English singer-songwriter Beth Gibbons came in the picture as the voice/face
of trip-hop outfit Portishead when the band released their debut LP Dummy
in 1994. Two longplayers followed, the self-titled (1997) and the last, so far,
simply titled Third. Then silence, still now.
But last year Beth Gibbons came back, solo, with
her critically acclaimed debut Lives Outgrown.
She’s touring the album right now.
BETH GIBBONS, the former arresting voice of trip-hop visionaries Portishead released her praised solo debut album Lives Outgrown
last year, in May. She’ll take it on the road.
Gibbons about the album: “I realised what life was like with no hope. And that was
a sadness I’d never felt. Before, I had the ability to change my future, but when you’re
up against your body, you can’t make it do something it doesn’t want to do. People
started dying.
TUTV: Gibbons processes her pains of loss on this shadowy solo debut.
She still has that ghostly vocal vulnerability, as if she wanders, in slo-mo,
in a thick fog far away from the real world, to to get away from her
harming demons.
Musically, the tone is both delicate and tender, mysterious and introspective, with an overall sense of disturbing catharsis, accompanied by mourning strings, big drums and acoustic melancholia. You need several spins to connect with Gibbons‘ enigmatic world, but in the end, the result is truly affecting.
Two months ago renowned noise rock producer STEVE ALBINI
announced a new LP with his band SHELLAC, titled TO ALL TRAINS.
Their 6th and first in 10 years.
Unfortunately, Albini couldn’t experience its release (May 17)
as the fatal news came in, on May 7, of his passing following
a heart attack.
It wasn’t really certain if the release would go ahead or not. But here it is,
featuring his long-time, faithful friends/musicians Bob Weston (bass) and
drummer Todd Trainer.
(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – Belgium 2017)
The recordings already started in 2017 featuring several songs
the band used to play live for quite some time by then.
TUTV: It’s vintage Shellac/Steve Albini with its fractured song structures, its capricious and minimalistic resonance, its broken riffs, edgy hooks, sinewy drumming, Albini‘s poignant vocals and the raw and rough post-punk dynamics at play. Absolutely weird to listen to
it, with the incredible knowledge that Albini is no more.
The album closes with the ominous track I Don’t Fear Hell, including these lines “I don’t fear hell. Their baseball team is undefeated. If there’s a heaven, I hope they’re
having fun. ‘Cause if there’s a hell, I’m gonna know everyone.” Sounds quite bizarre and macabre at this very moment. Maybe, just maybe, Albini is happy, wherever he might
be. Rest in peace.
Info: “FIAFTNSLABB is not only an ode to celebrating naivety, the record is
deliberately kept very raw and playful. The band plays a kind of duplo-metal
that opts for simplicity and a wide color palette.
The band sounds hungry, nervous and exaggerated in its bipolar nature: the je-m’en-foutism of post-punk and the concrete character of 90’s alt-metal both contribute equally to their DNA. In their brew where chunks of hardcore are mixed with noise, indie, prog
and punk, no house is sacred anymore.”
Aaaarggghhhhh (photo by TUTV)
TUTV: No pop tunes, no songs about the bees and the trees. This record is stuffed with manicial mind-fuckers and badass brain-breakers that trash and slash your poor stereo relentlessly and mercilessly. The maddening man in the middle, mental vocalist Jasper, screams and howls, and spits and sneers, with bone-chilling and psychotic horsepower.
Think Kurt Cobain with 4 lungs, fronting a hellish hardcore gang featuring 3 other ruthless punks on an ear-splitting mission. No brakes, no breaks. No rest for the wicked. Ronker is
a barbaric force, their singer is an out-of-this-normal-world performer, their debut is a flabbergasting monster.
All you loonies out there, get out of your straitjackets, escape from the asylum
and jump up and down on your way home like post-punk kangaroos on speed.
The four mustache horsemen of the Apocalypse have arrived.
TUTV: Ever heard of politically and society-caring techno?
Well, thematically, it’s what this record is about. And the
alarming music is its perfect soundtrack.
As theoretical physicist Einstein said (1879-1955): “Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth” and English modernist novelist D.H. Lawrence (1985-1930) wrote: “Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically“. Two quotes, so relevant in 2024, meaning that nobody, especially all power-greedy world leaders/politicians, ever listened carefully to what these geniuses had to say. No wonder these two masterminds show up on this record.
As Leg Puppy states about his UK country: “This used to be a hell of a great country.”
Again the narcissistic Tories fucked up. Brexshit is their awful work. Unfortunately,
they get away with their bullshit.
Sonically, Humanity 2.0 is heavily influenced by Puppy‘s natural musical habitat:
the 90s techno/acid house revolution, developed around the mid-1980s by DJs
from Chicago and British trance-dance and (il)legal rave-orientated acts such as Chemical Brothers, The Orb, Leftfield, The Prodigy and lots of other e-tastic
crusaders. Throw all this together and you get Humanity 2.0.
Again LPI (Leg Puppy Intelligence) created an intoxicating
roller coaster with mind-exploring, electronic symphonies
for a 2024 space Odyssey.
Leg Puppy 1.0 is canceled, welcome to Leg Puppy 2.0
Info: “The album explores the dichotomy between an inner turmoil that can plague a fragile mind and the euphoria of letting go and tuning out the outside world. The heavy burden of insomnia is a recurring theme while the album also celebrates the static hums and pulsating rhythms which contrast humans and machines.”
TUTV: Seadog alternate trippy synth dream-pop symphonies with delicate and subtle acoustic musings and with inventive, compelling compositions. Stylishly crafted melodies and crystalline harmonies are omnipresent, but in different tones and timbres, which makes Internal Noise a sonically multi-colored record.
📷 Zara Pears
Its production is spot-on, not over or underdone, the arrangements and orchestrations match the overall sparkling sonority. It’s obvious that a lot of work, creativity, energy and love went into this album. Give it a couple of spins and you’ll discover a high-songwriting-quality opus.
BETH GIBBONS was the voice/face of renowned British trip-hop
outfit Portishead who released (only) 3 LPs between 1994 and 2008.
She’ll have her solo debut album, named PEOPLE OUTGROWN out on 17th May.
The longplayer was recorded over the last decade and includes with production
by Gibbons, James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode), and Lee Harris (Talk Talk).
It takes inspiration from a time of deep reflection, change, and, “lots of goodbyes.”
Gibbons about the album: “I realised what life was like with no hope. And that was
a sadness I’d never felt. Before, I had the ability to change my future, but when you’re up against your body, you can’t make it do something it doesn’t want to do. People started
dying.
When you’re young, you never know the endings, you don’t know how it’s going to pan out.
You think: we’re going to get beyond this. It’s going to get better. Some endings are hard to digest.”
BETH GIBBONS was the voice/face of renowned British trip-hop
outfit Portishead who released (only) 3 LPs between 1994 and 2008.
She just issued a press statement with news of her first solo album.
It’s baptized PEOPLE OUTGROWN and will land on 17th May.
Gibbons about the album: “I realised what life was like with no hope. And that was a sadness I’d never felt. Before, I had the ability to change my future, but when you’re up against your body, you can’t make it do something it doesn’t want to do. People started dying. When you’re young, you never know the endings, you don’t know how it’s going to pan out. You think: we’re going to get beyond this. It’s going to get better. Some endings are hard to digest.”
First single FLOATING ON A MOMENT reflects Gibbons‘ uncomfortable
awareness of humankind’s mortality. A heartfelt musing, a gripping ballad.
“I’m floating on a moment
Don’t know how long
No one knows
No one can stay
All going to nowhere
All going
Make no mistake”
THE MIRACULOUS LOVE KIDS are a musical group of Afghan girls who along with their families, escaped Kabul, Afghanistan
and fled to Islamabad, Pakistan when the Taliban took over the
country again.
The group was founded by American
musician and activist Lanny Cordola.
To mark the second anniversary of the tragic turnaround, they recorded
covers of two songs with Beth Gibson, the arresting vocalist/lyricist of British trip-hop act.
