Uh Huh Her

PJ Harvey scares me; her voice sends shivers down my spine like no other vocalist. When I hear her sing, I feel her haunted visions play out inside my head. When I picked up her latest album, White Chalk, even the cover art gave me the creeps, and could possibly give me nightmares for the next few weeks. But Harvey is not here to scare us, she is here to guide us through the darkness that troubles this beautiful enchantress.

White Chalk is PJ Harvey's eight studio album, and her most ambitious effort by far. Gone are the dizzying pulse and fractured grind of her previous albums, instead Harvey is relying on her voice. This album is a departure from her previous works, it is more reticent, soothing, and truthful. From the opening track The Devil, where her voice patiently explodes fluently with the piano, to the melancholy desperation in The Mountain, Harvey bares her soul with tantalizing results. In the song Dear Darkness, she whispers "Dear Darkness, won't you cover me, cover me again, I've been your friend for many years", we are quick understand her pangs, and yearn to comfort her. White Chalk is more than just a sad and depressing record, it is an exploration into the deepest corners of the heart's abyss. The rage that was prevalent in her earlier work is no longer there, instead Harvey has learned to trust her voice and poetics to effectively carry her songs.

This album is beautiful, brilliant, elegant, powerful, and haunting. After a few listens it has quickly become one of my favorite albums of 2007. Harvey's music has often been described as punk, goth, blues-rock, and art-rock, White Chalk dispels all those labels. Some fans may find this album too depressing and soft, or perhaps too much of a departure from her musical style; but this is the album that Harvey has been slowly evolving toward since she released Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and Uh Huh Her. And this is the album we've been waiting for.

Can Superman Save Burning Man?

Can Superman Save Burning Man?
Originally uploaded by Lush.i.ous

Apparently not...

praise of love

...And After All You're My Wonderwall
Originally uploaded by Lush.i.ous

and so then
the first moment
do you remember names
or adjectives
no, no
perhaps nothing was said
the end of indifference
and then you smile
like the sun
skyscrapers
swallowing us
in a tender
embrace.

composition

infinite sadness
Originally uploaded by Lush.i.ous

composition.
mostly composed of nouns/verbs/adjectives.
a compose of letter that become words.
i am left in anxiety
counting numbers instead
days, hours, minutes, seconds,
at 11AM those are what matters most
when you anticipate.
sitting in a room,
too empty for solace,
waiting to the grasp your skin one more
time.
a composition starts with a premise,
but this one will start with a dream
through a rabbithole.

a dream about icicles forming on my ceiling
on the hottest of nights,
watching it a ferment,
and swirl in circles
creating fingers that fan out
like a blooming flower.

these are my dreams,
since i left her cozy world.
Merely dreams to keep me
distracted until those numbers
become zeros.

To The Dogs

When the dogs bark, I taste July.
I fall into circulation.
I crave faux fur.
I miss the taste of pineapple.
I miss my toys.
I gulp liquid anti-freeze.

When the dogs bark, I drown in tears.
I get ravenous for onions.
I want to fly to distant lands.
I change my name to Jean-Paul.
I change my name to Leona.
My name changes itself to Buster.

When the dogs bark, the road crackles like a frying pan.
The verses disappear into the pavement.
The dictionary smokes meaning into nothing.
I stare at the blank wall.
I taste serendipity.
I see myself totally naked.
I am vulnerable.

When the dogs bark, eagles swoops over the house.
The stereo gets a panic attack.
The oven trembles for fear.
The trees pull out their roots for freedom.
I translate ancient texts into pornography.
I rip the windows open to let the lightning
and madness inside.
The cat sings lullabies.
I don't have a cat.

Barking dogs!

And I remind myself...
The moon is a hanging white poppy!
The moon is a hanging white poppy!
The moon is a hanging white poppy!
The moon is a...

Jersey Joe's RV

Jersey Joe's RV
Originally uploaded by Lush.i.ous

Sometimes you can go crazy on your RV.

Sans Lumiere

Sans Lumiere
Originally uploaded by Lush.i.ous

NYC and DC in 3 weeks. I'm left speechless and uncomposed.