50 ft Queenie: The long overdue PJ Harvey thread

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[chewm]

Listened to the first five songs, so far Ministry of Defense is my favorite. The record is an obvious extension of Let England Shake, but it feels more one dimensional -- similar instrumentation across multiple songs. Some of the lyrics come across as a little clunky after just one listen (that "They're gonna build a Walmart here" refrain is pretty rough), but that could change with repeated listens.

I'm quite new to this artist (other than strories from the cities/seas), but I have been listening to Let England Shake along with this one, and I feel that Let England Shake is so much stronger.
I still enjoy this one tho.

[washing machine]

As I skim the surface, I'm enjoying this one. I'm sort of like chewm here -- aside from Stories... and Rid of Me I'm not super familiar with her catalog. If an album's success is gauged in part by piquing the listener's interest to delve deeper into the catalog, then we're trending towards a winner here. But then, the inevitable question becomes "why didn't those other albums you just mentioned inspire similar interest in you?" To which I reply..."I dunno?"

[Kaius]

If you've heard "Stories..." and "Rid of Me" and have not yet listened to "To Bring You My Love", then TBYML needs to be sought out ASAP.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kaius]

You'd go UHH over ITD?

[tragabigzanda]

[washing machine]

Thanks, guys.

[Kaius]

Yea, I think Uh Huh Her is one of her most well-balanced albums. Songs range from big and heavy, to small and quiet, to aural collage/experimental. It's all over the place, yet totally cohesive -- much like TBYML.

I consumed miss Polly Jean in chronological order, so I don't think I received UHH very well after SFTCSFTS. I need to revisit it.

I do think "Is This Desire?" is a conscious extension of TBYML. It's not as immediately gratifying, and ultimately not as fulfilling long term either, but it does an exceptional job filling in and completing one creative arc of her career. It is also unfortunately sandwiched between her two most essential albums, and that just is not fair.

[chewm]

I guess I'll try to digest these last 2 albums first, since I've listened to them several times, after that I'll probably move on to "To Bring You My Love".

[Kevin Davis]

As I skim the surface, I'm enjoying this one. I'm sort of like chewm here -- aside from Stories... and Rid of Me I'm not super familiar with her catalog. If an album's success is gauged in part by piquing the listener's interest to delve deeper into the catalog, then we're trending towards a winner here. But then, the inevitable question becomes "why didn't those other albums you just mentioned inspire similar interest in you?" To which I reply..."I dunno?"

I've never been able to get into her either, but I think there are big albums of hers I've never heard. I didn't really care for Is This Desire, White Chalk, or her BBC Sessions, apart from a few odd tracks -- how likely are her other albums to change my tune?

[Kaius]

I think "Dry" is the place to start. It gives you the opportunity to experience her transformation and real time progression when you move on to "Rid of Me", and prepares you more properly for the deep water plunge that is "To Bring You My Love".

If you don't have the patience, or maybe better the desire, to commit three albums of your time to an artist you aren't invested in, then I would suggest going straight to "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea". I think it's the most user-friendly, yet no less of a masterpiece.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kaius]

you, tragz

[zeb]

Stories and Rid Of Me are my 1-2.

[Leatherhead]

I pretty much loved Dry from the first listen, which was only maybe 2 years ago.

[washing machine]

So Houston flooded on Monday. Some neighborhoods are still under water. Yesterday, I went on a drive to view some of these areas, and I put on To Make You Feel My Love for the first time. Surveying some of these flooded landscapes while "Down By The Water" played was a pretty unsettling moment, but I liked it. Lots of water imagery on this album. The whole album feels like you're caught in an undertow.

[Kaius]

I'm glad you're enjoying it. There's some decent To Bring You My Love centric discussion in this wonderful thread back on pages 4 and 5 if you have a few minutes of board time to kill.

[Kaius]

TBYML just may be the greatest record of all time.

[zeb]

Timely.