Stories From The Sea
PJ Harvey has always been somewhat of a musical chameleon. Thoughshe hasn’t wandered too far into the deep end of experimentation,she’s delved oustide of the safety zone just enough to continuallykeep listeners on their feet and to satisfy her own thirst forexploration.
Though she had released work before 1995’s electronic-tinged ToBring You My Love (1992’s Dry and 1993’s Rid of Me), it was thatalbum which catapulted Harvey into mainstream buzz bin status,particularly via the landmark track “Down By the Water.” She followedthat release with 1998’s Is This Desire?, a recording which was a bitof a let-down for fans who had been expecting something in the veinof To Bring You My LoveI. With Is This Desire?, they instead got awork of art that was lyrically evocative (and somewhat obscure) butunexpectedly Celtic-tinged.
Stories From The City … is but another addition to Harvey’scatalog of innovative, ever-compelling and ever-shifting work.Centering around a sound that is seemingly comprehensive of herentire career, Harvey pushes through this time with a generally moreupbeat temperament, but with tracks that are still as intriguing, ascandid and at times as cryptic as anything we would expect to comeout of the elusive Brit.
Moving along somewhat in the form of a biography of her six-monthstay in New York, much of the work is appropriately mercurial — attimes brimming with agitation and a constant urge for movement ( “APlace Called Home”), other times sinking in a soft, eerily beautifulmelancholy (“Beautiful Feeling” and “Horses In My Dreams”).
Lyrically her work flows in accordance with the atmosphere of thecity, documenting in many ways the different faces, different hopesand situations that taint and color such an intriguing and complexcity. In fact she goes through many of the tracks making referencesto its recognizable spots (i.e. The Empire State Building, Chinatown,Brooklyn). As always, she is visceral, unabashedly sexual andintensely revealing.
In “Beautiful Feeling,” she sings, “Sometimes I can see formiles/Through water and fire/From England to America/I feel life meetmy eyes/And it’s the best thing/A beautiful feeling.”
It’s evident here she’s a bit more mellow, even slightly moreoptimistic (indeed there is a sense of a full-circle move with thisrecording). But, as is generally the case with such artists, noteveryone will buy into this particular shift. PJ Harvey is, afterall, an acquired taste.
–Irene Yadao
R.Kelly
TP-2.com
The title of the CD implies that it’s a sequel to 1993’s 12 Play.In many ways, this is true. R. Kelly’s fans will not be disappointedif they’re looking for the “sex me” attitude that permeated thatoffering. TP-2.com is definitely babymaking music. But this year’splay of the dozens is a little dirtier, a little freakier, a littleharder. There is only one love song, the lyrics of which arebeautiful, and in it, he compares the way he feels to “a work of artwhen it’s unveiled.” However, this ballad is sandwiched between ananthem for men who mess up (“I Don’t Mean It”), and a song thatimplores the subject of the song to “work it like a real freakshould.” Listening to the melodies and beats, one could forget thatKelly is giving men two new potential theme songs with two versionsof “I Don’t Mean It.” There is also a song entitled “Just Don’t SayNo” in which Kelly claims “I ain’t gonna spend that cash/ if youain’t spendin’ that ass.” With lyrics like this, it’s obvious Kellyis not too concerned with alienating anyone. Overall, the CDcontinues in the tradition Kelly began with 1998’s double CD R.,which made evident the ever-strengthening fusion of hip-hop andRandB. If you’re not too lyrics-conscious, pick this one up and trynot to wear it out. Kelly has succeeded where other singers havefailed — merging two urban styles and making a new one indigenous toRockland: RandB thug.
–Candace Moore
Enya
A Day Without Rain
Perhaps An Album Without Inspiration is a more fitting title. Inthe five years since Enya released the captivating and Grammy-winningThe Memory of Trees, it seems the Celtic composer/singer went througha drought of her own — five years without a spark of creativity. Tobe fair, Enya deserves her share of praise. In a music world whereartists simply have to look pretty, void of any inkling of musicalability, to be deemed a bankable commodity, Enya should be respectedfor even attempting to make this sort of music. That said, A DayWithout Rain is simply a rehashing of music we’ve heard Enya dobefore. Frankly, it was better the first time around. “Only Time”plays like the lost track of the “Titanic” score. In it, Enya sings,”Who can say where the road goes, where the day flows / Only time.”Her Irish lilt glides as barely a whisper would over thesestring-laden tracks. But in the end, even the most successfulorchestration (the enchanting “Tears of My Heart”) is merely areminder of what this talented artist was before she ran out ofthings to say and, musically, ways to say them.
–Ross von Metzke
WorldArtist pick:
Julien Clerc, France
With nine albums released and nearly 20 million records sold, it’sno surprise Julien Clerc’s latest album, Si J’etais Elle (If I WasHer), debuted at No. 1 on the French album charts this week. Clerc(born Paul-Alain Leclerc) describes himself as “part of the musicalmemory of my country,” and has 30 years in the industry to back itup. Some of his musical influences include Gallic, Caribbean,Mediterranean, South American and classical music. His music comesfrom the Chansonnier tradition (singers of stories), a genre thatgoes back to the medieval troubadours of Southern France. The firstrelease from the album, also entitled “Si J’etais Elle,” is abeautiful ballad in the Chansonnier style, a story in which Julienportrays the second-person perspective of someone in love. A fewother favorites on the album include, “Quelques mots en ton nom,” (“AFew Words in Your Name”), “J’oublie,” (“I forgot”), and “SilenceCaresse,” (“Silent Caress”). You can sample some of Julien Clerc’snew album at http://home.t-online.de/home/doro_dammerboer.
–Farboud Damavandi
