Harvey Shows There’s a ‘There’ There--Twice

For the first time, Calendar’s guide to keeping up with what’s exciting in pop on an album budget of $50 a month features two albums that contain the same track. Polly Jean Harvey’s masterful interpretation of Leiber & Stoller’s “Is That All There Is?” highlights the wonderfully diverse “Basquiat” soundtrack and defines Harvey’s collaboration with John Parish on the dark, probing “Dance Hall at Louse Point.”

SEPTEMBER

Eels, “Beautiful Freak” (DreamWorks). When Eels leader E sings, “No one will know my name until it’s on a stone,” you sense a musician commenting as much on his professional legacy as his personal fate. There’s a bold ambition and independence behind Eels’ maverick vision in a striking debut album that reminds you of all the great Los Angeles bands, from the Flying Burrito Brothers to X, that have chronicled the outsider, underdog attitude in the shadows of a record industry that never embraces them commercially. Maybe this time there’ll be a breakthrough. (Eels are profiled on Page 5.)

Pearl Jam, “No Code” (Epic). It’s easy for fans of Pearl Jam’s first two, often bombastic albums to be thrown by the delicate, soul-searching elements that characterize the best moments of the group’s fourth full CD, in which Eddie Vedder sets aside some of the howling anger of ‘90s rock to try to understand the reasons for his personal darkness. It’s called growth, and the album is filled with it.

R.E.M., “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” (Warner Bros). This, too, is about understanding and growth, though there’s less emphasis on personal soul-searching and more on society itself as the 20th century nears its end. It’s an exploration that is telegraphed in the title of the opening song, “How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us.” In the album, Michael Stipe moves from times when everything seems hopeless (“Undertow”) to those when everything seems momentarily possible (“Electrolite”).

OCTOBER

Albita, “Dicen Que . . . “ (Crescent Moon/Epic). Forget Los del Rio and “Macarena.” This is the year’s real Latin pop treat. Albita’s last Crescent Moon album celebrated the vitality and charm of Cuban pop. This time, the Havana native adds a soulful, contemporary edge and depth to her tropical sound.

Various artists, “Basquiat” soundtrack (Island). This is one of those mix-and-match collections deftly drawn from various pop genres and eras--the rap of Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel’s “White Lines” to Van Morrison’s Jagger-ish vocal on Them’s rendition of Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” But the standout is Harvey’s show-stopping version of “Is That All There Is?”--done more with the emotional fervor of Edith Piaf than the distant cabaret sensibility of Peggy Lee.

John Parish & Polly Jean Harvey, “Dance Hall at Louse Point” (Island). Is there any doubt that Harvey is the most exciting singer-songwriter of the ‘90s? In this side project with composer and producer Parish, she writes and sings with such conviction about life’s disappointments and disillusionment that the album seems to explain all the spirit-draining episodes that could lead to the barren emotional state outlined in “Is That All There Is?”