The thread for Portishead "Third"

Also thinking of the extremely edgy production - there's no attempt to conceal the loops and electronic sounds to make the whole thing "organic". I don't mind a bit of mastering, but hope they maintain that rawness.

Is that a cookie request, Mark?

om nom nom

nom?

I don't think this is an early master. Would they really work on it for ten years and then circulate a "rough" version like that?

Anyway, the rough sound is actually the most pleasantly surprising thing about it.

Is anyone else finding this album to be exceedingly re-listenable?

Not as such, no.

I'm listening to Hunter, Nylon Smile, The Rip, We Carry On and Machine Gun fairly repeatedly. The rest of the album, not so much.

Mark - om nom nom now available...

"Small" is also a highlight

Have they announced what the first single's going to be?

The guitars in We Carry On are fucking awesome. The groove is even better.

Yeah, it's a great tune. The driving bass thump is really exciting.

Yes, that's my favorite so far. That bass line is unstoppable

Mind you, when it goes all Blade Runner / Terminator / Vangelis in Machine Gun, that's pretty fucking awesome too.

Actually if this album reminds me of any 90s album it's not Dummy at all, but Mezzanine. It's there in the heavy claustrophic sound, the coiled spring feel, everything closing in, and most of all those moments when the guitars pile in.

really good thread guys. i'm waiting for the CD release, but this post ^^ makes me want to hear it more than anything so far. love love LOVE mezzanine, so much.

I still hate all of you.

(Not begging for a download link or hookup, just me reiterating that I'm totally hating on everyone who hears theis before me without quarter.)

It's considerably less densely layered than Mezzanine. Has the same weird creepiness, though.

Magic Doors is getting much love from me right now - that 70s psychedelic fake Indian feel plus what sounds like a muffled underwater trumpet solo = big heart signs.

We Carry On was my immediate favourite. When the guitars come in it's like some alternate universe Joy Division.

I absolutely love the experiment of Deep Water, too.

And the way the riff builds in The Rip.

I wish I could think what the melody of the Magic Doors reminds me of.

Magic Doors is really growing on me, actually. The beat's good, and I like the unexpected leap to a major key in the chorus.

I was expecting The Rip to be a scratchy instrumental.

Read somewhere that 'Machine Gun' would be the single. Doubt it really but this would be great - for the video potential if nothing else.

Just curious.. why do people assume they've been working on this for ten years, as opposed to taking the last 9 off and spending a year on this?

i like the guitars on "we carry on" too. they come on four times. the first and third time they have a sonic youth sound to my ears, noisy in a structured way. whereas the second and the last time there definitely is a powerful post-punk feel à la joy div (as mentioned before) to them. or am i hallucinating?

"deep water" sounds like a leftover from the first sparklehorse album. psychedelic folk.

We Carry On is def. my standout from the first few listens.

Umm...I really should refrain from commenting on this album until I hear it a few more times. That said, it seems maybe you guys hyped this up a bit too much. I don't see it having the longevity of Dummy or S/T. A lot of it feels unfinished right now. Oh well. Here goes spin #2.

Spin #2 is when it starts to get REALLY good.

Yeah, the second listen is when shit started coming together for me on this one.

Holy hell, you're right about the Vangelis/Terminator ending to 'Machine Gun'. Sounds like something like play over a slow pan of the skyline of Airstrip One.

to play, rather.

Yeah the 1st listen was a bit hard for me. Seemed a bit samey and the general bleakness got me down.

The more I listen to this the more I'm convinced that HI DERE is going to love this.

This is properly awesome.

Yes, it is. Loving The Rip most of all, so far.

The mid-section of Small, when the weird bass ululation, scrape-y guitar and odd organ come in, is wicked. Then some kind of fucked-up cello and weird computer screams in the background. This album is moody as fuck. The (sonic) cracks around the edges make it much, much more authentically unsettling (to me) than Mezzanine (which I love the first side of).

The whole thing is like the soundtrack to a really frightening sci-fi horror movie, like Alien or something.

I was hoping "watercooling" was a new term to express the phenomenon of waning enjoyment of new music caused by people talking about it as a big ticket item too much.

I take it it refers to some sort of download thingy though.

never read an album's thread before you hear the album

This thread is a bit like watching the Oscars being dished out to films that have yet to be released in the UK.

Yes, that's pretty much what current music talk is about on ILM. Case in point the new Bauhaus thread, where everything had been said two months before album release. Oh, well 21st century and all that...

You say this as if ILM (or the whole internet) hasn't been like this for at least five years now. Dizzee Rascal, anyone?

No I think 'watercooling' refers to that thread with Kate StClair on it.

Oh how many ways one can water cool.

watercooler thread is just a front for illegal music trafficking. ban this sick filth.

what happens by the watercooler stays there.

or you can take it outside with your fag

What happens if Hot Water Music releases a new album?

other than "nobody cares" I mean

Yes this is much better than discussing the album isn't it?

you don't like fun!

unlike the rest of us portishead fans who - oh. ok. I'll get me coat