PJ HARVEY - The Peel Sessions 1991-2004 Review

According to the BBC's online archive, Polly Jean Harvey and various incarnations of her band performed nine times on influential DJ John Peel's show between 1991 and 2000, playing more than 60 songs in total. We'd love to tell you The Peel Sessions 1991 - 2004 collects all those appearances, but sadly, that's not the case....full text For most bands, pressing a Peel Sessions disc is little more than an aggrandized cash cow: While proving to the world you were hip enough to catch the iconic DJ's eye and make it onto his Radio One airwaves, you get an already recorded and mixed (by some top engineers, no less) live album with little effort. You get another album into stores, enhance your credibility and put a bit more money back into BBC coffers. Everybody wins. No wonder they're so popular....full text The mutual respect that PJ Harvey and John Peel had was akin to the most successful of musical collaborators. Over her career she participated in nine Peel sessions and her gig in Cardiff was seen as being one of the best gigs ever witnessed by the late DJ, no mean feat as Peel has seen more gigs than most people have had hot dinners. As part of the second anniversary of his death, Harvey has personally selected these 12 tracks, four from the amazing pre-Dry Peel Session in 1991, stretching all the way to her tribute on the 2004 Peel Tribute show in the form of 'You Come Through'....full text