"Lonely Carousel" de Rodrigo Leão com voz de Beth Gibbons dos Portishead. Pertence ao belíssimo álbum "Cinema"

MySpace-The Blue Seeds
Website-The Blue Seeds
Video: The Blue Seeds - Lost And Furious

Almost six months old now, this album has blown me away in more ways than one over the last month or so. They say it's a more industrial album, straying from the traditional trip-hop sound we're used to from Portishead. I say it rocks! Some of the songs put me in a trance while others feel like they are synchronized to the beating of my heart. True musical coordination. Beth Gibbons continues to deliver meaningful lyrics with a hint of sarcasm and a tone like no other. Check out the track titled, "Small". A definite banger.

Two: The Genius/The GZA - Pro Tools

At the tender age of 42, Wu-Tang's most mysterious and talented mc shakes the earth by dropping another solo gem to add to his discography of pure genius (tons of pun intended). I pre-ordered this album cuz I like to be spontaneous like that, but it did not disappoint. Unfortunately, all the guest appearances are simply beat by a better mc on this album. That mc being the GZA, with his same monotone style that brought him fame every since "Liquid Swords" hit the suburbs. Having said that, some of the mc's that got destroyed are the RZA and Masta Killa to name a couple. These guys are just as famous but lack the quality and consistency found with Genius' lyrics. He makes me laugh with shit like, "I brought butter for the popcorn, dips for the chips, egos for you to trip, and scripts for you to flip..." -Alphabets. F-ing genius huh? Check it before he turns 60 and quits.

Three: Murs - Murs For President

My man Murs never disappoints and I assure you I know nothing about his new album cuz it ain't out yet. Even so, I expect nothing but gems and bangers from this long time Living Lengends storyteller. He's got a track with Snoop Dogg on this one, so at least he's gonna surprise us a little. Having Humpty Dumpty/Shock G on an album was kinda cool, but Snoop Dogg is another story all together. Can't wait!

Go Home!

-Gramps

Sin necesidad de campaña publicitaria, sacaron a la luz el single Glory Box, que les catapultó de inmediato a la difícil barrera de los grupos de culto. Después de publicar un segundo disco homónimo (en el que por cierto estaba All mine, incluída nada menos que en una de James Bond), decidieron grabar sus mejores canciones en directo y a lo grande, acompañados de una orquesta. Elegid un sinónimo de impresionante y ese será el resultado de ese concierto que terminaría finalmente siendo publicado en DVD.

¿La esencia del trip-hop? Es mejor que lo comprobéis por vosotros mismos:

Massive Attack - Teardrop en directo, incluida recientemente en una popular serie con un médico drogadicto.

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy

Portishead - Roads, una pequeña muestra del concierto de Nueva York

autoramas - multiball (nada pode parar os autoramas, 2003)

1. alphabeat - fascination (this is alphabeat, 2008 )
2. mgmt - kids (oracular spectacular, 2008 )
3. electrosound - gossip around the world again (the gossip vs. dangerous dan & nicky van she) (kitsuné maison mashed, 2007)

junior senior - shake your coconuts (dfa remix) (the dfa remixes, chapter two, 2006)

4. midnight juggernauts - shadows (dystopia, 2007)
5. m83 - graveyard girl (saturdays = youth, 2008 )
6. depeche mode - i feel you (songs of faith and devotion, 1993)

stone roses - she bangs the drums (stone roses, 1989)

7. team 9 vs. stereogum - black swann (thom yorke vs. the beatles) (mysplice '06, 2006)
8. nancyta e os grazzers - negra melodia (nancyta e os grazzers, 2002)
9. neutral milk hotel - two-headed boy (in the airplane over the sea, 1998)

the bellrays - lost disciples (have a little faith, 2006)

10. beth gibbons & rustin' man - funny time of year (out of season, 2003)

escutem aqui:

my portishead third album has been lying around for months, a victim of owner neglect save for a couple of background listens. but what's a couple of months of dormancy if this has been a record more than ten years in the making? tonight seemed like the right evening to give it a real spin, and i'm convinced if a decade is what it takes for this band to compose itself for an album that doesn't merely reproduce the genre it arguably kickstarted, then so be it. while third should really be listened to as a whole, "small" is an undeniable highlight in it that rewards your patience with a generously expanding soundscape that ebbs and flows with impeccable timing, eventually leaving you hanging at the cliff thirsting for more.

mp3: portishead - small

Y no es que la tipa en cuestión sea un coco, pero tampoco se trataba de subirla al olimpo de las mujeres más bellas del rock. Yo respondí que la rockera más morbosa de la actualidad era mi adorada Juliette Lewis. Que no me cansaba de ver sus vídeos en Youtube y que sus discos no son maravillas, que no descubren nada nuevo en el rock, pero se escuchan bien y me entretienen más que trabajos de oportunistas como Arcade Fire, Maximo Park, Kaiser Chiefs o los Libertines/Babyshambles del subnormal de Pete Doherty.

Luego mencionó a una tal Sharin Foo, de The Raveonettes. No le repliqué. Había escuchado el disco, pero no había visto foto alguna de la tal Sharin. Sólo puedo decir de ella: bien, aceptable. A continuación Amanda Palmer de The Dresden Dolls, Mira Aroyo de Ladytron y Meg White, la tetuda mitad de los White Stripes, hermanísima del genio Jack White.

Salvo con esta última (como podéis comprobar en esta foto, por dos razones obvias), no pude meter baza, no las había visto. Y me parecía una locura la conversación. Entonces empezó la polémica, y pasamos del rock actual a cualquier rockera de la historia. A cada nombre que iba sugiriendo, yo le espetaba otro en la cara.

A Shirley Manson (de Garbage) le esperaba otra pelirroja más perturbadora, Poison Ivy de The Cramps. Cuando mencionó a Nina Persson de los suecos Cardigans, yo le lancé el nombre de la rubia más famosa del punk neoyorkino, Debbie Harry de Blondie. Kate Jackson de The Long Blondes fue la siguiente, a lo que respondí con Joan Jett. Siguió extrambóticamente con Beth Gibbons de Portishead y Kathleen Hanna líder de Le Tigre y antes de Bikini Kill. Mi contraataque fue Gwen Stefani de No Doubt, y la diosa de los 80 Lita Ford, Cherie Currie o cualquiera del resto de las Runaways.

Está claro que mi amigo es un salido. Propuso a Donita Sparks, Siouxsie, PJ Harvey, Courtney Love (¡¡¡¿Courtney Love?!!! Por favoooor!!!!), Sheryl Crow, Christina Rosenvinge, Kim Deal (ex-Pixies, ahora The Breeders), una tal Gwenna de un grupillo llamado The Pipettes…

Me abrumó con un montón de nombres más, de los que ahora sólo recuerdo los que he puesto aquí. Por mi parte surgieron otros tantos, aunque sólo me dio la razón en dos de ellos: Wendy James (de Transvision Vamp) y Grace Slick (de Jefferson Airplane). Entiendo que para gustos están los colores, y la verdad desconocía esta faceta de depravado de mi amigo (¡¡¡¿Courtney Love?!!!, ¡¡¡¿Christina Rosenvinge?!!!), pero me alegra que nos pusiéramos de acuerdo en esos dos nombres. Y que además los pusiéramos en lo más alto de la lista.

Tras media hora de discusión sobre los atributos (no sólo musicales) de cada una, comenzamos a discutir sobre quién debía ser la primera. ¿Grace o Wendy? ¿Wendy o Grace? Lo dejamos en tablas. Esa discusión eran palabras mayores.

Ahora que ya han terminado la breve gira de presentación de Third, parece que el trío de Bristol ha decidido que esto de pasarse una década entre disco y disco no puede ser. Así que por ello dejan de tocar en directo, y empezarán a trabajar ya en el cuarto disco, como cuentan en Brooklyn Vegan. Y digo yo que si acaba siendo igual de bueno que su predecesor, elevará la leyenda de Portishead hasta límites insospechados. Aunque por ahora nos toca esperar y seguir escuchando en repeat el magnífico Third, claro...

- Portishead in working-on-new-album shocker
- Juana Molina to release her fifth album in October
- Polaris Music Prize shortlisted nominees announced
- All-star tribute to Judy Collins out in August
- Leonard Cohen's touring partner Sharon Robinson to release debut album
- Ladyfest Manchester 2008 fundraising compilation goes on sale
- Joanna Newsom and Feist immortalised in a children's activity book

* * * 

Perhaps buoyed by the astonishingly positive reception afforded to their comeback album, Third, Portishead have reportedly begun working on a follow-up. Speaking to BBC 6Music, guitarist Adrian Utley said the band were already "getting a bit of a plan together," adding that the limited touring behind Third was so that the band could focus on other projects and spend more time with their young families. His bandmate Geoff Barrow had already expressed a desire to write some new tunes in a blog posting in May; Beth Gibbons, as ever, has maintained a dignified silence on the matter.

* * *

Our favourite Argentinian Juana Molina has announced details of her upcoming fifth album, Un Dia, due for release on October 6th through Domino Recordings. The album is said to forego the meandering field recordings of the brilliant Son for more rhythmic fare. Fans should get a taste of the new material when Molina heads over to the UK for the Electric Picnic festival in Ireland on August 30th and a special show at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre in London on August 31st.

Un Dia
01 Un Dia
02 Vive Solo
03 Lo Dejamos
04 Los Hongos de Marosa
05 Quien (Suite)
06 El Vestido
07 No Llama
08 Dar (Que Dificil)

* * *

Basia Bulat, Stars, Kathleen Edwards and Black Mountain are among the ten Canadian acts shortlisted for the third annual Polaris Music Prize, the equivalent of our Mercury. The winner of the $20,000 prize money will be announced on September 29th. Caribou, Holy Fuck, Plants & Animals, Shad, Two Hours Traffic and The Weakerthans make up the rest of the numbers.

* * *

Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, Chrissie Hynde, Shawn Colvin, Dar Williams, Amy Speace and The Webb Sisters and are among the 15 artists contributing to a new tribute to folk legend Judy Collins. Inspired by a casual compliment from Chrissie Hynde in which she revealed that Collins's ‘My Father' was among her top ten favourite songs, independent label Wildflower Records set about crafting the all-star tribute due out August 5th in the US. Leonard Cohen, an old friend of Collins, also makes an appearance, reciting the lyrics of her early song ‘Since You've Asked'. The full list of contributors looks a bit like this:

Born To The Breed: A Tribute To Judy Collins
01 Joan Baez - Since You've Asked
02 Jim Lauderdale - Easy Times
03 Dolly Parton - Fisherman Song
04 Chrissie Hynde - My Father
05 Shawn Colvin - Secret Gardens
06 Kenny White - Song For Martin
07 Amy Speace - Born To the Breed
08 Rufus Wainwright - Albatross
09 The Webb Sisters - Fortune Of Soldiers
10 Jimmy Webb - Fallow Way
11 Bernadette Peters - Trust Your Heart
12 Dar Williams - Holly Ann (The Weaver Song)
13 Ali Eskandarian - Song For Sarajevo
14 James Mudriczki (Puressence) - Che
15 Leonard Cohen - Since You've Asked (reprise/dialogue)

* * *

Speaking of Leonard Cohen, his longtime musical partner Sharon Robinson is set to release her debut solo album, Everybody Knows, once she finishes touring with the venerable Mr Cohen at the end of November. Well, it may be sooner, we haven't quite been able to figure that out. As it happens the album is already available in the US, having been released at the beginning of June, but this isn't the US so this is still news, right?

Anyway, three of the songs were co-written with Leonard, including the title track (from his classic 1971 album I'm Your Man), ‘Summertime' (later recorded by both Diana Ross and Roberta Flack) and ‘Alexandra Leaving' from Robinson and Cohen's collaborative album Ten New Songs. Also included is Sharon's version of ‘The High Road', covered by Bettye Lavette on her brilliant album I've Got My Own Hell To Raise.

Everybody Knows
01 Invisible Tattoo
02 Party For The Lonely
03 Everybody Knows
04 The Train
05 Secondhand
06 Forever In A Kiss
07 The High Road
08 Sustenance
09 Alexandra Leaving
10 Summertime

* * *

Bearsuit, Vile Vile Creatures, Penny Broadhurst and The Bobby McGees are among the acts featured on a new compilation released through Cherryade Music to raise funds for Ladyfest Manchester 2008. The three-day festival takes place at the Zion Arts Centre in Hulme at the beginning of November. Find out more here.

The tracklist in full:
01 Bearsuit - Chargr
02 Das Wanderlust - It'll Never Be Yours
03 Shrag - New Favourites
04 The Bobby McGees - Bumhead
05 Town Bike - Trouble Fuckin Rocks
06 The Lovely Eggs - I'm In Your Scene
07 Amy Pennington - Dirty L'il Secret
08 Blockshot - GPS
09 Penny Broadhurst - Team Leader [MinuteToWinIt edit]
10 Hotpants Romance - We Used To Meet
11 Kids Love Lies - Hex
12 Vile Vile Creatures - Break Like Bones
13 Violent Vickie - Knock You Out
14 The Seven Inches - Cashback
15 STeLLa PaCe - Luv Yr Self
16 Pianofingers - The Bone Palace

Available now at the Cherryade online shop for a mere £5.

* * *

A design student from Huddersfield University has come up with a novel colouring/activity book based on images from the songs of some of our favourite indie rock stars, including Feist and the inimitable Joanna Newsom. Andy J Miller created the book as a potential fundraising idea for the HIV/AIDS charity (Red). At the moment these little beauties are prototypes only, i.e. you can't buy one, sorry. Pitchfork have some great scans though, if you want to take a closer look.

* * *
Alan Pedder 

La respuesta fue la esperada, repetia el disco en el estereo casero hasta volver loca a la familia, y cuando esta fiebre disminuyo (por que nunca en mi vida ha pasado), supe que enia que hacer algo por la humanidad ... El mundo debia conocer portishead!!! Asi que me di a la tarea de copiar su disco y regalarlo a cuanta gente podia.

Las respuestas siempre eran las mismas, su musica era muy triste. Sin embargo eso no me desilusionaba, yo seguia regalando su disco a cuanta persona entraba en mi vida. El final de este ejercisio, llego cuando, una amiga a la que le habia regalado el disco, se hacerco a mi y me dijo que se parecian a MECANO. Nunca mas regale un disco de Portishead, despues de esa afirmacion me quedo claro... El mundo no estaba listo para la musica que ellos hacen.

El tiempo que paso, me imagino que fue igual para tdo admirador de Portishead. Años de sequia y de desconcierto ante la falta de produccion de la banda, desesperacion y felicidad ante el disco de solista de Beth Gibbons, y Cuando todo el mundo pensaba que esto seria el final, ellos nos sorprenden con Third, el tercer diso en estudio, el magnifico Third.

El mundo es diferente a lo que habia en ese entonces, el mundo ha cambiado y Portishead cambio con el. La primera impresion que tienes cuando escuchas el Tercer disco de estudio, es que Porstishead ya no suena a Portishead. Han cambiado y se han vuelto inclasificables.

Ahora mismo ellos se han convertido en un fenomeno, el mundo entero habla de su regreso y algo me dice que todos caimos en el plan de portishead y que ellos se esconden en un lugar oscuro que solo es iluminado por su ironica sonrisa.

El disco que entregan es dificil, es un disco con reminicensias de Xenakis, de Cage, un disco por demas inteligente y propositivo, un disco que la gente de nuestro tiempo deberia de rechazar y sin embargo, lo haceptan, no por el hecho de que entiendan este nuevo trabajo, sino por el hecho de que han empezado a entender los trabajos anteriores. Portishead pues se adelanta a su tiempo. Lo traen en su naturaleza.

Descargenlo del link, y por favor comprenlo.

http://rapidshare.com/files/123397681/Third.zip

Pour simplifier, on pourrait presque opposer la voix et l'accompagnement sonore. Un chant sensible, une errance farouche entre litanie soprano et notes gutturales ; des sons métalliques, des rythmes angoissants. En réalité, il s'agit d'un antagonisme de surface, dont la voix ressort plus dure encore, grinçante, portant des paroles dont la cruauté est à peine adoucie par le désespoir.

Small, tasteless, and forgot / Mesquin, insipide et insignifiant
Hoping to see, blinded like me / Espérant une révélation, aveuglé comme moi
You tried to understand, but you're just a man / Essayant de comprendre, mais tu n'es qu'un homme
Open to scorn just like me / Méprisable comme moi (Small)

ou encore

I am alive when I sleep / Je me sens vivre quand je dors
Why am I not in all that I got? / Pourquoi ne puis-je vivre dans ce que je possède ?
I can't find no one to blame / A qui le reprocher ?
Stand, stand, damned one / Lève-toi, lève-toi, damnée (Threads)

Et justement, ce dernier morceau, Threads, s'achève sur un son rauque, une sirène d'alerte, qui sans réellement s'éteindre, traîne en remorque un sentiment de détresse nocturne, dont la cause n'est évidemment pas nommée. La plupart des autres chansons s'interrompent brutalement, sans conclusion, si ce n'est une désertion également prématurée de la voix. Triste, elle n'en déjoue pas moins toute tentative d'empathie, appelle parfois pour violemment rejeter, et semble même à peine tenir compte de son environnement sonore, contraint de s'adapter à elle. Un solipsisme radical ouvertement annoncé par le rythme insensé d'une mitraillette dans Machine Gun :

I saw a saviour / J'ai vu un sauveur
a saviour come my way / un sauveur s'avancer vers moi
I thought I'd see it / J'ai cru l'apercevoir
at the cold light of day / dans la froide lumière du jour
but now I realise that I'm / mais je me rends compte que je n'existe
Only for me / que pour moi-même

if only I could see / si seulement je pouvais voir
You turn myself to me / Tu me tournes vers moi
and recognise the poison in my heart / et reconnaître le poison dans mon coeur
there is no other place / nulle part ailleurs
no one else I face / personne d'autre que moi
remedy, we'll agree, is how I feel / le remède, admettons, est ce que je ressens
here in my reflecting / dans ma propre conscience

Le chant se fait moins théâtral, abandonne le jeu des personnalités multiples tout en conservant sa richesse expressive. Parallèlement, le son a perdu quelques strates, les samples d'orchestre, les effets de réverbération... Moins sophistiquée, peut-être, mais toujours radicalement exclusive, elle suscite des émotions qu'elle relègue à sa périphérie. Conçue sans ouvertures, sans lumière, c'est une musique refermée sur elle-même, et la lecture qui se fait d'elle ne l'engage nullement.

Here's a beautiful cover of Portishead's "The Rip" (from their new album Third) by Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.

By the way, the new Portishead album, their first in over ten years, is incredible.

Quando ouvi o primeiro disco dos Portishead, Dummy de 1994, estranhei de sobremaneira aqueles loops de bateria sincopados, como se fosse um vinil a tocar abaixo da rotação normal. O som era denso e pouco polido. Os detalhes isoladamente eram simples mas faziam de cada canção um momento particular e enlevado. E a voz. Os sussurros de Beth Gibbons mergulhados em reverbs vintage e os seus textos negros. O disco viria a acompanhar-me durante largo tempo. Apresentar um som completamente inovador, que rompeu de forma profunda com os cânones vigentes em meados de 90s, foi um “golpe de asa” e talvez por isso Dummy foi um disco marcante.

Em 1998, vi os Portishead em concerto no Festival do Sudoeste (juntamente com PJ Harvey). Aquele foi e continua a ser um dos melhores concertos a que assisti até hoje (juntamente com o da PJ Harvey).

Passados catorze anos (!) os Portishead lançaram Third. Depois de um disco de continuidade que foi o homónimo Portishead, de 1997, o terceiro registo não traz nada de óbvio, isto é, não é um disco que mostre acomodamento. Procura inovar, depois de muitas outras formações terem explorado a sonoridade Portishead. A estranheza sonora voltou a instalar-se.

O disco começa em português com um magnífico Silence a quebrar definitivamente com o passado através de um ritmo acelerado e uniforme. Os músicos assumiram como desafio de partida para este disco a quebra com o passado – eles não queriam soar como uma cópia deles próprios. O single Machine Gun talvez seja, em todo o disco, o exemplo máximo dessa procura, fazendo com que Portishead se assemelhe com música industrial altamente vanguardista.

Third vive de um constante contraponto entre passado e presente. Se por um lado temos os já referidos Silence e Machine Gun e outros temas como We Carry On, que são manifestamente uma quebra relativamente àquilo que conhecemos da banda. Por outro lado, o disco dos Portishead, sendo surpreendente, vive muito daquilo do que a banda conquistou antes. Desde logo, porque se mantém a voz silenciosa de Beth Gibbons como elemento marcante deste projecto. Regressam os temas downtempo e os ambientes densos e soturnos (Hunter e Threads são temas clássicos de Portishead). O disco está repleto de excelentes composições como a belíssima The Rip.

Ou seja, sendo um passo em frente não deixa de ser um disco característico de Portishead o que, diga-se, é um aspecto positivo não fosse irrepreensível o trabalho anterior da banda. Imagino que se tivesse ouvido este disco há catorze anos, este ocuparia o mesmo lugar que ocupou Dummy na altura. Certo, certinho é que fará parte das listas dos melhores discos de 2008.

Este texto foi originalmente publicado no blog Upload, em 29 de Maio de 2008.

(Sorry the quality is a bit sketchy...but it's stilll the most beautiful song you're going to hear today.)

When Portishead released Third, (well, technically a couple of months before it was officially released...) it was pretty much all I listened to for a month...and then I started craving soothing, sensual, sad Beth Gibbons, and found myself returning to Out of Season, her album with Rustin Man. If this album is not already in your collection, and you're a lover of all things beautiful and devastating, then you know what you have to do.

So, tonight is my last night out in Galway, a farewell affair with my flatmate...it wasn't my original plan for the evening, but sometimes life gets in the way of our plans, and so my night shall be spent teetering around the town. I thought I'd grow out of my anxiety in such situations, but it hasn't really eased a lot as I've gotten older. Overcrowded bars make me incredibly nervous, not to mention self-conscious, and I don't like to allow myself to use alcohol as a crutch in such circumstances, for fear of becoming reliant on its numbing effects. And so, instead, I will undoubtedly be feeling disgusting sober, while surrounded by drunks, and be counting down the minutes until I can retire to the safety of the place I call home. That, or we'll do cocktails.

Watch this space!

Def: TRIP-HOP (noun

(1) A style of music characterized by moody or sensual vocals, fantastic beats, prolific sampling, and/or unexpected instrumentation. Often enhanced by a nightime listening environment or mind-altering circumstances. Has its origins in the house and hip-hop scenes of England in the '90s, where it evolved from downtempo electronic experiments. Related to acid jazz and orchestral pop.

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I have been obsessed with trip-hop lately. Utterly fixated. Many scores of hours spent scouring the internet have allowed me to find some true trip-hop gems. Here I'll highlight a few of my favorites.

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Elsiane - Hybrid

My favorite new find. Its a bit like Bjork, but ten times better and oh-so-sexy. For a debut album, this effort is mind-blowing. The soundscapes are lush - drums, pianos, and strings intertwine to provide the perfect backdrop to Elsieanne Caplette's ethereal vocals. I agree wholeheartedly with Elsiane's website:

"Floating between worlds and genres, Elsiane create orchestral dreamscapes that plumb the depths of human fragility and longing. Theirs is a physical and emotional music – sensitive, evocative and deeply touching. “This music is based on life,” says Elsieanne. “Life is an emotional journey that’s translated through these notes, this music.” What we hear is the sound of our own heartbeat echoed in Elsiane’s haunting music."

Every song on Hybrid flows perfectly into the next. I love "Mend (To Fix, To Repair)" for its sexy stuttering chorus and melody. "Vaporous" is echoing and grand, with luxurious strings that would stir even the coldest of hearts. And "Ecclesia" starts out downtempo, but builds into a dark and brooding soundscape with amazing beats. "Hybrid" is a great way to end the album, with its sparser instrumentation and soaring vocals. I highly, highly recommend this fantastically imaginative masterpiece.

"These tangled knots of living
finally caught me too
don't leave me alone
standing here forever..."

- "Vaporous"

Elsiane's Official Site

Tricky - Maxinquaye

Tricky is the undisputed king of trip-hop. On Maxinquaye, he sets a standard that any artist would be hard-pressed to approach. Tricky's voice is sexy in cadence and tone, and his vocal stylings with the eloquent Martina Topley Bird are sublime. His chosen samples perfectly accompany his lyrics and message. He is the only man in the world who can use the same sample as Portishead's "Glory Box" and not look foolish - on "Hell is Round the Corner," he creates a sultry trip-hop masterpiece. "Black Steel" is godly; the irony of Bird's voice narrating a tale of civil disobedience is brilliant. I hate to say it, lest I lose my indie cred, but Tricky's voice really reminds me of Mickey Avalon's... If Tricky sampled Mickey on his next album, I think my head would explode from sheer happiness.

"I take further evidence,
I seem to need a reference to get residence
A reference to your preference to say,
I'm a good neighbour, I trudge,
So judge me for my labour,
Lobotomy ensures my good behavior
The constant struggle ensures my insanity...
Passing the indifference ensures the struggle for my family
We're hungry, beware of our appetite.
Distant drums bring the news of a kill tonight.
The kill which I share with my passengers.
We take our fill, take our fill, take a feel..."

- "Hell is Round the Corner"

Tricky's Official Website

Portishead - Dummy (1994)

This is the genre standard. "Trip-hop" and "Portishead" are nearly synonymous. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this album approaches sublime perfection. Not only that... Dummy features one of my top five favorite songs EVER: "Glory Box." When Beth Gibbons purrs "I just wanna be a woman," there is no doubt why she is the queen of trip-hop. Her voice has a peculiar ethereality, and a sensual quality which is inexplicable. At one moment, she is wailing; her voice leads us into a dark landscape of phantoms and mysterious shadows. At the next, she is cooing soulfully; we are in a smoky Bristol nightclub being serenaded by an enticing seductress. Her voice is eerily powerful, and wonderfully suited to this type of music.

The music itself is sensual, trippy, rhythmic, pounding, electronic, and full of surprises. Expect to hear unexpected DJ scratches, synth chords, and sudden outbursts of symphonic madness.

My other favorite tracks on Dummy include "Sour Times," "Roads," and "Wandering Star." Listen to them and prepare to have your mental paradigm shifted

Portishead's Official Website

Portishead on Wikipedia

Here are a few more trip-hop gems with brief descriptions...

Nitin Sawhney - Beyond Skin

Indian traditional melodies and chanting + trip-hop sensibilities = mind-blowing. Check out "Serpents."

Zagar - Cannot Walk Fly Instead

Hungarian trip-hop. Fuck yeah. (for those of you who don't know, I've been learning Hungarian this semester! ;D ) Give "The Prophet is a Fool" and "North Pole Samba" a shot.

Ursula 1000 - The New Sound

Think a trip-hop version of Fatboy Slim. This album is truly yummy. I like "Funky Bikini" and "The Shake."

Atomica - Metropolitan

The female vocalist sounds a bit like Beth Gibbons. Need I say more? Also - Listen to this at night! I was laying outside looking at the moon when I played it and the experience was sublime.

RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke

I tried RJD2 a while back, and didn't dig them. But now I see the genius here. "Holy Toledo" is a ridiculously good song.

Flunk - For Sleepyheads Only

It is Norwegian, therefore it is awesome. Soak in the shimmering sounds of "Magic Potion."

And finally...

Smoke City - Flying Away

Ah, this album is the bone of contention between my wonderful boyfriend and I. He (an avid acid jazz connoisseur) insists that it is 100% pure acid jazz, whereas I set him straight with my stubborn insistence that it is trip-hop. Either way (although I'm right!) this album is supremely sexy and innovative. "Underwater Love" has got to be one of the best trip-hop songs out there... The random Brazilian seductress in the middle just adds extra oomph, the echoes and steel drums lend ambiance, and the lyrics are fantastically delicious. "Miss Curvaceous and Mr Gorgeous" is also a magnificent track.

"When I first saw you
I was deep in clear blue water
The sun was shining
Calling me to come and see you
I touched your soft skin
And you jumped in with your eyes closed
And a smile upon your face
Você vem, você vai..."

Well, thanks for accompanying me on my grand tour of trip-hop. It is a beautiful and highly creative genre which will fuel the inner sense of passion within any listener.

Much love,

Sarah

Comment transmuer l'introversion en intensité ? Elle, arrimée à son micro, tête baissée, épaules voûtées, se détournant du public dès qu'elle cesse de chanter. Nulle sophistication, à peine un écran reprenant quelques plans anamorphosés de la scène , des jeux de lumière rudimentaires, des coupures entre les morceaux, l'accord brut des instruments, sans discours ni confidences - c'est cela, un concert de Portishead, l'aridité, le dépouillement. Et si la salle avait été plongée dans l'obscurité, s'en serait-on aperçu ? La dramaturgie délaisse le visuel, se déporte dans un domaine plus sensible, où la musique se suffit à elle-même. Entre le chant et les accompagnements, au fond-même de la voix, dissociée, cassante, douce, voluptueuse, glaçante, murmure, cri et plainte, les tensions se nouent, prolifèrent et se heurtent les unes aux autres. Cette trame instable alternativement se concentre et se déploie, à mesure que Beth Gibbons semble quitter son propre corps et s'incarner tout entière dans son chant. Sa présence - est-elle réellement fragile ? - envahit la salle immense, en modifie les proportions, et sans se livrer une seule seconde, défait les soudures et s'engouffre à flots dans toutes les brèches.

Dernier album : Third

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This, the fourth on the album, is the best song they have ever written. It is a thing of intense beauty.

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Throughout the record Beth Gibbons' vocals are used sparingly above an electronic symphony. Cool, funky, orchestral but all synth driven with utterly astounding drumming. This is so good that I thought I was going to cry just listening to it on the train home from Glasgow on Thursday night.

Album of the year so far.

No question.

If I had actually wanted to listen to Portishead's new album some time ago, I could have. A while back I mentioned the leak and how I didn't have it at the time; in between then and now someone had offered the mp3s my way. But I decided against it for a variety of reasons, one of which was, quite simply, quality of the sound.

Pardon my quoting myself from my Marooned essay but a key part applies, talking about why I never ripped Loveless for listening:

I don't want it playing out of my computer for heaven's sake, I want it out of the stereo speakers, the great old ones from the '60s, that my dad got as a young sailor and which I now own. They're monstrous and clunky, but dang if they don't make everything I play through them sound great.

I would never describe myself as an audiophile or purist, first of all. Further, that was written before I finally got a better set of speakers for my computer earlier this year, and the bass punch on them is significantly better than what I had before. Yet there are albums or expectations of listening to them that hold sway still -- some albums I want to hear first and foremost, and maybe only, through my stereo setup, through those speakers. And even if CDs or any other form of 'full' file sounds are still in the end reductions of what was recorded to a particular and passable medium rather than some pure state, it's still something where I'd like to hear the full details in many cases.

There's also a sense of not ruining your Christmas surprise, or the equivalent -- one can wait on these things to the actual release date. Heck, I didn't even rush out and get it on the day of official release -- I waited until pay day a couple of days later and got it then. I've waited a decade for this album, a couple more days wouldn't hurt, though I admit I was getting impatient yesterday.

I think I should have given into my first impulse and listened to it with all the lights off -- sounds like it deserves that kind of close darkness. I did wait, even though I bought it at lunch, to listen to it at home first and not at work, and when the sun was done and it was dark outside. Seemed far more right in that way, and does even more now that it's complete. But I wanted to match up the track titles to what I was listening to, so one lamp had to be on.

A lot of stuff I listen to while doing something else, reading, composing e-mail, whatever -- the argument that there's a pure state of listening to something is a bit much these days, I think, and the likes of Erik Satie had already undermined that from a musical end one hundred years back (and I'd be willing to bet he had more antecedents than most realize). The act of simply listening and letting your mind drift is as much a willful act of specific concentration as anything else, and that there's a desire for this kind of active engagement is understandable both on the part of creator and consumer. Reality functions as it does, though -- especially in a situation where, say, what the creator deems to be a frivolous element is heard by a consumer as a core part of the piece, or a similar situation in reverse.

So I concentrated and drifted simultaneously, engaged but thinking laterally as I do. Some of my thoughts were extremely random -- for instance, how the conclusion of "Machine Gun" feels like an inversion of the end theme for Blade Runner, with the beats given overwhelming prominence over the doomed melancholia of the keyboards. I'm sure there's a bias given my watchings/rewatchings of late, but when the concluding synth part started, an almost-balm for the relentless punctuation of the beats, the contrast reminded me of that earlier piece almost irresistibly -- in large part, I'd guess, since that does conclude a situation where nothing is assured for the characters involved. Similarly "Machine Gun" feels like something final but unresolved, not abbreviated, more like this is the kind of music I might put on in six months time depending on the state of things because little else will capture my feelings of collapse so readily.

Then there was "Threads," with its building then solitary and then even louder air-raid siren guitar, an approximation, in much simpler fashion, of the V'ger theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture -- something pitched down, ominous, arcing out of the sky and glowering down at any observers who might be around. A few friends of mine have already made comparisons to the notorious BBC telefilm of that name from the 1980s and I don't think it inappropriate, it definitely sounds like a stroke of doom at work. There's also a sense of something from "Stanlow" by OMD, somehow...just. A conclusion, an end, an abruptness (though not as abrupt as other things).

Then there's "Deep Water," and for all the bits that I have read about it being some sort of folk tribute surely it's more obviously something 20s and music-hall like, with that ukelele or whatever is being used -- theatrical, just like the best of what Portishead have always done, the more so because it turns up between the obsessive rumble of "We Carry On" and "Machine Gun" and its pulsing anger.

All of which is to say -- yes, quite an album, QUITE an album. Pretty much goes in as my favorite of the year so far and it will take some doing to knock it out. I hope it does, in a way, because that would mean something surprising has come along, something truly unexpected. Until then, though, I know what I'll have no problem replaying for a long while to come.