As we West Country types say, Portishead are “gert lush” (for those who don’t know, that is Bristol slang for “jolly good” or something similar)
Jared
on 25 Apr 08
You should probably edit your post to say “listen to 30-second samples now” instead “stream the album now”, since the former is pretty misleading. It’s not streaming, it’s samples.
Jared
on 25 Apr 08
Saw in the Last.fm comments that apparently they were streaming entire songs, but it was probably by mistake since they reduced the full tracks to samples now. Sorry.
Personally I’m a little disappointed with the new stuff…it seems lacking in…character. I am a huge fan of Dummy and the like, and portishead is not easy listening music and takes a while to grow on you so I’m not giving up. I preordered it on iTunes at $11 it’s a pretty good deal. But still…it seems a little lacking in substance. Hopefully time will prove me wrong.
I love the new stuff. I’ve been listening to it since it leaked a few months ago (I know, boo-urns to me, but whatever). I love that it’s all so spartan. The band is going in an almost entirely different direction from their previous two releases, but all these tracks still sounds like Portishead tracks. The sparseness is also a welcome change from all the over-produced nonsense out there.
Adam and Joe pointed out last weekend on their BBC 6 Music show that Portishead albums tend to coincide with periods of economic gloom : perfectly in tune with the national psyche.
@ross brown, the possessive pronoun for it is “its” (no apostrophe). “it’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has”.
back on topic: there are quite a few Portishead “videos” of songs from the new album on Youtube. Quicklist has been a great way to preview some of the new stuff.
Nick
on 26 Apr 08
It’s pretty amazing how far and wide Portishead seems to reach. Whey were never wildly successful in terms of sales, but as far as influence and sheer love of their work, they’re out of this world. I love things like that.
Brian
on 28 Apr 08
That was honestly one of worst “songs” I’ve ever heard.
Luke S.
on 28 Apr 08
Machine Gun is hands down one of the best tracks of the year, I can’t get enough of it.
Beth Gibbons’ voice is as haunting and beautiful as ever, however the harsh audio compression on that YouTube vid really doesn’t do the song any favours – the bass is clipped really badly, and it’s the bass of the drum sound that really anchors the song.
So do yourself a favour people – check out a high quality version and enjoy :)
I love Portishead!! Awesome music to develop to! Not really sure what they are going to do with the new album but people that do not like this should check out their older stuff… great musicians!
This discussion is closed.
About Jason Fried
Jason co-founded Basecamp back in 1999. He also co-authored REWORK, the New York Times bestselling book on running a "right-sized" business. Co-founded, co-authored... Can he do anything on his own?
Don Schenck
on 25 Apr 08Ugh.
Jason, you owe me the 4:41 of my life that was just wasted.
Ugh. Time to “cleanse the Temple” with some Rolling Stones.
Joe Sak
on 25 Apr 08OMG your next post is your thousandth.
Evan
on 25 Apr 08Awesome. I love me some Portishead =)
eberlin
on 25 Apr 08As we West Country types say, Portishead are “gert lush” (for those who don’t know, that is Bristol slang for “jolly good” or something similar)
Jared
on 25 Apr 08You should probably edit your post to say “listen to 30-second samples now” instead “stream the album now”, since the former is pretty misleading. It’s not streaming, it’s samples.
Jared
on 25 Apr 08Saw in the Last.fm comments that apparently they were streaming entire songs, but it was probably by mistake since they reduced the full tracks to samples now. Sorry.
Rob
on 25 Apr 08I’ve always felt that Portishead made some of the best music to program to. I can’t wait for the release. Thanks for heads up Jason.
FTK
on 25 Apr 08It’s been almost 10 years since a Portishead release. A couple more days of waiting shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Jose Espinal
on 25 Apr 08Cool, I didn’t know you liked Portishead. What about a post for your music likes while working…or if you listen to music at all while working
Take care
Granata
on 25 Apr 08I’ve been waiting for this one.
Yan
on 25 Apr 08Personally I’m a little disappointed with the new stuff…it seems lacking in…character. I am a huge fan of Dummy and the like, and portishead is not easy listening music and takes a while to grow on you so I’m not giving up. I preordered it on iTunes at $11 it’s a pretty good deal. But still…it seems a little lacking in substance. Hopefully time will prove me wrong.
Ray
on 25 Apr 08Well, I somehow doubt that people of a certain age will be playing this album during dinner parties :)
August
on 25 Apr 08I love the new stuff. I’ve been listening to it since it leaked a few months ago (I know, boo-urns to me, but whatever). I love that it’s all so spartan. The band is going in an almost entirely different direction from their previous two releases, but all these tracks still sounds like Portishead tracks. The sparseness is also a welcome change from all the over-produced nonsense out there.
Michele
on 25 Apr 08They’ve been posting tracks as Minehead at The Sixty One.
Jon
on 25 Apr 08Portishead return. (absence of ’s’).
Portishead are back….
Bloody American English….
;)
And they’re frankly old news. Why not try a little Sarf Laandan dubstep to whet yr aural whistle?
Dave
on 26 Apr 08Ross Brown
on 26 Apr 08@Jon
Er, don’t be so quick to blame American English.
There is only one Portishead (the band), no matter how many members there are.
Therefore “Portishead is back” is the correct form as Portishead is a singular, not a plural.
So, the sentence should read: “10 years later, Portishead is back on the scene with it’s Third album. “
(It’s is the possessive singular pronoun and not a contraction of “it is”).
Sorry to sound so anal but, if you’re going to correct people and be wrong in doing so… :-)
Oh, and I’m English, so am referring to British English – though see no reason why American English should be different.
Right, now off to listen to it!
Micheil
on 26 Apr 08hmm.. thanks for posting this, I’ll have to get it when it comes out down under.. I only have Dummy, so let’s see what they’re new stuffs like :D
Jon
on 26 Apr 08@ross brown, the possessive pronoun for it is “its” (no apostrophe). “it’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has”.
back on topic: there are quite a few Portishead “videos” of songs from the new album on Youtube. Quicklist has been a great way to preview some of the new stuff.
Nick
on 26 Apr 08It’s pretty amazing how far and wide Portishead seems to reach. Whey were never wildly successful in terms of sales, but as far as influence and sheer love of their work, they’re out of this world. I love things like that.
Brian
on 28 Apr 08That was honestly one of worst “songs” I’ve ever heard.
Luke S.
on 28 Apr 08Machine Gun is hands down one of the best tracks of the year, I can’t get enough of it.
Beth Gibbons’ voice is as haunting and beautiful as ever, however the harsh audio compression on that YouTube vid really doesn’t do the song any favours – the bass is clipped really badly, and it’s the bass of the drum sound that really anchors the song.
So do yourself a favour people – check out a high quality version and enjoy :)
Luke S.
on 28 Apr 08Here’s a higher quality vid (Dailymotion) :D
Nick
on 28 Apr 08I love Portishead!! Awesome music to develop to! Not really sure what they are going to do with the new album but people that do not like this should check out their older stuff… great musicians!
This discussion is closed.