#1 - Portishead, 3
I love the fact that this sounds nothing like previous Portishead, including any changes indirection that may or may not have been implied by the Beth Gibbons with Rustin Man record. I love the fact that it still sounds like the output of a band, had they gone in a completely different direction (which, in fact, it exactly is). I love the fact that it is still internally consistent. I love the fact that it experiments without falling flat on its face. I love the fact that it starts off with one of the most abrasive, in-your-face, "this is not your daddy's Portishead" declarations of independence songs I've ever heard...and then keeps the promise. But more importantly than any of that, I love the music. Yeah, it grates at times, but purposefully, and more importantly, they make it work. I haven't heard this "out there" "on a different plane than pretty much anything that has been released in recent memory" records since My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. Yes, it's really that good.
#2 - Kaki King, Dreaming of Revenge -- there is just something repeatedly listenable about this album, unlike anything else I've heard this year. There have been some good songwriting and whatnot, but at a purely subconscious, to me level, this one resonates like none of the others do. Also, because of her background as primarily an instrumentalist, it's got great big swashes of instrumentals, which I love. I ended up liking this even more than ...Until We Felt Red, which, to me, was her 'difficult sophomore' album (even though it was her third album). I really think she found her stride with this one.
#3 - Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons -- Speaking of departures, this sounds nothing like what I remember A Silver Mt. Zion sounding like, I need to go back and verify. Sounds like Isis meets ... oh, I don't know, A Silver Mt. Zion ... or something.
...more later...