Mystery burns at the heart of Portishead, lurking deep within their music and their very image. From the outset they seemed like an apparition, as if their elegant debut, Dummy, simply materialized out of the ether in 1994, as their stately blend of looped rhythms, '60s soundtrack samples, and doomed chanteuse vocals had only a tenuous connection to such Bristol compatriots as Massive Attack and Tricky. Soon enough, Portishead's unique sound was exploited by others, heard in swank clubs and high-end dinner parties on both sides of the Atlantic, a development that the trio of Geoff Barrow, Beth Gibbons, and Adrian Utley bristled at instinctively, recoiling into the darker corners of their sound on their eponymous 1997 sophomore album before fading back into the ether leaving no indication when they were coming back, if ever. They returned 11 years later, seemingly suddenly, with Third, supporting the album with candid interviews that lifted the veil from their personality, yet the mystery remained deeper than ever within their gorgeous, unsettling music.
That strain of uneasiness is a new wrinkle within Portishead, as in the '90s they favored a warm, enveloping melancholy, a rich sound that could be co-opted and turned into simple fashion, as it was by band after band in the heyday of the swinging '90s. So many groups grabbed ahold of Portishead's coattails that it's easy to forget that in 1994 there was no other band that sounded quite like Portishead -- not even Massive Attack and Tricky, who shared many surface sounds but not a sensibility -- and that is just as true in 2008, years after trip-hop has turned into history. Their cold, stark uniqueness isn't due to a continuing reliance on the cinematic textures of Dummy, although there are echoes of that here on the slow-crawling album openers "Silence" and "Hunter," songs just familiar enough to act as reminders of how Portishead are special, yet just different enough to serve notice that the trio is engaged with the present, even if they've happily turned into isolated recluses, working at a pace utterly divorced from the clattering nonsense of the digital world. Third is resolutely not an album to be sampled in 30-second bites or to be heard on shuffle; a quick scan through the tracks will not give a sense of what it's all about. It demands attention, requiring effort on the part of the listener, as this defies any conventions on what constitutes art pop apart from one key tenant, one that is often attempted yet rarely achieved: it offers music that is genuinely, startlingly original.
Surprises are inextricably intertwined throughout Portishead. There are jarring juxtapositions and transitions, as how the barbershop doo wop of "Deep Water" sits between those twin towers of tension of "We Carry On" and "Machine Gun," the former riding an unbearably relentless two-chord drone while the latter collapses on the backs of warring drum machines. Echoes of Krautrock and electronica can be heard on these two tracks, but that very description suggests that Third is conventionally experimental, spitting out the same hipster references that have been recycled since 1994, if not longer. These influences are surely present, but they're deployed unexpectedly, as are such Portishead signatures as tremulous string samples and Utley's trembling guitar. Out of these familiar fragments from the past, Portishead have created authentically new music that defies almost every convention in its writing and arrangement. As thrilling as it is to hear the past and present collide when "Plastic" is torn asunder by cascading waves of noise, Third doesn't linger in these clattering corners, as such cacophony is countered by the crawling jazz of "Hunter" and the sad, delicate folk of "The Rip," but a marvelous thing about the album is that there's no balance. There is a flow, but Portishead purposely keep things unsettled, to the extent that the tonal shifts still surprise after several listens.
Such messiness is crucial to Portishead, as there's nothing tidy about the group or its music. Experimental rock is often derided as being cerebral -- and this is surely enjoyable on that level, for as many times as Third can be heard it offers no answers, only questions, questions that grow more fascinating each time they're asked -- but what sets Portishead apart is that they make thrillingly human music. That's not solely due to Gibbons' haunting voice, which may offer an entryway into this gloom but not its only glimpse of soul, as the perfectionism of Barrow and Utley have resulted in an album where nothing sounds canned or processed, the opposite of any modern record where every sound is tweaked so it sounds unnatural. Third feels more modern than any of those computer-corrected tracks as the group's very sensibility mirrors the 21st century, where the past is always present. Then, of course, there's that rich, fathomless darkness that Third offers, something that mirrors the troubled days of the new century but is also true to that shimmering, seductive melancholy of Dummy. Here, the sad sounds aren't quite so soothing, but that human element of Portishead gives them a sense of comfort, just as it intensifies their sense of mystery, for it is the flaws -- often quite intentional -- that give this an unknowable soul and make Third utterly riveting and endlessly absorbing.
From my first time hearing the record, a bit before the major reviews began funneling out, I knew that this would be an album that critics would devour. And why not, it obviously has avant garde leanings, it's haunting, seems profound, is quite atypical, and unlikely to be well received by the common man. This is usually good for a rating into the 9s from Pitchfork. I would have expected a reso...
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Beth Gibbons sounds as miserable as ever and the content of her lyrics...like Gibbons, herself...are older and more complex.
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It's been almost 11 years since Portishead released their last self-titled album (I'm not counting Roseland NYC Live). The three member group of Adrian Utley, Geoff Barrow and more prominent Beth Gibbons have been often credited with making the trip hop genre more mainstream. Originating out of Bristol, UK, Portishead introduced their hometown sound to the commercial radio waves in 1994 with Du...
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There was no way that Third would be anything less than an instant classic, nestling comfortably with Portishead's two other classic offerings. That said, many were concerned that their newest would just continue along the (by now) worn path that they themselves forged almost a decade before. Would this just be a "Dummy II"? How would the world take Portishead now, in a time well beyond the hey...
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... Age 9, I got into electronic music through Eiffel 65. Yes, "Blue (Da Ba Dee)". Anyone who wants to laugh at me can go kick themself in the shin, it was a catchy album and even now I can revisit a few of those songs and smile.I played it once for my dad and it tortured him and his girlfriend. He then stopped the CD and put on Bjork's "Homogenic" instead. Ah yes, the great artifact of a once ...
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i haven't stopped listening since it came out... anyone else?
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... will be on infinite loop in mind for a looooong time. This will be the music-based enduring memory from Coachella 2008, for me at least.Picture, if you will, burrowing your way to the second row of the main stage at Coachella, and witnessing a fantastic set by Kraftwerk.Then, then stage is set for Portishead to arrive, which they do clad in black. Black would also well describe the hearts o...
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So here we are , its been too long since Portishead has toured or released their follow up to their second LP and last night I got the pleasure of seeing them live on my computer from Coachella; but man I wish I had been there! But here I am back also to MOG and not to the hail of critics and MOGGERS delightful screams of Hurrah - to a much lesser extent in fact but back none the less...So last...
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Portishead have succeeded! When you thought they couldn’t become any more dour than they were on their two previous albums, along comes their comeback, Third. It seems they have been listening to Nine Inch Nails and industrial rock which shows up as a harder edge in their new songs. But there is no question: this album is truly great.Portishead — multi-instrumentalist/producer Geoff Barrow,
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Well this is a little impromptu... but as things have been going lately I'll be coming BACK to finish this post a little later. Right now Hype Machine wants my URL :) I initially wrote that I wasn't pleased with music this year. Then I realized I was just in a god awful mood and remembered the boat loads of albums and singles that I loved this year! Suddenly there were more and more albums ...
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This feature appears in Wireless Bollinger . It begins as if it never ended. A vocal sample crackles, cryptic as ever, as a man speaks in Portuguese: "Beware of the rule of three. What you give will get back at you. This lesson you must learn. You only get what you deserve." So begins Portishead's Third , released a decade after the band's last record. And although it starts with a prophe...
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Portishead have succeeded! When you thought they couldn’t become any more dour than they were on their two previous albums, along comes their comeback, Third. It seems they have been listening to Nine Inch Nails and industrial rock which shows up as a harder edge in their new songs. But there is no question: this album is truly great.Portishead — multi-instrumentalist/producer Geoff Barrow,
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.Some ten years after their last formal release, trip-hop pioneers Portishead are releasing their fourth album, cleverly named Third, on April 14.Its hard to explain just how BIG Portishead's Dummy was back in 94/5 in the UK. It seemed that almost every track from their début album was used on almost every TV trailer, and still people couldn't get enough....
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... will be on infinite loop in mind for a looooong time. This will be the music-based enduring memory from Coachella 2008, for me at least.Picture, if you will, burrowing your way to the second row of the main stage at Coachella, and witnessing a fantastic set by Kraftwerk.Then, then stage is set for Portishead to arrive, which they do clad in black. Black would also well describe the hearts o...
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Two more days before I'll be on my way to the coolest music festival around! I'm so ecstatic, I can barely contain my excitement.And I can't believe that I'm going to get to see PORTISHEAD, people! PORTISHEAD! And see them perform their new material. Do you realize the magnitude of this event? I didn't think I'd ever see them since they'd broken up & I didn't get to see them when they were first t
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English trip-hop group Portishead have release a new video for the track, "Machine Gun," The song will be the first single off the album released on April 10, 2008.The album ??Third?? will be officially released on Monday, April 28, 2008"Machine Gun" off of the album ??Third??On December 8-9, 2007, the band curated the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Minehead, England. The festival featured ...
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I love the lo-fi goodness of Portishead's latest opus, Third. At a time when most bands are trying to sound slicker, glossier and more robotic, P-head keeps it real with gritty production, old-school drum machines and raw vocals. The videos thus far have also embraced lo-fi production techniques that beautifully blend with the music. Check out the latest vid for "Magic Doors": Stereogum has...
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Portishead, one of the most influential groups of the 1990's, announced today (Jan. 23) their long awaited third studio album will be released April 14.The album entitled ??Third??(Island) is a follow up to the the group's landmark 1997 self-titled release(Go! Records). ??Vocalist Beth Gibbons & producer/instrumentalist Geoff Barrow (two thirds of Portishead)??From 1998 to 2005, the group was o...
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Portishead just announced that "The Rip" will be the next single released off Third. It's one of my 2 favorite songs on the new album ("Machine Gun" is the other) so I'm thrilled! "The Rip" will be released on June 9th. There's no video yet, but here is the audio via youTube:Check out the description of this video too. Even if you think you've seen every new Portishead video out there, you ...
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Portishead is going to perform music from Third in the town of their namesake on April 11th. Current TV is going to record it for a program titled "Portishead in Portishead" which airs at 10pm BST on April 11th. For more info, see this report on NME.comLive in Oporto Coliseum 26 March 2008:
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The new Portishead album will be out April 29, and it's called "Third," since it's the trio's third studio album. We've been waiting for this one like forever. I can tell you it's real good. If you missed that article in the Sunday April 13 New York Times, check it out, it's online. Meanwhile here's a track off the album.
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As I mentioned last week, Portishead performed songs from their upcoming album live in the English town they got their name from. It aired live on tv in the UK and Current tv supposedly has the video available this week, but I can't seem to get it working. So, I found the vids on youtube...Here is the official Current TV web address if you'd like to try there first. Perhaps I can't see the v...
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Starting today, Monday April 21st, you can listen to Portishead's upcoming new album Third on Last.fm. As I reported last week, the music site is streaming the entire album a full week before it is released, a first for Last.fm. Listen to Portishead's ThirdThat page also has links to buy the album directly from the band or to order it on iTunes or Amazon..
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Full concert with some of the new album tracks;http://www.portishead.blip.tv/#747984.Harder guitars, discordant beats, somehow I don't think Third will be this years dinner party album!(Still lovin' it though....)
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Silence |
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| 2 Hunter |
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| 3 Nylon Smile |
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| 4 The Rip |
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| 5 Plastic |
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| 6 We Carry On |
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| 7 Deep Water |
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| 8 Machine Gun |
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| 9 Small |
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| 10 Magic Doors |
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| 11 Threads |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Third")
