Portishead

There is something pitch perfect in the marriage of Portishead's resonant trip-hop with the grandeur of a symphony orchestra. To be sure, it was a special night in New York City when this gem was enacted (although, two of the tracks were recorded elsewhere). Beth Gibbons' voice is a pleading vibrato siren in a fathoms-deep soundscape, while the live horns, drums and turntables sparkle. Live at Roseland is a swansong of sorts -- though they never officially disbanded, Portishead have been on indefinite hiatus since its release.

This exceptional concert recording dramatizes how the musical goals that drive this Bristol,
England, quartet eclipse anything as fleeting as trip-hop (that most stupid of Nineties pop
coinages). Mostly recorded at New York's Roseland Ballroom on July 24th, 1997, these
songs find the group's soprano center, Beth Gibbons, applying her featherweight gravity to
subjects like love ("Only You"), time ("Humming") and loss ("Cowboys"). "It's left u... More >