Portishead are coming super-deluxe with their third studio album (have you seen the upcoming full length boxset?). This is the opening single and comes packaged in a thick clear plastic sleeve with an elaborate vinyl etching on one side of the record. The lone track is "Machine Gun(1)," and from the opening snare hits, you can tell that the darkness is back. In an age where dropping hits is a must, "Machine" is quite ambiguous. It has nothing commercial about, but by the closing moments (sounds like the robot's march of death), it makes quite a statement. Limited edition.

reviewed by the mgmnt