
TRIP HOP. Literally.
If Shirley Bassey went on a 12 month opiate binge & linked up with the Rza during her withdrawal period, you get Portishead. My uncle Paul put me on to this group in 1997 & this album has been a part of me since. Sometimes in hip-hop there are certain albums that producers will not touch due to the projects inability to be made hotter. I am really surprised some of these underground cats haven’t attacked this album & chopped it for all its worth, leaving nothing behind except deteriorated bass lines & filtered out vocals. DO NOT let this post be your introduction to ruining something that is already perfect. The album sparks with “Cowboys”, a rugged never smooth compilation of wailing guitars, choppy pulsating rhodes chords, a ride symbol that must have been hit with the tip of a knife, and something that sounds like Godzilla moaning as a bass line. It automatically shoots chills down your spine when Beth Gibbons opens with “Did you sweep us far from your feet?/ reset in stone, this stark belief/”.
Tributes to hip-hop break beats, dope scratches, filtered samples, and excellent engineering make this album one of my favorites of all time in any genre. You cannot exactly pin point the musical family you would find this album a part of, which is one of the qualities that make it so dope. The beat from “Elysium” drops at 0:12 and it might be one of the hardest tracks that came out in 1997. “Over” was an all time favorite for Little Vic when I used to puffa-lotta-pot. Being completely obsessed with music since I was able to understand it, I always made sure I had a dope stereo system rigged up in my bedroom. That song would blast holes in my 12 inch Sansui’s & devastate my 15 inch Pioneers until my neighbors were humming the melody. You might NOT want to listen to Portishead if you take mushrooms…I mean…I wouldn’t know…but…yeah…anyhow. “Seven Months” always reminded me of a Bond theme. When those 1/16 triplet boom baps hit at 0:25, you have no choice but to bob your head like you are dodging bullets from Francisco Scaramanga’s barrel.
Besides Beth’s lyrics being completely insane, depressing, eerie, chilling & all the other things we love…the production is not to be fucked with for lack of better words. If I could completely bite someone’s entire style & call it my own… it would be Portishead’s. The group split a few years ago, which really got me tight. I would love to hear what type of insanity would be coming out of their studio today. I can only imagine. What I do know is that I will pursue them & offer them my first born child to produce a song for me…(Kidding.)
Anyhow… It is nearing 6am, and I have to gather alcohol & food for tomorrow nights PPV fight between Pacman & Cotto. I hope I put you on to something new that will never leave your iPod. I would link you to the free download but this really is something you should buy if you crave meaningful lyrics, fiend for boom baps, and live for incredible engineering. If you already know about Portishead, good for you. If I put you onto this, hit me up at LittleVicBlog@gmail.com and give me your thoughts on this monstrosity of an album.
DO NOT SAMPLE ANYTHING FROM THIS ALBUM. SAVE YOURSELF THE EMBARRASSMENT! ALSO CHECK OUT PORTISHEAD’S FIRST ALBUM “DUMMY”… ANOTHER INCREDIBLE PEICE OF WORK WITH PRODUCTION THAT COULD STAND UP TO ANY HIP HOP ALBUM.
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