So, it’s Saturday and I’m working….yay. The only thing keeping me from killing someone is Portishead’s “Third”…I just grabbed it from iTunes after trying to find a record store in Baltimore County yesterday to no avail…it wasn’t a matter of fearing quality loss or anything, I just like to read the liner notes and crap, but, luckily, they included it in the download.

Anyways…get this record. I had heard the single and some others on Pandora while at work, but, listening to the whole record end to end just ripped my face off. It’s a shame that Portishead gets lumped into the “trip hop” genre (in fact, as a group, they absolutely despise being called that) when they have always integrated a great sense of 60’s spy film scores, analog sampling, and jazz minimalism. This new record is more in the realm of analog synth psychedelia, if you will. It’s just nasty and dirty and beautiful. Beth Gibbons’ voice isn’t for everyone, but, the way they drop in into the landscapes they create just works.

This record is really an embodiment of what I’ve been hearing in my head for years, so, it makes sense to me: deconstructed pop songs with great accompaniment rather than complex arrangements. It isn’t for everyone, but, as your lifestyle coach, I think it’s for you.