Another classic album celebrating it's 20 year anniversary is Bristol's legendary Portishead's sophomore album simply titled Portishead which was the follow up to the Trip Hop classic Dummy (1994), a perfect soundtrack for grey and bleak rainy days and chill mode after a big night out (or in).
Fans were very curious why the follow up album took so long but were quickly hushed once they got to listen it. Portishead didn't have the same impact as the debut album but was still a great follow up but definitely a more darker sounding album and the track I have chosen here is a perfect example of how ill Geoff Barrow's production really was (he should have produced more Underground Hip Hop records because he was giving RZA a run for his money at one stage) and how Beth Gibbon's shimmering vocals were the perfect accompaniment to his production.
I've always loved how "Humming" starts with orchestral strings, eerie and haunting Sci-Fi sounds and leads up to the scratchy, slow pitched crunchy drum break (the original artist escapes me at the moment sorry) and rumbling bassline all dripped in oceans of reverb.
If you haven't been exposed to Portishead before, I suggest that you start with Dummy, then search all of the remixes and B-Sides, move on to the remixes for other artists (Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Massive Attack, Bjork etc) and then check for this LP, the Third LP and who knows we still might get another Portishead album in our lifetime.
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