I FEEL LOVE: THE POST-AMPHETAMINE COMEDOWN VERSION

Stephanie King, a.k.a. Missing Dust Jacket, a.k.a. Darling Vicarage, a.k.a. lots of things far too gooey to confess to online, has a new column on The Samosa blog. Her first Song of the Week is Portishead's "Chase the tear," and she is spot-on on two counts: first - and you wouldn't have expected this after Third - Portishead are indebted to Moroder and Summer - that strange combination of the epic and the unfinished or disjointed. Maybe it's me but the rhythm, for all its metronomy, doesn't quite sound right - some beats seem to come a split-second too early, others a tiny bit late. (There's a hint of the scratchiness of early New Order too) And secondly, Beth Gibbons's voice (which I can't get a taste for) is way down in the mix, which I suppose sets it apart from "I feel love," but I'm grateful for it.

Anyway, the point is that Song of the Week is going to be a weekly event, just like it was in the old days of MDJ. So read this one, and read next week's, and the week after that's, forever.