Oracle - Wake (2010)

Fans of Portishead will definitely want to check out Wake, the new album by Portland's Oracle. It's a chilly mix of beats, keyboards, and the melancholy vocals of Orianna Herrman. Trip hop always makes me want to sip clear drinks in highball glasses. And while Wake probably could soundtrack a hip new urban lounge, the songs are more dynamic than just background music. In particular, I like the harmonies and slinking rhythms on "What To Say" (mp3).

Check them out at their CD release show at Dante's on February 4th.

Top 10 Most Viewed Reviews

In honor of sticking with it for a year, here are our Top 10 Most Viewed Reviews. It's a diverse list. Don't get this confused with our favorite albums. Only four here made it on that list. Maybe we should only post reviews of songs in iPod commercials. We'd be WAY more popular.

1. Chairlift - "Bruises"
   
   
2. The Dandy Warhols - Earth To The Dandy Warhols
   
   
3. The Islands - Arm's Way
   
   
4. Katy Perry - One of the Boys
   
   
5. David Sides - Collection Volume 1
   
   
6. Wolf Parade - Mount Zoomer
   
   
7. Hold Steady - Stay Positive
   
   
8. Portishead - Third
   
   
9. Titus Andronicus - Airing of Grievances
   
   
10. Tonya Watts - Handcuff My Soul
    

Portishead - Third (2008)

Part of the reason this review took me so long to write is that after purchasing Third, people kept commenting that it was a "departure" from Portishead's earlier work. So, of course, I had to revisit the excellent 1994 album Dummy to see for myself. Upon listening to both (I'm not a huge fan of the self titled 1997 album, now that's a departure), I've come to the conclusion that the hypnotic vocal power of Beth Gibbons and trippy electronic twanging make Portishead Portishead, and although Third is perhaps more spare and slightly more raw? aggressive? than their previous work, it's still very much Portishead: moody, slightly spooky, driven by a vague sense of longing, and pretty sexy.

The best example of this is "Nylon Smile," Gibbons moaning "I don't know what I've done to deserve you" over an ambient, insistent rhythm. Two other hot tracks are "Silence" and "Machine Gun."

On the other hand, there's also the 1 minute and 33 second "Deep Water," Gibbons singing accompanied by what sounds sort of like a ukulele. I'm not feeling it, and I'm glad the rest of the album stays away from this.

This first time I listened to Third, it was Sunday morning, and I was making pancakes. It gave the whole endeavor a sort of dark, seamy feel. Music that turns Sunday breakfast into something vaguely naughty is always fine by me.

Candie Payne - I Wish I Could Have Loved You More (2007)

Retro and cool, Candie Payne follows in a great lineage of seductive singers like Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield and Portishead's Beth Gibbons. Her songs are smooth, romantic and bluesy, with a little attitude and a bit of a hip shake. I can't get enough of "Take Me" and "I Wish I Could Have Loved You More."