John Parish Dance Hall At Louse Point CD

In the era of DRY and RID OF ME, Polly Jean Harvey made a point of demarcating herself and PJ Harvey, which she considered the name of the trio she led. Although she kept the name PJ Harvey after original collaborators, Rob Ellis and Steve Vaughan, left in 1994, 1996's DANCE HALL AT LOUSE POINT was different enough that Harvey temporarily reverted to her full name for its release. Co-written and produced by John Parish, an old friend and musical collaborator who also worked on 1995's TO BRING YOU MY LOVE and 1998's IS THIS DESIRE?, DANCE HALL AT LOUSE POINT is an avant-blues album with elements of Nina Simone, Tom Waits, and Captain Beefheart in its strangely orchestrated ballads of desire and suffering. Particular highlights include the single "That Was My Veil" and a tortured rendition of the standard "Is That All There Is?"

Recorded at Small World Studios, Yeovil, England between February 12 and March 10, 1996.

Personnel: Mick Harvey (guitar, organ, electric bass).

Recording information: Small World, Yeovil, Somerset, England (02/12/1996-03/10/1996).

Personnel: John Parish, Polly Jean Harvey; Mick Harvey (organ, bass, guitar).

Producers: John Parish, Polly Jean Harvey, Mick Harvey.

Spin (10/96, pp.130-131) - 7 (out of 10) - "...[DANCE HALL] contains more familiar tricks--4-TRACK DEMOS' rhythmless bare-bones arrangements, RID OF ME's vocal and volume extremes, TO BRING YOU MY LOVE's ambience and basic blues progressions--than original treats..."
Entertainment Weekly (9/27/96, p.80) - "...By turns mournful and dissonant, stately and manic, these collaborations exude an otherworldly drams, like blues beamed in from another dimension. This is `deep' music in every sense; total immersion is recommended." - Rating: A
Q (11/8/96, p.134) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...she still has that polecat spit and those brooding rural blues, but it is a more muted affair, less immediately commercial....DANCE HALL AT LOUSE POINT is a curious beast, conveying a disparate range of moods..."
Melody Maker (9/28/96, p.50) - Recommended.
Musician (12/96, pp.91-92) - "...The singer supplied sublimely spooky lyrics and estimable co-production talents to these compositions by guitarist/percussionist John Parish....The results are as engaging as they are disturbing....full of stange moves and unusual textures..."
NME (Magazine) (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #44 in NME's 1996 critic's poll.
NME (Magazine) (9/21/96, p.50) - 8 (out of 10) - "...No, it's not the new PJ Harvey album, but it's far more than a mere side bar to the main story. Welcome to the John 'n' Polly Blues Implosion."