POLLy Jean Harvey - The PJ Harvey results thread

I agree, it's way underrated. It might not be the most cohesive LP ever, but it definitely showcases their talents in many different fields, both John's as a composer/producer and Polly's as a lyricist/vocalist. The songs are so different from each other that they don't really hang together well - I guess it's partially why it's so underappreciated as an album - but damn, they are some good songs. And there are not many rock singers out there who can deliver vocal performances as different as "Leaving California," "The Chair," "April," and "A Woman a Man Walked By" - all over the course of 15 minutes on one record.

was happy to see the crowd cheer for Parrish at the seattle show for the last tour. Basically you're speaking my langhuage prei, cheers.

Dry is for sure one of the best debut records in history, like marquee moon ballpark. So fully formed and rich already.

4 track demos might be the one I've played the most though.

Only recently started brushing up on later stuff. Let England Shake is amazing + uncanny

This was her Twitter post earlier. New remasters afoot? Some unusual titles/unheard stuff on these tapes from the look of it.. experts can say more i don't doubt.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYjIbTRX0AA5dgr?format=jpg

"Clothes" and "He's Just My Type" have never been released, the rest is out there in some shape or form (though some, like "Primed & Ticking," are only live bootlegs). I wonder if it hints at actual reissues of the 90s stuff or it's just a case of bored PJ spending lockdown doing spring cleaning.

ooooooh this is exciting
feels good just looking at the song titles

Maybe she's going to release the Iggy Pop mix of "Rid of Me."

Seriously though, expanded reissues of those first few albums would be great, even though they all already sound pretty good (in their own respective ways).

Would be exciting... she's so boring on Instagram/Twitter though (which I'd expect her to be). Just a cycle of contextless old images that don't mean anything. I assumed this was just a shot of tapes of early mixes of old albums + related tracks that did not imply any current activity. Things she found in the back of a wardrobe. I would love to be wrong.

Her being “boring” on social media makes me love her even more

Yeah, I mean I wouldn't expect her to participate. I don't know who it is who puts out these old photos in rotation. It could be barely caring assistants. It could be her, not giving a fuck. I just mean I don't think an image of an old cassette indicates anything.

Reissues are afoot. A friend is working on them.

Excellent, thanks! I hoped as much.

Great!

Fantastic news! <3

And re: her social media, I think 95% of the time it's someone from her management handling it, but she has posted an occasional tour selfie (or a poetry collection endorsement recently) and she apparenly enjoys compiling playlists (she seems to be into Colin Stetson, Tirzah, and Big Thieg atm). But it's so rare that I'm always a bit surprised when once in a blue moon there's some activity.

I had that double lp version of "Dry" with the demos. I did record it to minidisc ...

I didn't realise that the corresponding cd edition wasn't two CDs as well, but one long one.

Is that getting the remaster reissue treatment?

If so, would it be a rare instance of ... remastered demos?

Well, I meant the package...

Still, it wouldn't be the first time

‘Dry’ vinyl reissue and ‘Dry - Demos’ vinyl/CD/download – released 24th July 2020. Full back catalogue of vinyl reissues and stand-alone demo albums to follow.

Pre-order:
Dry - Demos: https://t.co/kZTJDz5KtK
Dry vinyl: https://t.co/1kFbfgoCAo pic.twitter.com/UxarCGnqcT

— PJ Harvey (@PJHarveyUK) May 28, 2020

Here they are

thank god these are finally going to be rolling out. Dry has always needed a remaster, to my ears.

Dry has always sounded great to me, imo.

Does that include any of that unreleased stuff seen on the cassette labels?

Yeah I've always liked the sound of Dry

it's just so quiet. I'm not asking for all the dynamics to be gone, but a little more heft and a volume boost would be appreciated

I found my minidisc copy of Dry&demos yesterday.

DRY DEMOS!!!

Oh man want to hear

I bought the original Dry vinyl + demos back in 1991. The demos are great - to me, much more satisfying than the Rid of Me demos. That Dry+demo release is probably one of the records I have that is worth most cash – I guess this is likely to change now. I'm more excited about the reissues to come later though. If they're all going to come out one by one, she's missing a trick – I would happily splash out £200 on a complete box set, but if there isn't going to be one, I'll just pick up what I don't already have on vinyl (Is This Desire? + Stories).

I have never heard the Dry demos, only the ones released as 4-track Demos, which was my introduction to learning how songs are made. I was 18 or 19 at the time and didn't know much about how music actually got written/recorded.

yeah would like an expanded 4-track Demos please (also a live Hope Six and/or all new)(haven't heard the soundtracks, are they good?)

Was "Easy" ever released on another album other than 4 track demos?

it is easily (lol) one of my favorites of her early songs

akm OTM IMHO. Even by the standards of its time, the original release of Dry was mastered at a curiously low volume.

I bought the original Dry vinyl + demos back in 1991. The demos are great - to me, much more satisfying than the Rid of Me demos. That Dry+demo release is probably one of the records I have that is worth most cash [...]

― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 28 May 2020 18:41 (thirty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah same here. 1992, I think actually. I checked Discogs a while back and it was selling for an average of £200

The idea of releasing demos for To Bring You My Love, Is This Desire, White Chalk, or Let England Shake makes me ridiculously excited for this reissue series.

I was weighing getting out of vinyl completely but a full set of PJH is making me rethink it.

I guess this is too early to tell, but I wonder if there will also be a mop up of the stray released tracks on these reissues?

Interesting to hear different perspectives, because I actually think "To Bring You My Love" is the one that sounds mastered at a curiously low volume (esp. coming from peak Flood), and that the fucking-with-you dynamics of "Rid of Me" does it no favors, and would love to hear both of *those* remixed/remastered. But "Dry" ... I played it for someone I know who had never heard it before, or really anything by her, and he said it reminded him of the way early Zeppelin is recorded, which is to say, awesome. The drums on "Dry" alone are some of my favorite recorded drums ever (another aspect of the trio hurt by the famed Albini Wall of Thud).

The remastering of Dry was done by Head who recorded/produced the original, so I hope he won't fuck with the sound too much.

The reissues have been in the works for quite a while, I remember John Parish posting pics of some test pressings approved by him on FB in 2013/2014.

I want a dumb nickname like Flood or Head

Dry sounds great, Rid of Me sounds bad. The sound of Rid of Me always reminds me of the similarly weedy & hard to enjoy sound John Zorn produced for Boredoms around the same time on Wow 2.

xpost don't forget Youth

Spot

Apparently Flood gained his nickname when he was a young tape op, because he regularly spilled cups of tea on the mixing desk.

Spot! Forgot Spot. Youth is new to me. Flood could be a surname too. Sorry for the derail.

1992, I think actually.

Oh yeah, no doubt you're right. This is kinda boring, but I thought 1991 cos I know I got it when I still lived in my mum's house, but I didn't move out till April 1992 so it could have been early that spring. That makes sense. It was sunny when I got the bus to Edinburgh on a Saturday morning, and sunny back with that record. I hadn't heard a note from her before then - just bought it based on the review, as I always did then.

Ha. It was March 1992, so just before your move. I also bought it on release day just on the strength of reviews.

Rid of Me sounds bad

otmfm

Well, that's the pro and con of many Albini productions: crank it and it *does* sounds like the band is in the room right in front of you. But sometimes you don't want the band right in front of you. I'm not sure that's what the studio is necessarily for. That's what live performances (and live recordings) are for! Albini prides himself on taking himself out of the mix (so to speak). He's just there to capture the moment in the most pure way possible and so, just a guy recording the band, doing their bidding, and so on. But the ironic result on "Rid of Me" is that he is more present and apparent than ever, which is why literally no one fails to mention the sound of the record (again, pro and con). Don't get me wrong, I love "Rid of Me," I just still think it was the wrong approach for a trio of such cool, unique musicians, and it's why despite liking all of the songs it's the only thing keeping me from listening to it as much as I otherwise would.

(I should also stress that I think the Albini approach does often work, and to the band's benefit, whether the Jesus Lizard or Low or Bedhead or Page/Plant.)

I dunno. I think that approach on Rid of Me makes it more intense than it would have been had it been recorded differently, and that intensity is kind of the point.