Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

Another Christmas present from last year and the least instantly accessible of the CD’s I received that people thought I’d like. Sharon Van Etten is folky singer songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York and makes musical ditties in a similar vein to PJ Harvey and Feist. As such it scores highly on the dirge continuum and suffers from a lack of originality, positivity or any ‘get up a go’, but this is a more subtle album than mere standard dirge.

There are some signs of real song writing talent hidden deep within some of the songs. The lyrics are emotive and universal, there are occasional glimpses of hum-ability and the whole thing sounds more subtly intelligent than it does enjoyable. The chugging pace doesn't

help matters and Sharon may be better advised to throw in the odd upbeat number and a couple of Scandinavian style stark slowies to alleviate the monotony.

The songs are much of a muchness but ‘Serpents’ is the most upbeat and passionate and illustrates Sharon’s potential to go beyond the standard female singer/songwriter template. ‘Warsaw’ is likewise fairly agreeable, but after that I’m struggling to swim through the gallons of dirge. Why is there this obsession to sound like the Queen of Dirge, Polly Jean? There are so many great female folk singers to use as inspiration why go for the most annoying?

I know lots of people rate her, but Sharon’s definitely not doing it for me. She needs to up the tempo, add some positivity and develop a sense of humour if I’m going to purchase another album. Shame on you PJ Harvey! You have lured another one to the dark, dirgy side.

PJ Harvey - Rid of Me LP 1993

I attempt to listen to a PJ Harvey album each year and to be honest I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the allure of music that's just so inaccessible, perhaps it's her refusal to compromise or it might be that it's just possible she may make another 'Dry'.

Don't get your hopes up though, this is the standard PJ Harvey formula of 90% pure dirge and 10% semi-engaging dirge rock. The two songs that I like, 'Rid of Me' and '50ft Queenie', I'd heard before and are perfectly pleasant memory joggers of what she is capable of. The rest of the album meanwhile, is PJ giving us the standard-issue dirge with not a hint of positivity, apart from the warm feeling you get when the whole thing ends.

I could only give it three listens and then I gave up. Why does she bother? Why do the masses seem to enjoy her work? She's won the Mercury Music Prize twice now! If you like PJ Harvey you'll love this, but I can't see me bothering anymore. I've done a decent sample of her early, middle and late work and I've got to use the word that has become synonymous with PJ Harvey one last time to sum her up; DIRGE!