Music is often a confounding thing. Much of the music released seems dull, formulaic, unimaginative. Then someone will come along and use exactly the same ingredients as other less gifted souls - guitars, chords and all that - and somehow create something with real magic to it.
PJ Harvey has continued to be a true, questing artist throughout her career but nothing has matched the shock of those first singles, the 'Dry' album on Too Pure and the harrowing 'Rid Of Me' album.
Initial copies of 'Dry' came with a bonus album that contained the demos for the whole album ('Demonstration'). Though she would go on release the demos for 'Rid Of Me' as a standalone album, she has been less inclined to 'show her working' since though this is perhaps because she's more in control of the production side of her music.
The 'Demonstration' tracks are predominantly acoustic but often include guitar lines or other embellishments to show where the song in her head needed to go when recorded. Demos, for me anyway, can provide a fascinating insight into the process of realising the artist's vision, seeing how the raw idea is transformed by working-through and the also the input of other musicians.
Sometimes, as with
The Boo Radleys' 'Giant Steps' album, the demo has already defined the key elements for the finished record, even if it's with a scratchy guitar or a cheap keyboard sound. Other times, the demo is just the chords and vocal line and the finished product goes somewhere else entirely. Around the time of this album the Too Pure label was on fire with
Moonshake,
Th' Faith Healers,
Pram and Seefeel all knocking out ground-breaking records for breakfast and I would love to hear the demos of Moonshake's 'Eva Luna' album to see the transition from song idea to finished masterpiece.
The demo of PJ Harvey's storming debut single 'Dress' lays out the blueprint of the restrained/strident dynamic of the record. It also sets out the elements used to build out the sound as the record progresses - cello line through the second verse, electric guitar from the second chorus, the simple, bluesy guitar solo. It's both a template and an insight into the unadorned mood of the core song. Mighty stuff.
Download PJ Harvey 'Dress (Demo)' (indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)
