Daily Jam - Funny Time of Year

Winter officially starts now, but we've got nothing but 70-80 degree days ahead of us here in the greater Austin area...which i think sucks.  So here's to listening to some music to put me in an appropriately chilly mood.  Here's Beth Gibbons (Portishead) and Rustin Man (Talk Talk's Paul Webb) with "Funny Time of Year," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Hunter

So far this year, we've gotten two amazing albums from Portishead alumni Beth Gibbons and Geoff Barrow (with his band Beak>).  It would really be a cherry on top of all that if we could somehow get the elusive fourth album from Portishead.  It's been 16 years, and i think we all need something like that.  Anyway, here they are from 16 years ago with "Hunter," our Daily Jam.

Beth Gibbons

We are getting new solo music from the one and only Beth Gibbons in May with the Portishead singer's upcoming new album "Lives Outgrown."  Working with Joel Ford and Talk Talk's Lee Harris, this one just moved up to one of my most anticipated releases of the year.  Check out first single "Floating on a Moment" below and pre-order the record here from Domino.

Daily Jam - All Mine

It never ceases to amaze me the way that particular songs can instantly take me back in time, reviving old memories, and inducing nostalgic pangs like some sort of weird aural sixth sense. They can paint pictures of times past or reignite old feelings, a whole series of moods, tones, and colors. I’ve written about it before (multiple times), and it just serves as evidence of how powerful music can be and the effect it can have on one’s subconscious and ability to recall.

It’s kind of beautiful really.

The opening horn blasts and trip-hop spy-movie beat of Portishead’s “All Mine,” from the band’s 1997 self-titled record are so intrinsically wrapped up in my first semester of college, that it’s difficult not to think about laying around in my dorm room, or smoking cigarettes with my roommate on the dorm’s outside steps, or exploring the campus or the city, nervous energy abounding as I find myself far from home among a sea of new faces and experiences. When Beth Gibbons joins in with her throaty siren’s call, I’m a teenager again, a whole future wide open in front of me, fear and excitement and exhilaration and joy all swirling around together in one big, kind of naïve mess of an 18-year old.

All nostalgia fever aside, the song is just a real wonder in its own right, a sexy and grainy amalgamation of colliding musical forces. It’s like some alternate reality Bond theme* that we’ll never deserve to get. Or like Lalo Schifrin making magic with The Wu-Tang Clan. Or like some piece of transcendent art that could maybe, sort of exist in any era, and be appreciated by any generation, if not for some far-out, exotic sound within that pulls it back to another. It’s gorgeous, and haunting, and like so much of the band’s output, can continue to challenge and seduce me over 25 years later.

So cheers to Geoff Barrow. Cheers to Beth Gibbons. Cheers to Adrian Utley and Dave McDonald. And cheers to me feeling like a young man again.

Or a stupid kid…depending on your perspective.

*It’s a goddamn shame that Portishead have never graced us with a Bond theme. My heart swells just thinking about it.

Listen to "All Mine" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Cowboys

I hold on to the hope that one day we'll get a fourth Portishead album.  If we're lucky.  Here's a track from their second album.  Listen to "Cowboys" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Only You

Woke up in a Portishead mood this morning.  Here's the cool and slinky "Only You" from the band's 1997 self-titled album, our Daily Jam.

Kendrick Lamar Featuring Beth Gibbons

I haven't been able to sit down and really listen to and absorb Kendrick Lamar's latest album yet, which is a shame since "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" has been out for over a month now, but a standout for me has to be the Beth Gibbons assisted "Mother I Sober."  Lamar starts with a subdued, almost whispered delivery before gradually raising his voice while Gibbons provides ghostly backing vocals over piano.  Check it out below and stream the album wherever you like stream albums.

Daily Jam - Mysteries

Since the moment i heard it for the first time, i have adored "Mysteries," the opening track from Beth Gibbons' and Rustin Man's "Out of Season" LP.  I don't know if i ever would have guessed that pairing members of Portishead and Talk Talk together would create utter magic, but indeed it did.  Listen to the haunting track below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Sour Times

It's gray today and perfectly suited for the dour sounds of Portishead.  Dig on those spy movie music vibes and listen to "Sour Times" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Humming

When i'm in the right head space, Portishead is the best band that ever existed.  Guess i'm in that head space this morning.  Here's "Humming," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - The Rip

It took 11 years between Portishead's second and third album...which means we're about due for a fourth right?  Anyway, here's "The Rip," a haunting and mysterious song that became one of the band's instant staples, your Daily Jam.

Beth Gibbons and The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra

Beth Gibbons of Portishead fame has a new album heading our way in March.  Recorded live with The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2014, Gibbons sang soprano for a performance of composer Henryk Gorecki's "Symphony No. 3."  Watch a trailer for the accompanying performance film below, and pre-order "Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)" here from Domino.

Portishead - SOS

A little earlier this year, Portishead released a cover of ABBA's "SOS" that was featured in Ben Wheatley's "High-Rise," and it was really damn good.  The trio just put out a video for the song today, a somber black and white affair, that closes with a quote from the recently murdered British politician Jo Cox.  Watch below.

BEAK KAEB

You really can't go wrong with anything from Geoff Barrow, whether it be prog rock, krautrock, film score, hip-hop, or Portishead.  His latest comes from his proggy project BEAK, a new EP also featuring songs from alter-egos KAEB.  The whole this is a weird and wonderful mix of prog, krautrock, psych, folk, and experimental tinkerings.  Listen to KAEB's ghostly "When We Fall" below and get the album here.

UPDATED: I tried to use the full name of the bands using the proper "greater than" and "less than" symbols used, but it freaked blogger out, so we're left with what we've got.

Gonga and Beth Gibbons cover Black Sabbath

UK metal band Gonga just offered up a pretty terrific and faithful cover to Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath," featuring amazing vocals from Portishead's Beth Gibbons.  The track has been dubbed "Black Sabbeth," and the video below is full of scenes from Mario Bava's 1963 film..."Black Sabbath."  Watch it below.