Day 0977 - Third

Portishead "Third" (2008)

Portishead had kind of taken their lush, orchestral trip-hop sound to its natural conclusion.  After two albums in that style, they played their live show with an orchestra in New York and released an audio and video record of the same.

The group had been touring and recording fairly constantly and decided to take a break (also partly motivated by the divorce of one of band members).   They made a few attempts here and there to write and record new material but were concerned about repeating themselves.

Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow produced an album by The Coral and the ease with which that band laid down an album made them realise they were overthinking things somewhat.   In touch again with singer Beth Gibbons, the three swapped ideas and recordings and experimented with swapping instruments and stripping back their playing and sound.

The result in a stark contrast to their previous two albums, with their orchestral, cinematic sound being supplanted by a minimalist (melodically and arrangement-wise) electronic sound.  Though there are hints of their old reverb-soaked noir sound on tracks like "Hunter" and "Threads", even these ones feature some industrial sounds and sparser instrumentation.

“The Rip” is largely built around light acoustic guitar with some percussion sounds seeping in later on in the piece, almost reminiscent of Radiohead's early 00s work.  Actually, Kid A would be a really good reference point, both for some of the sounds and the extent of the change to their sound.

Deep Water” is an easy-strumming ukulele track with an almost cute vocoder backing vocal, which sort of acts as a palate cleanser before the industrial, and unrelenting “Machine Gun”.  MG's instrumentation mostly eschews melody in favour of a repetitive grinding rhythm that Gibbons’ voice hangs hauntingly over.

"Small" has touches of the Doors to it, with its intense organ and jazz-tinged drums.

The thing that remains most unchanged on this album is Beth Gibbons' haunting voice.  I guess its context changed, as she always seemed like an actor, fitting her voice/roll to what the music demanded.  She does the same here, but without sweeping strings and moody brass behind her, she sounds less like the noirish femme and more fragile and desperate.

Sadly, to-date the group have not yet provided us with a follow-up to this album, outside of a one-off single.

Day 0917 - Felt Mountain

Goldfrapp "Felt Mountain" (2000)

This one was a bit of a surprise.   I'd thought of Goldfrapp as being more electro-pop (actually I'm pretty sure their later work is), and Alison Goldfrapp had done some work with Orbital, and on Tricky's trip-hop magnum opus "Maxinquaye", but this definitely doesn't sound like electronica.

Alison was introduced to Will Gregory and the two hit it off and started collaborating, deciding to form a band under Goldfrapp's distinctive surname.

As above, the album does not really sound electronic, it's more of a theatrical record with lush strings and a definite cinematic feel.   The opening track "Lovely Head" is interesting, sound effects and a lonesome whistle backed with strings the combination of which just screams Ennio Morricone, then it gives way to what sounds like a John Barry James Bond orchestration.   The title track has a definite Bond/Barry vibe to it too, this impression is heightened by Golfrapp's (the person) occasionally Shirley Bassey-esque tone such as on track "Human".   Her voice moves from hushed whispers to low croons to big belting notes.

I definitely dug this one and should probably seek out a bit more Goldfrapp (hopefully there'll be some more on the list).

Day 0761 - Dummy

Portishead "Dummy" (1994) - got it

The words that spring to mind with this one are moody, cinematic and a mix of old and new.

"Cinematic", not necessarily meaning grandiose, it's just that the music creates atmospheres and visuals in my mind.  This sense of the cinematic is emphasised by Beth Gibbons changing her singing voice to suit each track, almost like a vocal 'actor'.

"Old and new" because they're mixing old jazz, soul and torch-song sounds with modern production.   Organs, strings and moody trumpet with hip hop beats and scratches.  

Opening track "Mysteron" is appropriately titled as it sounds like an old sci-fi b-movie score with a beat.  "Glory Box" speaks of sultry noir, and was used as the backing track for MTV's Superrock show, hosted by the glamorous Julia Valet.

Though Portishead didn't invent triphop, this album's sound came to be what many would associate the with the genre.

Sadly, the band's output (though superlative) has been fairly small.  Two albums, then a fantastic live album with the NY orchestra.  After that there was a 10 year wait before their third and (to date) final album.