Let England Shake: the all-purpose thread.

[menju56]

LES nominated for the Pop Music award at the 2012 South Bank Sky Arts Awards. There are traditionally only three nominees in this category, and this year PJ is up against Kate Bush (50 Words for Snow) and Adele (21). Award ceremony takes place on May 1.

Full nominees:

Classical Music

• Llŷr Williams: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Cycle at

Edinburgh Festival

• Harrison Birtwistle with Boston Symphony

Orchestra: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra at

Boston Symphony Hall

• Sir Colin Davis and the LSO: Nielsen’s Symphony

Cycle at the Barbican

Comedy

• Fresh Meat, Channel 4

• Twenty Twelve, BBC4

• Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, BBC2

Dance

• Zoo Nation, Some Like it Hip Hop, Sadlers Wells

• Akram Khan, Desh, The Curve

• Arthur Pita, The Metamorphosis, Linbury Studio

Film

• Attack The Block

• Senna

• We Need To Talk About Kevin

Literature

• Pure, Andrew Miller

• Charles Dickens: A Life, Claire Tomalin

Opera

• The Damnation of Faust, ENO

• Mignon, Buxton Festival

• Heart of Darkness, Linbury, Royal Opera

Pop Music

• Adele, 21

• PJ Harvey, Let England Shake

Kate Bush, 50 Words For Snow

Theatre

• Matilda, RSC,

• One Man Two Guvnors, National Theatre

• Constellations, Royal Court

TV Drama

• Sherlock, BBC 1

• This is England ’88, Channel 4

• Top Boy, Channel 4

Visual Art

• Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown

Craftsman, British Museum

• David Chipperfield: The Hepworth Wakefield

• David Hockney: A Bigger Picture , Royal Academy

[halo eighteen]

^One more award blahdele will steal away from two infinitely more deserving candidates.

[menju56]

Another award nomination for LES: it's nominated in the Album category at the Ivor Novello Awards on May 17th. As with the South Bank Awards, the other nominees in the category are Adele and Kate Bush.

[Stone]

Broken record over here but I cannot get enough of this album. So raw, so rhythmic, so fun, so gutsy.
Favorites are: The Guns Called me Back Again, The Glorious Land, The Words that Maketh Murder, England, The Last Living Rose, Written on the Forehead.

[Scottish Mike]

I listened to about half the album last night for the first time in a few months, and it still gives me goosebumps! I agree with everything you said Stone, it is a great album. It's so concise yet packs such a punch

[ebby]

I keep going back to it, because it is brilliant.

[Rum 509]

An online outfit called Moshcam is streaming the show from the State Theatre in 2012, I couldn't find it posted anywhere else so here it is.

http://www.moshcam.com/sydneyfestiva...-england-shake

[Stone]

^ Great!

I might be listening to this album for the very first time on vinyl on Thursday. Both my best friend and I own a copy, but I'm making him open his (the motherfucker has both 7"s from this era, and I don't).

[Adam]

Listened to LES last night after a really long time. I realize now after so much time has passed, that the "problems" I had with it upon its release were related to everything BUT the music! And what great music it is. It really takes you into another world...somehow, she managed ( with the instrumentation and arrangements) to make the songs sound like I imagine the battleground to look like: the bodies everywhere, the grey sky, the smoke. I was really transported to another world last night. Brilliant.

Have to add that Written on the Forehead is still so fresh and amazing...I don't think any of these songs will ever sound dated as they are out of time completely.

[Baltic]

Written on the Forehead is probably my favourite PJ song! It's so unique (for her, at least)!

I listened to this album recently, too, but some of the songs don't do it for me (though technically, I know they're good). The last three songs flow so well! That is perfection.

[Scottish Mike]

There's a series of documentaries on the Georgians presented by historian Lucy Worsley currently being broadcast on BBC 4, and the second episode featured both 'This Glorious Land' and 'Written on the Forehead' as background music at various points across the episode which was a nice little surprise.

[Stone]

Does this song remind you of anything on LES (or is it just me?)?

[Bruce]

It doesn't, but what a fantastic track! Does it remind you of the Constantinople riff on the title track of LES?

[Stone]

Reminds me of the chorus of Words that Maketh Murder, around the 0:06 mark and a couple of times during the track.

[Octopussy]

I am revisiting this in preparation for Hope Six!!!

These are my new track rankings:

1. England -- I don't know how I ignored this one, but now I'm wishing there was more like it on LES. It's a clear descendant of White Chalk (similar to the live versions of Grow Grow Grow, is it not?) and the way PJ's voice and guitar blend effortlessly with the ululations and dissonant horns are a brilliantly subtle stylistic change. Plus I just love songs that use juxtaposition to make a statement. There's also a breezy, tropical island quality to her strumming, like someone dreaming of their home in England from a far off place.

2. The Guns Called Me Back Again -- A b-side, I know, but I miss that lower register so much on this album.
3. The Last Living Rose
4. Hanging in the Wire
5. In the Dark Places -- My favorite lyrics, and I love the dynamic from verse to chorus to post-chorus.
6. All and Every One -- I love this one in pieces, it's only the "death was blah blah" parts that get to be a bit much.

7. On the Battleship Hill -- I would rank this higher, but the jaunty intro is so off-putting to me.
8. Let England Shake
9. The Glorious Land
10. The Words That Maketh Murder -- This one used to be a favorite, maybe I'm just burnt out on it.
11. Written on the Forehead -- Same.
12. Bitter Branches -- The new vocal style isn't right for this, IMO.
13. The Colour of the Earth -- Just not for me.

The other b-side... The Nightingale? I forget what that one's like.