They had that other big party track Superstylin'.
Edit: ...which was very decent in that wahey matey style euro ragga-house crossover niche.
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Portishead 3rd
- Thread starter ML2008
- Start date
They had that other big party track Superstylin'.
Edit: ...which was very decent in that wahey matey style euro ragga-house crossover niche.
Seiji from Bugz in the Attic did the title track from this record. I love the majority of his work but this Roisin Murphy one is too plodding for me. The remixes are alright though - check the fat and stupid Herve one.
As for Portishead 3rd, the album is a real grower. Been listening to it on and off for the last 3 weeks (coincidence?!) and its slowly worming its way into my head. Its the first genuinely disturbing bit of music I've heard in a while. Heading to the live show on Sunday and needless to say I'm looking forward to seeing how it works.
This is from their email news:
Should be good; the album is a real grower. It's not quite the radical departure it seems to be on first listen, after you get over the initial OMG! Silver Apples/psych rock/industrial-drums-of-doom surprise. It develops that United States of America-esque Half Day Closing track and the general harshness of the second album, and quite a few tracks have that more typical Morricone-Badalimenti feel. Anyone who's seen them live will know that they were always an awesome rock band despite (as well as) all the sampling and hip hop. Agree with whoever said upthread that they also have that distillation of the bleak cultural times going on - like a horror-stricken flip-side to the shiny day-glo hedonism of the post-rave/techno generation of the likes of Daft Punk or Villalobos. My only quibble is that so many songs just end when they might take off and go somewhere else. But they might develop them live the way they did with some of the older stuff.
yeah it's great - totally not first single comeback biz
the drums remind me a bit of windowlicker, i love the way they can probably break into the charts with a big weird album, such opposition to the rest of the major record industry which has zero going on.
Portishead influences on "Third"
From today's NY Times ,
Barrow & Utley cite ' Black Sabbath , Sonic Youth , Kraftwerk , Ultravox, Madlib , Moondog and Sunno)) ' , among many others'
'Mistuned instruments , lopsided mixes, low fi microphones, imprecise timing' =
'analog' things the group uses
Machine Gun's drums come from an old organ's drum module (!)
Looks like not many live gigs in 2008 (or ever)
They did set out to do something new ,
they also manage themselves which is not easy !
From today's NY Times ,
Barrow & Utley cite ' Black Sabbath , Sonic Youth , Kraftwerk , Ultravox, Madlib , Moondog and Sunno)) ' , among many others'
'Mistuned instruments , lopsided mixes, low fi microphones, imprecise timing' =
'analog' things the group uses
Machine Gun's drums come from an old organ's drum module (!)
Looks like not many live gigs in 2008 (or ever)
They did set out to do something new ,
they also manage themselves which is not easy !
Definitely hear the Sabbath thing coming through. Another one people seem keen to mention is Silver Apples.. there is one track that reminds me of Oscillations a fair amount.
A couple of funny things I've read from leechers so far:
1. They're really badly ripping off The Knife.
2. Machine Gun sounds like someone's first play about in Reason.
The second one is extra funny if the drums are from an old organ drum machine! To me the track just doesn't sound at all software-y. I find it odd that people can take such a technical / formalist approach, yet be so off-track on exactly those grounds. I mean, the criticism of it sounding technically amateurish kinda suggests the critic's own lack of technical understanding?
A couple of funny things I've read from leechers so far:
1. They're really badly ripping off The Knife.
2. Machine Gun sounds like someone's first play about in Reason.
The second one is extra funny if the drums are from an old organ drum machine! To me the track just doesn't sound at all software-y. I find it odd that people can take such a technical / formalist approach, yet be so off-track on exactly those grounds. I mean, the criticism of it sounding technically amateurish kinda suggests the critic's own lack of technical understanding?
And ears that came in a pack of weetbix.
well now that's just silly, people apparently don't listen do they, or hear much when they do ?
the pedantic gotcha mentality of 'ooooh i hear a resemblance therefore it must be a direct rip-off' is to be called out as bullshit every chance one gets, if you are going to make that claim you had better well be able to back it up in spades, which in this case is impossible
these three people didn't need to make another record, they waited until they'd made the record that they wanted to make and were happy to stand behind, as they should, it's memorable and honest and seems true to the spirit of what they've always been about
Lack of technical understanding indeed, couldn't agree with you more ... which just goes to show (yet again) that a technique-based 'criticism'/comment must always be informed by an actual understanding of the techniques used as well as the musical ideas behind them, not to mention the context in which the techniques and ideas are placed , i.e., in this case (machine gun) a fantastic piece of music
bassnation
the abyss
i'm not feeling machine gun at all. just grating but not in a good way. not a patch on their earlier stuff. i am really, really hoping the rest of the album is better. however i have to say i totally disagree with k-punks dismissal of them as dated coffee table music in the wire blog. the earlier albums were proper dark. i used to make the mistake of putting them on when i was coming down from ecstasy, they can tear your heart out if you aren't careful.
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noel emits
a wonderful wooden reason
Some of the lines in that first record were so reverberant, although thankfully I've forgotten about most of them now. I actually never ended up listening to them that much after the album came out because it was so rapidly ruined for me by so many bloody wannabe girl singers immediately trying to sound like that. Same thing happened with Bjork. They just end up coming across as doing bad impressions without the comedy value. And it's not as if these people were even interested in singing before, I'm talking about the ones who thought they'd give it a bash because it seemed like a good idea after hearing this girl.
Ivan Conte
Wild Horses
At the moment I'm not feeling this album as I thought I would, might change my opinion in a few weeks / months, who knows... but at the moment, I can't find any solid reason to overcome an obstacle i.e. most of the good reviews I have read refer to this album as being an "honest" comeback, something which strongly reminds me of "authenticity", one of the main ideas supporting indie bands.
It may be a grower, though, and I actually -honestly
- hope I end up liking it.
Am looking forward to seeing them live in a few weeks, maybe I change my mind after that?
It may be a grower, though, and I actually -honestly
- hope I end up liking it.Am looking forward to seeing them live in a few weeks, maybe I change my mind after that?
Imo, no matter what any 'reviewer' says -
this album has more value to just be tagged a 'comeback '.
As noted and probably generally felt by those into it (or at least respecting it) -
this is music /art Portishead wanted to make and took their own time and lives to do so.
Geof Barrow in particular sounds ready to go off on those who tag them 'coffee table',
that's partly why they took 10 years off, they hated what it became, doing the orchestral big 'Live' thing, etc.
I was going to comment bk after Michael's post last night ,
'aah , everyone's an expert' , so we can be sure everyone and der brother KNOWS how this piece or that was done, what it means , how it fits in a continum' -just tooo neatly so.
After catching Portishead's own comments on what influenced them in the making of,
it simply seems to be their tasteful roundup of stuff in the air for the last few years .
Dissensus has had threads on just about every artist mentioned in that NY Times article.
A zeitgeist album ...
While glad it's there , I find i'm not wild about Machine Gun on every pass through the album , dig it but can also sometimes skip it.
Am digging the album and the one cut that does have their tm theramin, The Rip ,
like it's progression, words with music.
And the theramin well, they put it there too.
The artists get to decide, 'pundits' come later
Dunno where it came from , but am reminded of the line
'There are those who do , and those who review ...'
So take all with a grain and better off finding out for yerself /yourselves .
this album has more value to just be tagged a 'comeback '.
As noted and probably generally felt by those into it (or at least respecting it) -
this is music /art Portishead wanted to make and took their own time and lives to do so.
Geof Barrow in particular sounds ready to go off on those who tag them 'coffee table',
that's partly why they took 10 years off, they hated what it became, doing the orchestral big 'Live' thing, etc.
I was going to comment bk after Michael's post last night ,
'aah , everyone's an expert' , so we can be sure everyone and der brother KNOWS how this piece or that was done, what it means , how it fits in a continum' -just tooo neatly so.
After catching Portishead's own comments on what influenced them in the making of,
it simply seems to be their tasteful roundup of stuff in the air for the last few years .
Dissensus has had threads on just about every artist mentioned in that NY Times article.
A zeitgeist album ...
While glad it's there , I find i'm not wild about Machine Gun on every pass through the album , dig it but can also sometimes skip it.
Am digging the album and the one cut that does have their tm theramin, The Rip ,
like it's progression, words with music.
And the theramin well, they put it there too.
The artists get to decide, 'pundits' come later
Dunno where it came from , but am reminded of the line
'There are those who do , and those who review ...'
So take all with a grain and better off finding out for yerself /yourselves .
noel emits
a wonderful wooden reason
Yes.
And of course on most important levels the gear is not responsible for the spirit of a record, while it can play a role in inspiration, decision making and creating sounds that are effective / evocative, whatever.
Mind you, although it's a stupid crit in the first place I don't think it would be that unusual to find samples of old organ beatboxes in a Reason sample pack - pretty standard stuff. But then in the video for Machine Gun you can see a Moog Voyager and a load of modular stuff so why anyone would assume they are bothering trying to force Reason to sound loose is ridiculous, especially when you've got a room full of kit.
Client Eastwood
Well-known member
Some Third tracks live
I think this was mentioned up thread, you can see a performance without any sign up etc here . .
http://current.com/items/88899146_portishead_in_portishead
I think this was mentioned up thread, you can see a performance without any sign up etc here . .
http://current.com/items/88899146_portishead_in_portishead