The thread for Portishead "Third"

Listening now to what may possibly be a raw mix

plz explain? promo? leak? friend of the band/studio tech/label?

Mickey?

Leak, but the source is vague about details.

Mmmm...this just continues to get better.

I'm 3/4 of the way through my first listen...I have no idea what to make of this so far. Very different from the first albums, thankfully.

"Machine Gun" sounds massive.

fuck you all

Stevie T told me this album didn't so much exceed his expectation as smash them into a million pieces.

VERY EXCITED.

When is this officially released?

4/28

SO FAR AWAY ARGH

so I guess you're holding out then?

Yeah, I'm definitely holding out; I don't really look for leaks.

if Beth Gibbons didn't have such a nice voice, this album would never get played again at my house.

Jess's "first impression" piece is pretty much essential reading: http://idolator.com/365148/portishead-take-it-to-the-brink-but-hold-back

(Oh yeah, except for the part about the second record being slumpish...*shrug*)

oboioboioboioboy!

http://i30.tinypic.com/iwrhis.gif

(that's called hyper.gif btw)

(and it's totally justified)

I cant wait for the release. Where can i hear this?

look alive, it's on pirate bay now. nice and fast :)

"Especially when you'd rather be doing (and I'd rather be hearing) things like "Hunter" with maybe the best guitar bit I'll hear all year"

Correct. I'm really digging this so far. Fans will be in spite of the lack of identifiable "stand out" tracks. However, I am still unsure whether it really is a step forward for them, perhaps it is a step side-ways.

listened to this twice today. this is v good. fucking dark as all hell.

o my god it's good
almost every track is a standout so far
did you guys hear 'we carry on'?? oh hell, they're all good

However, I am still unsure whether it really is a step forward for them, perhaps it is a step side-ways.

i'd say this is pretty indisputably not-at-all true! put this above or below their first two, but it is certainly not on the same plane

Very understated and groovy so far. Interesting.

Stevie T told me this album didn't so much exceed his expectation as smash them into a million pieces.

This. Times about a million. I'm not a big Portishead fan but I'm REALLY enjoying this.

This is excellent. SWOON @ 'Hunter' altho I guess that's one of their more 'predictable' tracks/closest to their older sound.

holy shit this is good. the rip is AMAZING. thank you 'i love music' folks for letting me know it had leaked.

This thread made it on a big fan site:

http://pheadweb.com/p_news.html

It's just so great when an album lives up to it's length in coming. The awesome 'Machine Gun' stands out as it's sound and approach is quite different to anything else on there.

All links posted by fans will be removed immediately unless they hook a bro up.

ah pirate bay, gottit

I presume 'Silence' is meant to stop abruptly like that?

Yeah, I think the running length matches the one posted on the official site.

"Silence" and "Machine Gun" are the one-listen standouts

I presume 'Silence' is meant to stop abruptly like that?

-- Matt DC, Saturday, March 8, 2008 3:54 PM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

wouldn't bet on it.

generally want to hear this properly, uh, but i like it obv.

I reckon it is. Hence the title.

oh the irony

i guess it depends how much 'silence' actually follows it on the record. another way in which mp3 rips suck.

Some of the "every instrument playing the same riff" parts reminded me of the end of The Stooges' Ann - like the end of Small, for instance. In a good way, though. :-)

he mp3s all have about 5 seconds of extra silence (see "Magic Doors" -> "Threads," which are supposed to run together)

Fucking hell - Machine Gun! That's one of the most insistent, emotionless, mechanised drum loops I've ever heard.

Also, Small is STONER ROCK. I keep expecting the Kyuss-esque heavy guitars to pile in any minute.

I hope a vinyl version comes out on Invada

Pff, this stuff is so relentlessly bleak that I'm not sure how often I'll have the courage to put this on (says reformed pseudo-goth)

i don't find this too bleak as compared to burial for example. i see it more as a cold-hot affair. like a glowing glacier. or rubbing your hands in snow. this feeling of warmness coming from the cold. the first four songs except the third which is a little bit boring are portishead grand cru. after that i am not too sure yet.

ugh. i don't want to listen to much like this at ALL right now. i'll probably put it away until halloween ...

"machine gun" is crazy though

I like it! ...exceedingly strange melodic sense in many of these songs, esp. the first and last. The last track is a real stand-out for me.

I'm loving "Small" right now. Above comment OTM re. weird melodic sense. Also I'm pretty impressed by how coherent the sound and atmosphere throughout this record, considering it's been 10 years in the making.

Enjoying this so far. It's their rock album!

ya. love it. didn't really dig the last one.

Love the video as well. This may be my favourite kind of video, where men and women in a recording studio assume very concentrated expressions while doing some multitasking to assure us that they actually make every sound on the recording as we hear it. (If it sounds like I'm mocking, I truly am not, New Order's Perfect Kiss was the best I'd ever seen when I saw it 20 years ago.)

Listening to this for the first time since the end of 08.

It's a masterpiece, basically.

Totally right. I love this record.

Has any other band made an album springing up out of absolutely fucking nowhere after a 10+ year hiatus that was also better than any of their previous albums?

xpost Scott Walker

Flaming Lips didn't actually take a hiatus--but the impact of renewed artistic vigor for their 'Embryonic' is similarly unexpected. The two are my #1 albums for 2008/2009.

both great, both surprisingly slept on

This album has grown on me so much.

i'm always so unsure :-/

Heh, I'm actually listening to that specific song right now. :D

far and away one of the best records of 2008 -- look for their Jools Holland set on YouTube if you want to see some awesome live performances

the way the record ends is perfect too, imo

I still think this album is godhead.

I love how 'Machine Gun' takes a turn for the Tangerine Dream towards the end.

look for their Jools Holland set on YouTube if you want to see some awesome live performances

^^^^^^^^^^ YES ^^^^^^^^^^^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKVBtEuPSwc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNItz50u6OM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsoZRBZvdOc

yeah those are all awesome, especially the first two

I've pretty much come full-circle on this album too - the only tracks I'm still dubious about are Plastic and Deep Water, the rest is fucking incredible

Plastic is only one that doesn't do it for me. Deep Water is more an idea than a proper track, but it's perfectly sequenced.

"Deep Water" makes perfect sense as an extended intro to "Machine Gun," otherwise it's kinda pointless. But boy does it work well in context!

ppl always ask me my opinion on this but, tbh, i'm aaaaaaallllwaaaayyyssss ssoooooooo uunnnnssuuuurreeee

(really though, i love it)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXstxFoayxI

New Geoff Barrow joint I am very digging. Better than Beak> thing imo

im always so unsure :-/

I think it helps to have something (the voice) to hang all the contraptions on, esp. in this case something so monolithic and samey.

I mean the beak record was loaded with all these great accents but to me they seemed all sort of unmoored to anything. Anyway after two listens the album is pleasingly various...

Listened to this for the first time in about three years. Oh my, it is really, really good.

would kill for an entire album of canterbury sound doom-prog jams

you mean like Small, right (the best track) :D

we're halfway through another ten years, so...

I listened to this about a month ago, but the thread revive made me play it again tonight (while reading through all the posts).

I burned a copy in 2009 of Third with "Chase the Tear" as the last track after "Threads" for listening in my car, but I actually like to think of "Chase the Tear" as the first song from the next album...whenever that may come.

Can't believe it's already been 5 years since this album! Sounds like a classic album whenever I play it.

I love Chase the Tear and would be very happy if it was how the next album was going to sound.

There was an announcement about a new Beth Gibbons album earlier in the year but nothing else has been announced since then.

I still love Portishead but following Geoff Barrow in Twitter was a real "beware yr idols" moment

I still love and adore the transition from "Deep Water" into "Machine Gun"

yeah I listened to this twice today, that was a highlight

still think my back half of mezzanine/back half of third mixtape is a good one

I went back and read the whole 2008 portion of this thread while listening to the album tonight. It still stuns me just like it did the first time I listened to it 11 years ago.

Still the album of the new century/millennium I love the most, tbh.

I know DJP's post is years old now but I went throw Barrow's last few days of Twitter activity and found nothing objectionable. Did he have a twat phase?

I've followed him for a pretty long time, seems like a decent guy, sometimes a bit grumpy. Never noticed him being a twat.

I don't remember the details of what made me say that about Geoff Barrow but it was definitely a series of tweets that made me think he was not particularly fond of Black people

also this album still goes HARD in the paint, one of the best things I've ever purchased

a series of tweets that made me think he was not particularly fond of Black people

Really? That's disappointing. :(

to be clear, that was my interpretation; it certainly wasn't at a level that would make me excise Portishead from my record collection (although I did stop keeping up with Beak)

I can’t find objectionable tweets from him or mention of them elsewhere.

I am listening to this album on a plane and it is so so so so so good

Fantastic airplane listening imo

Gave a fresh listen recently, still so good, wonder if MBV will release a new one before P4 ever appears

Where's my 90's portishead sound? :(

It’s on the 90s albums