Portishead - Machine Gun + Virals (Island)
By: Charlie Potter
Drum pads, flange units, patchable analogue rack synths - ooh, this is a video for geeks no doubt about it.
Portishead's new video is the sort of dimly lit, terrifying, noir studio footage you might expect from the Bristol trio. Whilst it's so dank it almost seems like opting out of doing a video, it also manages to deftly re-affirm the band's bold, dark aesthetic, without any thing too confusing or overly fancy getting in the way.
Portishead have chosen the opposite of Brian Gibson (bass player of Lightning Bolt) and Aphex Twin's approach of concealing how exactly it is they do what they do, and whilst you can appreciate that Brian doesn't want anyone to be able to copy his hard work, and understand that Aphex doesn't want his music to be reduced to processes rather than be appreciated for its aesthetic and structural qualities, Portishead have admirably come out and said 'look - this is what we do and this is how we do it, and yeah, if you had this kit you might be able to do what we have done, but the point is you won't'.
Portishead are Portishead. Not you - you're not as clever or as good as them. AND the song's f**king amazing. Respect.
The video can be seen below, along with two revealing viral webisodes - one HERE, and one HERE.
Artists in this article: Portishead