Badass is a much-maligned term. If you say it, it's corny, and if you try to embody it, you usually end up looking like a tool. An over the hill accountant wearing a pristine leather jacket and straddling a twenty thousand dollar Harley is probably not badass. A scrawny nineteen year old with a silver chain, brand new kicks, and jeans five sizes too large is probably not badass, either (that was me, btw). Badass cannot be found on an episode of Jersey Shore. Though perhaps badass is in the eye of the beholder, and as ridiculous as Ronnie D and The Situation look to some, maybe the fact that they are so convinced that they are badass makes them badass. I can't believe I said that word so many times in one paragraph. If the word badass was in the dictionary, an audioclip of this performance would play. From the old horror movie organ as theremin intro, to the massive beat that drops out of nowhere, to the DJ's stuttering scratching, to Beth Gibbons' haunted vocals, to the insane acoustics of that venue, to the horns, bass, and strings that add to the creepiness. The bass especially, that complements the beat with the "DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM!"
The section at 4:10 is great, with the beat cutting out, Gibbons' piling on strindbergandhelium.com adjectives like unresolved and unredeemed, and the orchestra enhancing the morbidity. The beat kicks back in, we get a great shot of Gibbons singing, and the dj doubles up on the beat and starts scratching again. Basically, give me weird sounds, beats, and female vocals, and I'm good to go.
Dummy is my favorite Portishead album, but they're all great. They FINALLY came out with a new record a couple of years ago, and they've still got it! P. S. Is it ironic that the week after I post about Salinger I go on what basically amounts to a rant about phonies? I promise it was just a vehicle to discuss this song.
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