wildcat

It hadn't actually occurred to me that Third is Portishead's first new album in ten years. And Christian called it the epitome of Portishead, essentially and platonically Portishead. But now I'm thinking about it, listening to it. Someone mentioned the Silver Apples, there being a Silver Apples vibe there in the speed (or lack of same) in the rhythms. The jazz certainly isn't there in the same way. Well, in some of the tracks. "Plastic" could have been on the second album. "Nylon Smile" on the first. Many of the tracks are way more spare now.

I want my voice back. I sound like a toad right now, while the cold hangs on with nasty little claws that fit into the folds of my esophagus, dig in, you know.



The fourteenth issue of Matt Fraction's CASANOVA is out today. Final chapter of the "Gula" arc. It comes with its own soundtrack listing, so I cued up a playlist of the songs I could find. It does not end cleanly, "openly" is an understatement, there's plenty of salt in the wounds, so there had better be a new arc starting in a few months rather than just the series ending outright. Masks are pulled off in unexpected ways -- there's no way I could have predicted even a moment of this thing -- with bandages wrapped on top of bandages. I've enjoyed Fabio Moon's artwork less than his brother, Gabriel Ba, from the first arc. But Moon is still strong and really hit his stride with this one.

I mean, people find out their entire lives are a lie, only the audience already knew that and you can start to forget that the characters don't, really, right? And then it hits them and it's awkward, like a cocktail party and "Oh, you mean you didn't know? I'm so sorry."

There's absolutely fucked gender stuff going on in this series and because of this last issue, I have to go back and reread the entire thing to figure out what they all are. It's been awkward, the entire way through, lots of uncomfortable moments well executed, all that superspy sexuality left to ripen and overripen on the vine, plump and fragile, bruised under your fingers...