Published on Dec 16, 1999
Put on any Portishead CD and prepare to turn up the thermostat
up a couple of degrees. The first track off of their classic
Dummy or their very good follow-up
Portishead have enough chill in them to make the hairs in
the back of your neck stand up.
Unlike so many electronic artists out there, Portishead seem
more intent on cramming as few sounds as they can onto an album.
The tempo for
Portishead is almost always a crawl. And Beth Gibbens’s
voice sounds like a mixture of an ice pick and some burning
incense.
“Cowboys” opens the album with a true noir sound. Gibbens’ voice
sounds like a couple of switches on the mixing table were all out
of whack, but it creates a decent, jarring effect for the listener.
It may be a bit too “Sprockets” for most people, but it’s
definitely adventerous.
“All Mine,” is a little more conventional. With an elaborate
orchestral setup, a jarring mix of strings and horns drive the
chorus. Conductor Nick Ingman deserves major props for adding, but
not overpowering Portishead’s intoxicating gloom.
Other tracks, like the brooding “Humming” and “Only You” show
why Dr. Dre is one of the band’s biggest fans. Though the two seem
to be polar opposites on their approach to an album, one thing
rings true for both of them: making each beat sound like it needed
to be there.
Unfortunately,
Portishead suffers a slight case of sophomore slump. Because
their first CD was so groundbreaking,
Portishead at times retreads what
Dummy already accomplished. Two years after it was released,
I still have the same problem: Why listen to
Portishead when you can listen to
Dummy?
Ok, there is a thing to be said for variety. If I get bored, I
do prefer to listen to
Portishead. But listeners can only hope that Portishead will
take as big of a risk as they did making
Dummy. Taken as a whole,
Portishead is a wonderful listen. Taken as an artist’s work,
however, they could have stirred things up just a tad.