Both Portishead and Kraftwerk, who played before Prince, managed to fill Coachella’s huge outdoor space with arresting music and incredible visuals–I’d last seen Kraftwerk ten years ago at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, and I’d forgotten just how striking the tableau presented by the simple… More »
One thing that’s been nice about Coachella: Most of the outstanding performances so far have served as a nice corrective to my complaints about the male-white-semi-corporate-oppressive nature of current alt-rock. I saw four terrific performances from lady-powered bands that almost made me feel a tiny bit less despondent about the gender balance of rock right now: Portishead (who I saw Thursday night), the Breeders, Tegan & Sara, and Santogold all made me happy to be there, to the point where I didn’t even worry about when my last sunscreen application was until after each of their sets. (And yeah, it’s probably not much of a surprise that 50% of them first appeared on my personal radar back in the ’90s.) Video and brief writeups after the jump.
ARTIST: Portishead
TITLE: 3
RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2008
WEB DEBUT: March 6, 2008
Hey, here’s a track-by-track breakdown of the forthcoming Portishead album Third. The lucky fellow allowed to audition the album months ahead of almost everyone else on planet Earth? Fellow Bristolian Mark Stewart of Pop Group, Maffia, and part-time rock critic fame. More »
From the Portishead Web site, a little bit of news that rendered both halves of the Idolator team unable to communicate in anything but emoticons using smiling faces: “We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be releasing our album, titled THIRD. on April 14th 2008. More »
Because people just couldn’t wait two days for the official announcement (coming in just hours), news rumor broke over the weekend that Portishead are “officially” headling the West Coast fest and Radiohead would headline the (not) Coachella happening on the East Coast. More »
Kevin Bronson at the Los Angeles Times has a sort of update on the heatstroke-inducing desert jam that is Coachella Festival, the lineup of which is being announced next week. According to Bronson, not only is the above poster totally off, My Bloody Valentine will not be one of the “surprising veteran act[s]” on the show’s roster–but who cares, because apparently Portishead is going to be there! Maybe I should brave the desert, although I’d need to stock up on some SPF 150 and a gigantic floppy hat before doing so. A list of bands who are, so far, totally definitely 100% rumored to be appearing according to the Internets and blog boards and such after the jump. Can you say “yay, ’90s”?
Captured on stage at All Tomorrow’s Parties, this new track is a more violent Portishead than we’ve maybe ever heard before, with Mssrs. Utley and Barrow throwing down on some sick Test Dept./DAF brand electronic drumming and Ms. Gibbons in suitably ethereal voice within the din. (The YouTube rip and the live recording may add a bit to the tune’s harshness.) Surprised? Well wait, there’s more.
Today in yessss: Ten years after the release of its last studio album, Portishead is putting the finishing touches on its third full-length, with the mastering process scheduled for November. More »
Today in yessss: Ten years after the release of its last studio album, Portishead is putting the finishing touches on its third full-length, with the mastering process scheduled for November. More »
