35. Third

Third by Portishead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, what a magical album. The voice of Beth Gibbons is mysterious and melancholic. What really makes this album amazing though is the music. Like Radiohead or Björk, this band ventures into unconventional territory with the electronic strangeness of tracks like "Silence" and "Hunter."

"Nylon Smile" is a trip rock, experimental piece of brilliance that echoes and reverberates as if you're swimming underwater. The minor tones evoke a sense of sadness, but these songs are also quite tender. It's refreshing to hear some emotional electronica from time to time, and this band demonstrates that with this album.

"Plastic" is a beautiful psychedelic retro piece that buzzes with desperation with pauses and nuances in all the right places. "We Carry On" bounces with Stravinskyesque percussion, an electronic hum, and a marching band interlude that aurally challenges the listener in a way that is original and entirely new. The guitar at the end is also killer.

Another jewel is "Machine Gun", an incredible track in the way that the music actually emulates the firing of a machine gun through monotonic, electronic pulsing rhythms repeated throughout. The rhythms then take on a different character through several different digitized manipulations as the song progresses.

All I can say is Third is one impressive piece of aural art. It just blows the mind.

Track listing:

1. Silence
2. Hunter
3. Nylon Smile
4. The Rip
5. Plastic
6. We Carry On
7. Deep Water
8. Machine Gun
9. Small
10. Magic Doors
11. Threads

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Who are Portishead?