"Uh Huh Her." Thoughts on the new PJ Harvey?

Actually, my memory/impression of the reception received by Stories... at the time it was released was very favourable, wasn't it? On some level, it reminded me of the contemporaneous All that I Can't Leave Behind (they were not only released in the same year, but the same month) -- both in its critical reception (a return to guitar rock/form!) and in its large sound, even down to similarly awkward attempts to re-mythologise New York City.

(It's a whole 'nother thread, but has anyone else noticed how many bands/artists were writing explicitly, overtly about NYC in the months leading up to 9/11? I know they always have, but the numbers seem disproportionate, like the collective unconscious had an inkling or something.)

Yeah, how lucky was she to write "Kamikaze" for her New York album ...

Yes, I agree.

(And just to back up my weird assertion above, alongside U2 and PJ Harvey, there were songs by Doves, Richard Ashcroft and Interpol arpound that time all featuring NYC either heavily, thematically, or overtly in the titles.)

Many of the tracks on slsk etc were ripped from vinyl.

* British person using American idioms.
* Romantic conception of self as 'intense artist'.
* Literary humanist worldview influenced by American short story, poetry workshop lyrics such as: 'Can't you see my handwriting?/the curve of my g?/the longing?'
* 'Strong woman feminism'; 'girls can be violent too, you know!'
* Guitar orientation. (Connected to point above.)
* She makes the kind of records that make critics say things like 'Lust, anger, hurt and trust do their timeless dance once again.' (Kitty Empire)
* She makes the kind of records that make punters say 'Is this really about her break-up with Celebrity X / Y?' (Insert Nick Cave, Vincent Gallo, etc.) -- ie it's record-making as a sort of All-Celebrity LiveJournal.

"WARNING, this dopey bitch likes fox hunting and enjoys upper class people tearing a helpless, exhausted animal to shreds. She is a cunt and therefore in buying this album you are also a twat. And her basic "re-invention" is wearing ass high skirts. No more radical than Emma Bunton, then".

Tie this in with his comments on the big and rich thread and I have to ask, are we in for an all-out anti-america essay at the homepage soon?

the thing about her having a romantic conception of self as intense artist is another mystery to me. first question how do you know this? i perceive her as making intense music. as making the kind of music she likes to make. as being herself. maybe i am naive. but she comes over as authentic. or better original, unique. and even if she had that romantic perception. how could it ever influence the appreciation of her music? you seem to try to cover her with far-fetched rationalised labels to store her somewhere in the cave. what's the point?

what's bad about the strong rock girl thing? do you think she chose it in the beginning intentionally to promote her career? i don't think so. and even if it is so, she is brilliant at it.

and how can you reproach her what the critics write about her? that's totally ridiculuous. this point only makes sense if she made her records to make critics write that they are full of lust, anger etc. she didn't make "dry" for that, even you can't believe that. she risked something, tried something new and it worked out. that's what all your criticism sounds like. you envy her her success. is that true?

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg300/g327/g32720ot42m.jpg

hahaha, yes -- if only PJ had consulted the Observer before going into the studio, we would have been spared KE's crimes against reviewing.