I've heard several tracks; I don't quite think it sounds like Portishead at
all; Portishead is more sample-based, while "Ray of Light" has a lot of those
filtered synth bleeps all over the place; of course, it's a William Orbit
production. It's more trancey than trip-hop. It's not a bad album, it's not
what I expected, but that's probably a good thing. Though it may sound good,
for her to do a full-on, say, Goldie-esque jungle or Portishead-esque trip-hop
thing, it wouldn't really sit well with many people - both fans of Madonna as
well as the jungle & trip-hop crowd would kinda be turned off by it. Nothing
on the album is *truly* exciting, but I give her all props for at least
creating a sound that is electronic dance music yet still is uniquely Madonna,
rather than trying to sound like someone else (God knows how many other
trip-hop groups out there sound like Portishead!) I do like Portishead, and I
even like a lot of their 'clones', but I say there should be a moratorium on
groups coming out that sound like Portishead. There's more to trip-hop than
Portishead.
Actually, the one track I do think is kind of unique is the title track, "Ray
of Light." It's sort of a cross between house, trance, Indian and
folksy-guitar
pop, and in certain parts she sings in a range that she never really reaches
before. At the same time it's sort of hypnotic, and dare I say it, soulful, in
its own way. My least favorite track is the current single, "Frozen" -- it
sounds too much like a previous song of hers, "You'll See" with a slowed-down
breakbeat and sequenced filter sweeps set to it.
If you do say she's been "listening to Portishead," actually, there's some
truth to that. She has been listening to lots of jungle too. A DJ friend of
mine spun at some Hollywood Hills party and Madonna was in the house, asking
him if he had certain jungle tracks. He told me she was actually quite aware
about certain jungle artists.
Elson
- 30 -
:. e l s o n t r i n i d a d
:. elson@westworld.com :. www.westworld.com/~elson
:. los angeles, california, usa
your opinions are just as wrong as mine.