Rub 'Til It Bleeds

Album of the Week
I remember when I first heard PJ Harvey's 4-Track Demos back in 1993, it blew me away! It's an astonishing album of raw, razor sharp emotion that is completely organic and honest. It bleeds with unfiltered purity.

These demos, 8 of which are from the Rid of Me album and 6 unreleased tracks, rivals only Springsteen's Nebraska in the realm of intimate stripped down recordings. Nebraska was recorded on a 4-track recorder and is solely acoustic. Where as 4-Track Demos is plugged in and rockin!

On the opening track Rid Of Me, Harvey assures us that "your not rid of me, I'll make you lick my injuries", and on the third track, Reeling, she exercises her passion and independence- "I wanna bathe in milk, eat grapes, Robert Deniro sit on my face".

Harvey fills the album with her feminine wilds, subversive and scratchy guitar licks, and a touch of hothouse blues. The end result is one hell of an album. PJ Harvey is completely original and undoubtedly one of the most innovative musicians of my lifetime.

And check out the album cover... very Twin Peaks meets mysteriously sexy femme fatal.

First Impression Reviews (Music that I have recently bought or burnt)

Paris - Sonic Jihad B-
An all out assault on the Bush administration. Shades of Public Enemy here... anyone and everyone associated with the administration is fair game. The beats are pretty decent, the lyrics are sharp, witty, and political for the most part... and Paris definitely hits more than misses. The enemy strikes black!

R.E.M - Accelerate B-
This one might grow on me more in the months to come. I love a good rock out as much as anyone, but I can't help but long for a more pensive R.E.M. If only they had mixed in a little more sad sap with their electric rock star record... What's the frequency Kenneth?

Cassandra Wilson - Loverly B-
This is a nice little record, and at the risk of sounding redundant... it might grow on me more with repeated listenings. Some of the songs stood out right away, while others seemed fairly forgettable. I must admit, Wilson set the bar really high with New Moon Daughter (the only other album of hers that I own). I've gotta stop comparing everything to that one... but it's so damn wonderfulerly.

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme B
I'm not a big jazz guy, and I thought this was going to be more triumphant... but nevertheless it's still pretty f*cking good. I can thank Bono (U2) for turning me on to this Coltrane album... how sad is that...

Henry Rollins - Interview Disc A
I bought my first interview disc this past weekend (used). It's an cd that contains a one hour conversation between Henry Rollins and writer Chris Morris regarding 1997's Come In and Burn album. This conversation was recorded at Rollins' home prior to the release of the album. I've only had a chance to listen to 30 minutes of the disc so far, but I already LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!