John Parish - Once Upon A Little Time

by Jon Rogers

published: 18 / 9 / 2005

Label: Thrill Jockey
Format: CD

Suprisingly mediocre solo album from John Parish, PJ Harvey's backing man and co-producer

Review

John Parish, most noted for being a backing man and co-producer to PJ Harvey, recently listed his favourite albums to online shopping website Amazon.co.uk. In there, he picked some real gems like Television's 'Marquee Moon', David Bowie's 'Low' and Captain Beefheart's 'Ice Cream for Crow'. Pity then that those albums didn't rub off on him for 'Once Upon a Little Time'. The brief introductory 'Salò' kicks things off modestly but the first "proper" song, 'Boxers', is utterly dull, just plodding and stumbling along as if just coming around from being heavily sedated. The following 'Choice' is little better. Both sound like outtakes from a work in progress tape that contain the initial heart of a song but need the spit and polish to make them suitable for public consumption. Matters only marginally improve for 'Sea Defences' and 'Even Redder Than That.' At least there is some life now, as if Parish has finally woken from an afternoon siesta after a long lunch and decided to carry on working. Neither though are worth getting too excited about. The real stand out track though comes with 'Water Road', an arrangement of a piece Parish originally did for Jennifer Houlton's film 'Water'. The short instrumental is full of tension, menace and trepidation as it moves hesitantly along. A completely different tack is taken on 'Somebody Else' which is lighter in tone and almost quirky. Parish just about manages to pull it off though. After that peak though the following songs, like 'Kansas City Electrician' and 'Glade Park', just wither into almost nothing memorable. 'Once Upon a Little Time' needs something substantially better than a host of rather mediocre, largely forgettable, songs and the ones presented here.

Track Listing:-

1 Salo
2 Boxers
3 Choice
4 Sea Defences
5 Even Redder Than That
6 Water Road
7 Somebody Else
8 Kansas City Electrician
9 Stranded
10 Glade Park
11 Even Redder Than That Too
12 The Last Thing I Heard Her Say