Portishead
by Portishead

From meccalecca TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/07/2014 22:47 | #111124 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Smoke fills a futuristic lounge filled with retro decor. A wounded woman steps up to a microphone and sings a passionate cover of a Nina Simone song you can't seem to remember the name of.

From paladisiac TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/12/2011 16:32 | #32762 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

They increase the suspense and eeriness level of the debut while still sounding like the coolest james bond soundtrack ever made. "cowboys" sets the ominous tone slyly intoning at the chorus "But don't despair, This day will be their damnedest day". The dj work in this song and throughout is Tnotch -- this is goth noir IDM hop. There's a case of possession obsession on "all mine": "To hold you, Enfold you, Never enough, Render your heart to me. / All mine, You have to be". You can hear Beth's barren heart in her trembling voice on "undenied" as she sings "for so bare is my heart, I can't hide" wondering where her heart belongs amidst the laborious machina background that sounds wrapped in a dour kids music box. There's an uncertain foreboding within the echoing drums in "over": "To tread this fantasy, openly, / What have I done. / Oh, this uncertainty, / Is taking me over" The scratching rocks. "humming", literally humming/vibrating with backing synth-strings from the outset with a lovely vulnerable vocal performance from Beth singing "it's been so long, / That I can't confess", "mourning air" ("did i see a moment with you in a half-lit world? i'm frightened to believe.") crooning with faux-horns and "only you" are the remaining highlights. There's really no let up on this album

From ExTeaSea TOP 100 COMMENTER 09/14/2018 19:17 | #221063 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

One of the most haunting albums I've come across. There's really nothing I can think of that has this very specific sound. It's a dark and lovely trip. (Edited)

From ilovelctr 01/07/2016 12:37 | #156054 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This album sounds so eerie and eccentric that I find the tracks highly consistent to each other and congruous with the overall mood. In this regard, it's better than their first one imo, which is why I think of this as their best album. I particularly like the weird accent applied in 'Humming', for it's just so befitting to and accentuating the gothic, dark vibe. On the other hand it might be too much of a melancholic downer, thus quite averse to the taste of many people. Then again I appreciate its unencumbered willingness to embrace the true darkness.

A dark and delicious successor to "Dummy", reminiscent of the music featured in David Lynch's films. Consistently great throughout.