Portishead

Quality over quantity seems to be a reoccurring theme in Portishead's career. They have put out three albums since the 20 plus years they've been together and it seems as though they have played only a handful of shows over the past few years (certainly comparative to other touring acts). However the albums they have released are simply some of the best of their time. Dummy has often been credited as the album that put the trip-hop genre on the map and their 2008 album Third saw Portishead take a whole new direction, trading their downtempo beats and smooth jazz vibes for jarring samples, disjointed drum patterns and overall harsher electronic sounds. Their performances are simply unrivaled. Their Roseland ballroom performance in 1997 is still being discussed today. Taking into account the 11 year gap between their "self titled" album and "Third" it is a wonder how well their songs fit together in a live setting, especially considering the opposing nature of their early and present career. The sweet warm tones which were so ubiquitous on their first album are perfectly preserved for their live offerings.The juxtaposition of their new and old renderings deepen the definitions of the dichotic nature of their music, making their tracks from "Third" seem more static and dislocating.
While their early recordings in a sense have a soothing quality lacking on "Third" there is still an underlying nagging disturbance presiding on each of their albums. This dark affinity is what seems to be enforcing the cohesive nature of their performance. On songs such as "Silence" a teasing synth pulse is backed by, krautrock inspired drumming and jagged guitar strikes. On their current tour you can expect to hear two drummers. One is sometimes equipped with mallets rather than the traditional drumsticks enhancing the primal brood heard on songs like "Nylon Smile". It seems as though all of Portishead's tracks are encapsulated in a foreboding intensity, whether it be sonic as heard on the audio assaulting "Machine Gun" or emotional such as the hauntingly beautiful "The Rip", which seemed as though it was lifted straight from Emily Dickinson's diary. Beth Gibbons vocal performance is reason alone to see the show . Channeling the fractured but devastatingly deep vocalization of Billie Holiday, both her delivery and poetic lyrics fit perfectly with the blend of industrialized electronica and downbeat jazz freak outs.

The brilliant and mysterious Portishead have always been one of my favourite acts, but as an entity that rarely seem to play shows I had never had the chance to see their live spectacle in all its glory –they didn’t perform a single full live show between 1997 and 2007. At Glastonbury 2013, however, I got my chance, when they headlined the Other Stage. Massive Attack may have been credited with founding trip-hop, but fellow Bristolians Portishead took the genre into deeper, more soulful territory, largely thanks to singer Beth Gibbons’ haunting vocals. Their two records in the ‘90s – Dummy (1994) and Portishead (1997) – were landmark releases, but when they surprised the world with their comeback album, Third, in 2008, they had come armed with a body of work that surpassed the high standards they had previously set. Third featured darker, more experimental songs and many of these were showcased at Glastonbury – tracks like ‘Silence’, ‘We Carry On’ and the erratic ‘Machine Gun’ sounded heavy and industrial live, with the band members shrouded in darkness and backed by hypnotic visuals. Naturally, the highlights – especially for someone who never got a chance to see them in the ‘90s – were seeing and hearing their early classics brought to life, such as ‘Glory Box’, ‘Cowboys’ and a beautiful version of ‘Sour Times’. Gibbons’ voice remains one of the most captivating in UK alternative music; if only we got to hear it more often.

Seeing Portishead deliver a triumphant set at last year’s Glastonbury Festival was probably the highlight of the entire weekend; whilst The Rolling Stones were delivering a set of tracks that were predominantly about forty years old, one of the most beguiling bands in Britain were proving that you can do things entirely on your own terms and still reap the rewards. They’ve still only got the three records to their name, but there was more than enough to choose from that night - and besides, Portishead shows are less about the setlist, and more about the cultivation of genuine atmosphere. In fact, there’s something fitting about the fact that they formed so close by to a festival intrinsically tied to mysticism, because the trio are such an oddly complementary outfit that you wouldn’t be surprised if there was something of the supernatural to the way in which they came together. Geoff Barrow is responsible for the group’s trip hop stylings, bringing an obvious urban sensibility to their sound, and Adrian Utley sounds for all the world like a jazz drummer, with an uncommonly broad understanding of groove. Tying everything together, though, is Beth Gibbons’ voice; it’s the most potent tool in the Portishead arsenal, both on record and on stage, and it’s her mere presence that’s vital in making their live shows so arresting.

Portishead is one of the most timeless groups I have ever heard. I could listen to it always! Beth Gibbons seems to smoke, but yet keep that strong beautiful voice. This is truly an amazingly gifted group.

Angie Butler