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

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I like the title *and* the cover. I think I'm gonna like the album too.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 10 May 2004 21:44 (twenty years ago) link

I want to love it. That's enough, isn't it?

― David A. (Davant), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 19:22 (twenty years ago) link

< / irrational sentimental attachment to once-beloved artist >

― David A. (Davant), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 19:23 (twenty years ago) link

Wow, Jessica Hopper went solo.
-- Chris Ott (ot...), May 10th, 2004.

hahahahahahahahaha!

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 20:41 (twenty years ago) link

Someone please answer this high subjective question for me:

"If I believe that PJ's last GREAT record was Rid Of Me and her last REALLY GOOD record was To Bring You My Love and I sold her last two records out of sheer boredom, will I like her new record?"

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 14:53 (twenty years ago) link

Sorry, but that cover just looks destined for

~~£10 £9 £8 £7 £5 £3~~ £2

in the M&VE.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 14:56 (twenty years ago) link

raymond, i think this record is made especially for you.

― joan vich (joan vich), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 16:53 (twenty years ago) link

What if the only record of hers I still listen to is Is This Desire? even though that's not necessarily the one I think is the best, oh and that last album with Thom Yorke on it was terrible?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 22:58 (twenty years ago) link

From the rip I heard, this new album sounds most similar to "Is This Desire?" than anything else in her catalogue. Unfortunately for me, that's the album of hers that I listen to the least.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 23:24 (twenty years ago) link

God is she ugly.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Thursday, 13 May 2004 03:21 (twenty years ago) link

Insightful.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Thursday, 13 May 2004 16:33 (twenty years ago) link

and absurd

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Thursday, 13 May 2004 16:35 (twenty years ago) link

oh and that last album with Thom Yorke on it was terrible?

No.

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 13 May 2004 16:38 (twenty years ago) link

Yes, it was. Terrible.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Thursday, 13 May 2004 17:02 (twenty years ago) link

the cover looks like some k records thing, which is bad. but it is a pj harvey record, which is good.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 13 May 2004 17:09 (twenty years ago) link

and no it wasn't terrible, melissa.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 13 May 2004 17:12 (twenty years ago) link

What amateur!st sayz

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Thursday, 13 May 2004 18:49 (twenty years ago) link

What Sean said amateur!st sez.

― Leeefuse 73 (Leee), Thursday, 13 May 2004 19:48 (twenty years ago) link

This might be one of those situations where an artist releasing a new record finally inspires me to get their last one. I remember hearing the Thom Yorke/PJ duet on the jukebox in a pizza place and thinking it was lovely.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 13 May 2004 19:51 (twenty years ago) link

It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the second coming of Dry or Rid of Me (ie unbelievably classic), either.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 13 May 2004 19:55 (twenty years ago) link

The duet was passable, but the album was boring.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 13 May 2004 20:08 (twenty years ago) link

It was a good Pretenders album. That's not meant to sound as snarky as it is. I like the album.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 13 May 2004 20:13 (twenty years ago) link

i don't remember this much dissent when it came out. Are we all going to be trashing You Are The Quarry and Sung Tongs in a few years, too, as if we'd always despised them? Get over yourselves.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Thursday, 13 May 2004 20:15 (twenty years ago) link

I'm liking "We Float."

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 13 May 2004 20:19 (twenty years ago) link

(off Stories, that is)

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 13 May 2004 20:20 (twenty years ago) link

"If I believe that PJ's last GREAT record was Rid Of Me and her last REALLY GOOD record was To Bring You My Love and I sold her last two records out of sheer boredom, will I like her new record?"

i think so. i'm liking it quite a bit so far.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 13 May 2004 20:21 (twenty years ago) link

I'm liking "We Float."

I cannot believe this is possible.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Thursday, 13 May 2004 20:45 (twenty years ago) link

it wasn't terrible. I did think it was for a long time though, then eventually it clicked. I like it a lot now (not as much as rid of me, the debut, or desire; about as much as to bring you my love though). That "whores hustle/hustlers whore" song is terrible, I'll give you that.

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 13 May 2004 21:40 (twenty years ago) link

again with the Stories hate. i do. not. understand.

― the 'surface' 'noise' (electricsound), Thursday, 13 May 2004 23:10 (twenty years ago) link

"we float" is not one of the stonger songs on the last record, though i like it enough.

actually both title and cover of new one remind me of some hasil adkins record or something.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 14 May 2004 01:38 (twenty years ago) link

Stories had some great songs, "This Is Love" is possibly one of Peej's best ever, but it's also the album of hers I most use the skip button on. I think I'm the only person I know who likes To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire? best.

― The Lex (The Lex), Friday, 14 May 2004 10:48 (twenty years ago) link

Stories: I remember digging "Good Fortune" a lot (the only melody from that record that sticks with me now) and thinking that the duet was OK, but otherwise...underwhelming.

Is This Desire: not flat-out awful, yet not involving enough that I ever miss having it around.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 14 May 2004 10:54 (twenty years ago) link

Crazeee... Stories is by FAR my favorite. "Good Fortune" is one of the most life-affirming song I've heard in a long time and the duet (despite my Radiohead/York hate) is amazing.
The cover rocks too.

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Friday, 14 May 2004 11:34 (twenty years ago) link

I'm with Baaderoni, but it was also the first Peej album I heard.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 14 May 2004 11:59 (twenty years ago) link

what mr cummings said, throughout thread.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 12:12 (twenty years ago) link

Stories: zestless, horrible guitar sound, often embarrassing lyrics, no blues/no tunes. The first three songs are bearable, as is the secret track, but don't match up to earlier b-sides even.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Friday, 14 May 2004 12:15 (twenty years ago) link

unfortunately the way she sang "lee-TAL ee-ta-lee-hee" on whatever the single off Stories was called made me want to drown her.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 12:16 (twenty years ago) link

I really like Stories... but the Thom duet is awful - he sounds like Chris Isaac on it, for fucksake.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 14 May 2004 12:18 (twenty years ago) link

that's a terrible insult to the saturnine "wicked game" hitmaker.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 14 May 2004 12:19 (twenty years ago) link

I think I'm the only person I know who likes To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire? best.

Lots of people seem to think that To Bring You My Love is the apex of her career (SPIN, Jim DeRogatis, Greg Kot). But Is This Desire?, you're right, doesn't have a whole lot of supporters (though I've never understood why: is it because it's her most "electronic" album?).

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 14 May 2004 14:27 (twenty years ago) link

(and was she saddled with bandwagon-jumping accusations common to bands that "went electronic" in the late 90s, e.g. U2 and the Pumpkins and Bowie?)

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 14 May 2004 14:28 (twenty years ago) link

Not really, it was more an "ill advised foray into industrial, doesn't really pull it off" kind of thing than the way the above two bands got slated for bandwagon jumping.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 14 May 2004 14:31 (twenty years ago) link

That album's lovely, though.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 14 May 2004 14:32 (twenty years ago) link

I love 'Is This Desire?'. I probably prefer it to 'Dry'.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Friday, 14 May 2004 16:07 (twenty years ago) link

As I mentioned, Is This Desire? is the only one I listen to these days, despite thinking that the only really good song on it is the last one. It's a good album to clean house to.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 14 May 2004 16:30 (twenty years ago) link

Agreed!

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Friday, 14 May 2004 16:31 (twenty years ago) link

"to bring you my love" is by far her worst record

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 14 May 2004 16:41 (twenty years ago) link

I only really like Dry and Is This Desire?. Aside from some scattered songs, I don't really have any time for the rest... I haven't listened to Stories... since the week I bought it (not even the duet, which was just...grating).

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Friday, 14 May 2004 19:03 (twenty years ago) link

Thom appending "baby" to the end of lines surely has to mean something!

― Leeefuse 73 (Leee), Friday, 14 May 2004 20:20 (twenty years ago) link

While PJ is almost certainly my favorite artist ever, the only album of hers that I've loved right off the bat has been Stories. (To Bring You My Love's still my favorite.)

Anyway, this one...It didn't make much of an impression the first two times I listened it, but on the third, it clicked. I'm really digging it now.

"The Pocket Knife"'s my favorite track at this moment: "I don't wanna cause a fuss / I just wanna make my own fuck-ups." "The Letter" is surprisingly dance-able (sort of). I had it playing on my computer while I was getting dressed this morning, and I noticed myself really moving to it without even realizing it.

"Seagulls" isn't listed as an actual track on her site, but it was an individual download on the page I found the album on. It's really unnecessary--just a little over a minute's worth of seagulls squawking. Which kind of reminds me of those stupid Sounds of Nature tapes my mom used to put on when she'd get stressed out.

I like just about everything else on Uh Huh Her quite a bit. Even this minute-and-half-long instrumental thing called "The End" is great (mostly just because it vaguely reminds me of Michael Nyman).

― Josh Timmermann (Josh Timmermann), Friday, 14 May 2004 22:51 (twenty years ago) link

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i love this album.

― The Brainwasher, Friday, 30 May 2008 09:07 (fifteen years ago) link

"I have no time for anal love" still cracks me up

― The Brainwasher, Friday, 30 May 2008 09:11 (fifteen years ago) link

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