I look up to you. We laugh endlessly on that big chair, as if no one else would care. Time raced by and you moved away. The path you take is not always straight, the methods not always safe. For so long all I saw was how we differ. Instead of taking comfort in what was eerily similar. Same house, same family, same need for acceptance. Same pain, same fire, same struggle to be whole.

You are bold for standing up for yourself. You spoke so I didn’t have to, you absorbed so I wouldn’t have to. As I sat in silence, you screamed in frustration. This has been my life, never knowing when it would be my turn. I hoped I never had to, I hoped you could someday lower your tone.

But now, as life creeps forward, it’s my turn to let myself be heard. No more silence, no more waiting along side. Everything you felt I feel, everything you said I hear. I’m ready for my moment, I clear my throat, and now I’m finally stepping off that big chair…

… just like my big sister.

Beak> is the new project of Geoff Barrow (of legendary Portishead) with fellow Bristol musicians Billy Fuller and Matt Williams. Oddly compelling music and a complete opposite of the perfectionism behind Portishead (album having been recorded in 12 days and all). I’m not quite sure exactly what I think of it yet, but so far I’ve been listening to it non-stop so it’s probably good. or something.

The Unknownn are a mysterious rock-tinged trip-hop group from ‘the depths of the English countryside’. The project was born in early 2003 from a mutual love of all things dark. Rather than focusing on bios and the people in the group, they would rather the focus be purely on the music they produce. It seems that there is not a fixed group either, as they have said that they “use [their] talented friends to full effect, from violinists and viola players to local guitar legends… opening up different avenues musically.”

The music is best described on their Last.FM as ‘hauntingly beautiful and seductively dark’, the type of music to listen to late at night. The vocalist has a gorgeous ethereal voice and the music is kind of like Portishead meets Nine Inch Nails. They released their debut album in October 2005 and since then they have released many remixes and songs online. Up until last month all of their songs were available for free download on their MySpace and Reverbnation but they are slowly removing them. If you hurry, there might be some free downloads left for the taking!

Official Site | MySpace | ReverbNation

the band Portishead not too long ago completed a long awaited third album. I just got it, along with their second album and their live album from NYC. This is beautiful and very dark music. Beth Gibbons’ voice in particular is so seductive and the lyrics so brutally honest that it is the kind of music that will always stay with you. i would say this music is not for happy times. Maybe some folks hear it purely as chilled-out trip hop. To me though it is much much more bringing back memories too of the early noughties which for me were a mixed bag of emotions. There was certainly room for sad and even desperate rumination.
Right now I am listening to Dummy, the highlights being Roads, Sour Times and Glory Box. Having said that, there is not one weak or ill-conceived song on the album. The bass line ’solo’ two-thirds of the way through Roads is something everyone ought to hear once before they die.

Portishead – Roads

Back in March or so I ruthlessly cast off all my CD cases and transferred all the CDs worth keeping to my computer. I also gave away about 150 CDs to be sold in a car-boot-sale. I focused then on getting only the best or the highly recommended versions of classical works and my collection grew from 50 or so CDs to about 350 in about 6 months. What a great 6 months! I discovered so much music and so many great recordings of works I had known before. I again tell anyone, don’t buy just any version of a piece especially thinking you are saving money. Only get the best. There are countless bargains on the best recordings too.

When I decided to turn to popular music I started interestingly with Bob Marley. Someone I rate very highly. A guy who is I think underrated in many circles still. It is the simplicity and honesty I love both of how he puts the emotion across and how he puts together a lyric. I got 9 CDs by him to add to the one I had. Now I have a decent Bob Marley collection with 2 live albums also.

Next I took care of firm favourites Led Zep. I got all the studio albums and the brilliant live album, How the West Was Won. This is what rock is all about.

I continued to bolster here and there also adding more of the incomparable Jazz Pianist Bill Evans to my Bill Evans Collection – I loved his music from the moment I got my first of his CDs.

Now it is the electronic and trip hop of the nineties that gets attention. I have done well not to over spend to get key missing albums by Massive Attack and Portishead. Two of the best bands that ever existed. Massive Attack seem never to put a foot wrong producing albums and songs that are now legendary. Portishead, dominated by the incredible voice of Beth Gibbons, have also been favourites since I first picked up a copy of Dummy in 1999, believing it then to be the best album I had ever heard.
I am now ‘completing’ my Bjork collection. I have loved Bjork since about 1998 but known of her for longer than that. I find her vocal style, her emotional directness and her so beautiful harmonies irresistible.

Here she is with Play Dead, one of her more commercial numbers yes but also one of her most passionate vocals.

Björk – Play Dead (HQ)

Poster for Tank Girl; image courtesy of 24hourstomidnight.files.wordpress.com

So I was originally gonna roll up all cavalier-like and blurt out my opinions on Tank Girl, which I watched for the first time a few nights ago. I had some pre-conceived notions about the movie and what I’d think of it, as the film adaption of the beloved Jamie Hewlett comic is widely regarded as a commercial and critical flop.

Now I’m not entirely sure how to approach the subject matter, because a) I’m not sure how to read this movie, as it is disjointed and oftentimes inscrutable, b) I didn’t realize going into my viewing that several friends were fans of both the movie and the comic, and c) . . . I haven’t gotten around to reading the comic. I’m more than willing to read it, especially since I’m a fan of Hewlett’s work with Damon Albarn on Gorillaz and am interested in their ongoing professional relationship. I simply haven’t had the chance yet, as I just finished Truman Capote’s super-dense In Cold Blood and started Margaret Atwood’s promising The Blind Assassin. If anyone has a copy they’d like to push into my hands, my palms are flat and open.  

I'll gladly read this; image courtesy of hero-trailers.blogspot.com

But I still wanted to see the movie and write about it because:

1. Lori Petty stars as Rebecca Buck and I wish her career had taken off instead of stalling around the time of this movie’s 1995 release. While she’s recently run into some legal troubles and I still haven’t seen Point Break or Prey for Rock’N'Roll, I’ve long had a soft spot for this tough, mouthy, gender-queer tomboy ever since her turn as Kit Keller in A League of Their Own. It’s too bad that she was replaced by Sandra Bullock in Demolition Man and that Gwen Stefani sounds just like her, with both women having more visible, financially successful careers.

2. Speaking of Stefani, did she rip off Tank Girl’s style to cultivate her own look, because oh my damn do they look alike. 

But maybe I’m being unfair in pitting Petty/Tank Girl against Stefani against one another and instead should remember the cultural context from which they were formed. I’m reminded of my thesis adviser Mary Kearney, whose dissertation focused on contemporary discourses around girlhood and youth culture. Joy Van Fuqua draws on Kearney’s work in her essay ”‘What Are Those Little Girls Made Of?’ The Powerpuff Girls and Consumer Culture.” In her discussion of the show’s popularity, Van Fuqua borrows from Kearney to suggest that, like many other girl characters during the 1990s, Bubbles, Buttercup, and Blossom had to embody both genders in order to succeed in athletics and other male-dominated activities.

Buttercup, Blossom, and Bubbles are gonna fuck yr shit up; image courtesy of msdn.com

3. Speaking of promising actresses, Naomi Watts plays her sidekick and was a total nobody in the states when the movie was originally released. She’s also rockin’ a brunette bob haircut, which I appreciate.

4. Speaking of wacky ladies, Ann Magnuson makes an appearance as a madame who runs a state-of-the-art brothel where folks like Iggy Pop run around in drag and the talent break out into Busby Berkeley-esque routines to Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It.”

5. Speaking of musicians, the soundtrack is an alternative rock behemoth. Hard to imagine many of the artists represented here got radio play in 1995. Alternative was commercially successful, allowing rock music to splinter off in various, musically diverse directions. Hootie was of course a major player, but Pulp could get a hit single. Beck was at this point a one-hit wonder, but was working on an era-defining record that would come out the following year. The bubble hadn’t burst yet. Man, 1995 was a strange and amazing time. Bush, Björk, Veruca Salt, L7, Belly, Portishead, Hole. They were all on commercial radio playlists and they’re also on this soundtrack.

6. Speaking of Hole, note that Courtney Love was the movie’s music consultant. Now, I’m not entirely sure what her title means here. Titles like “music consultant” and “music supervisor” tend to be flexible. The latter term is usually held by people who work closely with the director, the editor, and multiple representatives from various record labels, as well as help tend to legal matters like acquiring publishing rights, and clearing songs to be used in the movie and often the accompanying soundtrack. 

Courtney Love, 1995's burgeoning hyphenate; image courtesy of rollingstone.com (Ouderkirk/WireImage.com)

My hunch is that Love’s duties were picking what songs she liked and would work with the movie, but had little involvement in the production. After all, she was a busy lady who was trying to heal from the death of her husband, raise her daughter, become a respected actress, and headline Lollapalooza with her band Hole. I don’t think she had time to field phone calls with label execs, although I’d like to imagine what those conversations might be like.     

7. Oh, and since the first six points all involved women, let’s add the cherry on top. Tank Girl was directed by a woman named Rachel Talalay.

But as far as reading this movie . . . hummina. I don’t know what I saw. I know it takes place in what is now a not-too-distant, dystopian future and involves our fearless heroine leading a rag-tag group of girls and mutant kangaroo boys against a corrupt faction that control the earth’s water supply. Still with me? Here’s the trailer.

So, things I enjoyed or found interesting about the movie.

1. Naomi Watts kicks ass as Jet Girl. At first shy and fretful, she learns to embrace her intellect and technological savvy and develops the confidence to take charge of the crew and help beat the cast of baddies.

Jet Girl holding it down; image courtesy of kideternal.com

2. Tank Girl has strong relationships with Jet Girl and Rebecca, Tank Girl’s boyfriend’s young daughter. Homosocial bonding and female mentorship, holla!

3. OMG, the costumes. They could be a chapter in a dissertation on third-wave feminism’s fragmentive, performative, and self-reflexive relationship with fashion (note: if such a chapter exists, I want to read it). Tank Girl never wears the same outfit or hair color twice, and her wardrobe toys with historical periods, film genres, youth culture movements, often playing with age, gender, and race as well.

What are you wearing, Tank Girl?, image courtesy of theage.com.au

4. I can’t tell if Ann Magnuson’s Madame, who briefly kidnaps and attempts to employ Rebecca, is a sex-positive feminist, a critique against the then-timely rise of media’s interest in d0-me feminism, or just morally bankrupt.

And then there were things I hated.

1. While Tank Girl’s costuming is fascinating, that’s really the extent of her characterization. Much of this seems to be the fault of the writing. Petty is engaging enough, but Tank Girl is written as less a complex action heroine and more of a buzzword-and-slogan dispenser. Thus, she brings to mind characters like Itchy and Scratchy’s Poochie, who was created to make fun of corporate-friendly extreme, in-your-face, subcultural cash cows. Perhaps her perceived lack of depth speaks to the awkward process of adapting a comic book into a movie, but her cinematic flatness betrays the torpedo bras.

Torpedo bras don't always provide dimension; image courtesy of mermaidligan.blogspot.com

2. Tank Girl also kicks a disappointing lack of ass here and has questionable methods. I can’t speak to her defense strategies in the comic, but the movie repeatedly has her lure disgusting men with her feminine wiles. Sometimes they get kicked in the balls, but she still shows them her bra or promises sexual favors beforehand.

3. Man, how did Malcolm MacDowell fool people into thinking he could act? He’s the villainous Kesslee here and is making himself quite the ham sandwich. Some may want to bring up Al Pacino and note that some actors deliver progressively broader performances as they age, but I think MacDowell’s accent played a role in snowing audiences as well. I think his Britishness even convinced people he was better in If . . . and A Clockwork Orange than he actually was. Charismatic and handsome? Yes. Once a great actor? I don’t think so.

4. I feel like there’s something racially problematic about the mutant kangaroo soldiers who take up with Tank Girl’s crew. Thoughts?

In short, Tank Girl makes for a maddening but interesting spectatorial experience. Now to get a hold of the source material . . .

Huomenta kotkafanit!

Blogissa on vietetty muutaman päivän pituista hiljaiseloa. Monet ovat varmasti jo miettineet, onko KOTKILLE sattunut jotain? No ei hätää. Voin iloksenne todeta, että kaikki on hyvin. Vaikka on blogi on meille kuin oma lapsi, pitää välillä viettää myös omaa aikaa itsensä kanssa.

Omalta osaltani viime päivät eivät ole olleet kovin kotkamaisia. Olen ollut aika kiireinen, lähinnä olen tehnyt proseminaariesitelmääni, joka pitäisi palauttaa tällä viikolla. Eilen olin aika myöhään Aleksandriassa. Tulin kotiin joskus puoli kahdeltatoista eikä vielä oikein nukuttanut. Kuuntelin Portisheadia pimeässä huoneessa. Asun HOAS:in kämpässä ja siellä on joku termostaatti, joka säätelee huoneen lämpöä. Ilmeisesti ulkona ei vielä ole tarpeeksi kylmä, jotta PATTERIT toimisivat kunnolla. Huoneessa oli siis aika kylmä. Kylmyys ei ole kiva juttu. Yritin kuitenkin keskittyä asian positiivisiin puoliin. Kaikilla ei ole mahdollisuutta kuunnella Portisheadia viileähkössä huoneessa. Joku koditon saattaa joutua kuuntelemaan Lou Begaa taivasalla. MIETTIKÄÄPÄ SITÄ!

Lou Bega on saksalainen artisti, joka tunnetaan parhaiten hitistään Mambo nr 5. Olen ehkä vähän kateellinen Loulle sen viiksistä ja makeista kledjuista.

Tänään aamulla kävin palauttamassa yhden kirjan Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulun kirjastoon. Se on vähän niinkuin valtsikan kirjasto, paitsi että pihalla on TYKKEJÄ ja PANSSARIVAUNUJA! EI TERVE! Nojoo, vähän jännitti. Siellä oli jotain upseereitakin. Kävelin portaat ylös, koska kirjasto on vasta kolmannessa kerroksessa. Kirjani oli melkein viikon myöhässä ja pelkäsin että saan jonkun rangaistuksen, esimerkiksi poistumiskieltoa tai jotain. Kirjaston täti (EI SE EDES OLLUT MIKÄÄN SOTILAS!) vaan hymyili nätisti ja sanoi että “tää on ihan ookoo”. Ei mennyt edes sakkoa. SIISTII!

MPKK:n kirjasto sijaitsee Kruununhaan Alkon vieressä. Pihan tykit eivät näy kuvassa.

Tästä selvittyäni laahustin tuttuun ja turvalliseen Valtsikan kirjastoon. Joo, tiedän, ketä kiinnostaa missä kirjastossa mä milloinkin oon? No ei varmaankaan ketään. Jengi odottaa vaan niitä kreisejä bailujuttuja ja megazonejuttuja. No arvatkaa mitä? Huomenna on luvassa sitä todellista KOTKA MEININKIÄ, sillä J Shore ja meitsi mennään edustamaan Polhon (poliittisen historian opiskelijoita, enimmäkseen hyvää jengii), Median (viestinnän opiskelijoita, varmaan ihan jees) ja Dilemman (filosofeja, fiksuja mutta muuten ihan ookoo) yhteisille MERISITSEILLE. Antsa tulee ehkä jatkoille. En oo vielä varma, miten aion pukeutua. Yksi vaihtoehto on tämä:

HUI HAI!

Nojoo, hassuttelut sikseen. BAILUISTA on varmaan luvassa jonkinlaista raporttia tännekin. Toivottavasti homma ei karkaa AIVAN käsistä. Joudun nyt lopettamaan, koska lähden kaverini Anssin kanssa Unicafeen syömään. Anssi on kiva kaveri, vaikka onkin kiinnostunut kansantaloustieteestä ja hevistä. Lopuksi vielä pakolinen hipsterpaskapläjäys. Portisheadin Dummy on cooleimpia levyjä koskaan. Roads-biisi löytyy sieltä. Tää on live-veto New Yorkista. Hyvää viikkkonalkuu. Pitäkää KOTKA PÄÄLLÄ!

Still see you in bed,But I’m playing with myself,All the things you’ve got
That you’ll never need.All the things you’ve got………………….

1.-Portishead – The Rip
2.-Junior Boys – Dull To Pause
3.-massive attack – unfinished sympathy
4.-Interpol – Pioneer To The Falls
5.-Radiohead – Idioteque
6.-Rio En Medio – Pictures Of You
7.-Kleerup – Until We Bleed (Feat. Lykke Li)
8.-Tracey Thorn – Grand Canyon
9.-The Cinematic Orchestra – To Build A Home

Hay… que siga la fiesta

No podemos parar de elogiar y festejar lo bien que organizan el Primavera Sound. Antes de nada, soltar la 3a confirmación, ya oficial: PANDA BEAR, y por lo visto, estará el 27 y el 29 de Mayo, quizá una de las fechas como Animal Collective, así lo dice en la web de los agentes y lo ha ratificado Gabi Ruiz, el director. De esta notícia nos hemos enterado mientras escribiamos esto para contar como podemos estar metidos (casi) del todo en las oficinas del PS y enterarnos de que LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, White Stripes, Neil Young o Mogwai ya estan descartados para esta edición, pero además, podemos saber que los de James Murphy haran gira en Mayo por EEUU, lo que deja el verano para Europa (¿FIB?), que los del Funeral empiezan gira en Junio, que Jack White no gira más que con Death Weather, que Neil Young estará por Europa en Julio (¿FIB?¿Rock in Rio?) y que Mogwai no caben en el cartel, ah y que lo de Pulp, nada de nada. Vale, estos son los que no fichan. Ahora, con los que se esta negociando…

Sobre Built to Spill; pues “Sacan disco y van a girar. Son muy amigos de Barry (de ATP) y tocarían en su escenario. Ya tienen oferta hecha. Creo que saldrá.” Al saco. ¿como está lo de Yo La Tengo? “Parece ser que estarán de gira por España poco antes del PS. No le veo el sentido, podemos mirar Condo Fucks” y se le propuso de que hicieran covers de los mejores temas de la década y lo de Condo Fucks no cuajaba en la parroquia, y Gabi nos trajo notícias sobre George & Ira: “Punto uno: no somos RDL y no hacemos conciertos repasando la historia de la música. Punto dos: cualquier cosa así requiere tiempo para ensayar y ahora miosmo están de lleno con la gira del último álbum. Punto tres: a ellos les hace gracia hacer lo de Condo Fucks, nunca lo han hecho en Europa y piensan que os va a gustar. Punto cuatro: YLT son una gente muy tímida, muy suya. Si les mareamos demasiado pasarán de venir.
Conclusión: a no ser que ellos mismos se ofrezcan a hacer un concierto de temas votados desde aquí (ya se lo hemos medio insinuado) la única opción de hacer algo diferente va a ser Condo Fucks… Me parecería una gran descortesía no hacerlo si ellos piensan que os va a gustar.” Claro que si, los “puntos” sobre las Ies, y si ellos creen que nos va a gustar el Lo-Fi, bien que lo acataremos.

Tambien tenemos medio atados a Belle&Sebastian “Hace un par de días hablamos con su agente y ya tienen una oferta sobre la mesa. En principio este año van a girar.” a The Wire “Ayer nos pusimos en contacto con Wire y hoy han respondido que estarían encantado de venir, vamos a ver si aceptan nuestra oferta.” a The Fall “Creo que estaría bien ponerles en el mismo escenario que a Pavement. Oferta puesta, banda disponible, buenas relaciones, creo que será sencillo.” y a LISABÖ de los que también nos enteramos de que su parón no era momentáneo “Están en un periodo de reflexión y no están tocando. Hemos hablado con ellos y se lo van a pensar. Yo pienso que acabarán aceptando, pero nunca se sabe”

Y a medias tintas tenemos a Portishead que quizá estan cerrando con otro festival, Pj Harvey que está en la recamara para si cae uno de los otros y Wilco que ya tienen oferta y podrían repetir la jugada de 2004, tocando después de Pixies.

En fin, todo esto y mucho más, en el agujero en el despacho de Gabi Ruiz & Cia. Aquí.

hören und genießen! : D

20 Watts played Asobi Seksu, DJ Shadow and more on WERW

Eric, Chris and Caitlin are in the studio this evening spinning an hour of new music, an hour of trip-hop and an hour of local songs! Tune in by opening iTunes and selecting radio > college radio > WERW or by clicking this link. We’ll be in the studio until 1 a.m.!

Want to talk to us or request a song? IM werw1570, tweet @20_watts or call (315) 443-1278. The third caller gets Chris Parker’s voice on their voicemail… it doesn’t get much better than that.

New tracks are in bold, local artists are italicized.

And don’t forget to tune in to 20 Watts’ Audiocandy+ shows on Wednesday and Thursday from 9-11 p.m.!

artist: Asobi Seksu [read our review of Transparence]
title: New Year
album: Rewolf

artist: Echo and the Bunnymen [13/20 watts -- read the review]
title: Life of a Thousand Crimes
album: The Fountain

artist: Omar Rodriguez Lopez
title: Azoemia
album: Xenophanes

artist: Pants Yell!
title: Rue de la Paix
album: Received Pronunciations

artist: Wale [15/20 watts -- read the review]
title: Chillin’
album: Attention Deficit

artist: Yeasayer
title: Ambling Alp (Memory Tapes Remix)
album: Ambling Alp

artist: Memory Tapes
title: Bicycle
album: Seek Magic

artist: Future Islands
title: Little Dreamer
album: Post Office Wave Chapel

artist: Grizzly Bear
title: Slow Life
album: New Moon OST [read our coverage of New Moon]

artist: Bibio [16/20 watts -- read the review]
title: Lovers’ Carvings (Leatherette Remix)
album: The Apple and The Tooth

artist: Arcade Fire [by request -- thank you for listening!]
title: Lenin
album: Dark Was The Night Compilation

artist: Atlas Sound
title: Doctor (Five Discs Cover)
album: N/A

artist: A Sunny Day in Glasgow
title: Shy (Ernest Gonzalez Remix)
album: N/A

READ THE 20: YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO TRIP-HOP

artist: DJ Shadow
title: Midnight in a Perfect World
album: Endtroducing

artist: Portishead
title: Glory Box
album: Dummy

artist: Massive Attack
title: Unfinished Sympathy
album: Blue Lines

artist: Tricky
title: Hell Is Round the Round the Corner
album: Maxinquaye

artist: Kid Koala
title: Fender Bender
album: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

artist: Portishead
title: Machine Gun
album: Dummy

artist: Rob Dougan
title: Clubbed to Death
album: N/A

artist: Blockhead
title: Triptych PT 1
album: Music by Cavelight

artist: Wagon Christ
title: Tally Ho
album: Tally Ho

artist: Red Snapper
title: Like A Moving Truck
album: Making Bones

artist: Becoming X
title: Sneaker Pimps
album: Sneaker Pimps

artist: DJ Shadow
title: What Does Your SOul Look Like Pt. 2
album: Preemptive Strike

artist: Massive Attack
title: Inertia Creeps
album: Mezzanine

artist: No Connection
title: The Weight
album: Lovely Devils

artist: Lemuria
title: Mechanical
album: Get Better

artist: Mayflower
title: Movie Quotes & Inside Jokes
album: Awesome Stuff

artist: Alex Kerns
title: Clamor On
album: Lovely Letters

artist: This Day & Age
title: The Bell And The Hammer
album: The Real Stuff

artist: Goo Goo Dolls [by request -- thank you for listening!]
title: Iris
album: Not Good

artist: The Screw-Ups
title: Don’t Care Much About Reggae
album: EP

artist: The Felice Brothers [see photos from last night's show]
title: Greatest Show on Earth
album: The Felice Brothers

artist: Moustache [by request -- thank you for listening!]
title: That French Song
album: Love is French

TRIP HOP.  Literally.

If Shirley Bassey went on a 12 month opiate binge & linked up with the Rza during her withdrawal period, you get Portishead.  My uncle Paul put me on to this group in 1997 & this album has been a part of me since.  Sometimes in hip-hop there are certain albums that producers will not touch due to the projects inability to be made hotter.  I am really surprised some of these underground cats haven’t attacked this album & chopped it for all its worth, leaving nothing behind except deteriorated bass lines & filtered out vocals.  DO NOT let this post be your introduction to ruining something that is already perfect.  The album sparks with “Cowboys”, a rugged never smooth compilation of wailing guitars, choppy pulsating rhodes chords, a ride symbol that must have been hit with the tip of a knife, and something that sounds like Godzilla moaning as a bass line. It automatically shoots chills down your spine when Beth Gibbons opens with “Did you sweep us far from your feet?/ reset in stone, this stark belief/”.

Tributes to hip-hop break beats, dope scratches, filtered samples, and excellent engineering make this album one of my favorites of all time in any genre.  You cannot exactly pin point the musical family you would find this album a part of, which is one of the qualities that make it so dope.  The beat from “Elysium” drops at 0:12 and it might be one of the hardest tracks that came out in 1997.  “Over” was an all time favorite for Little Vic when I used to puffa-lotta-pot.  Being completely obsessed with music since I was able to understand it, I always made sure I had a dope stereo system rigged up in my bedroom.  That song would blast holes in my 12 inch Sansui’s & devastate my 15 inch Pioneers until my neighbors were humming the melody.  You might NOT want to listen to Portishead if you take mushrooms…I mean…I wouldn’t know…but…yeah…anyhow.  “Seven Months” always reminded me of a Bond theme.  When those 1/16 triplet boom baps hit at 0:25, you have no choice but to bob your head like you are dodging bullets from Francisco Scaramanga’s barrel.

Besides Beth’s lyrics being completely insane, depressing, eerie, chilling & all the other things we love…the production is not to be fucked with for lack of better words.  If I could completely bite someone’s entire style & call it my own… it would be Portishead’s.  The group split a few years ago, which really got me tight.  I would love to hear what type of insanity would be coming out of their studio today.  I can only imagine.  What I do know is that I will pursue them & offer them my first born child to produce a song for me…(Kidding.)

Anyhow… It is nearing 6am, and I have to gather alcohol & food for tomorrow nights PPV fight between Pacman & Cotto.  I hope I put you on to something new that will never leave your iPod.  I would link you to the free download but this really is something you should buy if you crave meaningful lyrics, fiend for boom baps, and live for incredible engineering.  If you already know about Portishead, good for you.  If I put you onto this, hit me up at LittleVicBlog@gmail.com and give me your thoughts on this monstrosity of an album.

DO NOT SAMPLE ANYTHING FROM THIS ALBUM.  SAVE YOURSELF THE EMBARRASSMENT!  ALSO CHECK OUT PORTISHEAD’S FIRST ALBUM “DUMMY”… ANOTHER INCREDIBLE PEICE OF WORK WITH PRODUCTION THAT COULD STAND UP TO ANY HIP HOP ALBUM.

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I HEARD THIS ON THE RADIO THE OTHER DAY AND WENT CRAZY!!! NEVER HEARD THIS GROUP BUT THEY ARE AMAZING…HER VOICE IS HYPNOTIZING….. LET YOUR EARDRUMS FALL INTO A TRANCE!!!

The Bristol sound, also known as trip-hop, was born from the British hip-hop and house scenes of the mid-1990s. Artists like Massive Attack, DJ Shadow and Portishead took the hybrid genre and turned it into a hip-hop-influenced electronica that harnessed a fanbase that reached between the Atlantic. The listening experience, likened to a “musical trip,” is one intensely focused on the abstract, atmospheric qualities of the genre. It has grown over the years to encompass turntablism, acid jazz, electro and dance into a hybrid genre that continues to expand into the contemporary hip-hop scene.

So what’s the very best of trip-hop? 20 Watts’ JOHN LUPOSELLO has the answer in our eighth 20 installment. Watch for new 20s each Thursday, only on 20 Watts, and check out our previous 20s below!

The debut album from Beak> plays out like an eerie flipside to Out of Season, the lone album released by Beth Gibbon and Rustin Man. On that record, Portishead’s lead singer took the band’s confessional slant and their jazzy inclinations in a new direction, making something rustic and organic, a smoky, seductive singer/songwriter album that was all acoustic but still sounded not too far removed from her band’s regular groove. The other half of the Portishead equation is represented by Beak>, led by Gibbons’ partner in crime, Geoff Barrow; this is their experimental side, their moody electronica pushed to the extreme. Taken together, these two albums present a fascinating deconstruction of what makes Portishead tick; apart, they’re entirely different animals, seemingly unrelated if not for the shared banner under which both flags fly.

Gibbons, of course, is the heart and the humanity of the band, and she took those attributes with her into Out of Season. By contrast, Beak> is weird, sinister, and esoteric—vintage Krautrock with a modern flair. It’s low-key and laid-back to the point of being downright creepy: The music is all meandering keyboards over a foundation of skittering drums and throbbing bass. Simple almost to the point of mood music, this stuff is repetitive music that slowly reveals subtle variations over time.

Read the rest at Stereo Subversion.

Baxter Dury

Hoy os dejo una recopilación del hijo del mítico Ian Dury –y su banda, los Blockheads– (¿quién no se acuerda de Spasticus Autisticus?), una de las leyendas británicas del punk y la new wave.

Baxter Dury es un músico de la escena indie que tiene dos joyas llamadas Len Parrot’s Memorial Lift (2002) y Floorshow (2005), además de un EP que incluye un par de temas no presentes en los dos álbumes que ha publicado hasta la fecha. Sus influencias van desde la Velvet Underground hasta David Bowie, The Clientele o Papas Fritas, y en sus discos han colaborado Portishead, Richard Hawley, etc.

Haz clic para descargar la recopilación de Baxter Dury

La recopilación que os dejo en esta entrada incluye los dos álbumes casi al completo, así como dos temas del Ep (el fantástico Love in the garden y Clare). Como siempre, haced clic en la portada para descargaros las canciones y la carátula en pdf. AQUÍ tenéis el listado de temas que incluye el disco. Espero que os guste.

P.D.: La foto de la portada la hice el pasado sábado en el jardín interior del MNCARS.

P.D.2: Tengo que agradecer a polish tender hooligan que me haya pasado el EP que tanto tiempo llevaba buscando.

Portishead é uma banda britânica de trip hop formada no ano de 1991 em Bristol, Inglaterra. Ela foi formada quando, numa fila de desempregados, Geoff Barrow (samples e letras) encontrou Beth Gibbons (vocal). Geoff fazia samples para outras bandas, mas depois que formou o Portishead com outros integrantes de uma banda de jazz, ele passou a se dedicar somente à banda. No início, o Portishead era definido como lo-fi mas depois de algum tempo seu estilo foi modificado para o que é conhecido como trip hop. Portishead é o nome da cidade natal de Geoff Barrow.

(Fonte: wikipedia)

Eu achei o último CD deles, o Third, lançado ano passado (2008) para vocês baixarem:

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Capa do CD Third lançado em 2008.

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Click aqui para baixar esse CD.

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