From Tin Pan Alley To Spotify: Music And Its Many Formats

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My Ultimately Alternative Relationship with PJ Harvey – Part 3

My Ultimately Alternative Relationship with PJ Harvey – Part 3

16 January 2021

I slip out of bed, stagger in the dark, bounce off the door frame to my office, power-up my laptop, stumble to the kitchen, turn on the coffee machine, quickly turn it off, grab a mug from the cupboard, try again.

As much as I’d love to be the kind of person who wakes up beating my chest and singing PJ Harvey’s “Me Jane” to start the day, all I’ve got to motivate me this morning is, “Ahh, coffee.” Which is more than most mornings, at least.

My Ultimately Alternative Relationship with PJ Harvey – Part 2

My Ultimately Alternative Relationship with PJ Harvey – Part 2

24 November 2020

“Alternative music is a bit vague,” Adam says.

“Embodies the spirit of alternative?” I ask. This is the first time I’ve been able to meet up with both of my fellow expat friends since the pandemic began.

“Grunge?” Lauren pulls a duck face.

Ghosts of music past aside, genres in almost any media are easy to define, but alternative? Even the Grammy organization has changed the definition a half dozen times since 1991, “as recently as last year,”…

My Ultimately Alternative Relationship with PJ Harvey – Part 1

My Ultimately Alternative Relationship with PJ Harvey – Part 1

10 November 2020

“4-Track Demos,” my friend Adam — who used to be semi-obsessed with PJ Harvey — says.

“Yep,” Lauren agrees. “4-Track.”

I’m trying to remember the first PJ Harvey album I ever owned and make the mistake of saying it only included three or four tracks, but 4-Track Demos was released in 1993 and this isn’t it…