I'm listening to Portishead's second studio album for the first time today. I don't know why I never got it until now...I loved "Dummy" so much, that I was afraid it would be a crappy sophomore effort and I'd get turned off to all things Portishead.

But it's nice! It's basically just the same stuff as the first album, but with different melodies. But hey, when you want Portishead, you don't want an abrupt departure from what they do so well with their gloomy trip-hop and Beth Gibbons' fragile vocals. Yummy yum. Good stuff.

AND I read there's gonna finally be a THIRD Portishead album on the way later this year or early next year, and some tracks are already on their MySpace page.

Anyone into Portishead still? Anyone like their live album? I'm debating checking it out as well...

The live album is grand.

Apart from when the audience clap along to Roads.

You don't clap along to Roads.

The live DVD is great to watch, I don't care to listen to the CD version.

CinisterCee said:

They use the sinister movie music vibe very well. They remind me of Ennio Morricone, but more hip hoppy. The vibe on that second album is more alternative, less hip hop; Cowboys alone is the worth the price of admission. Shit is so scary it makes you wanna cower under your bed.

I like that obscure sample of that dude singing that lounge song, whatever it was, slowed down vocals too, eerie.

The English sure are different. wink.

2freaky4church1 said:

The Live album is very good. Not as good as seeing them live...but they do capture that sound as best as they can.

Anx said:

Glad to see they're still together. It's been FOREVER since they put out some new stuff. Shame I loathe MySpace. Otherwise, i'd be hip to the fact they're putting out some new stuff. Thanks Anx.

They haven't come out with a third album yet? I bought that second one years ago. I just couldn't get with that depressing sound anymore-- even though it's good. The "melancholy" of Radiohead is as far as I'm willing to go (or some old Pink Floyd).

It's not depressing, it is moody, a difference.

I never found Portishead "depressing"... more like "haunted".

I can see how some people would consider Portishead depressing. I find the average top ten single depressing (not just being catty - I really do). It's all relative, I suppose.

The first album is a classic, but I found the second one really lacking.

SquirrelMeat said:

i don't think the second one is lacking. it's just more of the same. unremarkable, but enjoyable enough.

Anx said:

Still? of course I'll never stop loving Portishead. I remember being blown away by them when I first heard them. At the time I really had never heard anything like Portishead. Those beats paired with Beth's vocals are just amazing. Yeah, the second album is slightly more depressing than the first one and Beth stretches her vocals more.....example "Cowboys" My favorite Portishead song. Everything by Portishead is worth checking out.....even the remix album.

2freaky4church1 said:

"Western Eyes" is another haunting one that I love to death. That sample at the end is kinda creepy

Cloudbuster said:

I hate audience participation on any live album

AnckSuNamun said:

me too. that's why i don't listen to live prince stuff a lot. he's always having the audience sing half the lyrics and hoot and clap and stuff. i hate that when i'm at a concert and i CERTAINLY hate having to listen to it on a live album. i don't mind some stage banter, but knock it off with the audience participation - we paid to hear THEM perform, not to be harassed into having to do all the singing!

Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man's Out Of Season.



AMG says;

Out of Season plays to Beth Gibbons' strengths as a vocalist and songwriter more than anything released prior by Portishead. On both Dummy and Portishead, her pained, worn, resilient voice was often made to sound as if it was as much an artifact as the Isaac Hayes and Lalo Schifrin samples. That voice of hers was perfectly suited for the backing provided by her bandmates, but more than a few wondered if it would sound even more perfect -- or in a better setting, naked and completely central -- if it were supported by the type of folk, jazz, and R&B recordings it could've been plucked from in the first place. That "what if" is answered with this album, made by Gibbons in collaboration with Paul Webb, several of his fellow Talk Talk alums, and numerous others. Brass, strings, reeds, organs, acoustic guitar, double bass, and lightly brushed drums are all part of the mix, which never threatens to take the spotlight away from Gibbons. The lyrical themes aren't much of a departure for the singer, who contemplates the passing of time and her love/hate relationship with existence throughout -- one song opens with "God knows how I adore life," and then one song later, she's "So tired of life." The icing on the cake is in the little details, like the sly Carol Kaye imitation snuck in by bassist Adrian Utley during "Romance" and the way the background vocals discreetly drift in and out, alternating between serene and spooky. The sticker that came affixed to the disc contains a quote that proclaims this to be one of the best albums of all time. While that is a stretch, there's no denying that the quote below that one -- "Quietly devastating" -- is 100 percent accurate.

HamsterHuey said:

Yep, that's the next one for Portishead fans to buy.

Anx said:

Bootlegs are the worst There's always some asshole hollering at the top of their lungs at the beginning of the song or during intense parts of the song.

"Minnie Mouse on Crack" is how Gods Seat described Beths vocals and it was at that moment that I fully embraced her dilapidated ability