Bloody hell, The Wire didn’t make much of this, did they? What did Portishead do to them, come round their office and stick a Mika CD in a Mika Vainio CD case? “Two good tracks, but the rest sounds like animal faeces being sucked into a giant hoover while the circusmaster just stands around collecting cash”, they said, although I paraphrase a bit. By any other yardstick, including that deployed by what seems like pretty much the entire population of the internet - who, given the leakier-than-a-Tory-cabinet nature of that vast land, probably all have this on mp3 already - this is a stunning album. It is far better than we have any right to expect from a band who –again, like a Tory cabinet – haven’t existed for the last decade.
Who cares if “The Rip” slides into what can only be described as a Kraftwerk pastiche? I’ve seen Kraftwerk in concert performing what can only be described as a Kraftwerk pastiche, and it was one of the funnest things I’ve experienced. So what if the dustily-strung “Threads” sounds like Portishead? This is a Portishead album, after all. Check the cover, note the big “P”. Why should I care if lead single “Machine Gun” sounds like Autechre covering the “chop chop busy busy work work bang bang” song that was used on Penguin adverts when I was a kid? I liked those biscuits. Well actually I liked the chocfauxlate cream in the middle, the biscuit itself was merely its deployment vehicle. And if “Silence” sounds like OOIOO riding kraut-buffalo over the edge of a cliff? Well, good riddance, I hate dumb buffalo, with their strangely sweet-tasting meat and their herdy thunderousness.
I do, however, concur wholeheartedly and with Holliday-esque holler with the sweet-tasting herdy thunderousness of approval that has exuded in the direction of Portishead’s “Third”. When it is released later this month, and when they play this live (they are good live, remember?), follow the crowd.
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April 24, 2008 at 12:38 am
wim
I’m one of those people who already have it on mp3 and I agree with you that what I heard was/is a FANTASTIC (pardon for the caps) collection of songs! Can’t wait until its released on vinyl around here…
April 24, 2008 at 1:33 am
Jeff
…wouldn’t be the first time the Wire gave a startlingly negative review to something undeserving. Not to say they do it to everything, but it’s been known to happen.
April 24, 2008 at 11:16 am
Roo
Remember that Touch anniversary show a few years ago when Jon Wozencroft said something along the lines of ‘We’re not interested in reviews in the Wire, they usually only say things that are banal and asinine’ (paraphrasing). That was quite brave. A bit like someone from Crystal Castles or Adele saying ‘Hey! Everyone who reads the NME is a cunt!’.
But the Wire’s negative reviews only seem so shocking because theres so few of them. Bad reviews in the Wire are generally just dismissive in a passive-aggressive fashion. In the Portishead review, I guess the writer was saying that he didn’t feel this record was as spooky or traumatising as ‘Dummy’ was, which I suppose is fair enough - the only thing that even remotely connects the sound of ‘Third’ to the sound of ‘Dummy’ is Beth Gibbons - but, taken on its own terms this is a fantastic record. It may be that they seem more in touch with sound than emotion post-’Dummy’, but I guess that’s because we all know what to expect in terms of mood from Portishead. A testament to them then, that the oppressive murk never feels forced or close to self-parody. In my opinion.
April 24, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Michael
I love most of the tracks on this record, but after witnessing the live thing on Current TV those other tracks I wasn’t too keen on have taken on new forms. A sensational band and I’m surprised Wire gave them such a poor review but they’ve going through a dubstep phase for far too long in my opinion
April 24, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Michael
Also, I too can hear a strong Kraftwerk influence, but they’ve definitely listened to Silver Apples more than a few times over the last 11 years
April 24, 2008 at 10:48 pm
themilkman
You shouldn’t believe all you read in the Wire my dear Mapsylad… They don’t always get it right.
Mandyrew was recently telling me that ‘When Portishead first appeared, they bore little resemblance to anything. They shared something with Massive Attack and were clearly MASSIVELY indebted to hip-hop (Barrow being essentially a hip-hop producer), but were unique.’ True, although there was also a lot of film music influences I think. Still, their sound was very unique then, but I think it is still, in some way, very unique now, and I actually think Third is Portishead’s best album by a mile or 5. Dummy was great and caught us all by surprise. Portishead didn’t catch us by surprise but, imo, made up by being much more consistent. It was all pretty dark, but these two albums sounds like nursery rhymes collections compared to the new album. I’vbe been playing it over and over for days and I just cannot pull away from it. It’s just THAT good!
April 25, 2008 at 9:48 am
Colin
I’ll second Jeff’s comment about The Wire and provide a couple of examples - David Keenan’s spectacularly snarky review of Jon Hassell’s Fascinoma and someone else’s outright dismissal of Kraftwerk’s first new work in 14 or so years - Expo 2000 - as corporate advertising - duh…
April 25, 2008 at 9:49 am
Colin
Oi and I won’t have you dissing Mika >:-|
April 25, 2008 at 10:23 am
mapsadaisical
Roo - I was at that Touch show. It was ace. And I don’t recall ever having seen a bad review of a Touch album in the Wire; I’m not sure quite what had got his goat. Bit harsh for the Wire to moan that Beth doesn’t sound grief-wracked enough don’t you think? Are they proposing some self-flagellation or something?
Michael - definitely a big Silver Apples influence, which is probably why he was invited to play at ATP. I’m not sure I hear quite as much of the doom metal influence, mind…
Milkman - I don’t believe eeeeeeeeverything I read in the Wire. For example, I still don’t believe Fred Frith actually exists. That name…must be a joke…or at least an anagram (I’ll work it out).
Colin - hahaha, I expected you to comment on that line, but maybe not in that way. I noticed that Mika was on your daughter’s iPod (wow, what taste), didn’t realise it was on yours too!
April 25, 2008 at 11:26 am
mapsadaisical
I should clarify that last one. If you head to eleventh volume, you will see a post by Colin detailing the contents of his daughter’s iPod. I don’t have Colin’s daughter in a cupboard under the bed or anything.
April 25, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Michael
was there doom metal on show at ATP? I’m just thinking about Invada, thier record label, there is a few bands like Gonga and Crippled Black Phoenix that can be doomy occasionally. I wonder if there is a certain member into that scene
April 26, 2008 at 5:14 pm
bananatree
It’s easy to be a cynical jerk when you are getting paid to be a cynical jerk. I’d much rather read 50 people sing praises than one person boo.
April 27, 2008 at 2:57 pm
peter
ok guys, at first I listened to new P, then went through the review in Wire and I kinda understand it. IMHO if the P3 came out 5-6 years ago, they would got 10 of 10, but in these days, this work is not what I was personally waiting for. esp. from a band that was set as an etalon of its own back in their big days … in other words, I do like the sound, but there is nothing to surprise, to provoke, to show new ways. no progress at all. just good old Portishead. btw, same as TG latest album …
April 28, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Michael
‘but there is nothing to surprise, to provoke, to show new ways. no progress at all’
totally disagree with that statement
April 30, 2008 at 9:21 am
mandrew
Ooh Mappsy, I was waiting for you to get round to this and then I missed it. Amusing review that perhaps cuts me down to size, being one of the minority who actually kinda-sorta agreed with The Wire.
Milkman, I’d actually say there were a lot of film music samples on Dummy, which I see as a bit different to a simple film music influence. By the same token, I’d have thought it more interesting had they sampled and chopped up some Silver Apples rather than just done a pastiche. I suspect this sounds might sound like nonsense though and maybe it is.
Also Maps, you speak in the past tense. Do you not like Penguins anymore?
April 30, 2008 at 9:32 am
mapsadaisical
Been a while since I indulged Penguin-wise. I couldn’t even be sure they still exist; I tend to pass by the more family-oriented biscuit section these days en route to the high-end 70%-cocoa all-butter luxury-wrapped spendy-spendy stuff atthe other end of the aisle.
April 30, 2008 at 9:39 am
mandrew
Snob. Ever heard Aussies rant on about their hallowed Tim-Tams? I did for years, but never saw or tried the mystical treats until I came to Japan, at which time I discovered they were just Penguins.
April 30, 2008 at 9:43 am
mapsadaisical
Don’t think I’ve ever heard an Aussie rant about them, but then I’m not sure I’ve heard an Aussie in a while. I think their voices are too high-pitched, and with my hearing range decreasing as I get older, they are getting progressively edited out of my life.