New Release.
Country Music Series.
Artist: Mick Harvey
Type: Album
Year: 2007
Style: Country / Contemporary Country / Alt. Country
Country: Australia
Quality: VBR / 44,1Khz / Joint-Stereo
Size: 59,902 MB

Album Review:
Style.Categories: Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Country-Rock
Two of Diamonds is Bad Seed Mick Harvey's fourth proper solo album -- there are a number of soundtracks out there that also bear his name -- and his third recording overall in two years. Other artists' songs principally make up the set -- particularly Australians who've moved and influenced him -- with a few tunes of his own placed strategically. The album opens with a killer reading of the Saints' "Photograph" that bring out all the pathos and grief in the original, but is added to by Harvey's use of Rosie Westbrook's double bass and Thomas Wylder's drumming. The bookend track is a nod to his ex-bandmate Simon Bonney, frontman of Crime & the City Solution; Harvey was their musical director after the Birthday Party split. There are also tunes here by the Triffids and the Loved Ones. What sets this recording apart from its predecessors is that Harvey is using what feels like a real band instead of either doing things himself, as he did on One Man's Treasure, or groups of studio pals. Along with Wylder and Westbook are James Johnston on guitar and organ and Julitha Ryan on piano and backing vocals. PJ Harvey's drummer/keyboardist Rob Ellis also appears on a cut. The originals here are gorgeous, among the finest songs Harvey's ever written. "Blue Arrows" is a skeletal song with Harvey playing guitars and piano and Westbook's bass filled with spirit. Two and a half minutes in length, it hovers, shimmers, and floats while leaving its bittersweet melody embedded in the heart of the listener. Then there's "Little Star," again under three minutes long, that emerges via a fade-in of piano and guitars playing a repetitive, nearly droning theme. Harvey's vocal comes from the last couple of centuries somewhere, out of time and space, and glides through the lyric, another love song to the listener on the wind until the refrain, when the portrait of love's past is considered over distance and time itself like an open palm that contains blackened rose petals -- dead, gone, treasured. Two of Diamonds' moody, brooding sweetness is the next step Harvey takes out from under Nick Cave's long shadow and into his own musical identity, keeping the listener in reverie for the album's entire run. Sadly beautiful, it's one of those sleepers that deserves to be heard, whispered about, and imprinted in the heart.
Mick Harvey
Genre: Rock
Active: '90s, 2000s
Instruments: Drums, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Organ
Biography:
Multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey is best known for his deep roots in the tangled family tree of singer Nick Cave. Playing a pivotal role in the Cave-fronted Boys Next Door (1977-1980), Birthday Party (1980-1983), and Bad Seeds (1984 on), Harvey added intricate detail and anonymous atmospherics that gave life to the singer's ominous narratives. On stage, in a wardrobe of dark suits, the Bad Seeds flanked Cave, responding to the singer with a choir of baritones. Their collective sound elevated his musical assaults and mournful ballads to points of breathtaking drama. On his own, Harvey made numerous contributions to Bad Seeds' side projects and composed music for a number of independent films. He came closest to emerging out of Cave's shadow with his two tributes to French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg: Intoxicated Man (1995) and Pink Elephants (1997). Enthralled by the newly emerging punk rock, Mick Harvey and Nick Cave co-founded the Boys Next Door (with Tracy Pew on bass, Phill Calvert on drums, Rowland Howard on guitar, and Harvey in various roles) in 1977. They made their recorded debut in 1978 (a cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walking") and released one full-length album (1979's Door, Door) before relocating to England in 1980. In their new home as the Birthday Party, the group landed themselves a spot on 4AD records. The black sheep on a roster of atmospheric dream pop acts, the Birthday Party was an assault on the senses of an entirely different sort. Dark and guttural, their sound was defined by heavy bass, searing guitars, and Cave's terrifying wail. Conflicts grew between songwriters Cave and Howard, and after three years, the Birthday Party was put to rest.
Needing an outlet for his growing ambitions as a writer, Cave assembled the Bad Seeds (with Blixa Bargeld and Hugo Race on guitar and Barry Adamson on bass) in 1983. Harvey began on drums. A talented performer and arranger, Harvey continually rose to the level of Cave's improved writing over the years. The group's 1983 debut, From Her to Eternity, was a turning point. While the title track and "Cabin Fever" used the Birthday Party template, lengthy narratives like "Saint Huck" and "A Box for Black Paul" signaled the changes ahead. Harvey joined Australia's Crime and the City Solution in 1985 for The Dangling Man EP. He would contribute to five albums under singer Simon Bonney over six years, culminating in 1990's Paradise Discotheque. By the time the Bad Seeds reconvened for Your Funeral, My Trial in 1986, all of the elements were in place. Cave turned out one of his best collections of outcast's tales and sorrowful ballads. Harvey left impressions everywhere. He builds the drama of "The Carny," layering piano, organ, xylophone, and glockenspiel. Elsewhere, his guitar is the steady hand to Bargeld's fractured edges.
Using any idle time between his two day jobs, Harvey composed soundtrack music for the documentary Identy-Kid and Gisa Schleelein's Totes Geld (both 1987). This would become the pattern for Harvey as he would bide time between Bad Seeds and Crime albums with film work (Alta Marea & Vaterland collects projects from 1987-1992), production duties, and guest appearances, all the while remaining one of the few constants in the Bad Seeds fluctuating lineup. Harvey's most significant solo work came in 1995 with the tribute to Serge Gainsbourg, Intoxicated Man. A culmination of his craft, Harvey shifted easily through a number of settings, from the rollicking tribute to American outlaws "Bonnie and Clyde" to the dripping sentimentality of "Overseas Telegram." 1997 brought greater change for the Bad Seeds as Cave wrote a group of piano-led ballads for The Boatman's Call. Harvey contributed to most songs but the sparse and reserved material called in to question the necessity of the group. Harvey released Intoxicated Man's companion, Pink Elephants, the same year and in 1999, curated the Bad Seeds' Best Of collection. He composed his tenth collection of film music for Andrew Dominik's Chopper in 2000. A few years later, Harvey created the original score for the 2002 film by director Paul Goldman, Australian Rules. In 2005, Harvey resumed his solo career with One Man's Treasure.

Tracklist:
01. Photograph
02. I Don't Want You On My Mind
03. Sad Dark Eyes
04. Here I Am
05. Blue Arrows
06. No Doubt
07. Everything Is Fixed
08. A Walk On The Wild Side
09. Little Star
10. Slow-Motion-Movie-Star
11. Out Of Time Man
12. Home Is Far From Here
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Mick Harvey - Two Of Diamonds