Portishead Pulls The “Rip” Cord
If you haven’t listened to Portishead’s Third yet, well, why? It’s one of the most arresting albums of the year, full of sounds and twists that don’t reveal themselves until the 20th or 21st listen, and “The Rip” is one of my favorite songs on it–its picked guitar gives way to a Krautrockish hum, with Beth Gibbons’ immediate vocals tugging the proceedings along. The video is a pencil-sketched fever dream full of flying and falling, as well as many up-close ruminations on the nostril. (There’s a higher-quality version of it at their official site, but you’ll need to enter an e-mail address.) [YouTube]
