Portishead, the band that helped pioneer trip-hop, is back with their new studio album, Third, due out on April 28th.
It's been 10 years since their last release, the live album PNYC, and since I have all their albums, I thought it would be cool to break down the albums for you.
Dummy
I first saw Portishead's "Sour Times" video, which I'll have to say was probably the best music video I'd seen around that 1994 era.
I was later told that the video's actually a short story that some student had made, and someone at the Portishead camp had the bright idea to set their song "Sour Times" to the video. The video is still amazing, but I've never seen the original movie.
I've heard from Portishead, here and there, from time to time, but nothing really stood out for me.
Portishead
I bought this 1997, by accident, because I thought it was their first album - so to my horror, "Sour Times" is not on this album :(
Sadly, it's not one of the P albums that I listen to regularly - although "Cowboy" is excellent.
But my favorite song off this album is "All Mine", which sounds suspiciously like a James Bond theme.
Roseland NYC Live
Possibly at the height of their fame, they did a one-time performance with the New York Philharmonic orchestra, complete with DJs, at Roseland Ballroom in New York.
I thought I read that there was a DVD that was released of this performance, but I only have the audio CD.
There's a few great tracks from this live album, including a wonderful live rendition of "Cowboy" and "Glory Box". Man, I just love when Beth Gibbons sings "temptress".
Third
Currently, only "Machine Gun" is available on their official myspace page, which isn't one of my favorite tracks. It's too noisy for me, I guess.
I'm more of a fan of their melodic songs, like "The Rip" and "The Magic Door" (which has some interesting can drummings).
The more experimental songs sounds as like that last few Radiohead albums, but on Third, they sound as if the various sounds were produced organically and not from a computer.
Also for the first time, there will be a special limited edition of their new album. It comes with a USB 1 Gig Flash drive containing the entire album and 5 videos. You also get a double vinyl and 12" single of Machine Gun and 1 print. It's £40, which is about $80 USD, directly from portisheadshop.co.uk.
So, just to sum it up: Portishead have not broken up and they are still awesome. Their third album, called Third will be out April 28th on Island Records.
03/20/2008 00:28:58 vu my♥posts www.portishead.co.uk