sextonseven said:

MendesCity said:

I just miss my female rock chicks. With Sleater Kinney broken up and PJ playing the auto-harp (or whatever the hell that was!), I'm lost...and you know Grace Potter ain't gonna cut it.

What about The Dead Weather?

Dead Weather's alright, but shares the same problem as every Jack White side project - they all just sound Jack White songs that he's too lazy to sing himself

I think I need to check out Nobody's Daughter - I just assumed it was crap but I keep hearing good things!

On her website, you can hear "Written on the Forehead"

http://www.pjharvey.net/ (Click on audio)

It sounds like the Cocteau Twins. This is more of why I've gone off her. It's a little too weird for me. It seems like she's singing in a put on voice that's not her natural one. And the sample in the background is just annoying to me. But I"m sure all the critics will say it's the best thing they ever heard.

I really think we're overlooking the key issue here: Will she be looking like this?:

MendesCity said:

sextonseven said:

What about The Dead Weather?

Dead Weather's alright, but shares the same problem as every Jack White side project - they all just sound Jack White songs that he's too lazy to sing himself

And that's bad how exactly? I like the variety in different vocalists. Especially when it's a woman singing.

There are a lot of rock chicks out there currently: The BellRays, The Donnas, Gore Gore Girls, Horrorpops, The Joy Formidable, Jucifer, Sleigh Bells, Spinnerette ...

sextonseven said:

MendesCity said:

Dead Weather's alright, but shares the same problem as every Jack White side project - they all just sound Jack White songs that he's too lazy to sing himself

And that's bad how exactly? I like the variety in different vocalists. Especially when it's a woman singing.

There are a lot of rock chicks out there currently: The BellRays, The Donnas, Gore Gore Girls, Horrorpops, The Joy Formidable, Jucifer, Sleigh Bells, Spinnerette ...

I do too. It's predictable for her to shriek and moan, not that I don't love it when she does. One of the albums fans hate the most is my favorite.....Is this Desire?

Glindathegood said:

On her website, you can hear "Written on the Forehead"

http://www.pjharvey.net/ (Click on audio)

It sounds like the Cocteau Twins. This is more of why I've gone off her. It's a little too weird for me. It seems like she's singing in a put on voice that's not her natural one. And the sample in the background is just annoying to me. But I"m sure all the critics will say it's the best thing they ever heard.

that song is fantastic. The way I feel about this group of collaborators (PJ/Mick/Parish/Flood) is that I trust them as guides. I trust their vision and I go with it.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

sextonseven said:

And that's bad how exactly? I like the variety in different vocalists. Especially when it's a woman singing.

There are a lot of rock chicks out there currently: The BellRays, The Donnas, Gore Gore Girls, Horrorpops, The Joy Formidable, Jucifer, Sleigh Bells, Spinnerette ...

I do too. It's predictable for her to shriek and moan, not that I don't love it when she does. One of the albums fans hate the most is my favorite.....Is this Desire?

Do fans really hate that one? It's not in my PJ top five admittedly, but I still think it's very good.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Glindathegood said:

On her website, you can hear "Written on the Forehead"

http://www.pjharvey.net/ (Click on audio)

It sounds like the Cocteau Twins. This is more of why I've gone off her. It's a little too weird for me. It seems like she's singing in a put on voice that's not her natural one. And the sample in the background is just annoying to me. But I"m sure all the critics will say it's the best thing they ever heard.

that song is fantastic. The way I feel about this group of collaborators (PJ/Mick/Parish/Flood) is that I trust them as guides. I trust their vision and I go with it.

So basically you just like it because you think her group of collaborators have the reputation for being great. What happened to independent thought? I listen to every song on its own merits and decide for myself whether I like it. I like some of PJ's stuff in the past but I don't think she's some kind of God who can do no wrong. I'm not going to force myself to like something just because it's by her and she's this untouchable critic's darling.

Glindathegood said:

On her website, you can hear "Written on the Forehead"

http://www.pjharvey.net/ (Click on audio)

It sounds like the Cocteau Twins. This is more of why I've gone off her. It's a little too weird for me. It seems like she's singing in a put on voice that's not her natural one. And the sample in the background is just annoying to me. But I"m sure all the critics will say it's the best thing they ever heard.

I really liked that. It's a sound that's different for her rather than doing a rehash of angry PJ again. Very nice.

Glindathegood said:

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

that song is fantastic. The way I feel about this group of collaborators (PJ/Mick/Parish/Flood) is that I trust them as guides. I trust their vision and I go with it.

So basically you just like it because you think her group of collaborators have the reputation for being great. What happened to independent thought? I listen to every song on its own merits and decide for myself whether I like it. I like some of PJ's stuff in the past but I don't think she's some kind of God who can do no wrong. I'm not going to force myself to like something just because it's by her and she's this untouchable critic's darling.

You love your script

I don't have to force myself to like it. I love it naturally. I love all this avante gard music. love love LOVE it.

sextonseven said:

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I do too. It's predictable for her to shriek and moan, not that I don't love it when she does. One of the albums fans hate the most is my favorite.....Is this Desire?

Do fans really hate that one? It's not in my PJ top five admittedly, but I still think it's very good.

among people I have encountered, it's reviled

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

sextonseven said:

Do fans really hate that one? It's not in my PJ top five admittedly, but I still think it's very good.

among people I have encountered, it's reviled

I had no idea. Is it considered her Newpower Soul album?

elmer said:

MendesCity said:

I just miss my female rock chicks. With Sleater Kinney broken up and PJ playing the auto-harp (or whatever the hell that was!), I'm lost...and you know Grace Potter ain't gonna cut it.

Courtney's still knockin' about. Nobody's Daughter was a fine return imo.

Am I the only one who prefers 4-Track Demos over Rid of Me? Albini ruined Rid of Me with his quiet-loud production, turning up the volume to hear Polly's distant verse vocals is to risk complaints from the neighbours when the chorus hits. She was probably disappointed herself because the official release of the Demos came after.

4 Track Demos is a great album. It is an album that i return to a lot.

(If you have not already) you should check out The Kills. their first two albums remind me a lot of the 4 Track Demos album. In fact, i recall them citing 4 Track Demos as an influence in an early interview.

Glindathegood said:

On her website, you can hear "Written on the Forehead"

http://www.pjharvey.net/ (Click on audio)

It sounds like the Cocteau Twins. This is more of why I've gone off her. It's a little too weird for me. It seems like she's singing in a put on voice that's not her natural one. And the sample in the background is just annoying to me. But I"m sure all the critics will say it's the best thing they ever heard.

Glad to know somebody else doesn't dig this song. Personally, I think it's utterly and completely awful. If this is supposed to get me excited for the new album... uhh... didn't work. To each their own, though.

I'm not sure what to make of the new song, like a Cocteau Twins/Spiritualized take on trippy reggae, it also reminds me of Moby. She doesn't need to do that to her voice though. Thing is, it's kinda stuck in my head, and not in a bad way.

The ethereal PJ

[Edited 12/2/10 16:32pm]

The Last Living Rose is the first in a series of short films, directed by photographer Seamus Murph, to accompany all 12 songs on Let England Shake.

Identity said:

The Last Living Rose is the first in a series of short films, directed by photographer Seamus Murph, to accompany all 12 songs on Let England Shake.

Thanks. Now this song I like! More of the typical sound I associate from PJ and enjoy hearing from her. She's singing in a more normal regular voice.

Awesome... Flood, Mick Harvey, PJ, and John Parish are 4 of my favorite people in music... Looking forward to the album...

Just listened to the new track. I love it. Nothing wrong with continually taking your music to different places.

The first single from the new album is "The Words That Maketh Murde"’ and will be available for digital download on January 17th.

The single will also be available on 7” vinyl on February 7th, and will feature an exclusive B-side - "The Guns Ca...lled Me Back Again" – which was recorded during the Let England Shake album session.

You can sample the first single over at Amazon UK. And yes, that's the artwork for the single above.

I heard the clip of the new single on Amazon. It's not bad but it doesn't really grab me either. There was a review of the new album in some British magazine I saw, I think it was Q. It was a strange review in that it spent all most the whole time talking about the lyrics and very little about what the music sounded like or even whether they thought the songs were good.

I"m getting the feeling that this is more of a statement record as far as the things she says lyrically but the songs themselves aren't that good. Maybe I'm wrong. But I feel my interest in PJ declining rapidly. She's becoming just a cult artist and losing that broader appeal she had earlier on in her career.

I want the old PJ: screeching, hollering and barking, who looked like a shamanic drag queen and sung about drowning her child; not the piano playing one in her white puff-sleeved Victorian granny dress who sings about Somerset hills. I'm not saying the music has to be gotta be loud to be heavy, she conveyed subtle menace on Is This Desire?, it's just that she hasn't come close to bettering it since (has moved further away imo). Although, here's me spouting off and I haven't heard the albums she made w/John Parish.

Looking back, it's just a shame for me that she never went heavier into the guitar aspect of her work, I can't knock Stories or White Chalk really.

[img:$uid]http://i51.tinypic.com/104orwl.jpg[/img:$uid]

January 7, 2011

Link

PJ Harvey 'Addresses Things That Matter'

PJ Harvey has said that she believes the time is right to release songs about "things that really matter".

The singer-songwriter told The Quietus that she had spent two years writing lyrics for her upcoming record Let England Shake, the follow-up to 2007's White Chalk and last year's A Woman a Man Walked By collaboration with John Parish.

Harvey said: "I do feel at this stage of my life, it feels very important to give voice to the things that really matter. Things that I feel need to be said that aren't being said, and address the issues of the day.

"I think that it's only now that I've been writing for this period of years that I feel I can begin to tackle these things with language."

However, she added that she did not want the album to become "self-righteous" or "dogmatic".

The problem with addressing "things that matter" in popular music is that they may only matter to you. Your audience may not relate or care one little bit. It's happened to more songwriters than we could ever count. If it's satisfying for her, that's great. She'll get no hate for me for that. But I'm still not really feeling anything I've heard from this album.

Totally random video that made me think of a secondary discussion in this thread.

Cerebus said:

The problem with addressing "things that matter" in popular music is that they may only matter to you. Your audience may not relate or care one little bit. It's happened to more songwriters than we could ever count. If it's satisfying for her, that's great. She'll get no hate for me for that. But I'm still not really feeling anything I've heard from this album.

Totally random video that made me think of a secondary discussion in this thread.

It's not even that. I do care about political and social issues and they matter to me. But I don't necessarily want them addressed through music. I'd rather address through news shows or articles. I like music to transcend politics and be about relationship issues that everyone has been to and can relate to.

Now if there's a political issue that's personal and more of a human rights issue, that's something a singer can address in a meaningful moving way. Like for example gay people being bullied or attacked. But I don't want singers to be addressing the issues of the day because a lot of them are very complex and you can't find a solution in a four minute song

Preview 3 New Tracks

"hanging in the wire" is just too damn beautiful

Identity said:

Preview 3 New Tracks

Thanks for posting this.

damn, "hanging in the wire", i can't stop listening

TheDigitalGardener said:

Identity said:

Preview 3 New Tracks

Thanks for posting this.

You're most welcome. N-joy the sounds.