Music : Third

Rating: - Sorry; long review.....but it needs one.
Forever shrouded in a classy mystique, Portishead helped pioneer the "trip-hop" scene emerging in Bristol in the early 1990s along with Massive Attack & Tricky. Released in 1994; Dummy is an almost flawless album; perfect mixture of drive and melancholy. Their unique blend of hip hop breaks and Beth Gibbon's classy old-school delivery spawned countless imitators and influenced thousands. It's successor; whilst the impact was lost - we already knew what to expect - almost topped Dummy for sheer epic power, depth and just awesome songwriting. After a 10 year hiatus, what the hell were Portishead going to do?

After the initial giddy excitement of hearing Portishead's decision to wake from their seeming age-long slumber I was worried; how could they live up to expectations? Could they top Dummy? How would I feel if the new album was rubbish? I bet it's the most difficult thing a band can do; live up to hype. So, what did Portishead do?
Got older, wiser and a hell of a lot more interesting.

The aptly titled; Third, is quite a leap from their previous self titled album from 1997. It's rockier, folkier, in some ways angrier, and defninitely cleverer. Whilst on the previous two albums the listener wasn't particularly challenged; the beats drove each track forward; catchy chorus hooks, scratching, hummable basslines. Just a joy to listen to; stick it on, sit back, turn it off when it's done. Third is more like; headphones on, perch on the edge of a chair, "what the hell was that!?", play again.
It's a much more demanding listen. Every track differs vastly from the previous and there is none of the catchy melodies and head-nodding breaks of yester-year. Instead we get broken percussion patterns, distorted synths, post-rock-esque chord progressions and folky acoustic guitar picking. Crazy stuff. They sure want to make it a memorable journey. The trademark Portishead sound is still present; deep bass presence, reverb-rich vocals and the ostensible lo-fi analogue quality which sounds like you're always listening to an old vinyl.

Silence, the opener, is one of my favourite tracks. It has an irresistable drum pattern and waves of oscillating synth and guitar. Beth lements "Do you know what I lost,? Do you know what I wanted?..." Yep, that's the old Portishead we love; yet somehow different. There's an intricacy to the arrangements and layering in the tracks to prove they've come a long way since the self titled. They don't need big hooks and choruses and big basslines anymore; it's almost like classical music. Just listen and take it in.

The Rip is most defninitely worth mentioning. It's easily one of the best tracks they've ever done. Starts with overdriven synth and folky acoustic guitar picking. Beth songs softly "Wild white horses will take me away...". Awesome. Drums fade in following quite a traditional rock pattern whilst lamenting guitars echo underneath a fat progressive synth melody. They accompany this song live with a very disquietning lo-fi cartoon traversing woodland with odd things happening which flash by before you completely take it in. Brilliant.

The other big anomalies are Deep Water which is simply a folk song; banjo, traditional folk melodies, even a harmonised barbershop-styled echo and reply chorus. Weird stuff for Portishead indeed. Machine Gun is the other.
I really don't know what to think of this still. One one hand; I really dislike it; it's almost unlistenable. Harshly processed drum machine beats almost drown out Beth's voice and they don't relent until the track finishes. Machine Gun takes on more significance in a live setting becasue of the power of the beat and it gets more distorted as it progresses. It sounds a bit flat on record and just grates. Yet on the other hand; I can easily sit through it and I just marvel at the sheer audacity and daring experimentation I'm hearing. This is going to be heard by, frankly, thousands of people who would immediately recoil from such sounds. Good going I'd say.

Third is brimming with naked creativity and experimentation. You can hear a lot of influence Portishead have taken from the artists they gathered for their Nightmare Before Christmas ATP Festival. Jeff Barrow doesn't even touch a set of decks on here. Adrian Utley doesn't once crack out a jazzy lick or solo. Beth never blasts out an anthemic, cathartic chorus such as "All Mine". There's more coiled tension on here than their first two records put together, it's quite an exciting experience.

However, if the opposite what I've just mentioned is what you were hoping for with Third, then, as you've now guessed, you'll be bitterly disappointed. It's not at all catchy or immediate. It takes several spins then several more for anything to come out of listening to Third. If you're not willing to percivere, Third won't treat you well and you'll just come away with thinking it's a lot of noise or disjointed drivel. I assure you, it's not.

Perciverance will reward you with unlocking one of the most daring, experimental and unique albums you'll ever hear. However, even if you end up loving it to death theres always that small itch at the back of your brain asking; "you'd really have preferred the old Portishead we already know and love......wouldn't you.?"

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Rating: - Portishead take the Third way
Ten years on from the last Portishead album comes Third. Is it coincidence that after ten years of New Labour the band have made an album that trawls a harsh dystopian seam? Gone is the serene trip hop of "Dummy" and even the harder edged eponymous second album seems relatively cuddly when compared to Third. Is Third a conscious decision by the band to progress their sound or a subconscious reaction to more troubled times? Either way this is no coffee table album. Indeed it,s more likely to smash your coffee table to smithereens then batter you round the head with a broken table leg than soothe your fevered brow.
The album opens for some reason with Claudio Campos recite the Wiccan rule of three in Portuguese which must be something to do with the album title. Then "Silence" breaks out with pattering percussion, sci-fi keyboards and a repetitive noise like a constant rusty hinge. On first listen to sounds discordant and messy but repeat access to the ears reveals it to be a thrilling dramatic number. Beth Gibbons comes in after around a minute , "Falling through changes" rather aptly.
"Hunter" alas is not about the former gladiator but is an eerie ballad with deep bottomed percussion, wraithlike strums on the guitar and some speeded up carnival electronics spiked by incongruous bursts of noise. "Nylon Smile" begins with Gibbons cooing over backward tapes before declaring "I don't know what I've done to deserve you". Gibbons vocals are more restrained on Third than on the last two album's There is none of the high range witchy stuff . Her vocals are more in keeping with her work with Rustin Man .
One of the best songs on the album is the dynamic "The Rip" which starts off a gentle acoustic ballad about white horses. Then on the end of a bravura sustained note by Gibbons in comes pulsing keyboards, precise percussion and incremental layers are added. "Plastic" has what sounds like sampled helicopter blades , perambulating layers of fuzz and sudden crisp percussive flourishes. Team Brick provide clarinet though I'm not sure I can hear it.
The industrial oscillating tones of "We Carry On" are broken by military drum roll's, iron bars clanging and thickets of distorted guitar. All of which makes the following "Deep Water" even more odd. Gibbons sings slightly out of tune (The one time on the album she veers from her natural style) over rustic guitar or maybe mandolin with treated backing vocals that sound like they come from a 1940,s musical .Which leads into the aggressive pageant of a single "Machine Gun" which I like a lot , possibly because it reminds me of the excellent Techno Animal and a John Carpenter film soundtrack at the same time which I think you will agree is an admirable thing.
"Small" starts with what sounds like a cavernous cello and may very well be, but then distorts into a prog like epic with cavalcading electronic effects and some keyboards borrowed off Iron Butterfly. "Magic Doors" has stout piano, hurdy gurdy and saxophone over more chopped up percussion while "Threads" is the song most likely to remind listeners of previous work with it's constant widescreen synth backing and precisely melodic guitar refrain. The thumping bass and drum infill's add vivid drama to the song and Beth Gibbons becomes increasingly strident as the track plays out,. What sounds like a velociraptor coughing up a fur ball and a brontosaurus's mating call at the conclusion are a great touch.
Portishead could have made another "Dummy" and the masses would have lapped it up but after writing some of the songs for this album , most notably "We Carry On" , they realised how far they could go and while I don't feel this album is as wholly experimental as some are making out it is a definite step in another direction for the band. Where are the scratching , the almost mellow torch songs , the hook in the head tunes? They are not here. After all these years the band we knew as Portishead are not here either. They have moved on. While not a bona fide classic Third is easily good enough to compel us to move right along with them.

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Rating: - Smashed Coffee Tables
This album has blown me away, like no album has for years. I just listened to it for the first time and am shocked at the sheer brilliance of it. It is now back to track one and on repeat ! I bought the album out of a mixture of loyalty and wanting some mid-ninties nostalgia, but that's not what I got. The first song has a krautrock drumbeat that sounds like something from Tago Mago, and a clash of dissonant sounds and feedback that could almost be sonic youth. Then the vocals come in and it definitely sounds like Portishead, but with a new drumming style and a new set of sounds that shows they have moved on. This is a good thing, as I think the trip-hop sound has not passed the test of time so well. The second song is like what most people would recognise as classic Portishead, only without the scratchy/samply mid-ninties trip-hop motifs. After that, there is no more of the "classic" sound to be heard. I won't go into the rest of the album track by track, but will only say that it is brilliant. There is a mix of influences including glitch/minimalist techno, post-rock, post-punk, industrial and as previously mentioned, Can. I don't write reviews very often, but this album is amazing. Not a grower, but an instant hit, and surpassing everything else they have ever done. I'm happy to say that alot of non-music fans who got into Dummy as easy listening backgound music, will struggle to get into this, and you definitely won't be hearing it in Starbucks ! 11 years was worth the wait !

Best Track - Track 6 "We Carry On" - Sounds like Lali Puna/Stereolab then morphs into Joy Division

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Rating: - Objective hatred
Firstly, let me apologise if anyone finds this review insulting, but try to look on the funny side of it. I have always considered myself to be a bit of a connoisseur of electronic music and as such, I have tried to embrace a widespread range of musical talents. This means that I have searched for meaning in a Global Communication album, blissed out to The Orb, endured drum and bass and recovered from listening to Aphex Twin and Autechre's headache-endusing music. Sure there have been many exciting musical ventures during that time, and at times I have paused to consider "Why would anyone actually listen to this crap?". But none more than Portishead!

This dark, dreary, minimal, trippy mismatch of beauty and negativity just does not work at all. People will associate them with other Bristolian trip hop artists such as Tricky or the fantastic Massive Attack, but trust me, there is little resemblance. The singer sounds like an old woman, the tone is far too dark and no matter how I approached it, I just can't actually listen to this aweful album all the way through. Even "Dummy", another messy Portishead affair, had a couple of mildly interesting tracks. However, there are none here.

Please do not waste your money on this album, unless you really love the band, for reasons of your own, and can't resist finishing your collection.

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Rating: - 3 bad tracks. but still 5 stars.
why 5 stars? simply because no other band does what they do. and to come back after such a break is a brave thing.

in my eyes, 3,7 and 8 are wrong for the album. but the rest make up for a stunning return. track 9 simply is portishead at their finest.

a bit too industrial the 3 tracks ive mentioned. borderline amon tobin or squarepusher.

enjoy.