Steve Wilson. On music.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The Countdown Continues with No. 5, PJ Harvey

Continuing today, and culminating with REVERBERATIONS number one album of the year, we’ll be counting down the top twenty-five records of 2011. I’m referring to this countdown as Twenty-five Faves because I have no pretenses about telling you what’s “best.” Sure, I think my taste is better than yours. But nobody died and made me Lester Bangs. And Lester could be arrogant, but I kind of think he would come down on the favorite side of the fave/best dichotomy. His criticism was nothing if not personal. 

I've reviewed the majority of these selections. In the event that I have I'll simply recycle the original reviews, sometimes with a little new commentary. If it's a selection I haven't reviewed previously, I will dash off a new, brief, introductory review just for perspective.


Joining:
25. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for my Halo (Matador)
24. Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes (Yep Roc)
23. Bass Drum of Death - GB City (Fat Possum)
22. Coathangers - Larceny and Old Lace (Suicide Squeeze)
21. Meg Baird - Seasons on Earth (Drag City)


  9. Jack Oblivian - Rat City (Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum)
  8. Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer (Merge)
  7. New York Dolls - Dancing Backwards in High Heels (429 Records)
  6. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin' (Columbia)
 
 
At No. 5 we have PJ Harvey and Let England Shake (Vagrant). This is a timeless piece of work from one of the finest artists or the present era. REVERBERATIONS reviewed Let England Shake in March. Here's that review:

http://stevemahoot.blogspot.com/2011/03/pj-harvey-let-england-shake-vagrant.html


Be sure to enjoy the video featuring PJ and Bjork's rendition of "Satisfaction." It's a stunner.

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