I was lucky enough, last September, to get a shout from my friend Mike, the brains and energy behind the long-established Manic Pop Thrills blog, to join him at a gig in Glasgow.
The main attraction for both of us was the presence on stage of Mick Harvey, the highly-talented Australian musician probably best known from his many years working alongside Nick Cave or perhaps his work with PJ Harvey (no relation!!).
I did, in due course, make mention of how special the gig proved to be, but my words were tucked away as part of a piece looking at the album Invisible You by J.P. Shilo, and may therefore have been missed by some regulars. The gig was, ostensibly, to promote Mick’s latest album, Phantasmagoria in Blue, which he had recorded alongside Mexican singer Amanda Acevedo, but the publicity poster promised a show by an ensemble called The Invisible Blue Unicorns, so neither myself nor Mike quite knew what to expect.
It proved to be a memorable gig, with seven musicians coming and going throughout the night, and a set-list consisting of songs that had been released on records by Sometimes With Others (a Berlin-based band), J.P. Shilo as well as those from Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo’s new album. All three acts shared equal billing, and indeed, Mick Harvey seemed to be at his happiest when he wasn’t the centre of attention.
The opportunity at the end of the night to chat to all concerned, while spending money at the merch stall, was too good to pass up. I ended up with two albums and two singles, all on vinyl. One of the singles was a 12″ release, with just 500 copies having been pressed. It contained two tracks from Phantasmagoria in Blue (both of which happened to be covers) along with a solo track from Mick Harvey that had been released as a digital single in early 2023.
This digital single was also a cover, and Khayem wrote about it at length just last week over at Dubhead when he referred to it about to be included on Mick’s forthcoming album, Five Ways To Say Goodbye, which is scheduled for release this coming May. Rol, of My Top Ten fame, and Adam from Bagging Area, were among those who left comments, with both indicating that, on the basis of the digital single, the album was going to be ordered.
As Khayem outlined, the new album will follow the norm of most Mick Harvey releases, with one-third of its 12 tracks being original songs, and two-thirds cover versions.
The 500 copies of the 12″ single are long gone, and I’m very pleased with myself that I bought one. (It’s #193 of the 500). Here are the two tracks that can also be found on Phantasmagoria in Blue:-
mp3: Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo – Milk & Honey
mp3: Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo – Love Is A Battlefield
The former is a track by the late and tragic American folk singer, Jackson C Frank, whose recording career consisted of just one eponymous album, recorded and produced by Paul Simon in 1965. The latter is a cover of the song which gave Pat Benatar a global-hit in 1983.
The above image is of the reverse of the sleeve. As Khayem helpfully explained last week over at his place, this is a cover of Ich Hab’ Noch Einen Koffer In Berlin, originally recorded by Bully Buhlan in 1951 but more famous in its 1955 version by Marlene Dietrich. Mick translated the song into English:-
mp3: Mick Harvey – A Suitcase In Berlin
This one obviously comes highly recommended by a number of the blogging community. It’s a thing of great depth and beauty, and I trust that those of you not previously au fait with it, will be giving your approval.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 