Portishead – Portishead (1997)

August 21, 2014

I would probably have never listened to Portishead if it wasn’t for the fact that their first two albums were already on my old computer when I bought it, back in 2009. They always seemed like something my mother would listen to, what with their shit band name and music video circulations on the Sky ClassicFM music channel. It wasn’t until my appreciation for electronic music developed to such a degree that I could hear Portishead in a different way, and then, one day, with the iPod on random, I fell in love.

This is so laid back and chilled, yet so epic at the same time it really is a bit of an enigma. How is that even possible? Well, Portishead managed it. Ticking, soft trip-hop beats and sparse instrumentation is pretty much all that’s going on here, complimented by one of the best female voices I’ve heard a long time. As a blue print for an entire record, this approach is extremely basic, but this self-titled record fails to bore me at any given moment. It is simply a magical record. The final track includes some fleeting male vocal contributions, but that’s about as far as breaking the template goes!

I got this on vinyl for £12, from the Head chain in Bristol. Turn ting up!