http://pjharvey.tribe.net...00df108654

An album that set my world on fire in 1998 was PJ Harvey's Is This Desire?, but the reception it received was far different than those which greeted her previous albums. Alternative Press put Rid of Me in its Top 10 and Is This Desire? acts very much like its double. Like Rid of Me, it doesn't seem to be dominated by one persona, like the vampy Lotte Lenya in a red dress pictured on the sleeve of and audible in most songs on To Bring You My Love. Is This Desire? rejects overt theatricality just as Rid of Me rejected the singer-songwriter confessionals of the first album, Dry, and both do so in favour of a freeplay of identity. Now, Harvey seems a cipher again, a medium for the emotions and expressions of her characters. And like Rid of Me, Is This Desire? could be seen as having a subsidiary work filled with working, unfinished versions of songs or ideas found in the later work. Shortly after Rid of Me came Four Track Demos, which included alternate versions of Rid of Me songs except without the heavy-metal muscle. (It's possible they were recorded after the versions on the Rid of Me albums, and it's not clear which version is supposed to supersede the other, if at all.) Between To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire? came Dance Hall at Louse Point, a collaboration with longtime collaborator John Parish that seems very much like a first draft for Is This Desire?, with some similar characterizations and song structures but little of the careful texturing in the production of the later album. (The songs performed at Dance Hall at Harvey's concert in Toronto in October drew me back to that album, and my impression was that they'd only recently been "finished," although the versions on the 1996 album were more interesting than I remembered.)

This sense that competing versions of the same songs or the same albums may exist further clouds the issue of authorial presence, as does the variety of characters on the latest album (e.g., Angelene, Catherine, Joy, Dawn). On Is This Desire? and Dance Hall, as with Rid of Me and Four Track Demos, there are too many different, competing voices to easily discern where "PJ Harvey" is supposed to be.

In an age in which celebrity's public persona must be as marketable and ready to be sold along with the cultural consumable to which it is attached, it's strange to say that I really have no idea who PJ Harvey is, even though I've followed her career in the '90s fairly closely. Though she did a tiny number of intelligent but not necessarily illuminating interviews at the time of its release, Is This Desire? was not accompanied by a big, well-orchestrated publicity push to completed the package for potential consumers. (This is increasingly necessary for albums that need to open with big numbers-e.g., the media blitzes for Madonna's Ray of Light, Alanis Morissette's Former Supposed Infatuation Junkie and Smashing Pumpkins' Adore, which were identical in intensity in Toronto, lasting as long as four days a piece.) Also, there wasn't a strong, radio-ready first single-"A Perfect Day Elise" works in the context of the album, but was so far from the standard modes for female voices on modern-rock radio that its presence there was fleeting. Unlike other female acts, she did not join the Lilith Fair and capitalize on the modish salability of her gender, though there was a well-received club tour in North America with a band featuring album musicians and collaborators like Parish and Eric Drew Feldman. After nearing a breakthrough with To Bring You My Love, the album's meagre sales in England and North America was undoubtedly a disappointment to her record company Island. (They were rumoured to have rejected Is This Desire? a number of times in hopes of Harvey providing a potential hit single.)

Perhaps as a response to all these conditions and the dimming of her commercial prospects-in fact, her apparent indifference to them- critical reception was relatively cool in many circles. For instance, Spin reviewed it very favourably and kept it in a "recent recommendations" feature for a few months afterward, but did not list it on their year-end Top 20.

Though it feels likely that alt-culture historians will appraise it as a curio or a cryptic and anti-commercial folly, Is This Desire? is PJ Harvey's most sophisticated and affecting album, and her first to provide a coherent sound world. By "coherent sound world," I mean to describe a work that does not rely on a system of direct musical reference or quotation (extreme examples being Oasis and Puff Daddy) to provide context for the listener, but instead has an identifiable palette of tonal colour, rhythm and texture which to refer only to themselves in consistent if mysterious relationships. It is an original arrangement (or rearrangement) of all the tools at a musician's disposal, from production effects to choice of instruments to style of delivery, as well as the relation of song lyrics or mood to musical or production details. As you'd guess, it doesn't happen that often.

As well as a plethora of unfamiliar voices and sounds, the songs on Is This Desire? feature a variety of gestures from seemingly disparate musical genres. The album has the density of much trip-hop or electronica but few moments of beat-friendliness. It is filled with the sort of tragic figures who populate traditional folk ballads but situates them in a decidedly non-naturalistic soundscape. It is specifically concerned with the trials of female characters yet has none of the reassuring pop-feminist arguments or self-empowerment that can be heard in pop by Lilith Fair-friendly artists. (Further confounding the pop-feminist quotient on Is This Desire? is the fact that a large amount of the action takes place at a remove, with Harvey favouring a third-person perspective and neglecting to suggest a particular emotional response by the listener.) It has the intensity of much blues music but none of the primitivist posturing that many purveyors insist on. In an interesting article in The New Yorker article- interesting because the author claimed to have never known a black person who bought an album by Aretha Franklin-Hilton Als cited Harvey and several other white artists (Rickie Lee Jones and Laura Nyro among them) as being more authentic soul and blues artists than Aretha Franklin and Lauryn Hill.

What PJ Harvey does is undersell what she's doing. Considering the increasingly hysterical tone of every aspect of Western culture, that might be the bravest possible decision for an artist of her esteem.

Ace said:

"Who Remembers?" Wasted on the undeserving!

I would literally weep if I ever met her

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

In her defence, she's been in the industry for ages and has developed a healthy attitude ('They're just folks like you and me').

Ace said:

Doesn't mean in private she can't grab your cock and jack it!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Okay, I'm gonna need a little 'splainin' on this one.

Ace said:

she could humor you and jerk your emotional chain

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Oh, okay.

Nah, she's not the type.

Ace said:

This thread has a lot of info on it. I'm going to save it for future reference.

this is definitely my favorite PJ album. One of my all time favorites. Every track is perfect. Not a wasted moment. Thank you 4 sharing.





www.arjunmusic.com

www.myspace.com/arjunmusic

www.cdbaby.com/arjuntunes

ARJUN....
This funk-indie-rock-jazz-groove trio just released their debut album entitled, "Pieces"
It's an instrumental outing with heavy grooves, improvisation and a HUGE Prince influence among others.....

heartbeatocean said:

I'm bookmarking it too.

GangstaFam said:

oh, so that's how people save threads. Duh!

heartbeatocean said:

How were you saving it? Printing?

GangstaFam said:

I did print a couple. Then I started a Word document where I started saving the links and titles of the threads. It took me a really long time to even figure that out though.

heartbeatocean said:

All ya gotta do is right click the thread and just add to favorites.

GangstaFam said:

Now you tell me.

heartbeatocean said:

Don't worry honey, I printed this out too It's much easier to read in the car that way

I posted this over at PJ's official site:

http://pjharvey.net/phpBB...?p=463#463

This kind of discussion NEVER happens there. I'm shocked quite frankly that the official site wouldn't have the best people to talk to concerning our queen

i've never met her but i did see her running in between the buses on her last tour. it was october just after her birthday in washington dc. she seemed a bit of a silly girl. tho she kept to one bus and her guys kept to another. and how tiny she was. i had seen prince in april the same year and had the same "jeeez! she/he's tiny!" reaction. but they're both so powerful and really fill up the place on stage ... .


blahblahbla just thought i'd share.

I had sort of an epiphany the other night while listening to Dance Hall. That album contains some of the most important of PJ songs for me. Until this discussion about Desire, I never ever made the connection between "That Was My Veil", "Urn with Dead Flowers in a Drained Pool" and "Civil War Correspondent, that is to say that I always listened to them as stand alone experiences when actually they are a trilogy!

I broke up from a 5 year relationship 6 months ago and that relationship was just everything to me. And I have always really connected these songs to the pain of my relationship and it isn't until I am out that this made sense to me as 3 pieces of one puzzle.

You have the betrayal.....

That was my Veil

It starts at daylight
I see him
before my sad eyes
I hear him breathing
Oh lover, need you to lead me
No never, thought that you'd leave

That was my veil
That was my time
Once held secret
But now lies

No words can heal my heart
Inside I'm broken, now it's done
Was she a pretty girl?
Does she have pretty hair?
Was she soft-spoken?
Was there a love there?

That was my veil
That was my time
Once held secret
But now lies

Give back my veil
Give back my time
No more secret
You give me lies
Give me back my veil
Give back my life
No more secret
You give me lies
Lies

I remember when I found out that he had cheated on me, I was hurt so bad because while there were always hurdles to our relationship, I always just went above and beyond to accomodate and to be there for him and really, I was a stupid fool who wanted to believe so badly that I could be special. And I can identify with the sacredness of the relationship being like a cover, protection and the longing to have back the life I thought I had, my secret before the lies.....


Then giving it another try.....


Urn Urn with Dead Flowers in a Drained Pool

I need your lie, darling love lies
And if you gave it to me, I'd hold it in the palm of my hand
Like a good luck charm or a vice
And I'd reach up like a child to receive it

There is no more said
There is no more real
I got Sun on My back
I remember You

Take me inside your wall love lie
And if he took me, I'd hold him up to the light
Like a god, or a good luck charm, or a vice
And I'd open up like a child to believe it

There is no more said
There is no more real
I got Sun on My back
I remember You

No

There is no more said
There is no more real
I got Sun on My back
I remember You

And still you can't give your peace to me

I did this to some degree but not after finding out about the extent of the cheating. Had I found out a year or 2 in instead of 5, I might have gone there. The love I had for Greg and our relationship was precious to me and I cherished it.....even when I knew better not to. I held that love lie up to the light and it was my good luck charm, my vice and my God.


Then there is no more unto war....

Civil War Correspondent

Words leave my heart dry
Words can't save life
Love has no place here
No joy, no tears

Darling, time's changed
Time leaves, time fades
Please see through my eyes
Save your tears for the next who dies

I shout but he don't hear
I put down on the page
Darling spare me your tears
Just send me the light of day

I shout but he don't hear
Just put down on the page
Darling spare me your tears
Dear god please send me the light of day

Feel his heart wired
Heart like gunfire
Gunfire
Gunfire
Gunfire

When 2 people join together in love, they are supposed to be one. United. There comes a time in a failed relationship when you become part of a civil war. I battled for my very soul.....

Gangsta, you have to give this album another chance. I absolutely love it like crazy

.
[Edited 1/2/07 9:12am]

oh i love Dance Hall!! ROM and DH are my fav pj records. just brilliant work there.


PS sorry to hear about your relationship.

wavesofbliss said:

Thank you Bliss Now you know why she is one of my favorites The way she sings about tragedy is just inspiring to a darkened heart. Let's you know you aren't alone....

.
[Edited 1/2/07 11:40am]

GangstaFam said:

I think your breakdown and description by period is spot on and absolutely brilliant

• Rock Blues
  
• Theatrical
  
• Refined
  

DAMN! And you know what, really thanks to you I have really heard Rid of Me for the first time. I have listened to the record a ton of times but when you said "Blues", I went And I listened to it last night through that filter and I heard it for the first time as it is meant to be heard. It really is a Blues record

I would love to turn this into the best PJ Harvey thread that ever will exist on this site. So I have a request. I would like disertations on favorite songs/albums from:

• GangstaFam
  
• Sextonseven
  
• Ace
  
• Wavesofbliss
  
• AnckSunamun
  
• God's Seat
  
• Hamsterhuey
  
• Applekisses
  

And I would like feedback from the following on what they have thought of what they heard, if they have heard any of her stuff since entering this thread:

• Madartista
  
• Heartbeatocean
  
• BT11
  

.
[Edited 1/4/07 16:24pm]

OH! I submitted my initial post as a review for the album on Amazon.com and it got published

I also wanted to give props to wavesofbliss for her description of louse point:

avant rock meets country blues at the saturday night dance



I, of course, already knew this I just hope that someone can hear Louse Point for what it is and become a fan of one of her most vital records.

I know it's the red-headed step child of her albums but I truly love it

.
[Edited 1/4/07 19:31pm]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Ya know, as much as I find her hot and a genius at navigating the pop music game, I gotta admit I find her to be a weak lyricist. And she agrees with me.

My favourite songs of hers are the one where she gives it Ye Olde Genderfuck (e.g. "Man-size", "50 Foot Queenie", "Long Snake Moan"). Freud would probably say she's a classic case of penis envy.

I'm also quite partial to "Meet Ze Monsta", "A Perfect Day, Elise", "This is Love", "The Whores Hustle and The Hustlers Whore", "Who the Fuck?" and "Cat on the Wall".

For me, I put her music into the same category as I do Sonic Youth (for example): Music for Fucking.

I also thought I'd share this passage I just came across in a review of Please Leave Quietly:

Ok....I just picked some of my favorite PJ songs. I am terrible at describing songs. I'm one of those people who'll listen
to albums and songs and say "oh man, I love the piano in that"....like in "We Float" or "I love how depressing it sounds"... "Catherine". Supa.....you've scared us off with your review.

"Victory"- I knew the minute I heard the intro with those thumping chords I'd like this song. This song really represents victory when the chorus comes in and hits you....and the second verse that cranks up even louder. Another top 5 PJ song.
"Joe"-one of her heaviest songs, guitar chords wise,imo.
"Plants & Rags"- love the point where the jagged violin comes in and plays through out til the end.....it's kinda dramatic. Her vocals are some of her
clearest vocals on "Dry". You hear the intro and you think it's gonna be a sweet little acoustic song throughout.....PJ had other plans. The violin sounds off, but off in a good way, like it was deliberate.
"Dress"-I always think about this song whenever I wear a dress....and I don't wear dresses a lot. I usually wear them whenever I go somewhere special.
"Sheela Na Gig"- dirty pillows

Rid of Me: an album full of anger, hurt, and loud painful wailing.
Who is she angry with on this album.
I might as well be dead, but I could kill you instead ....ouch "Snake"? I'd hate to be the one she's talking
about in this song.

"Rid of Me"-PJ loved going from soft chords to loud chords in her first two albums....along with slightly screaming vocals.

"Man-Size Sextet": I know I'm not the only one who thinks of "Psycho" every time I hear it. I've always love the theme to Psycho,
which is why I love this song. LOVE the dramatic strings. Much better than the other version,imo.
"Hook"-I think this is where her vocals first started reminding me of Patti Smith. Her vocals on this song sounds like
"I Think I'm a Mother", another one of my favorite songs.
"50 ft Queenie"-short,hardcore,fast, and sweet. I like her 2 minute songs that just kinda hits you in the face. I like driving to this song....unfortunately it makes me drive faster. I thought about starting a thread on best songs to drive to, but I'm sure it's been done before. This song would be on the list for sure.


"Catherine"-The first visualization that comes to mind is a Louisiana swamp and an old house with an old lady in a rocking chair
sitting on her porch. This is my absolute favorite song by her, like in "The Dancer"....the organ definitely grabs me. It's something about her vocals too in this one paired with the organ. They fit together perfectly,imo. I rarely hear fans mention "Catherine" as their favorite song.
"The Wind"- I LOVE the storytelling at the beginning with the guitar and bass softly brooding in the background. I just get a weird feeling hearing "The Wind. I always imagine a dark night before a major storm.
"No Girl So Sweet- reminds me of Garbage's "Stupid Girl", not lyrically, but musically. Maybe it's that whole 90's electronica rock sound.
"A Perfect Day Elise"-I liked this song before I heard what the song was about . It's weird when you see the song in a different way and then go back and read the real meaning behind it.
"Electric Light" is just plain flat out creepy when both of her vocals come in. I think about ghosts for some reason.
"Joy"-a song of hopelessness
As far as diversity I think Is This Desire was her most diverse....From "Angeline" to "Joy" to "The River" to "Catherine" to "A Perfect Day Elise".....all very different.

To Bring You My Love is my favorite album by her and I like the songs equally to be honest....well "The Dancer" has a slight edge over the rest. It's one of the few albums that I can listen to from beginning to end.
"I think I'm a Mother"-scary deep vocals The first time I heard this song I didn't think I would like it, but then her muffled vocals came in and it quickly became a favorite of mine. Supa pointed out the tribal sounding drums in "Catherine", but I can hear it in this song too. Minus the organ, it has almost the same mood of "Catherine".
"The Dancer"-It's the organ and swampy mood of the song that caught my attention.....like "Catherine". My favorite part is the last line where she sounds like she's in so much pain... Bring peace to my black and empty heart.....ahhhhh ahhhhh I love that part....I wanna cry every time I hear it. I adore the bird calls too. ahh-ahh-ahhh. I remember reading a review a while back and seeing someone talk about how much they hated the bird calls and this song. Kate Bush does bird calls in "Walk Straight Down the Middle". I must be fond of bird calls or something.
"Send his Love To Me"-as far as PJ's guitar work, I don't think any of her other songs sound like this.
"Down By The Water"- my first PJ song At the time I wasn't listening to artists of PJ's nature, but I was obsessed with only this song because I didn't know anything else by. I was about 12 at the time, I think. It was later on that I checked out PJ's albums.

"Kamikaze"-When she sings the chorus, she sounds like Joni Mitchell. Joni Mitchell-like vocals and PJ's guitar. You can 't touch her
"This Mess We're In"- Thom and PJ should record more often together because the way their vocals shadow each other's are on point I think Thom gave her some pointers on "We Float", because her vocals in the chorus are similar to Thom's.

"Who The Fuck"-for the lyrics alone.....she's telling him off in this one. I love the line You can't straighten my curls
"The Letter"-Her wails around the last verse in this one are similar to "No Girl So Sweet".
"Cat on the Wall"- this song and "The Letter" stands out imo, because they sound like they could be B-sides to Is This Desire.
"Seagulls"-I always think about the beach whenever I hear this one. I bet if my cat was still alive he'd like this one too.
Who needs a white noise machine when you can just listen to "Seagulls" Honestly, I thought this was the biggest waste of space on the album


I just wanna add "Crawl Home" to the list.....other than "This Mess We're In", it's my favorite collab. I trying to type too fast and I know I'm leaving something off.

Ace said:

She seems like the type to attract both genders....maybe it's because she's shown masculine and feminine qualities.

Ace said:

Ace, this better not be your full report cuz I'm feeling very schoolmarmish and I'm holding a big ruler right now

.
[Edited 1/5/07 10:38am]

AnckSuNamun said:

I loved reading your thoughts!






I have always had the hardest time getting into Dry simply because of the shit ass production The sound level is so woefully low that in order to hear it decently on headphones you have to basically turn the sound up all the way at full volume and I have fucked up some headphones forgetting I just was listening to that album. It's the ablum I have listened to the least over the years but Dress is in my top 10 of PJ songs.

An original performance:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=348063DbIRk

Add a decade and it's still relevant and rockin as hell:
http://youtube.com/watch?...ed&search=

I absolutely worship this fuckin song man!





I love this performance of ROM on the tonight show:
http://www.youtube.com/wa...MRMfVN8&NR

Don't you wish you, never, never met her!

Imagine that lovers conversation!

It's funny because her shortest songs tend to be her greater songs I am having a renaissance with this album in a major way right now. And one song in particular is sticking to me like glue and that is Yuri-G. I will dedicate a separate post to it tho Were you the one who said you saw 50 foot queenie on Beavis and Butthead? I would so want to know the comments they made




Interesting....with Catherine, I visualize a fire and Catherine on Trial. Like you, I LOVE the organ as it pertains to her music. I think it adds a whole depth to many of the songs, giving them near religious overtones.

I had one of the greatest listening experiences to the Wind about a year ago or so. I was on the bus at the time and I got off and this freak storm came from out of nowhere. I had no jacket and no umbrella and had to walk about 5 blocks to where I was staying. I was listening to this ablum at the time and the Wind was the most amazing listen as the rain beat down on me and I imagined I was climbing towards Catherine's chapel and I pictured whale like creatures in the sky.... It was awesome!.



Ok, it's very interesting that you were listening to PJ at 12 Wow! I didn't really become a fan until To Bring U My Love and I dove into Rid of Me and Dry right away. I happened to be 25 at the time and had just left a relationship where I had been beaten by my lover so I had relationship trauma as the backdrop for how hard I identified with her wounded heart. Did you find that you really understood her back then or were you too young?




I hear and sing alternate lyrics in Kamikazee,

Kamikazee, you don't touch me.....kamikazee, you don't judge me

"Touch" or "Judge". I think they both apply perfectly. And I agree about Thom Yorke, they are great together. I think We Float is awesome. Of course, you can go to my "Too Polished My ass" thread above for more of my thoughts on this album



To me The Letter sounded like a regular song until I really listened and thought about what she was saying and she manages to turn writing a letter into an adventure of extacy


It turns me on
To imagine
Your blue eyes
On my words
Your beautiful pen
Take the cap off
Give me a sign and I'd come running

Just the thought of imagining your lovers eyes, reading your words. I actually got seriously turned on just thinking about it






Very odd inclusion



See, you were actually pretty good at this. Look at what you sparked in me