Originally posted by rbmorrisI often listen to as many as sixteen albums a day. There's a backlog that never seems to go away. If some music doesn't have the necessary elbows, it doesn't necessarily get a second listen, especially pop-rock-etc. (unless it's by artists I know well and who I have found to make music that grows on me).
Anybody listened yet?
What did you think?
Portishead "3" is tossed onto this rather unforgiving conveyor belt and ends up getting 3 or 4 consecutive spins, and a second dose the next day, even with all this other stuff champing at the bit. It's dark and swirling, emotionally bleak, and decidedly odd in places. Some of the arrangements are exquisitely simple and sparse (reminded me of Low in that respect) and there's a real mix of textures and tones. Some very dirty, gritty sounds - some shuddering beats here and there - some very desolate lyrics and vocal lines. A musicologist in 100 years from now wouldn't be able to date it, I reckon ("er...somewhere between "1968 and 2012" perhaps"). The overall mood makes me think of smack. Although it's also utterly beautiful in places.
Portishead's 1st album was a seminal work, most would agree. As for their 2nd, I just remember there only being a couple of tracks on it that ever earned a place on compilation tapes I used to like to make in those days. This one seems really quite uncompromising, more alternative than its predecessors (whatever that might mean). It's less likely to enjoy commercial success. Nor is it going to feature heavily on dance floors. I'm listening to it right now as I type and I realise: 7 or 8 spins and I have not had my fill of this one yet.
Originally posted by rbmorrisIt's their best work to date. As is often the way with gifted bands their first album is amazing but their second fails to meet the mark. This is an older more mature Portishead which for all that, hasn't dulled with age. They're still in your face and uncomprimising. They're the marmite of music. Fortunately I love marmite and this album has been playing on my mp3 player for a whole week now. Fantastic.
Anybody listened yet?
What did you think?
Don't know if it's their best work to date simply because Dummy is just such a flawless record but it's certainly one of the better records of this year. Organically bleak with haunting vocals and vinyl ambience. It's obvious that Portishead never lost it and the wait was well worthwhile.
I downloaded it a while ago, and I was blown away by it. I may have been predisposed to liking it, since I tend to agree that Dummy is a flawless masterpiece and one of the best albums I have ever heard.
The eponymous follow-up was more of the same - it had some cracking tracks, but it was hardly innovative.
Then, of course, people started ripping off the Portishead sound, and a thousand pale imitations never came close to matching the original.
Portishead said they wanted to make something as groundbreaking as the first (which took a while to achieve the ubiquity and acceptability to the mainstream it eventually did). I think they've achieved that much. A couple of tracks (like 'Magic Doors'😉 hark back to the older sound, but their use of antique synths (always a plus in my books) and frankly alarming percussion (I am quite taken with what can only be a deliberately perverse decision to put 'Machine Gun' out as the single...) has moved them forwards considerably.
They had mastered the sound of melancholy, as if something bad but unidentified had happened from which we'd never recover; on the new album, that mood moves towards something more apocalyptic.
Beth Gibbons' voice can still send a shiver down my spine every time I hear it.
I was also lucky enough to see them live a couple of weeks ago, and it may well be the best concert I've ever been to (and I've been to a fair few).
In short: it's OK, I suppose... 🙂
Originally posted by rbmorrisHad it on in the background yesterday, and quite enjoyed it. Just stuck it on now again, and really enjoying the first CHOON!
Picked it up yesterday. Just got through my third listen. I didn't warm up to it right away, but now that I've gone through it a couple of times, I'm really loving it.
D