Portishead’s “The Rip” is hands down one of my favorite songs of 2008. The video is equally beautiful. It’s on my current mix and I’m guessing it’ll stay there for the rest of the year. I didn’t think that Portishead’s Third could match their earlier work; Dummy had a major impact on me as a teenager trying to wean himself off of crunching guitars, and the melancholy expressed in their music floored me.
Third is the sort of album that shows a band capable of regaining their former glory. The emotional heft of “The Rip” really demonstrates that Portishead still have a grasp on what made them so great to begin with. R.E.M. and Metallica could learn a thing or two from them.
I’m also fond of Radiohead’s backstage version, featured above, with Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood both on acoustic guitars. It’s so referential and lovely; Yorke’s voice is a thing of wonder with material like this.