PORTISHEAD
Portishead
This moody second release from the renowned Bristol, England, trip-hop combo plays like a soundtrack to a film about a woman's gradual nervous breakdown. Slow, thrumming bits of otherworldly electronic keyboard and guitar, edgy spots of turntable scratching, dark swatches of swirling orchestral sound and agitated, cymbal-heavy drumming support singer Beth Gibbons's beautifully bleak vocals. At first listen, the music's ultraslow pulse may seem in need of resuscitation. But the disc's eerie disorder and emotionally tortured lyrics soon become agreeably hypnotic. Densely textured, painstakingly original and deeply compelling, Portishead's 11 songs are an acquired taste, but one well worth developing. (Go Beat/London)
By MARK BAUTZ