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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Polly Jean Harvey and John Parish have been collaborating for two decades now, making A Woman A Man Walked By the latest in a long series of intriguing records. Billed as a follow-up to 1996’s similarly credited Dance Hall at Louse Point, this excellent set fits naturally alongside their previous works. This time though Parish wrote all, and played most of the music, while Harvey took vocals and lyrics. And though Parish’s own solo offerings have tended towards contemporary classicism, this set displays veers from blues-rock to the bleakest of folk music. The opening track "Black Hearted Love", built around an irresistible loping guitar riff, could easily fit on one of Josh Homme’s Desert Sessions while "Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen" evokes an unexpectedly sinister English pastoral scene. The delightfully gloomy "April" marries a leaden drumbeat to a stately organ line, "Pig Will Not" clatters in the best Beefheartian tradition, while the title track, a Tourettic bluesy rant, slips into a chaotic instrumental obtusely titled "The Crow Knows Where All The Little Children Go". The sound of a Gold Rush-era piano player looms throughout, especially effective on the broken folk ballad "Leaving California". Deliberately unshowy and continually unpredictable, A Woman A Man Walked By is another fine Harvey and Parish album. --Steve Jelbert
Review
This collaboration with long-time musical pal John Parish has been touted as some kind of side project, but in many ways it's a major step in a career that refuses to lie down and play nicely. Whereas 2007's White Chalk had a monochrome bleakness that was far more stately, here Polly's up to more mischievous, anarchic stuff.
As Harvey herself says, her work should never be taken as anything approaching biographical. She adopts personas. For this we should be grateful. You probably wouldn't want to meet the character who on A Woman a Man Walked By / The Crow Knows Where All the Little Children Go, complains about the ''woman man'' who failed her having ''chicken liver balls'' before morphing into Nick Cave, grunting about wanting his ''f***ing ass''. The album still has the odd trace of more mainstream PJ. Black Hearted Love approaches the kind of stadium indie that she was capable of a few years back, but it's also the least satisfying track.
Bolstered by a wonderfully wayward mixing job by Flood, the album may be short on really memorable tunes but more than makes up for it in restless creativity. Overall it sounds like Harvey and Parish are having a whale of a time making wonky, folk blues pop, filled with rusty tin can moments and poetry. Parish's mandolin, mixed with the fever dream voices of Harvey on Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen combines dolls house surrealism and backwoods delta fire and brimstone. And who could resist that, eh?
Parish - responsible for the music here - constantly puts one on mind of those who have wrangled strings for Don Van Vliet (in fact he's helped out by the Captain's associate, Eric Drew Feldman on keyboards). Pig Will Not is a Beefheartian stop-start strop that pauses halfway through to leave the room and tinker around on some minimal piano.
It's this almost offhand ability to never sound precious about the results that makes A Woman Man Walks By such fun. From the childlike waltz of Leaving California, to the cracked lo fi blues of April, this is an album that challenges and cheers in equal measure. Please don't let this be the last of this partnership. --Chris Jones
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
A Woman A Man Walked By is fantastic. You have the guitar stompers "Blacked Hearted Love", the frenzied "16,15,14" and "The Chair", the piano laden ethereal tracks "The Soldier" and "Leaving California" and the achingly beautiful "April" and "Passionless Pointless". Each song takes from a section of PJ's career while maintaining a new identity (grungy banjo!). For those waiting for screaming madness I highly recommend "Pig Will Not" and the title track for maximum impact but there's no poor track on the album. Well done PJ and John.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It is interesting that most of the critical reviews on here make the assumption that this album has only received high ratings from die-hard PJH fans. I am not a diehard fan, in fact until very recently I had not really heard any of her stuff, but I think this album is excellent. The first track is probably the most conventional but as a consequence is also the least engaging. What follows will not appeal to everyone - but anyone willing to stretch them-self a little will find the experience rewarding. I would not recommend this, however, if you like your music safe and predictable - stick with Coldplay.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Each track provides a different view and style, this shows true genius - can PJ Harvey go wrong? Each album peels back a layer, I really can't fault one album - each is a new side and never a repeat from previous creations.
From this album I particularly like "Black Hearted Love" and "A Woman A Man Walked By / The Crow Knows Where All The Little Children Go", particularly the latter whcih is raw, experimental and if playing in your car makes you turn down the volume if you have your window open with a little polite society guilt. I'm sure with time other tracks will bolt on to my favourites. This is a true test of a good album, continual listens unveil new treasures - you have to work at it to reap the rewards.
From this album I particularly like "Black Hearted Love" and "A Woman A Man Walked By / The Crow Knows Where All The Little Children Go", particularly the latter whcih is raw, experimental and if playing in your car makes you turn down the volume if you have your window open with a little polite society guilt. I'm sure with time other tracks will bolt on to my favourites. This is a true test of a good album, continual listens unveil new treasures - you have to work at it to reap the rewards.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A interesting mix of folk, punk, rock and grunge
PJ Harvey has been entertaining her fans for nearly 20 years. "A Woman A Man Walked By" is her ninth studio album and second studio collaboration with John Parish. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Amillionmiles
Tough Listening
Not often you see such a variation in ratings, but i can fully understand why. This is tough listening in places. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2010 by Mr. J. Foster
Rubbish
Please do not be taken in by the excellent opening track. Ther remainder of the album is frankly tuneless garbage characterised by painful vocals. Read more
Published on 31 July 2009 by Mr. Tj Payton
Buy the single not the album
I should have not bought this album. She is always trying very hard not to repeat her last works.
The 5 stars reviews are the fans that no matter what she releases, she is... Read more
The 5 stars reviews are the fans that no matter what she releases, she is... Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2009 by S. Ayala-ceratto
Awful
Hated this from start to finish - unless you're a huge PJ fan my advice is give this record a VERY wide berth......
Published on 15 Jun 2009 by M. Chaffer
Angular confessional music - what Polly does best
If you've heard her previous collaboration with John Parish you will know what to expect. If you haven't, this will come as a breath of fresh air to PJ Harvey fans. Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2009 by A. Macfarlane
You gotta love her, haven't you? Polly delivers the goods again.
Polly inexplicably oozes cool. Everything about her is enigmatic; her French seductress cover-art, her effortless New York coolness, her erudite English charm, her ever-shifting... Read more
Published on 5 May 2009 by J Capeling
PJ Harvey keeps up high standard
PJ Harvey is probably the best female singer/songwriter this country has produced but the shame is she never really gets the credit she deserves. Read more
Published on 3 May 2009 by Mr. B. Sandlin
Genuis
Polly is one of the few artists, along with Radiohead and Nick Cave that disproves my theory that nobody makes more than four truly great albums. Read more
Published on 2 May 2009 by ADIHEAD
Shining, haunting, scary, beautiful.
PJ Harvey has always been on the individualistic side of things, being to my mind pretty difficult to classify or put into a box. Read more
Published on 19 April 2009 by M. C. Cresswell
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