Kristin Hersh and Throwing Muses

My main non-work related reading recently has been Kristin Hersh's biography Paradoxical Undressing. I had thought this was going to be the entire story of the Throwing Muses, but actually it only covers about 15 months when they were first starting out. It focuses on her bi-polar condition and the many this tied in with the music they were producing at the time.

I first heard the Muses on Peel in about 1986 when the first album came out and there have been part of the soundtrack to my life ever since. I saw them live on the tour they did with the Pixies (when they were supposed to be the headliners, but switched mid tour). I associate dozens of events with TM songs! Our holiday in the Lake District when Emma was a baby is always associated with the track Dizzy for instance. University and Limbo are two of my favourite overall albums.

When they seemed to call it a day in 1996, citing financial difficulties in keeping the band going, I was actually really quite upset. So when they toured again in 2003, I was really pleased and perhaps have never enjoyed a live show as much as that one. Another album then appeared in 2009 and they did some more shows, including a great show that appeared on tv from the Primavera festival in Spain

The version of "Pearl" from the last show I saw is one of the highlights of my musical life!

The lovely Kristin and her unique fashion sense (below)

Throwing Muses - the classic line up. Tanya, Leslie, Kristin and David