Tag Archive: Liz Harris


Der Watzmann by David Casper Friedrich

“Old men must be explorers
Here and there does not matter
We must be still and still moving
Into another intensity”
– T.S. Eliot – ‘East Coker’ from The Four Quartets.

Had a hard day on the planet?

Need some soothing music that quietens the soul but doesn’t deaden the brain?

Throw away those New Age tapes of dolphin sounds or bland electro-acoustic loops and check out my top ten albums for restoring a sense of balance and awakening consciousness. Continue reading

GROUPER SLEEP TRANSMISSIONS

GROUPER   Almagià, Ravenna  17th March 2012 – Transmissions V Festival

Liz Harris (Grouper) buried in a sleepy haze.

This show was billed as a 6pm matinee performance by ‘Grouper Violet Replacement’  incorporating the title of Liz Harris’ new self released album as if this were her new extended stage name.

Violet Replacement  has the longest tracks she has recorded to date  – two tracks with a total playing time of 88 minutes 36 seconds.  The hard copy versions are released on two separate CDRs (I was disappointed that copies were not sale at the venue so have to be content with my MP3 downloads).

Cushions were provided at the venue to ensure that the audience absorbed the music either seated or lying.  With the subdued lighting, the atmosphere was more like a meditation session than a rock show.

Liz Harris has an appropriately Zen-like presence, calmly and impassively operating her stage tools (no visible laptop) in what I assume is a straight playback  of the longer of the new album  tracks called Sleep.  The only visuals are some muted white dots that swirl around like oversized fireflies.

A few of the 50 or so listeners took the title literally as an invitation for a late afternoon nap and the soporific quality is, I imagine, deliberate.

This is the kind of pure, soothing  and sedative ambient music that has the same cleansing and restorative effect as you experience after a good night’s slumber.

Artwork for Grouper's A/A

Artwork for the Japan recovery compilation album.

After a three year semi- hiatus, the very wonderful Grouper (aka Liz Harris) returns in spectacular style next week with the vinyl and digital download release of a double album (A/A)  on Monday, April 11th.  The titles of the two discs are  Dream Loss and Alien Observer.

In an interview for Pitchfork she says that “Dream Loss is a collection of older songs, mostly written before a hard time. Alien Observer, for the most part, is made of songs recorded after that time”.

If you can’t wait that long to hear something new from her, you will find one track – Cassiopeia (3:22)  on the Thrill Jockey compilation Benefit for the recovery in Japan .

$15 will get you sixty-four artists from around the world and  nearly five hours of music. Most importantly of all,  100% of the proceeds from the sale of this brilliant collection will go directly towards the recovery and relief effort after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

100,000 HITS

Within the world-wide Blogosphere 100,000 hits since I started this blog on 25th May 2007 is a pretty modest number but I’m quietly pleased to clock up this milestone just the same.

Although I don’t write with any target audience in mind  I do find myself dallying over the Blog Stats in a not so healthy manner and I cannot deny that I’m bothered when the graph plummets dramatically.

It’s interesting to see what posts get the most hits and to speculate on why surfers are drawn in. Here’s my current top ten with my thoughts on why they are the most popular:

1. IF YOU ARE MORTAR

I struck blog-gold with this, my 4th ever post. This accounts for a quarter of all visitors.  I’d like to think there were 25,000 Ivor Cutler fans out there in Cyberspace but I realise that most of the hits are from those searching for an image of a brick wall! (don’t ask me why). The wall image accompanied by the word ‘loneliness’ is presumably intriguing enough to click on. I hope most stuck around to read the short poem. I tried to repeat the success another post with a brick wall picture but this got only 19  hits!

2. SLEEPING WITH SCARLETT JOHANSSON

A deliberately suggestive title and a sexy image of Ms Johannsson are the obvious bait to this review of her Tom Waits covers album.

3.  NO DIRECTION DINOSAURS

Surprised that so many clicked on this review of Martin Scorsese’s tedious concert movie of the Rolling Stones. Maybe they were searching for other dinosaurs.

4. THE THOUGHT-FOX

Again I don’t think this attracts poetry lovers. Probably most are looking for Fox Tv rather than Ted Hughes in which case I hope I’ve raised their cultural level ever so slightly.

5. LOVE LYRICS AND MENTAL HEALTH

I like this quote from Frank Zappa – when I started blogging most of the first entries were straight quotes and an image. Again the title is probably intriguing.

6. SIZE MATTERS TO HALLE BERRY

Forgive me for I have sinned . I confess to having lascivious thoughts about Halle Berry’s perfectly toned body – I can  take some  comfort in the knowledge that there other sinners out there in web-land.

7.  AN AFTERTASTE OF THE FAST FOOD NATION

Not a great movie but hopefully interest lies in seeking out a fast-free diet and lifestyle. The message of the movie was enough to inspire my daughter to follow my example and become a vegetarian – she hasn’t wavered since.

8.  SHALL WE DANCE?

Another of my filler posts with a quote I like coupled with a memory of Ballet Rambert’s magnificent ‘Ghost Dances.

9.  MISS ITALIA VIEWED FROM BEHIND

More proof that sex sells and the prospect of admiring the backside of a beauty queen has proved an irresistable temptation for many.

10. NATURAL GROUPER THERAPY

I was asked to cease and desist by someone who helps run a grouper therapy website promoting mega-strength fishing tackle !  I politely asked how my post could be viewed as affecting their online trade but received no reply so the title stands. I have a fantasy that hordes of misdirected fishermen are getting turned on to the etherial beauty of Liz Harris’ music.

If you have read this far and/or have ever visited my humble blog in the past – thank you for being one in 100,000.


NATURAL GROUPER THERAPY

Liz Harris

‘Grouper’ is the stage name of Elizabeth (Liz) Harris from Portland, Oregon.
Her debut album, Way Their Crept, was released on the Free Porcupine Society label in 2005. This was followed a year later by ‘Wide’ on the same label. Last year she put out a brilliant limited edition LP ‘Cover The Windows And Walls’ (on Root Strata) . Now her third ‘official’ full length on Type Records is about to hit the streets – charmingly entitled
‘Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill’ . Continue reading