Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man
Out of Season
[Go! Beat; 2002]
Rating: 5.7
Portishead were a simulacrum, their anchors sunk deep in sample culture with Beth Gibbons' torch singer
stylings and Adrian Utley's soundtrack scrapings operating merely as tools in the sample yard. In its
evocation of forgotten jazz, blues, film music, and hip-hop, Portishead's Dummy was the quintessence
of "even better than the real thing", yet when the magic ceased on the band's eponymous sophomore album, it
was ultimately due to their desire to be the real thing. On Portishead, the trio retained
their hip-hop elements only in principle-- they played every sound themselves, pressed the results to
dubplates, and then cut and looped them into backing tracks. In practice, Portishead had abandoned the
sampler's art-- the recontextualization of sound and the creation of history from history-- and so, the
thrill had gone. It's no coincidence that the best post-Dummy release from the Portishead camp
remains DJ Andy Smith's eclectic mash-up, The Document.
Beth Gibbons, one assumes, was never much into hip-hop. Hers, after all, was the bleeding heart at the
center of it all, and her remarkable, tortured voice (equal parts Billie Holiday and Sandy Denny), remains
capable of gravitas for any occasion. "Mysteries" opens Out of Season brilliantly, folk arpeggios
plucking their way around Beth's gasps while a cadre of gospel singers in the background oooooh the record
into being. "Tom the Model" takes that cue and runs with it, answering delicate folk verses with a nicely
retro big-band soul chorus. Beth attacks the song with verve, and even the hint of self-pity in the lyric
is kicked into touch by her defiance.
If only the rest of Out of Season displayed that energy. Instead, we're quickly plunged into moodiness
for the sake of moodiness, overwhelmed by Gibbons' frankly unpitiable obsession with her own misfortune. At
their best, Portishead turned this kind of smoky cabaret blues into an invigorating showpiece. But replace
crackling vinyl and subwoofer bass with somber piano and mournful cello, and all you're left with is... well,
a pretty goddamn miserable woman who happens to have a great voice. That's "Show" for you, and for all its
miserable pleading, it's as forgettable a song as Gibbons has ever crooned.
"Romance" tries some moaning french horns on for size, and frankly looks ridiculous in them. Chrissakes, who
suggested a 90-second french horn solo was a good idea? And again, if Gibbons' Billie Holiday routine was
engaging in Portishead's hip-hop context-- reconstituted blues that fit their mix perfectly-- here it
threatens to go a little pantomime.
And now to the issue of Rustin Man: What is the deal with calling yourself Rustin Man? Are we supposed
to let that slide? Turns out it's an alias for ex-Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb. Now, Talk Talk did some
wonderful things-- Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock both proved what can be achieved with
emphasis on mood and atmosphere. Here, however, Webb allows Gibbons to dictate both, and it just doesn't
work. Striking as her voice can be, she does little to prove that it has the emotive range to match its
power.
Elsewhere, "Resolve" is a pretty but inconsequential folk tune, and "Drake" and "Funny Time of Year" waltz
their way in and out of the frame without forcing you to take much notice. Which leaves "Rustin Man" the
song, a frustrating hint of what might have been. Its pure ambience (think Dot Allison's recent album, if
produced by Tim Friese-Greene) sounds remarkably modern next to the trad fare that precedes it, and the
warbling and sizzling of the synths forces Beth to be a little more active with her vocal-- she slips in
and out of the mix, allowing atmosphere to build rather than overwhelming it with her moods. Sonically,
of course, it's no less bleak than the rest of this album, and though it does bring in some much-needed
excitement at the end, it's just not powerful enough to save the whole from its vanilla dejection.
-Jesse Fahnestock, November 20th, 2002