2020-12-07 (All-Star Series: Beth Gibbons (of Portishead) Edition)

…oooooooooooolleH! Perverts and pervettes, what an agonizingly beautiful, enormously lovely little podcast I have for you this week. Welcome one and all to another installment of the All-Star Series: the Beth Gibbons (of Portishead) Edition! Any of you who may be asking yourselves something to the effect of, “Wait, who’s that?”, should go ahead and slap yourself in the genitals right now for two reasons: 1. I just fuckin’ said it, and 2. Portishead should be known by you, yours, your neighbors and your neighbor’s fuckin’ hamster’s goldfish. Alas, we do not live in the world that should be; we live in the world that is, at least in this timeline, in this supposed universe.

Now, for those of you who may not know, Portishead is one of the most well-known groups to emerge from the trip-hop subgenre. Trip-hop can be thought of as “trippy hip-hop,” but that’s not all it is, and frankly, Portishead pushes the boundaries of that subgenre much like Massive Attack has over the past 30 some-odd fuckin’ years. This edition isn’t centered around trip-hop, though, as Beth Gibbons has also done indie rock, soul, pop, classical, industrial, and likely others as well, and you’re about to hear examples of all of that. Beth Gibbons has a voice that, in my humble opinion, could choke tears from granite. Her vocals are an absolute fuckin’ dream to behold, and if you’re familiar with jazz divas of yesteryear such as Billie Holiday, you’ll have an idea what to expect here. This edition, for the most part, is gonna feel like floating down a fuckin’ river of warm chocolate, complete with the 20-tongued ancient whore who speaks a dead language, feeding syrupy opiates into your urethra. So yeah, you have a fuckin’ excellent edition ahead of you; trust me on that one.

Truth be told, although not like I’d lie about this, Beth Gibbons’ voice is one of the first things I’d point to if ever asked what makes me thankful for the sense of hearing. Some of you especially observant perverts may even recall that I made an edition called that back in late 2015. I thought about making another for Thanksgiving this year, but eh, I went a different direction. Besides, my being thankful for the sense of hearing ought to be a fuckin’ given considering I’m a professional audio engineer and all. So yeah, Beth Gibbons and Portishead have been phenomenal inspirations for me ever since I discovered them over 2 fucking decades ago. I’ve quoted and/or referenced her lyrics a number of times in my poetry, and they were most certainly a go-to for background ambience when I wrote more frequently than I do now.

Anyway, as far as what to expect from this edition, you’ll definitely hear my favorites, absolute classics, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous featured appearances that I tracked down during the compiling of the track list. In case you’re un-fuckin’-aware, I always do that for my All-Star editions. I use them as an opportunity not only to show my appreciation for the artist and the tracks I love, but to expand my knowledge of their catalog. Literally every single one of my All-Star editions has rare finds from all over the place. I’m not privy to some super secret insider knowledge-base or anything. Typically, I just use Discogs.com, Wikipedia and Spotify to find it all. Tools that you too, yes you, have at your disposal. All it takes is a little curiosity, ya know? 

Can you imagine how much more thoroughly you’d enjoy your already favorite artists if you took part of an evening and did a deep dive into their careers? I can tell you that’s certainly been the case for myself with all my All-Star editions thus far, and will likely remain true in perpetuity. I still have many more All-Star editions yet to publish because holy fuck, there are so many talented musicians out there that I absolutely adore, and yet only precious few deserve their own All-Star editions. Shit, I might even make second volumes for some of the ones I’ve made in the past. 

Anyway, yeah, lots of rare and magnificent finds in this one. I included the entirety of Beth’s album with Rustin Man, almost all of Portishead’s studio albums,  a few off their live album that included a full orchestra, a few remixes of well-known tracks of theirs, remixes of other artists’ (which Beth didn’t even touch as far as I know, but I’m including them anyway because they were some of the best of the bunch I discovered), and a couple featured appearances. The Jane Birkin tracks, I’m pretty sure Beth is only backup vocals on those, but they’re lovely all the same. The Joss Stone track was co-written by Beth, but I’m fairly certain she didn’t actually sing on it. The Annie Lennox track, shit, good luck even finding Beth on there. That one has like 20 artists crammed into the 4:49 runtime. The Depeche Mode, U.N.K.L.E., Primal Scream and Paul Weller tracks, I’m pretty sure Beth didn’t have anything to do with those, but one of her bandmates in Portishead did, and they’re all great. 

Lastly, the Henryk Górecki track (I apologize if I butchered the name. Polish breaks my brain.), that one is part of a three movement symphony conducted by one of my other favorite musicians, Krzysztof Penderecki. He worked with my favorite director David Lynch on his phenomenally fucked up film, Inland Empire, and just, wow… That one’s quite an experience, to say the least. 

Speaking of saying the least, I should say absolutely nothing now so we can finally commence. ze. yojne…

01 Portishead - Cowboys (from Portishead) [00:03:51]

02 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Show (from Out of Season) [00:08:29]

03 Rodrigo Leão - Lonely Carousel (feat. Beth Gibbons) (from Cinema) [00:12:48]

04 Portishead - Silence (from Third) [00:16:18]

05 Portishead - Mourning Air (from Portishead) [00:21:17]

06 Portishead - Wandering Star (from Portishead) [00:25:26]

07 Depeche Mode, Johnny Dollar, Portishead - In Your Room (The Jeep Rock Mix) (from Depeche Mode - Singles Box 5) [00:30:16]

08 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Mysteries (from Out of Season) [00:36:29]

09 Portishead - Mysterons (from Dummy) [00:40:56]

10 Jane Birkin - Strange Melody (feat. Beth Gibbons) (from Rendez-vous) [00:45:54]

11 Portishead - Sour Times (from Dummy) [00:49:42]

12 Portishead - Undenied (from Portishead) [00:53:50]

13 Joss Stone - Killing Time (from Mind Body & Soul) [00:58:09]

14 Portishead - All Mine (from Portishead) [01:03:16]

15 Portishead - It Could Be Sweet (from Dummy) [01:07:15]

16 U.N.K.L.E - The Time Has Come (Portishead Plays U.N.K.L.E Mix) (from The Time Has Come E.P.) [01:11:24]

17 Portishead - We Carry On (from Third) [01:15:42]

18 Portishead - Theme From “To Kill A Dead Man” (from Sour Times) [01:22:01]

19 Portishead - Machine Gun (from Third) [01:26:25]

20 Portishead - Strangers (from Dummy) [01:31:05]

21 Portishead - Hunter (from Third) [01:34:59]

22 Portishead - Numb (Numbed In Moscow) (from Sour Times) [01:38:51]

23 Portishead - Nylon Smile (from Third) [01:42:38]

24 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Tom the Model (from Out of Season) [01:45:54]

25 Portishead - Glory Box (Scorn) (from Glory Times [Single] [Disc 2]) [01:49:30]

26 Portishead - Requiem For Anna (from Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited) [01:55:31]

27 Portishead - Half Day Closing (from Portishead) [01:58:06]

28 Henryk Górecki, Beth Gibbons, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Krzysztof Penderecki - II. Lento e largo - Tranquillissimo (from Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 (Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs)) [02:01:52]

29 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Romance (from Out of Season) [02:09:56]

30 Portishead - Only You (from Roseland NYC [Live]) [02:15:00]

31 Portishead - It’s A Fire (from Dummy) [02:20:17]

32 Portishead - Deep Water (from Third) [02:23:53]

33 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Sand River (from Out of Season) [02:25:21]

34 Portishead - The Rip (from Third) [02:29:06]

35 Portishead - Over (from Roseland NYC [Live]) [02:33:31]

36 Primal Scream - Give Out But Don't Give Up (Portishead Remix) (from https://youtu.be/S_ILyLgIPcE) [02:37:38]

37 Portishead - Roads (from Dummy) [02:43:25]

38 Portishead - Seven Months (from Portishead) [02:48:27]

39 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Funny Time of Year (from Out of Season) [02:52:40]

40 Portishead - A Tribute To Monk & Canatella (from Sour Times) [02:59:21]

41 Annie Lennox - Sing (feat. Anastacia, Angelique Kidjo, Beth Gibbons, Beth Orton, Beverley Knight, Bonnie Raitt, Celine Dion, Dido, Faith Hill, Fergie, Gladys Knight, Isobel Campbell, Joss Stone, KT Tunstall, Madonna, Martha Wainwright, Melissa Etheridge, P!nk, Sarah McLachlan, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, Sugababes, k.d. lang) (from Songs of Mass Destruction) [03:10:02]

42 Portishead - Humming (from Portishead) [03:14:38]

43 Paul Weller, Portishead, Adrian Utley - Wild Wood (Sheared Wood Remix) [Paul Weller Vs. Portishead] (from Wild Wood) [03:20:39]

44 Portishead - Small (from Third) [03:24:03]

45 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Resolve (from Out of Season) [03:30:48]

46 Portishead - Plastic (from Third) [03:33:35]

47 Portishead - Pedestal (from Dummy) [03:37:00]

48 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Drake (from Out of Season) [03:40:32]

49 Portishead - Elysium (from Portishead) [03:44:20]

50 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Spider Monkey (from Out of Season) [03:50:12]

51 Portishead - Biscuit (from Dummy) [03:54:19]

52 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Candy Says (Live) (from Out of Season) [03:59:12]

53 Portishead - Threads (from Third) [04:04:27]

54 Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man - Rustin Man (from Out of Season) [04:10:02]

55 Portishead - Numb (Revenge of the Number) (from Rare Tracks Vol. 3) [04:14:14]

56 Elliot Goldenthal - Prospera's Coda (feat. Beth Gibbons) (from Goldenthal: The Tempest (Music from the Motion Picture) [04:17:33]

57 Jane Birkin - My Secret (feat. Beth Gibbons) (from Fictions) [04:24:45]

58 Portishead - Western Eyes (from Portishead) [04:28:23]