires, agriculture, science, culture, religion, etc. The writing style is easy to follow and includes little asides and humour throughout. It’s one of those books that grabs readers immediately and makes them want to explore further into the history of Sapiens.
9/10
The Light Appears 