I set up this blog as a way of keeping track of my relationship with all things musical. The idea was, inasmuch as there ever was one, to keep track of all my musical thoughts, talk about new artists who were interesting and perhaps about any major releases that I was interested in.
This results in the odd false start, inevitably. I was interested in the new Portishead album because loads of people are telling me how brilliant it is, and despite the fact that I never, ever got into Dummy despite its ubiquity in student flats in the early to mid-nineties.
So I bought it, listened to it and feel to a degree like I am wasting my time and yours by even talking about it. I never liked Portishead before, I don’t like them now and this album has not changed that opinion in the slightest. So why am I writing this at all? Well I guess I can’t be the only one who’s done this. You hear all the enthusiasm from people you tend to agree with and you think you’ll give it another try and your relationship with the band turns out to have changed so little that you end up feeling a bit stupid. I don’t like this, I knew I didn’t like Portishead, what was I thinking?
Well I wanted to like it. I thought this might be album to persuade me. I tried, and it just fell completely flat. I guess that’s music for you – sometimes you and a band just pass each other by. You be better off reading something written by a Portishead fan, like Linda perhaps, because I just don’t think I’m able to engage with this enough to judge it in the slightest.
Portishead – We Carry On
Portishead – Plastic
website | hype | amazon
I’m trying to kill two birds with one stone with this podcast. Firstly, I am throwing in a couple of songs that I wanted to put on the Contrast Podcast episode entitled Young a few weeks ago. I was away at my brother’s wedding at the time, and I never got the chance so here they are.
Secondly, a good while ago a regular reader of mine called Allen Lulu tagged me with one of these internetty meme thingies whereby you write about the music that was in the charts the year you turned 18. Well for me that year was 1993, but the chart music was abysmal, so I couldn’t possibly do that to you. Instead I had a look at what I was listening to myself from that year and came across so many excellent old songs I haven’t heard for ages that a quick post turned into an entire podcast. And this is that podcast – me at age 18.
Toadcast #9 – The Folly of Youth
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1. The Spin Doctors – Two Princes (03.21)
2. Stereo MCs – Connected (09.08)
3. Radiohead – Anyone Can Play Guitar (13.41)
4. Stone Temple Pilots – Plush (17.30)
5. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Loverman (25.12)
6. Levellers – This Garden (31.29)
7. James – Five-O (38.24)
8. The Long Blondes – Once & Never Again (6Music Acoustic Session) (43.12)
9. Gogol Bordello – Never Want to be Young Again (49.48)
10. The Mathletes – Linger (Cranberries Cover) (55.27)
11. Pearl Jam – Daughter (57.45)
12. Blind Melon – No Rain (63.19)
13. Soul Asylum – New World (67.57)
14. The Lemonheads – If I Could Talk I’d Tell You (71.50)
15. Portishead – Mysterons (75.24)
16. Engine Alley – Song For Someone (82.26)
