BACK IN THE PP GURU HIGH LIFE AGAIN!!!

It's certainly a euphoric explosion in the PP Guru's purple crotch tunic to be a productive member of the ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS workforce once more. As Sparky may have eluded in a couple days past- the PP Guru is now a member of the Paramount Pictures labor elite in helping with box office analysis and helping out with the shitstorm melee of box office returns on Mission Impossible Three and Over the Hedge (which the PP Guru has been told will be the last official Dreamworks film to be released under their own auspices before Paramount cleans up ship). So it's a match that's makes perfect sense.

PP Guru....

Paramount Pictures...

Once again....

PP Guru....

Paramount Pictures.

Uma...

Oprah...

Uma!!!!!

So, while the PP Guru is busy catching on past due notices and Les the Landlord who wants to throw him out., the PP Guru may have a few sheckles lying around. There's a lot of prog coming out or has come out that PP Guru wants to get. Even though it's been out for little over a month and the PP Guru had to sit out on the David Gilmour extravanganza that recently invaded the Los Angeles area (the $100 plus ticket prices at the Kodak and the Gibson Universal Ampitheater didn't help matters many- that's why the PP Guru opted for the Jon Anderson show a few weeks ago). David has put out his first solo album in some twenty odd plus years called On a Island and the PP Guru doesn't have it yet. He's heard it's quite good and that it has Crosby, Stills, and Nash doing back up vocals on it. The PP Guru has to get it.

Another band that the PP Guru has read about in the LA Times of all places about a group from Manchester, England called Elbow. The concert review made mention of lead singer Guy Garvey being compared as a Peter Gabriel/Genesis wannabe - now, you know how the PP Guru is quite partial to things pertaining to giant hogweeds and carpet crawls that he is inticed to pick up the band's latest, Leaders of the Free World on V2 records just on that recommendation alone. Now the PP Guru had found out that the band has been around since 2000. Where the fuck was the PP Guru, sleeping in Paris somewhere? The PP Guru has to get it.

More offerings from that wonderful German label Insideout Music include the new double CD Flower Kings - Paradox Hotel (as well as leader Roine Stolt's latest double CD solo album Wall Street Voodoo ), Stream of Passion featuring Ayreon's Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Marcela Bovio, the long awaited follow-up to OSI's debut album, Free that comprise of Mike Portnoy, ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore, and Fate's Warning Jim Matheos, and new bassist Joey Vera- sadly Steven Wilson did not help out on this one, and yet another good album is coming forthwith from that other hard rocking band from Canada (other than Rush) Saga.

But the one that has the PP Guru searching hi and low throughout the bins of the local Sherman Oaks Tower Records and Border's is the soaring debut of a new Yes offshoot band called White featuring Alan White (duh) and Geoff Downes. Recorded last summer in Seattle, originally this material on the album was supposed to make it's debut at last summer's aborted More Drama Tour which was also supposed to feature Chris Squire and the Syn and a solo acoustic set from Steve Howe before bringing down the house with a set of songs from Drama that haven't been performed since 1980. So the album has been released by Renaissance Records and it sports a stunning new shiny Roger Dean album cover. Unfortunely, the PP Guru is unable to supply a variable link for all to see. But, you know the PP Guru has to get it- otherwise, he'd lose face in keeping up with his civil prog rock duties.

More PP Guru tomorrow - if time allows. ~ Coat

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Elbow (band)

Origin	Manchester, England
Years active	1990–present
Genre(s)	Alternative rock
Label(s)	V2
Members	Guy Garvey Mark Potter Craig Potter Richard Jupp Pete Turner

Elbow emerged from the late 1990s Manchester music scene centred around the city's vibrant Northern Quarter on Oldham Street.

Acclaimed for their innovative sound, breathtaking live gigs and the candid, evocative lyrics of singer Guy Garvey, Elbow have received vast critical acclaim and been endorsed by major artists REM, U2, Velvet Underground^{[citation needed]} and Blur. However, commercial success has yet to match their critical acclaim and cult status.

Singer Guy Garvey met guitarist Mark Potter at Sixth form college in 1990 at the age of 16. Mark asked Guy to sing in a band he was in with drummer Richard Jupp and bassist Pete Turner and they formed SOFT. Mark's brother Craig Potter joined soon after on keyboards. By 1997 they had changed their name to Elbow, signed a deal with Island Records and recorded their debut album with producer Steve Osbourne. However, when Island was bought out by major label Universal, the band were dropped in a mass cull and their album never released.

They continued to record on the iconic independent label Uglyman, and released The Noisebox EP and The Newborn EP, which was given extensive airplay by BBC Radio 1 .

Their debut album, Asleep in the Back, released on V2 in 2000, was hailed as a seminal album of the new millennium, gaining them a Mercury Music Prize nomination and a Brit award nomination. Their second album, Cast of Thousands - a reference to their performance at Glastonbury in 2002, when they recorded thousands of people singing "We still believe in love, so fuck you", sealed their reputation as innovators in UK music.

In 2004 Elbow went on an unofficial tour of Cuba, becoming the first British band ever to play a concert outside Havana. The tour was made in to a short film by British documentary maker Irshad Ashraf.

Elbow's innovation in the studio has invited work with other bands, notably Editors and I Am Kloot whose debut album was produced by Guy Garvey. Their third album, Leaders of the Free World, was entirely self produced at Blueprint studios in Salford, a space the band hired for the duration of their recording sessions, teaming up with video artists The Soup Collective to produce an integrated music and video DVD.

They have contributed the song "Snowball" to the 2005 War Child benefit album Help: a Day in the Life Guy also returned to I Am Kloot as co-producer for their single Maybe I Should and Guy Garvey continues to work closely with Manchester Indie Label Skinny Dog

Band members

• Guy Garvey: lead vocals, guitar
• Mark Potter: guitar, backing vocals
• Craig Potter: keyboards, organ, backing vocals
• Pete Turner: bass guitar
• Richard Jupp: drums

Discography

Studio albums

Positions listed are for the UK Album Chart:

1. Asleep in the Back (May 7, 2001); #14

2. Cast of Thousands (August 18, 2003); #7

3. Leaders of the Free World (September 12, 2005) #12

UK singles & EPs

All positions are from the UK Singles Chart:

Early releases:

• "Newborn" (2000)
• "Any Day Now" (2001)

From Asleep in the Back:

• "Red" (2001) #36
• "Powder Blue" (2001) #41
• "Newborn" (2001) #41
• "Asleep in the Back"/"Coming Second" (2002) #19

From Cast Of Thousands:

• "Fallen Angel" (2003) #19
• "Fugitive Motel" (2003) #44
  • "Ribcage"/"Fugitive Motel" limited edition "7 (2003)
• "Not a Job" (2004) #26
• "Grace Under Pressure"/"Switching Off" (2004)

From Leaders Of The Free World:

• "Forget Myself" (2005) #22
• "Leaders Of The Free World" (2005) #53
• "My Very Best" (2006)

External links

• Elbow home
• Elbow at Pride Of Manchester
• Elbow Lyrics
• PopMatters interview (2/2006)
• An Assortment of Elbow Reviews
• Irshad Ashraf
• The unofficial tour of Cuba

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