Madonna v Portishead
Posted by Suzy Pepper on 1 May 2008 - 12:27pm.
My two purchases for this week are 'Hard Candy' by Madonna and 'Third' by Portishead. I've heard some tracks from 'Hard Candy' on the radio and I conclude I don't feel she's hooked up with a killer producer this time. 'Confessions on a Dance Floor' is pure genius from start to finish, it's a few years old now but I listen to it daily on my Ipod. Her greatest work.
Portishead's 'Dummy' reminds me of a happy, carefree summer in York when I was 22 and very much in love. The new album is hard, the audio equivalent of brutalism but there's still the same lazy, sexy, summer excitement lurking underneath.
I hold out more hope for Portishead making the forthcoming summer one to remember.
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"Hard Candy"
I've had "Hard Candy" on the iPod this week and I'm starting to find some of the tracks taking hold in my brain which is usually a good sign. There are bits of it where it sounds like she's opened the wrong studio door and has happened upon Timbaland & Justin Timberlake doing their thing in a studio and they've got her to join in. I think that ultimately it will be to "Confessions" what "Music" was to "Ray of Light" - pretty good but not as good (and I guess we just hope that the next one isn't "American Life" !).
I've found that whenever a track from Portishead's 2nd album comes on shuffle, the vibe of it immediately brings on this feeling of creeping dread and suddenly my life has turned into a Dementor attack or a trailer for an Eli Roth film. It never used to be like this when I listened to it back when it first came out. Everything I've heard about their third album is that it's even more like that so I'm undecided about whether to get it yet.
Madonna......um no...
Maddie has to go in the folder marked (No) for me. I've never connected with her stuff. I really like that Portishead single though, so I'm looking forward to hearing the album.
Madonna?
Never liked the chick.
Oh, and...
Hello there Empress!
Not that I'm blog stalking or anything.....
Fight!
I wonder who would win between those 3 and her. Geoff Barrow seems like he could get pretty angry but Madonna has the muscle power. Wouldn't put take much to defeat Beth Gibbons I reckon. Wonder what Harry Hill would conclude?
Hi Simon!
Hey, I didn't know you were on here. Fab.
Sven, Beth is quite sexy I think. She doesn't have Madonna's fire but seeing a few more wrinkles around the eyes since 'Dummy' really endears her to me. Sometimes it's lovely to grow older in the company of people you admire. They're from Bristol, my neck of the woods too, so I guess for that reason I hope Beth wins.
Simon H, I largely share your views but I defend American Life, while not being up there with Confessions, it's still a great album I think.
Still, Portishead it is.
Yes I do like Beth too
For me Portishead are a band who I really liked when they were newish but after a while I just stopped listening to them. Not really sure why. That just happens sometimes. But I am intrigued by their new stuff. I think it's good that they waited a while (a long while!) until they really had something to say and something new to offer. Maybe Madonna should have followed suit. I do think she is underrated for her musical contribution though (rather than all that changing image aspect). Perhaps it's a pop (especially dancey pop) versus rock syndrome, where one is often over-praised and the other under appreciated? Having said that I own no Madonna music! Well I had a cassette of Immaculate Collection once. I think possibly I like her Like a Prayer era most. Going on too much now. Will stop.
I never really rated Madonna's music...
and after seeing her playing tonsil tennis with Britney Spears, any shred of dignity she had left was exploded in a moment of utter awfulness.
Well yes
that kind of nonsense has tended to overshadow the music. Crucifying herself on stage and all that 'Sex' book tripe - pretty tiresome.
Sven, I'm with you on the
Sven, I'm with you on the long gap accolade, I think this adds to the mystery and anticipation of the new work, that coupled with a general nostalgia for being so bloomin' young when the last album came out.
Madonna, when teamed with the right producer, has done some fantastic music, but this latest album is not an example of this. C'mon Beth, create some more memories for me!
Incredible? I think not
I like a fair bit of Madonna's stuff, including Confessions on a Dance Floor, and indeed have a particular soft spot for Erotica (I could probably have phrased that more felicitously, but no matter). However, the two songs that I've heard from this new album, the single and Incredible, are just rubbish: tuneless, painfully modish production, vocals so processed that you barely recognise it's her, back-of-the-envelope lyrics. She's no Aretha, but she can sing worth a damn (examples: Oh Father and Til Death Us Do Part); you'd never guess from the bilge surfacing under her name now.
Any chance of a semi-acoustic album with some decent songs, Maddie?