Portishead 3rd

ML2008

New member
Any thoughts? I've only listened to it twice so far…

Dark, brooding, heavy “John Carpenter” influenced synths, Can…
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
Really enjoying it. Some heavy songs... lots of contrast. Like the psych influence.

Machine Gun is great.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
first time through and very impressed. a welcome turn, decidedly not cashing in on the tested formula.

like every single track almost equally. funny Machine Gun for me is the only one which might be a little dull.

only complaint might be a number of the songs tend to end a little too abruptly, and indeed the entire album just kind of drops off the cliff at the end -- which of course is also kinda nice. but i think a few of them can be extended a bit, with more dissonance textures (as long as we are going the Can route, why not include the duration as well? oh, right. pop digestability...)

particularly hitting hard, on the spot, today... been a while since i wanted to play something again immediately after.
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
each track is unique. not often i'd enjoy an album as sonically disparate. it's interesting to listen to, and i normally hate interesting... at least for interests sake.

machine gun is big. that coarse beat and vocal together implies so much emotional distortion, it's like she's shattered. rugged. the synth part that comes in at the end... perfect resolution.
 

Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
The jury's still out over here...

A bunch of heads I know seems disappointed...I guess they didn't realize that it's 2008 as opposed to 1998 and Beth Gibbons isn't the same human she was back then. The majority of people on Okayplayer aren't loving it. I'm gonna give a few more listens and then write my review of it on Sunday. I'm willing to be more open minded even though tey sound nothing like the old Portishead I kno(e)w and love(d).

One.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
I'm willing to be more open minded even though tey sound nothing like the old Portishead I kno(e)w and love(d).

did you ever spend any time listening to kraut-rock P.D.? for me this new sound is FUCKING AMAZING. as much as i loved the old sound.
 

sing_minimal

Well-known member
"I guess they didn't realize that it's 2008 as opposed to 1998 and Beth Gibbons isn't the same human she was back then."

but it seems that geoff is still in 1998..it's way to predictable album for me to find it interesting. they try too hard to make it sound unique which takes all the fun out of it. they're different for the sake of being different but good song writing is all gone imo.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
It's curious looking at last.fm as an indicator of how many people are listening to something before its official release. "Plays" are unique users who've got the media player on their computer hooked up to transmit stuff back to last.fm.

http://www.last.fm/music/Portishead/_/Nylon+Smile - 17000 plays
http://www.last.fm/music/Portishead/_/Silence - 7500 plays
http://www.last.fm/music/Portishead/_/Hunter - almost 19000 plays
http://www.last.fm/music/Portishead/_/Plastic - 16000 plays
etc.

Was thinking it was wrong of me to say it's not "out" til next month, at least insofar as the meaning of something being "out" has changed pretty radically.
 

Poisonous Dart

Lone Swordsman
After 10 Listens:

I've been playing it for more than 3 days and I like it. Maybe one or two tracks are hit and miss but overall I like it. I don't get the abject horror and shock by some of the people that heard it.

Mind you, I was a big, big Portishead fan. I recorded the live concert off of MTV2 back in 1998...then I bought it on VHS tape when it came out.

One.
 

smn

Well-known member
I really like this and I've never been a Portishead fan.

... only complaint might be a number of the songs tend to end a little too abruptly...

I love the way Silence just disappears at exactly the wrong time. Really unsettling. It's maybe my favourite track too.

machine gun is big. that coarse beat and vocal together implies so much emotional distortion, it's like she's shattered. rugged. the synth part that comes in at the end... perfect resolution.

Yeah it's massive. That deep, deep bass that drops in the latter half reminds me of some of Pan Sonic's more abrasive stuff. And the synth that follows is just incredible. Conjures up images of Airwolf :cool:, anything starring Michael Ironside :eek: or, as mentioned above, John Carpenter.
 
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