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JOHN PARISHHow Animals Move - (2002)John Parish nearly outdoes himself with the beautiful, elegiac How Animals Move. If it weren't for the fact that basically everything he's turned his hands to has come out golden, one might be surprised. His second solo album is a mostly mournful affair, but its poetic melodies, bubbly textures, and percolating, suspense-packed notes are consistently invigorating. Guest stars like longtime collaborator and friend PJ Harvey, Portishead's Adrian Utley, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, and vocalists Rose De Wolf and David Donahue add additional magic to the proceedings. How Animals Move is one of those albums that feels like a score to an imaginary film; some weepy, epic, road movie with transcendent emotions. But how many imaginary film scores do a cover of The The? Parish's does, with a subtle take on Matt Johnson's "Shrunken Man" that fits perfectly in with his own compositions. From the opening seconds of the violin solo in "Absolute Beauty Is an Absolute Curse," to the schizophrenic modern jazz amalgamation of "The Florida Recount,"; from the Talk Talk-like "Without Warning His Heart Stopped Beating," to the somber tone poems of "Lord It's a Happy Land," Parish's brilliance continues. The fractured anthemic pop of "Stable Life" contrasts beautifully with the 40-minute mark where PJ Harvey tackles "Airplane Blues" like a Dixieland "fifty-foot queenie." The album stuns with both atmosphere and tension. A little bit of DJ Shadow, a touch of David Holmes, a helping of Woody Guthrie, a hint of Miles Davis improvisation, and a nod to Ry Cooder all come to mind as inspirations for Parish here. It takes a true craftsman to chisel music that's as subtle yet as fascinating as the songs Parish consistently offers. How Animals Move is another wonderful opus from John Parish, and another example of his fine compositions and musical mastery. (allmusic.com)http://www.mediafire.com/?799637zj529vonm
PJ HARVEYLive On The Interface - (2007)Just one day after playing the first of her only two U.S. shows this year, at New York's Beacon Theatre, PJ Harvey, who just released her latest album, the piano-based 'White Chalk,' stopped by our Manhattan studio for a four-song performance and interview. Donning a raven Victorian dress, Harvey needed little decoration for her tunes, as her solo set, much like the new album, relied heavily on only two things: a percussive, haunting piano -- a new instrument in Harvey's musical palette -- and a voice that has found no boundaries over the course of her 15-year career. (www.spinner.com)http://www.mediafire.com/?bcqpebd05kcmxge
PJ HARVEYDry - (1992)Polly Jean Harvey arrives fully formed as a songwriter on PJ Harvey's debut album, Dry. Borrowing its primitive attack from post-punk guitar rock and its form from the blues, Dry is a forceful collection of brutally emotional songs, highlighted by Harvey's deft lyricism and startling voice, as well as her trio's muscular sound. Her voice makes each song sound like it was an exposed nerve, but her lyrics aren't quite that simple. Shaded with metaphors and the occasional biblical allusion, Dry is essentially an assault on feminine conventions and expectations, and while there are layers of dark humor, they aren't particularly evident, since Harvey's singing is shockingly raw. Her vocals are perfectly complemented by the trio's ferocious pounding, which makes even the slow ballads sound like exercises in controlled fury. And that's the key to Dry: the songs, which are often surprisingly catchy — "Dress" and "Sheela-Na-Gig" both have strong hooks — are as muscular and forceful as the band's delivery, making the album a vibrant and fully realized debut.http://www.mediafire.com/?bbmfa2r9ii799q5
PJ HARVEYStories From The City, Stories From The Sea - (2000)During her career, Polly Jean Harvey has had as many incarnations as she has albums. She's gone from the Yeovil art student of her debut Dry, to Rid of Me's punk poetess to To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire?'s postmodern siren; on Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea — inspired by her stay in New York City and life in the English countryside — she's changed again. The album cover's stylish, subtly sexy image suggests what its songs confirm: PJ Harvey has grown up. Direct, vulnerable lyrics replace the allegories and metaphors of her previous work, and the album's production polishes the songs instead of obscuring them in noise or studio tricks. On the album's best tracks, such as "Kamikaze" and "This Is Love," a sexy, shouty blues-punk number that features the memorable refrain "I can't believe life is so complex/When I just want to sit here and watch you undress," Harvey sounds sensual and revitalized. The New York influences surface on the glamorous punk rock of "Big Exit" and "Good Fortune," on which Harvey channels both Chrissie Hynde's sexy tough girl and Patti Smith's ferocious yelp. Ballads like the sweetly urgent, piano and marimba-driven "One Line" and the Thom Yorke duet "This Mess We're In" avoid the painful depths of Harvey's darkest songs; "Horses in My Dreams" also reflects Harvey's new emotional balance: "I have pulled myself clear," she sighs, and we believe her. However, "We Float"'s glossy choruses veer close to Lillith Fair territory, and longtime fans can't help but miss the visceral impact of her early work, but Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea doesn't compromise her essential passion.http://www.mediafire.com/?dytzzwawqt5
PJ HARVEY4 - Track Demos - (1993)Since Steve Albini gave Rid of Me such an uncompromisingly noisy finish, it may have made sense for Polly Harvey to release her original demos, augmented by several unreleased songs, six months later as an album. After all, the initial British pressings of Dry came with a bonus disc of her demos. Still, the official, independent release of 4-Track Demos suggests that Harvey wanted to give these songs another chance for listeners who found Rid of Me too abrasive. Even for those who enjoyed Rid of Me, 4-Track Demos is a revelatory experience, since it arguably captures the raw emotion of the songs better the official record. A handful of songs from the record aren't repeated in demo form — namely "Missed," "Man-Size," "Highway 61 Revisited," "Dry," and "Me-Jane" — but they're replaced by the previously unreleased "Reeling," "Driving," "Hardly Wait," "Easy," "M-Bike," and "Goodnight," most of which are easily the equal of the songs that were actually released, and that's what makes 4-Track Demos necessary for every Harvey fan, not just collectors. http://www.mediafire.com/?zzzzw4nymth
JOHN PARISH & PJ HARVEY Dance Hall At Louse Point - (1996)After releasing the '90s rock masterpiece To Bring You My Love, Polly Jean Harvey deflected the immense pressure of a follow-up by teaming with guitarist John Parish for this 1996 collaboration. Often mistakenly credited as an appearance on Parish's record (an artist who had never released a major-label solo record during his long career as a sideman, writer, and producer), Harvey's contribution to Dance Hall at Louse Point is at least equal to Parish's. Not only did the singer co-produce the record, she wrote all the record's lyrics and her vocal performances figure very prominently on Dance Hall at Louse Point, which was released in America on the singer's label home, Island. Artists always struggle with follow-ups to monumental records that can become bigger than the performers themselves. Harvey dealt with the pressure by releasing a record that wouldn't be recognized as her own, while she spent the customary multi-year absence after what will be remembered as her best recording. That's not to suggest that this is strictly Harvey's record either. Besides writing all the music and playing virtually every instrument, Parish displays a knack for sonic texturing that echoes Harvey's 1995 classic on tracks like "Civil War Correspondent," with its dark organ pads providing the perfect stage for Harvey's bold theatrics. Fans and critics heaping praise on To Bring You My Love producer Flood might be surprised how the Parish- and Harvey-produced "Heela" heads into its own grating, layered guitar crescendo that matches "Long Snake Moan" with its groaning vocals and relentless slide guitars. Dance Hall at Louse Point is in no way a strict duplication of Parish and Harvey's prior work together on To Bring You My Love. Listeners more appreciative of Harvey's earlier work will relish the songstress' squeals, whispers, and howls over jangling atonal guitar figures and blues motifs that recall Dry and Rid of Me. Fellow members of the Bristol music "tribe," Parish and Harvey share more than studio experience and art rock influences; they possess uncommon instinct and a genius-level connection to rock's bluesy, isolated, threatening soul. This collaboration records the artists during a time when their portal to that strange entity was at its most dilated. http://www.mediafire.com/?jdjmawgnmjy
PJ HARVEYRid Of Me - (1993)Dry was shockingly frank in its subject and sound, as PJ Harvey delivered post-feminist manifestos with a punkish force. PJ Harvey's second album, Rid of Me, finds the trio, and Harvey in particular, pushing themselves to extremes. This is partially due to producer Steve Albini, who gives the album a bloodless, abrasive edge with his exacting production; each dynamic is pushed to the limit, leaving absolutely no subtleties in the music. Harvey's songs, in decided contrast to Albini's approach, are filled with gray areas and uncertainties, and are considerably more personal than those on Dry. Furthermore, they are lyrically and melodically superior to the songs on the debut, but their merits are obscured by Albini's black-and-white production, which is polarizing. It may be the aural embodiment of the tortured lyrics, and therefore a supremely effective piece of performance art, but it also makes Rid of Me a difficult record to meet halfway. But anyone willing to accept its sonic extremities will find Rid of Me to be a record of unusual power and purpose, one with few peers in its unsettling emotional honesty. (allmusic.com)http://www.mediafire.com/?nijjexz4jmj
JOHN PARISH
