Search - Beth Gibbons, Rustin Man :: Out of Season

Out of Season
Beth Gibbons, Rustin Man
Out of Season
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, Folk, International Music, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (10) - Disc #1

Debut solo album from Portishead vocalist, in collaboration with Talk Talk man Paul Webb (alias Rustin Man). Eschewing Portishead's lush orchestrations for a sparse, bare production, this is a collection of quiet, acoust...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Beth Gibbons, Rustin Man
Title: Out of Season
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Go Beat/Universal
Release Date: 11/12/2002
Album Type: Import
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, Folk, International Music, Pop, Rock
Styles: Contemporary Folk, Europe, Britain & Ireland, Singer-Songwriters, Vocal Pop, Adult Alternative, Folk Rock
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 044006657424

Synopsis

Album Description
Debut solo album from Portishead vocalist, in collaboration with Talk Talk man Paul Webb (alias Rustin Man). Eschewing Portishead's lush orchestrations for a sparse, bare production, this is a collection of quiet, acoustic folk and jazz balladry which showcases Gibbons's versatile voice. Features additional production and guitar work by her Portishead colleague Adrian Utley. Lee Harris & Simon Edwards of Talk Talk also contributed to the record. The album was mixed by Phill Brown who worked on Talk Talk's 'Spirit Of Eden'. Go Beat.

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CD Reviews

High, High Art
LHB | Dallas, TX | 10/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"In my humble opinion, most of the reviewers below, by focussing on the stylistic aspects of Beth Gibbons' new album, have completely missed the point. Let me add also that I'm one of Portishead's most rabid fans, and that I consider their almost impossible to find "Trip Hop Reconstruction" (differently titled depending on the country of origin--mine's Australian) to be one of the greatest albums ever--along with Dummy, Portishead and Roseland of course. But maybe albums like "Out of Season" should be reviewed both by normal people who can critique them effectively on their purely stylistic attributes, and those who are "damaged" in some way, and who can therefore critique something like this on a more general aesthetic level. Because this album bears comparison with the greatest musical art in western civilization that seeks to encompass the emotions of loneliness, alienation desolation and despair. I'm serious. I recently compared it to Brigit Fassbaender's Schubert "Winterreise," Shostakovich's 14th Symphony, the "Abscheid" from Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" and Moussorgsky's great "Sunless" and "Songs and Dances of Death" cycles. That's about as good as it gets, and this magnificent album easily belongs in that "elite" company. The songs range from excellent to unbelievable as do Paul Webb's haunting arrangements and accompaniments. But it's Gibbons vocal performance that elevates this into the realm of high, serious art. I've never heard a singer (I'm speaking here solely about the perforance rather than the material) who is able to convey the meaning and essence of what if feels like to be completely, hopelessly isolated from the world. This isn't solitude, it's bleak, stark loneliness.



Lucky for them, most people don't get it. For example, one of the reviewers below describes the dreamy atmosphere of "Sand River" and quotes the lines "Beauty has a hold on me; Autumn leaves, pretty as can be." But the emotional center of the song is in the next two lines, when Gibbons virtually sobs out "Everyone can see, everyone except me." Try to imagine what it feels like when even beauty leaves you behind. Listening to Beth Gibbons will help, if you want to give it a try. I've never heard a vocal performance like this. Gibbon's can float a beautiful note better than just about anyone when she wants to, and when she does so on this album--taken in context--it will tear your heart out. When beauty takes a back seat to truth, as it often must on a work like this, I find myself wondering how someone can get so close to the edge without losing it and falling off. Subtle changes in inflexion, the emphasis she places on certain words, the way she adopts a slightly different tone to suit the mood of each song remind me of what separates something like Maxim Vengerov's shattering performance of Shostakovich's 1st Violin concerto, which literally makes all prior and subsequent recordings of the work superfluous, from other, merely competent performances. You can't describe it without doing it a disservice; this is the truly the kind of music-making that begins where mere words lose their ability to adequately convey the intent of the communicator.



So this album is for everyone who's ever stuck a needle in their arm on a slate gray Sunday afternoon in a filthy flat in some rotten city, who's ever made a serious attempt at drinking themselves to death, who's ever known that "died of a broken heart" can be more than just a metaphor, who has gone a month without even a call from a telephone solicitor, who has ever forgotten how to talk because they've gone so long without speaking to another person, who has loved so hard what they can never love again that they wished they had never loved at all. Each song, in its own way, is like a suicide note from the edge of the abyss, except perhaps for "Rustin Man" which sounds as much like a love song from beyond the grave as you're ever likely to hear. This is not music to make your martini slide down easier, or to use as a soundtrack to your next sexual conquest. It's not easy to listen to, and it might just ruin your day. But make no mistake about it, this is one of the greatest vocal recordings ever made."
Beautiful "Season"
E. A Solinas | MD USA | 09/14/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)

"You know her best as the ethereal voice of Portishead, but in "Out of Season" Beth Gibbons strays away from indie trip-hop into melancholy acoustic pop, jazz and folk, collaborated with Paul "Rustin Man" Webb of Talk Talk. This autumn-toned collection is melancholy and pensive, a bittersweet little gem.



"Out of Season" starts off strong with the gentle, plaintive "Mysteries," followed by the shimmery "Tom the Model," the piano ballads "Show" and "Resolve," jazzy "Sand River," and the brilliantly murky "Spider Monkey." It finally wraps up with the bizarrely enticing "Rustin Man," a wavering outflow of shimmery sonic currents and Gibbons' submerged vocals.



The opening lines of "Sand River" ("Autumn leaves/Beauty's got a hold on me/Autumn leaves/Pretty as can be") pretty much describe "Out of Season." The cool prettiness of Portishead carries over to the folkier, simpler tunes.



Beth Gibbons' vocals are outstanding, clear and sensual in just about every song. "Rustin Man" and "Romance" are the exceptions. In the former, her voice sounds seductively mechanical; in the latter, she almost sounds like she's parodying a torch singer sometimes. It's a little disconcerting, but her voice is almost uniformly beautiful.



The instrumentation is stripped-down to bare bones: piano and acoustic guitar, most of the time. Adding a bit of extra flavor are gentle string accompaniments, and a bit of subtle organ work. And the songwriting goes more towards being moodily evocative, with quiet lines like "And those water-coloured memories/Soft as a summer's breeze/You're as pretty as can be."



Though a little uneven at times, "Out of Season" is like a fall morning -- cool, pretty and faded. Beth Gibbons' foray into non-Portishead turf is a solid one, and this collection of autumnal ballads is definitely a keeper."
Thank you miss gibbons!!!
Bunji Kugashira | 05/17/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"her music career had began with portishead.i have all of portishead albums,but this album is beth gibbons' best.this is her first solo album with rustin man and most successful album i have ever heard from her.this album is even greater than any portishead album."