inspirit wrote:

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Slow Jam has been a favourite of mine since the JARV IS version from Bristol went on youtube. The slap bass doesn't bother me - again, Seinfield fan, maybe immune to it from 30 years of exposure - and for most of the song it's not high in the mix. Maybe the original was too mournful for More; they've upped the BPM from 75 to 90, and the bass gives it more propulsion.  I still prefer the slower brooding youtube version, the violin was striking, but mebby live there was more bass that the phone didn't pick up.

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I would put money on the tempo change being down to Nick "put some lead in your ass" Banks. He doesn't tend to do slooooow.

Eamonn wrote:

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Have you done a BPM comparison of Background Noise live v More?

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 I make about 56 BPM live (from 3 x Mexico recordings on youtube); the More versions a bit slower, at 50 BPM.

Sounds funny that Slow Jam would be much faster, but if I'm double counting the beats, would be 38 against 45, so the speed up live vs album still applies.

jarvcore wrote:.

"My sex is not forever, It's two silences stitched together" I love this line. At the core of intimacy is connection and quiet unspoken understanding, not performance or dominance.

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 I liked your interpretation of what is a beautifully layered song. Listening recently, a couple of things have struck me. Hope theyre not trite or blindingly obvious but either way they pleased me when they occurred to me. 

Its mine all mine is surely a reference to I Love Life. Additionally, the song title My Sex is really very reminiscent of Jacques Brels song title My Death. So there you have sex as the life force, but also as oblivion (e.g. orgasm as le petit mort - a fleeting moment  where the ego dissolves) - possibly equating to the Death Drive (though I dont know enough about Freud to be sure). Contradictory impulses residing in everyone. 

In which case, the two silences line sounds to me to refer to the twin oblivions of death (the before-birth and after-life) being separated (but only just, hence stitching) by life, which is sex through and through. Otherwise there would be only be one, big, eternal death - only life can separate it into two parts, and there is no life without sex. But this separation is ever so brief.

And in a sense, the concept of death is dependent on there being a concept of life.

I suppose too that the song might be setting-up a tension between these apparent polar opposites, which is then resolved by the discovery that they are of the same cloth. Other opposites are explored in the song in the same way, and found to be less straightforward than they first seemed. Show me yours, Ill show you mine etc

might also fit with the way life/love/sex/creativity are equated throughout the album too

sorry about the punctuation - never buy an iphone

I think Grown Ups, Tina and Got To Have Love are as good as anything that Pulp have done. Three outstanding songs, and it's amazing to have them in the set.

Spike Island I do like. Some good lyrics make up for the slightly lacking chorus.

My Sex is going to grow on me, I think. A Sunset is good, but really comes to life live.

Background Noise I need to listen to more.

As for the others. The slow ones. Slow Jam I outright didn't like when Jarv Is played it. Live, it's better now, but still passes me by on record. Live it's a little better. Excellent lyrics. Something much darker than I was expecting. But I did have to read them to pay attention to them.

Hymn... I actively didn't like live. It's better on record, but not one I'll skip to.

Farmer's Market is of a similar ilk, I think. It's not hugely doing it for me. More listens, maybe? But even live, I've been drifting.

Partial Eclipse doesn't stick with me at all.

Yeah, I think House Music is the best single from More and Beyond The Pale.

Must I Evolve is more of a statement than the two More singles. I'm really glad Spike Island got traction and works as an opener on record and live but as strong as the post-'96 output is, there still hasn't been a knockout single to rival 'owt from 1992 to 1995 (plus Help The Aged). Maybe that's asking for way too much as not many acts can match that run.

Also agree somewhat with Farmers Market and Partial Eclipse. They feel more to be admired than enjoyed. Lovely little melodies but the choruses are very brief and there's a lack of excitement to both. I think one could have been swapped-out for something uptempo but I guess Kim wasn't going to let her husband ditch her favourite song!

Surprised you rate Grown Ups so much. I like bits of it but I can't believe Mark let the guitar plod most of the way through when it's his main chance on the album to do something interesting, as the song's not swamped in strings - and Jarvis plays the fun slide bits on Spike Island.

The guitar in the intro, verses and "solo" on Grown Ups all feel uninspired in their generic indie-ness. It's weird cos Webber has said it's his least favourite song on the album. Maybe Jarvis curbed more creative riffs...keen to hear the 1997 demo now. Generally I think Mark's playing is really well-judged and generous on More. He only comes in on certain songs when the guitar offers something different in harmony or counterpoint.

The heart of the album for me is Hymn, Slow Jam and My Sex. Magnificent builds, arrangement, lyrics and choruses to each of them. Mark plays his part in all of those. He's also to the fore on Background Noise with some nice guitar effects. The only thing that slightly mars that song for me is Jarvis being a bit mumbly in the verses and the tempo in those sections dragging slightly. Didn't help that I knew the live version first which is slightly quicker.