Portishead is "old"
Posted by Trick-Session2388@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 352 comments
I travel a lot for work, and for budget reasons, my teammate and I shared a car for 4.5 hours to our destination. I'm 42F, she's 31F.
I was driving and Portishead came on my playlist over the speakers. I asked if she was familiar with Portishead, and she said no. I told her about trip hop in the late 90s. She said "I like most music, even old stuff."
Me, having a moment: "Wait, did you just call this old?"
Coworker: "Yeah, I mean, relatively."
Me: "uh....yeah, I guess."
Later, she was quietly listening to something through her phone. I offered to play whatever it was on the car speakers, so she put on K-pop and got all excited over BTS. I let it play until I dropped her off and then put on Massive Attack, still wrapping my head around the "old" comment.
OLD????????? I thought that was reserved for, like Led Zeppelin or Elvis or something.
Potatoe_Potahto@reddit
Portishead and Massive Attack are objectively old but they still sound like the future to me.
Kellzy1212@reddit
I believe Blue lines is 35 this year, but it will never age to me.
Hot-Ad930@reddit
Trip hop was my fave
numberthirteenbb@reddit
I miss it lol, my Massive Attack Pandora station is very limited. It’s MA, Portishead, Hooverphonic and Tricky. Can anyone recommend me some similar artists?
SnowAutumnVoyager@reddit
Check out the Triphop Subreddit. People share bands all of the time.
acdqnz@reddit
Morcheeba yes
majorjoe23@reddit
Yeah, you have to ask yourself if you would have considered something from 1960 “old” in 1995?
TwistedBrother@reddit
Yes, absolutely. It would have been on an oldies FM station for sure. 70s was considered classic rock then, only back in fashion post grunge.
flipzyshitzy@reddit
TBF 1960's music could have been from the 1800's compared to 90's music. Shit even a lot 80's music.
JinxOnU78@reddit
The incredible sea change of diversity, and quality of the recording equipment, and electronic instruments available to more “average” people in between 1970-1990 cannot be overstated. It was truly revolutionary.
BeenisHat@reddit
The recording techniques pioneered in the 60s still get used today, but you're 100% right about the gear.
Multitrack recordings with large tape and consoles physically large enough to handle multiple instruments and singers independently. Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique is the tipping point. You can hear the difference between something recorded by Elvis in the 50s compared to just 10 years later. The amount of gear needed for that was so expensive. But the production quality is so good.
And now, you can make music in your garage that sounds better with a basic audio interface and a few decent quality mics. Filters in the DAW mean you can capture a fantastic vocal performance by putting a good mic on a cardboard box lined with sound treatments.
flipzyshitzy@reddit
What advancements? AND a large amount of popular music today uses samples from the 70's, 80's and 90's.
JinxOnU78@reddit
Literally affordability and convenience for home production.
flipzyshitzy@reddit
Which is possible because of computers. Hey man, I 'mostly' agree with you.
JinxOnU78@reddit
I think you completely agree with me, and are misunderstanding what I’m saying.
My home studio evolved from a reel to reel two track, to a four track cassette, to a direct to cd 16 track, to just an IO and pc in less than 30 years. It was absolutely amazing to see how quickly everything was tuned on its head, and yes, computer evolution plays a HUGE part in that.
consider_the_pickle@reddit
RIP Computer Music magazine. Gear lust nostalgia.
flipzyshitzy@reddit
Cheers to that
KoolDiscoDan@reddit
Funny, most of the samples were from songs recorded in the 60's and 70's.
Key Samples by Track
Feeire@reddit
Goddam love Reddit!!! That is such a fantastic text thanks have checked out some of those tracks. Have been listening to that album since it came out and in my naïveté never thought it was full of samples… some great funk tones in there and the 3 whales? Wow!!!
flipzyshitzy@reddit
Absolutely agreed.
KoolDiscoDan@reddit
Most of them are very early '70s. Probably the most interesting one is Frank Watlington's "Three Whale Trip" which is a field recording of three whales.
nirreskeya@reddit
Well now I just want to watch Star Trek IV.
nirreskeya@reddit
Just a couple days ago, in fact.
HomelessKitchenCat@reddit
I like to think Mezzanine could come out today and it would be well received and even seem innovative to people
Shizzelkak@reddit
Agreed. Mezzanine is timeless.
PhaedraSiamese@reddit
It's a fantastic album. One of my top albums of the 90s, and that is stiff competition. SO many great albums.
dongdongplongplong@reddit
had a listen though the other day, still sounds so futuristic
Whole_Barnacle_1560@reddit
Dude, led zepplin was as or more recent to portishead than portishead to now. We are fucking old.
Portishead rules though.
Youdontknowm3_@reddit
Us fans of these bands were way ahead of our time
Amon7777@reddit
Massive Attack still gets some life from the House intro if someone never heard of them before. Plus apparently the lead is Banksy, which is a strange sentence to write.
ScientistAsHero@reddit
Am I missing something here? Banksy used to be rumoured to be Robert Del Naja, but apparently is now considered to be Robin Gunningham.
ImprovementThat2403@reddit
My wife was a researcher on this widely cited paper which proposes its Rob; https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/12473/Hauge%20Tagging%20Banksy%3a%20using%20geographic%20profiling%20to%20investigate%20a%20modern%20art%20mystery%202016%20Accepted.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
I believe my wife.
Delicious_Mixture898@reddit
Thank you so much for posting this and your wife for writing it! My (1978) husband and I were talking about Banksy yesterday! He will love this.
Also- this Xennial subreddit cracks me up. Our frame of reference is so specific and niche
ImprovementThat2403@reddit
Alas she’s not one of the paper’s authors, just a lowly researcher at the time.
MickeyMatters81@reddit
I met him back in the 90s, in Swindon of all places. He hung out with the skater/graph crowd from the region, so would randomly show up at house parties in Swindon. Even back then he was famous and I was told "be cool dude" and not bother him. I was 18, I didn't bother him, I was too star struck 😂
No_Transition1749@reddit
I met him in Shibuya in Tokyo in 2003 or 2004. He was in the street looking around. I most definitely didn’t play it cool and went and talked to him, but he was friendly and open for a chat.
StinkyWeezilSupremo@reddit
Absolutely..
i_nobes_what_i_nobes@reddit
You can throw Zero 7 and Sneaker Pimps I there too
Disastrous-Square662@reddit
True. I was listening and to tricky and massive attack last night and it still sounded like the coolest future that I could imagine.
Potatoe_Potahto@reddit
The dream of the 90s, the future we should've had.
masivatack@reddit
I’m a fan.
dongdongplongplong@reddit
i feel sorry that the closest thing to trip hop the youngins got was like... trap, which is awful. trip hop was such a short lived but densely populated with quality niche it never got over done and remains timeless.
pornthrwyacct2@reddit
Disagree especially as to the latter as Heligoland was 2010 and spectacular
MarucaMCA@reddit
Same for Laibach for me (I just applied to them). 45 years and some stuff has not aged a day (Bach played on computers, the critical national anthems, the NATO album with pop music + war).
sljxuoxada@reddit
They sound like the future we should have had...before corrupt politicians drove civilization into the ground on behalf of the wealthy.
xeonicus@reddit
Kinda like Daft Punk and Aphex Twin. A lot of those 90s electronic bands were ahead of their time.
KnowNothing_JonSnoo@reddit
Yeah that's the thing, the sound is not old but I distinctly remember how young I was when I was listening to it and thus feel it's age because of it.
PmMeSmileyFacesO_O@reddit
I see what happened here, your new to being old. It creeps up on you from after 35, because at 35 your still in your 30s but when you hit 38 your approaching 40. Then 38 - 40 something you'll hit right where you just did on your trip. Your old now!
I had similar issues around 42, welcome to the club!
Ps Have you started realizing you can't dress the same anymore? I was late the the party on that one though.
64stitcher@reddit
I don't care. I'm 62 and still wearing my Doc Martens.
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
Yes, this is precisely it.
And I have indeed been shopping at different stores and buying different clothes that are flattering to different areas of my body than past times.
It is all different.
RelevantFilm2110@reddit
I'm mid 40s and it all sorta hit me at once because I looked like I was in my 20s until my late 30s. I don't exactly feel old but I do feel awkward, if that makes any sense.
Unlikely-Strike-8753@reddit
Nobody loves them, it’s true. Not like you do.
The_Whipping_Post@reddit
Portishead fans should check out Mazzy Star. They do FAAAAAAAAAAAADE...in you but have a lot of other great songs
PhaedraSiamese@reddit
Still Cold is a great song of theirs.
Hot-Ad930@reddit
It's only you who can turn my wooden heart
calyxcell@reddit
Cue tonight’s ear worm
SpringBreakLawyer@reddit
Underrated comment
ceruleanscars@reddit
Nothing quite prepares you for the gut punch that arrives when hearing Garbage and Portishead played in your local suburban grocery.
Environmental_Ant268@reddit
Since you're a woman, you are just wired to be sensitive about certain words. It's a bit of biology and a bit of cultural influence. We can talk about it but sadly we can't because you are already angry at me for saying "women"
That's how predictable you are
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
Do what now?
ElfDestruct@reddit
look at the tone of this whole thread, then look at you.
...get some help. seriously.
Environmental_Ant268@reddit
Look at the tone ? Don't you have your own brain to think? You gotta follow the "tone"?
Your feelings have no impact on me.
ElfDestruct@reddit
I bet you road rage and always want to speak to the manager too. You sound more like a boomer.
Environmental_Ant268@reddit
I love how wrong you are, it's getting funny. Am i getting under your skin? Ohhh poor little girl
FoxExpensive9319@reddit
Does triphop still exist ?
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
I hope so!
UnfortunateSnort12@reddit
Bro, our music is super old. Roll with it, learn new music…. Don’t be one of those guys that says the only good music was in his day.
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
I'm definitely not stuck exclusively in the past! I like current-decade music too, but I never considered stuff from that long ago "old."
X_celsior@reddit
I think the bigger story here is that your co-worker attempted to listen to something on their phone while in the car with you!!
That seems wrong on multiple levels.
Yes, I'm old.
You don't have to get off my damn lawn, but you do not play other music while hitching a ride.
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
I definitely felt a way about that when I noticed what was happening. I was like...hey I thought we were listening to this but now I can't because you're playing that....
As a peacemaker that can handle a lot of temporary discomfort, I made the offer to let her control the music.
chinchm@reddit
My young adult children do it every time we’re in the car, so it tracks.
themonkeysknow@reddit
Portishead just came on over the speakers? Why are you trying to seduce your coworker?
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
LOL definitely not my goal. Spotify just decided for me.
SpringBreakLawyer@reddit
It worked for me in the late 90s. 😄
BritOnTheRocks@reddit
I hate to break it you, but the late 90s was the last century and we are past a quarter of the way through this one.
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
I'll understand how this happened someday.
New_Stats@reddit
The key to unraveling this mystery is to simply study the lines on your face.
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
Is there another way?
Adbam@reddit
I like to tell my wife "remember when we were kids in the 80's and we would hear "oldies" from the 50's on the radio?...well that's the 90's now."
shartoberfest@reddit
Seriously, 30 years ago in the 90s was 60s music, so Beatles, Elvis, ....
Mdriver127@reddit
I think that's a great analogy, but I feel music production hasn't really changed in the last 30 years like it did 30 years back from the 90s. There's been advancements in producing and recording, but even though new styles have emerged, making music like the Beatles or Elvis in the 90s wouldn't take as well like how 90s-sounding music can be accepted today. I kinda feel like the sentiment isn't the same now like it was back then. Old music was for old people, but it seems now there's less embarrassment for younger people to listen to 90s music and they just see it as old music, but not odd or outdated. Or I'm just delusionally old and this is what old folks also thought back then lol
Skataneric@reddit
That's exactly it. There was a huge advancement in music between the 70's-90's from sound to distribution. Electronic music wasn't a thing until the 70's with Kraftwerk and disco. The late 70's/80's introduced rap/hip hop, punk, emo, etc.... Late 80's/early 90s with grunge/techno etc... These major overarching genres that define a sound. Music has pretty much stayed the same for almost 30 years now. Even the recent zoomer/alpha ADHD internet viral stuff I remember similar stuff back in the late 90's/Early 2ks with flash music videos and techno. It feels like music hit its peak already, with the lack of any new real innovation other than making it easier to create, and we're just in perpetual sampling and rearrangement now trying to divide everything into sub-genres.
Adbam@reddit
I agree, popular music has fractured but still sort stayed the same since the 80's and 90's. There has been advancments but not really world changing imo.
kshizzlenizzle@reddit
OohBeesIhateEm@reddit
Oh good god
Streetduck@reddit
You take that back!
frayhems@reddit
We were already calling 70s rock "classic" by this time, and 60s "oldies".
Freakishly_Tall@reddit
We are farther away from the end of Nirvana than the beginning of Nirvana was from the end of the Beatles.
Tempus fugit.
RelevantFilm2110@reddit
We're further away from the Beatles Anthology than the Beatles Anthology was away from the Beatles Break up.
kshizzlenizzle@reddit
Unlikely-Strike-8753@reddit
I don’t like your attitude.
sunnyinchernobyl@reddit
I believe you meant to say the late 1900s.
_buffy_summers@reddit
La la la, I can't hear you.
nirreskeya@reddit
Certainly not over these ringing ears.
LACna@reddit
Same!!!
I refuse to believe this!
AmazingVehicle9703@reddit
🥳😆
detective_bookman@reddit
Damn man, why'd you have to say that
calyxcell@reddit
snootchiebootchie94@reddit
Yeah. I always remember that when I was a teenager the 70’s were like 20-25 years ago. 2000 was 26 years ago. That always put it into perspective for me.
TranscodedMusic@reddit
Yeah, that was 30 years ago. If you played me something from 1966 when I was a freshman in high school I’d probably call that old too.
nocleverusername15@reddit
prentiss29@reddit
Wow, this hits so hard 😩
Common_Juggernaut724@reddit
I shall revoke your generational card if you continue to speak such blasphemies!
thblckdog@reddit
Played Morcheeba for my 8 year old and she didn’t immediately hate it.
_EvilD_@reddit
My 5 year old is obsessed with running up that hill rn because stranger things. I play her the Placebo version when she inevitably asks in the car. She doesn’t hate it or what plays after as a seed. (Mid 2002 I don’t know what the genre is, Interpol, Placebo, etc).
cinemageekgirl@reddit
Do Hooverphonic and Poe next.
thblckdog@reddit
She likes the more pop songs from Hoover. Shocked to see Hoover is still touring.
Clean-Reveal-2878@reddit
I’m 41 and yes, I agree. It’s old, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. I was a teen when they were popular and most of my gen Z family members and coworkers think the music from my teenage years is old 🤣. I got so offended the other day when a gen Z coworker who has mom about my age said, that’s the music my mom listens to.
SkullyXFile@reddit
My kids call it creepy Halloween music :(
New_Stats@reddit
My boomer coworker called it "mortuary music"
_EvilD_@reddit
I always called it music to slit your wrists by. One of my favorite bands to this day. Reunion when?
ST0N3F1ST@reddit
They are aware that makes it sound even cooler, right?
oh_wll_whtvr_nvrmnd@reddit
My kid thought Mezzanine was 'horror music' lol
Emergency_Process622@reddit
I saw portishead live on their tour for third. Just a few... 17 years ago...
_EvilD_@reddit
Third is different but still great.
cinemageekgirl@reddit
I flew from DFW to Denver to see them play in that last US tour, because they had so few tour dates. Worth every penny.
LivingDisastrous3603@reddit
Lucky enough to see them on the self titled tour in New Orleans. Saw Andy spin at a small club after the show. Incredible night. Bummed I missed the Third tour(and Beth’s last tour bc her albums are crazy good). I keep hope in the back of my mind that one day they’ll tour/play somewhere in the US again.
Nervous-Deal-9271@reddit
I saw Beth play solo less than a year ago, she's still amazing.
Coriandercilantroyo@reddit
Fuck! I was sure it came out maybe 10 years ago lol
va2wv2va@reddit
I remember being soooo excited when Third came out. No one around me ever knew who Portishead was growing up and I had found them from their second record. When I moved for college, my first serious bf had Dummy and it felt like it was meant to be. Turns out it wasn’t, but he is still my best friend lol
Emergency_Process622@reddit
Yeah, I found them because faith no more covered glory box live at some point. Third felt like it came out of nowhere.
That live album from Roseland is something else though.
I took a girl to see that show and it ended up not being what I was hoping for. Looking back, that made it the most portishead experience it possibly could have been lol.
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
Nice!
Coitus_lnterruptus@reddit
I rarely meet anyone that even knows who Portishead is. It's sad, but at the same time, fuck it, more for me.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit
I remember a time on okcupid when they literally had in the "how to set up your profile" section under "mood music" to NOT put Portishead (b/c everyone put Portishead) lol
Anyway I saw them live in NYC. And Stereolab. And I'm old
itsmestanard@reddit
THE NYC concert/s? At Roselands?
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit
Yes. I know, I’m blessed 🙏
_EvilD_@reddit
I hate you. That is my dream show.
RobWellems@reddit
I was most definitely blessed - saw those and Massive Attack, Chemical Brothers, Tricky and Beth Orton In NYC. (All thanks to a friend at Astralwerks)
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit
I also saw Daft Punk at a rave right after they put out Homework.
itsmestanard@reddit
Well now I don't know which one I'm more jealous of!
just-the-teep@reddit
Omfg that is hilarious. Met my wife on okcupid and that is very accurate. And that sounds like a great show.
AdoraBelleQueerArt@reddit
That’s so funny!
They were Also so over it. It was like “WE KNOW Portishead turns everyone on so DON’T ADD IT
And it was AMAZING
phillymakey@reddit
Portishead was my high school soundtrack. When people ask what’d what I listened to, I’d say Trip Hop… but I thought everyone knew it. Turns out just us, super cool kids.
_EvilD_@reddit
Portishead and anything associated with Dan The Automator. IYKYK
Worldly_Mongoose_432@reddit
We listened to Dummy in art class all the time, it was so fantastically chill. I still bump it today.
sweetiedarjeeling@reddit
I played the whole thing while moving yesterday! This thread is tripping me out haha. It’s flawless though.
calyxcell@reddit
Lololol I so fucking love that we still get that little bit of private smugness to this day. We were there…
cinemageekgirl@reddit
I hang onto that tiny bit of smugness with my life. I still feel a bit of a dopamine hit when I mention trip-hop and someone says “What’s that?”
ialsohaveadobro@reddit
I see them mentoned then on reddit daily.
Youcants1tw1thus@reddit
Yeah I have no clue, never heard of this.
Coitus_lnterruptus@reddit
It's never too late https://youtu.be/qj3QPx089g4?si=SUGmhi1gWIMGRpXC
Youcants1tw1thus@reddit
Sorry, but no thanks.
manfredpanzerknacker@reddit
Loser.
Coitus_lnterruptus@reddit
Lol, normally, I wouldn't like calling someone a loser, but to post a never heard of them comment, then say basically, fuck you for suggesting them, I'm open to nothing, lol, that is some loser shit right there.
Youcants1tw1thus@reddit
I listened to the link, didn’t like it. Never said FU for suggesting. WTF?
Jupitersd2017@reddit
Portishead and massive attack are both amazing, open your mind
Youcants1tw1thus@reddit
It’s nothing I ever want to listen to. Surely they’re talented and I see why they have a following. I’d rather listen to them than the Beatles, but neither are in my song library.
Hot-Ad930@reddit
How about Tricky
msheehan418@reddit
They’re so good you should look it up
chinchm@reddit
I recently picked up a small cd player at the thrift store someone had probably bought off Amazon or received for Christmas and donated unused. It’s about the size of a clock radio, which as I typed realized is another “old” reference (I’m 50 😂). One of the few albums I had inside was Portishead and brought me much joy to listen to. Now if I could just find a copy of a fav from the 2000s that I seem to have lost. DJ Andy Smith’s The Document.
vapre@reddit
Some good options on Discogs
sly-3@reddit
Available for streaming at least, from the man himself: https://www.mixcloud.com/DJAndySmith/the-document-vol-1-dj-andy-smith-1998
Also hosts an internet radio show too.
https://sohoradio.com/profile/andy-smith
chinchm@reddit
This purchase was cause to bring my boxes of cds back in from my shed, although I haven’t dug in yet. Hundreds to rediscover over time. Streaming is great but you forget those albums and songs you loved until you happen upon them again somehow.
Hard_Dave@reddit
But do you know where Portishead is?
RichieRace80@reddit
Off the M5.
iamjacksprofile@reddit
I'm old enough to remember back when there just wasn't enough Portishead to go around.
nirreskeya@reddit
There still isn't.
HomelessKitchenCat@reddit
Damn well you just need more music nerd fans. I feel like they are legendary to anyone who is hooked on trip hop and hip hop
CalligrapherCheap64@reddit
Same.
Ok-Organization9999@reddit
I just have to say thank u, these are some bands I should've been into, but hadn't ever heard of. So thank u for brining me some sweet mental chill tunes...really digging the old school sampling done in these tracks....
Also....its been a tough go for us who flip on the classic radio stations only to be met by songs we've beenjamming to s8nce our teens.....still can't get over some of the other mainstream stuff that's just considered classic now...
And these youngsters just dont quite appreciate it the way we would expect, so it ends up feeling like a dis
fireyqueen@reddit
Technically it is. Glory box is 32 years old. Older than she is. I remember listening to the oldies station as a kid in the 80’s. It played 50’s to 70’s. It was playing songs 10-30 years old. It was the previous generation’s music. And for her music that came out 2 years before she was born is old.
legal_bagel@reddit
Nirvana plays on KEarth 101, classics....
It used to play beach boys.
cliqclaqstepback@reddit
LovelyHead82@reddit
Portishead is timeless!
penguindik@reddit
Portishead/Massive Attack>BTS any day
Ok_Island_1306@reddit
As said in another comment portishead was way ahead of its time and still is
Tangereina78@reddit
I loved me some Portishead in college... Class of 2001...
Minimum_Rub_7316@reddit
"Dummy" is everything. The moods created on that album are unreal. I wanted to console Beth Givens the first time I heard her beautiful, somber voice.
TheBrackishGoat@reddit
If portishead was a dude, they need to schedule a prostate exam.
LuxInteriot@reddit
Oh my friend, when Portishead launched their homonymous album, it was 26 years since Led Zeppelin IV. That was 29 years ago.
mochajon@reddit
The gap from 2026-1995, when Portishead was “new,” is the same gap as 1995-1964.
If they re-made Austin Powers today, he would have been frozen in 1997.
Freiverse@reddit
It’s wild, but: a teenager today hearing Nirvana or Pearl Jam is akin to a teenager in the early 90’s hearing Buddy Holly. Not even Elvis or the Beatles.
But…everyone can listen to everything now and there’s a good supply of timelessly awesome music so we are all winning.
People in their 20’s today consider Flaming Lips old. And they’re right, relatively speaking.
pina_koala@reddit
Well yeah your analogy is actually perfect, because Zeppelin and the Beatles were "old" to us in the mid-90s but Massive Attack and Portishead's debuts came out over 30 years ago. Tracks 100%.
LaGorda54@reddit
Yeah, it’s old. We’re old now. The 90s were 30 years ago. There, there.
zapjeff@reddit
A Tricky song came on in our house last night and I was like “ooh this is great, is it new?” Nope. 2001.
itscrowdedinmyhead@reddit
Was there an oldies station on the radio you used to listen to when you were younger? Try tuning into it today and see what they're playing.
denzien@reddit
I worked at a pizza place in college, and a song that was probably 6 months old came on the radio and this vapid teenager was like, "That's an old song". I just thought, "Bitch, I listen to music that's 30 years old. What does old mean to you?"
Beekeeper_Dan@reddit
To be fair, Portishead sounded like something from the past even in the 90’s
Londin2021@reddit
My son listens to all of it because I played it when he was a kid. I'll hear him playing it now (21 years old) and remind him that was from MY era. Never let the little shits forget it!
beanbean81@reddit
Not sure if your question was serious, but the oldies station plays the best of the 80s, 90s and 2000s. So yes.
BeenisHat@reddit
I heard Pearl Jam on the classic rock station here when I was driving home from work.
😔
nakedcellist@reddit
I love classical music, Bach, Mahler and Portishead.
freddbare@reddit
Tricky damn Kids .
psilosophist@reddit
Aphex Twin is old head music now.
maringue@reddit
Remember, you listening to the Doors in 1997 is roughly equivalent to your friend listening to Portishead in 2026.
I don't want to be that guy, but that record is 30 years old.
Lughaidh_@reddit
This is how time works.
Complex-Fault-1161@reddit
I’m the head of IT at my workplace, so I have the credentials for the ambient music system. It was a slow week, so I decided to switch to 90s alt (Perl Jam, NIN, Alice in Chains, etc.).
This went on for two glorious days until I was asked to change it because the younger generation didn’t appreciate the selection and complained to the office manager, so now we’re back to tooth rotting sugar pop. But a least a handful of us older guys (including my CEO) got to rock out (albeit shortly lived) to what we used to jam to.
lemmegetadab@reddit
I’m not much younger than you and newsflash, we are old lol.
Think about it this way, the music you’re talking about is just as old as the Beatles were when we were kids lol.
Normal_Choice9322@reddit
Man get over it. We are old
magsli@reddit
Driving with a coworker and having to listen their shitty music is my personal nightmare.
Murderhornet212@reddit
I mean the music is younger than you and older than her, so yeah, I can’t imagine see why she’d call it old.
Super_Direction498@reddit
People unironically call grunge classic rock.
NemaCat@reddit
When I was 18, I got pulled over driving my shitty old Saturn. The cop comes up to the window and he says “do you know why I pulled you over?” I said “I have no idea actually” and he goes “you have a pothead sticker on your car.”
I said “no I don’t” he goes “yes you do” and I said “no. I don’t.” He goes “what does that sticker on your windshield say, then?”
“It says Portishead.” He walks to the back, and then comes back and says “what’s a Portishead?” I’m like “a band.” and he goes “alright. You can go”
kursedaudio@reddit
So a sticker equates to probable cause? What a moron lol
onepostandbye@reddit
I’m just glad that literacy isn’t a prerequisite for law enforcement
BornTry5923@reddit
Dude probably needed glasses
weedexpat@reddit
Brain transplant
Less_Party@reddit
I still think of Third as 'that new Portishead album'. It came out in 2008 lol.
lushico@reddit
Dude, many of my colleagues have never even heard of Red Hot Chili Peppers
Allenies@reddit
Trip hop is my comfort music. Always has been always will be. It's perfect and in a way I'm glad it's not made anymore because it would have slowly morphed into crap I can't stand.
Visible-Priority3867@reddit
I mean … Beth Gibbons is 61. Zeppelin is “Classic” and Elvis is “Oldies”
WereFlyingOverTrout@reddit
I remember in high school we thought she was “old”. I looked up her age a few years ago and was appalled by our understanding of “old” when we were teenagers. Good grief, we were monsters.
theflush1980@reddit
British electronica from the 90s is my jam!
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
Hi, we like all the same things.
SamwiseTheOppressed@reddit
Dummy is a phenomenal album
Complete_Try_3849@reddit
Maybe I like old things.
redflagsmoothie@reddit
I started to think the music I was listening to was old when I realized that most of the bands I like have been around for 30+ years
rapidpeacock@reddit
I heard Guns N Roses, Nirvana, and Sublime on the oldies station 10 years ago….
CrispyDave@reddit
Yes, time is a thing.
Impressive-Record839@reddit
I remember buying dummy and the cranberries second record at the same time at Best Buy.
Correct-Degree-6789@reddit
They've been around for almost 30 YEARS!!! They sadly are old and so are we!
Typical_Dweller@reddit
I guess I'm being dismissive here, but a 31 yo woman listening to slightly updated Backstreet Boys is in no position to criticize anyone's music.
BouncyCatMama@reddit
Portishead is not 'old', it's timeless!
SqualidSquirtle22@reddit
You realize everything from the 00s and back are considered "oldies" and are played on "oldies radio" stations now, right? rofl
xsnakexcharmerx@reddit
My wife got us tickets to massive attack a couple years ago. Was definitely a bucket list concert for me. Amazing show. I'd kill to see portishead.
pixiequix@reddit
It's all relative. It doesn't mean Portishead isn't wonderful!! And yes, they helped define an entire genre of music with trip hop. Portishead is still making great music too.
engorgedfjord@reddit
i've met a few 27-30 year olds that are spicy about calling xennial culture old. it's true. we are old now. just wish these kids were more polite about it.
Sea_Attitude_3088@reddit
Portishead is timeless.
Similar-Sir-2952@reddit
K-pop smh
SpiritualPurple8659@reddit
K-pop, meh 😑
resilientdonut1@reddit
It depends on who you ask, old is relative to the person.
sakkadesu@reddit
I love Portishead but can’t listen to it. Always takes me to a dark place. Oh man but Teardrop? That song is etched in my brain from overplay in university.
badbbsitter@reddit
Led Zeppelin to Portishead is less time than Portishead to Kpop.
Sofagirrl79@reddit
I remember them being on the radio in 94 but in 95 the local music store had their T-shirts on clearance along with Johnny Mnemonic shirts
weedexpat@reddit
Can you imagine hearing something as awesome as portishead and then thinking, no, I'd prefer some just add water kpop bullshit please. What the fuck.
uncle_monty@reddit
I love trip hop. I live close to Bristol, and I was mid-late teen at the time. trip hop, big beat, and Britpop were the soundtrack when I was becoming an adult. Great times, especially with the trip hop scene practically on my doorstep. But Dummy is over 30 years old. It is old. 30 odd years before Dummy was released was peak Beatles era.
Medium_Educator1983@reddit
How the hell have I never heard of this group?!
Anyway, thanks for the rec...I'm bopping to Glory Box right now.
bargle0@reddit
It was a heck of a day the first time I heard Nirvana on the classic rock radio station.
Maineamainea@reddit
Portishead is closer in age to Led Zeppelin than BTS
dwreckhatesyou@reddit
Beth Gibbons’ vocals were a throwback from the start. My parents appreciated them for that back in the day when they first heard me listening. So they’ve always had that timeless vibe and that is one of the reasons they’re so incredible. Possibly the best aged sound this many years later.
But, yeah they’re old. So am I. So are you. Cheers.
bananabastard@reddit
They had hits in the early 90s, didn't they? Damn right they're old.
I was in a bar a while back, and when talking to people I just met, we got talking about movies. I mentioned The Matrix, one guy, a bearded fellow I should add, mentioned that he hadn't seen it, or many other "old movies".
There are bearded men who think The Matrix is an old movie.
That's when I knew for sure that I am old now.
Secure-Pain-9735@reddit
It would be my 30th high school rebuking this year if I wasn’t a knuckle head and actually graduated.
BornTry5923@reddit
Well, it is music from 30 years ago. Zepplin and Elvis are "our" old. And to her, those guys are prob like Benny Goodman and Bing Crosby were to us.
ByronGrimlock@reddit
I was listening to the local Classic Rock radio station while driving when Ozzy Osborne's "Bark at the Moon" came on. I thought to myself: "Doesn't a song have to be 25+ years old to be considered 'classic'? This song came out in 1983."
...and then I realized it was 2008: the song WAS 25 years old.
That's when I started to feel old.
The same thing happened again 10 years later when Nirvana's "In Bloom" played on the same station. Then I felt officially old.
raerae704@reddit
Well, I’m 32 and listened to portishead a ton as a teenager. And still occasionally now!
NixyVixy@reddit
I feel you, I see you.
Follow it up with some Morphine and Rilo Kiley just to properly cement the situation.
lickmybrian@reddit
Ill take old over k pop
icanhaztuthless@reddit
“Old” is a state of mind. There are “old souls” walking around in a 19yo body listening to smashing pumpkins and filtr b sides. They are us, as we were them.
EverybodyPanic81@reddit
Something being old isn't a bad thing. We old. Its ok to be old.
Yestie@reddit
Nothing is really real until it is observed
seraph741@reddit
I'm a fellow old yet have no idea what Portishead is.
jenniferjuniper16@reddit
We went to a concert tonight for the lead singer of soul coughing (Mike Doughty) and my husband commented how it was an older crowd than he expected. He then proceeded to run into people he knew thirty years ago…
urbanlife78@reddit
Now I wanna listen to some Portishead
torb@reddit
I mean, if you play something that's from before their youth, I'd think it old sound quite old. You played something from the year they were born. You should play something from 2026-(31-12)=2007 or newer.
Basically my theory is that anything older than 2007 will not feel new, nor nostalgic, but just plain old.
Friendly-Channel-480@reddit
Put a rattle in her seat next time you share a car. She’ll understand:)
Puzzled-Bench2805@reddit
I find it less weird that she thinks it’s old and more weird that she feels “old” music is something to dislike? I hadn’t even considered that option. Isn’t good music timeless? Especially when we’re talking about “parent music” like damn it isn’t old enough to be weird, why are they making it weird? 😂
ATheeStallion@reddit
I loved Portishead and the trip-hop genre in the 90s too! But it is electric music history now as much as 80s synths, hip hop samples and 90s dance hits that bled into formative electronic tracks. 2026: the electronic soundscape has expanded so much. I absolutely love the incredible sonic soundscapes of different artists in different electronic music genres: dub, trance, bass, dance and the chill multi-hour boundary exploring sets coming from global club scene like Ratherlost & Monument Festival is mind blowing. Seriously if you loved trip-hop do yourself a massive favor and take a deep dive in Sound Cloud streaming, you will find gems. New sparkling gems because these artists stand on decades of electronic tech/sound/culture shifts.
8last@reddit
Portishead was only popular with stoner kids and art students, even back then. A lot of people from our own age group wouldn't be able to name one song.
Alternative-Light514@reddit
Yeah I completely missed the trip hop/downtempo heyday. I knew select Massive Attack, UNKLE, Zero 7, Sneaker Pimps, etc from movies but never thought to dive any deeper than one or two tracks on a soundtrack. The past few years, I’ve found my way to the Bristol Sound through various channels. It occupies a large % of what I listen to now.
Illustrious-Good5086@reddit
My favorite classic rock artist these days is Foster the People.
Clear_Tangerine5110@reddit
No, that has now graduated to "older".
Coitus_lnterruptus@reddit
Classic rock is still Classic rock all these years later. Our music is trapped in a weird space.
dance-9880@reddit
They play RHCP and Pearl Jam on our classic rock radio station.
CobaltSky@reddit
Back in the 2000s, I went on a couple of dates with a girl who was 10 years younger and 18. She chased after me for the record, and I said yes to be polite. I knew it wouldn't work when she said she loved classic rock and then named bands releasing CDs when I was alive. RHCP and Peal Jam were among them.
calyxcell@reddit
“This is the music that mommies and daddies listen to!”
Zagmut@reddit
Gone from classic rock to classical rock.
Red-is-suspicious@reddit
My son is 15. He found massive attack and portishead on his own and blasts it no questions asked. For him specifically Spotify makes music not “old” because it’s all just available. He might get recommended crystal method and play it and be like yea add that to a playlist and show me more. But he really loves massive attack.
jbp84@reddit
I had a buddy in college who DJed, and he did a show one time called “Giving Head”….it was nothing but Radiohead,The Lemonheads, and Portishead samples mixed with Proppellerheads beats.
We’d get fucked up on cough syrup and weed and he’d play Jack Van Impe records over hip hop tracks.
I miss being 20…(sometimes)
MzMmmegz@reddit
Nawww. IDC, It's a matter of taste at this point, dummy sounds like its from 2050 and that's exactly what I thought in 1994.
VectorJones@reddit
I was listening to a podcast the other day with a 33-year-old Millennial waxing nostalgic remembering some place she did some stuff back when she was 16 - in 2009. Coincidentally, the year I turned 33. Yeah.
BlackestHerring@reddit
Punch her right in the fucking face! Beth Gibbons is a legend.
FuzzyTunaTaco21@reddit
Introduced a coworker to Butthole Surfers recently, he thought they were a newish band. Had to tell him they are from the mid 80s
mmoonbelly@reddit
Bristolian here. Was confused by your first couple of sentences and reacted with the thought, “Clevedon’s older than Portishead, what they on about?”
4.5hrs over holiday weekends can be the time to get from Almondsbury to the Gordano interchange for Portishead on the M5.
MOSbangtan@reddit
It’s def old!
Major-Tourist-5696@reddit
There were rumors of a fourth album years ago, sad it didn’t happen. I like the first two, but third is their masterpiece.
mid_1990s_death_doom@reddit
My 11 year old said Portishead is "bussin," and I'm not sure the terminology but basically it's one of the only decent music that I listen to.
jasonhn@reddit
Dummy was released in 1994, 32 years ago. 32 years ago in 1994 would be 1962 a year before The Beatles debut album...time is a bitch.
thewanv@reddit
Longster_dude@reddit
Portishead is old. Old is not bad. Trip hop fuckin’ rocks.
BTS is cool too i guess? All modern pop music sounds the same to these crusty old ears.
ExcellentAdagio8462@reddit
Just picked up Portishead Live in Roseland NYC on vinyl, what a great album. The orchestra really adds something to the already great music.
jigga19@reddit
The Strokes' first album will be 25 this year. Ferris Bueller is going to be 40. Time marches on.
Remarkable_Major7710@reddit
Dummy was the first CD I bought, that one and Frank Black’s Teenager of the Year. I was a bit late in adopting that format.
Anyway, It Could Be Sweet was our “first dance” song at our wedding. Portis Head will always have a place in my heart and my memories
8080a@reddit
1966 is to 1996 as 1996 is to 2026.
calyxcell@reddit
Begone from here with your cursed magic, apostle of Chronos.
TangerineFade@reddit
Keep your math to yourself
mischievous_misfit13@reddit
I’m 43 and saw Portishead in 2008ish (so my mid 20’s) with my boyfriend who was 16 years my senior. I thought portishead was old then and will always think they are old but are still awesome.
Wactout@reddit
They have shovels at the hardware stores. Just so we can start digging our own graves.
Senofilcon@reddit
Yeah Portishead is mad old, we are indeed all mad old lol.
I spent like 6 months working at a record shop in 97ish and I was able to take home thousands of CDs. There was so much good Trip Hop being made in the mid-late 90s. I still have Thievery Corporation heavily in my rotation to this day.
A really good underground collection I remember grabbing was called White Trash Gangsta Trance, probably sold like 200 copies nationally if i had to guess. Just went and found it on YouTube.
Its so wild hearing stuff for the first time in almost 30 years. I've always have a hard time remembering things but music and scents are the two things that trigger such specific deep memories for me.
Idontknowthosewords@reddit
Gen X here, and I LOVE Portishead!!
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
I can accept progressive lenses to correct my eyes and orthotic footwear to correct my terrible feet and how these are components of Aging.
The music part comes with great resistance. I don't know, man.
calyxcell@reddit
Enjoy while you can, and with measured moderation, for the Aides of Hearing are soon to break the horizon.
kinetic_cheese@reddit
I mean, yeah, sad as it sounds, bands like Nirvana are to Gen Z what bands like Led Zeppelin were to us. Awesome music, but from another time.
papayayayaya@reddit
I went to a show recently and the act was doing some rnb covers and he asked the crowd “who loves old school rnb?” and then proceeded to sing an Usher song.
Crabcakefrosti@reddit
Timeless
SubstanceFearless348@reddit
Of course it’s old. What is this
cbih@reddit
The Pixies are old too
WorstGasStationSushi@reddit
Portishead isn't old. It's from the later portion of what we call the 'music period'. Much of what came after sounds somewhat like music, but isn't.
SignificantApricot69@reddit
We are young old people, that’s what our generation is right now. I enjoy it.
calyxcell@reddit
Fredwood@reddit
You may be old but you're cooler then me, I never heard of them
hey_maestra@reddit
You really should fix that!
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
Oh man. They're a treat.
Commies-Fan@reddit
I mean 1994 is old. 32 is middle aged.
onions-make-me-cry@reddit
I still love trip hop.
Alessia Cara did sample Portishead, so the young uns should be somewhat familiar.
jaezii@reddit
She's way too old to be so excited about BTS.
calyxcell@reddit
Oh my god, “Mezzanine” has been my third date album for like a quarter century now. It hasn’t lost its magic.
antsam9@reddit
Les zep to you is Blink 182 and Green Day to them.
hey_maestra@reddit
You have excellent musical taste!
Some-Bullfrog-4768@reddit
Portishead 3 goes harder than most new music.
jordansinn@reddit
OP learns about Relativity
deep_blue_au@reddit
yeah, I love Portishead, but it's basically "old music" now...
What stuck out to me was that your teammate is in denial about how old she is. She is 31, not a teenager whose music BTS and other KPop is made for.
xeonicus@reddit
I have to admit, for a long time I thought the fanmade music video of Machine Gun featuring Tetsuo: The Iron Man was the official music video.
CakeRobot365@reddit
Zeppelin was old when we were young. Lol
RevDanlldo@reddit
I mean, there's probably more than a few 30-somethings running around that were conceived to Dummy.
Same thing goes for Massive Attack's Mezzanine.
B_Reele@reddit
We were just blasting Dummy on vinyl. Now get off my lawn!
cjandstuff@reddit
I’m a few years older than my gf. A song comes on her playlist, and I’m thinking, “Yes! Portishead!” … Nope. It’s a song called “Here” by Alessia Cara, and it samples Glory Box.
Harlockarcadia@reddit
Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard will always be old music to me, never Portishead or anything from the 90s
timberlyfawnflowers@reddit
The time from now to the release of Smells Like Teen Spirit is longer than the amount of time between that and Love Me Do. 😵💫🧓
JessicaWakefield666@reddit
Gen X and Xennials stay giving boomers a run for their money in their weird denial about aging and salty attitudes towards younger people and their interests.
octopusgardeb@reddit
Her time too shall come
JosephBlowsephThe3rd@reddit
Yeah, Portishead is old now, but it's still more enjoyable than KPop. Then again, old is relative. Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd sounds vastly older than Dark Side of the Moon era Floyd, but there's only 5 years between DSOTM and the last Barrett era Floyd studio album (Saucerful of Secrets)
Trying2improvemyself@reddit
The Beth Gibbons solo album is also a great listen
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
Yes it is!
here4dambivalence@reddit
Lives Outgrown or Rustin Man?
mackelnuts@reddit
Yeah, that album came out in the nineteen hundreds. Over 30 years old. That said Dummy is in my top five albums of all time.
southernfirm@reddit
If Blue Lines and Dummy came out today, they would be still be regarded as revolutionary and groundbreaking.
ArcadeApocalypse@reddit
I mean Dummy is over 30 years old already, how is that even surprising?
Ronlaen-Peke@reddit
Good music never dies. Just glad to live in an age where we can listen to all the good stuff that's survived to this day plus all the great new stuff being released all the time.
BittenBeads@reddit
I love Portishead but they were considered "old" 15 years ago. They're also niche and have that film noire vibe, so that makes them feel extra dated to the younger generations.
pop5656@reddit
Portishead is fucking boring
sweatshirtsweatpants@reddit
90s babies just can't relate, even thought they consider themselves "90s kids."
TangerineFade@reddit
I haven’t thought about Massive Attack in years. Thank you for this and giving me some music to dive into for Friday night. Bringing back memories from college…..but we aren’t old!
Senior-Afternoon-786@reddit
I’ve about a year and a half ago I heard In Bloom by Nirvana being played in elevator music tones at the Gelson’s in Long Beach and I think I saw my soul leave my body on the way to my car.
DG04511@reddit
We ARE old. Our golden era of 90s music is what the Beatles and Beach Boys were to us in the 90s.
timthemajestic@reddit
These kids, honey. They're too busy winning Darwin Awards from TikTok challenges and are usually only in to music that pervades radio and TikTok. On the flip side, I prefer music in which there is actual artistry and talent as in playing instruments, song writing, not lip syncing or auto tuning, dancing excessively. It's really like ADHD come to life. Cute Rodney Dangerfield. But... ya know... Charlize Theron.
supergooduser@reddit
What's wild is we're pretty close to Insane Clown Posse being classic rock
RavenSkies777@reddit
As someone who listens to Portishead and kpop in equal measure....this is wild. 😆
lazydracula@reddit
Is this post satire? It’s only way this question makes any sense.
BigFatBlackCat@reddit
Nineties music is to them what the Beatles are to us. Sorry to ruin your day,
porkpie1028@reddit
Dummy came out almost 32 years ago. That’s like you being a senior in high school around 2002 (based on your age of 42) and your parents playing something from 1970. You know how I know we’re old? Because kids are listening to bands like Deftones and grunge and other 90s acts the way we listened to The Who or The Beatles or The Doors. It’s like the 90’s are “vintage” to them. 30 year culture cycle rule.
h0tel-rome0@reddit
Never heard of em
Which-Grapefruit724@reddit
Go find their song Wandering Star. You're welcome.
suchalittlejoiner@reddit
I have no idea who that is and I’m mid-40s.
bendybiznatch@reddit
Every time I play Portishead with a 20 something in the car, I look over to see them looking it up in their phones to add it to their library.
The kids are gonna be alright y’all.
Bulky_Pop_8104@reddit
I love Portishead, and granted music really hasn’t changed since the late 90s, the way it did previously, but this would be the chronological equivalent of someone putting on Elvis or the Hollies back when Portishead first took off
msheehan418@reddit
When Red Hot chili peppers became classic rock I really knew I was old and I was young when they came out
IsThisLegitTho@reddit
So Led Zeppelin and Elvis were old in the 90s….like 20-40 years old….
The 1990s are 30 years ago….
It’s old by any standard.
Doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it.
I listen to Martin Denny and Cal Tjader.
NeighborhoodOk8679@reddit
My daughter is 17 and even knows Portishead, without me even introducing it to her…your coworker listens to k-pop so don’t take it too seriously
Booji-Boy@reddit
I mean, she's right. But then, I listen to stuff from the 70s and even that I mentally go "that's like what, 25-30 years old?" Yeah. We're old. Our foundational music is old.
Far_Cut_@reddit
flyingdodo@reddit
I read somewhere that “classic” or “vintage” refers to about 20-25 years older than contemporary. So when we were kids, early 60s was vintage. Teens, 70s. So now… 2000s 😱
LeggyCricket@reddit
Led Zeppelin and Elvis are probably ancient to some of the younger crowd. Imagine if they were to hear a song from someone even older.
Adbam@reddit
Portishead is one of my favs. I was gonna say should have played some of the 3rd album....but thats...checks notes 18 years old.
fermentedradical@reddit
Portishead is amazing but also, yes, old
SeekingNoTruth@reddit
Well, yeah. Did you know someone born in 2005 is old enough to drink in the US?
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
Does drinking age define what is now "old?"
seymourscagnetti420@reddit
Led Zeppelin’s old?
zombie_79_94@reddit
Definitely some musical innovation in Portishead but moreso than other trip-hop they did rely on retro styles in vocals, instrumentation, samples and recording going back to the 60s so I can definitely seeing them sounding even older than the 90s, particularly to the uninitiated.
dance-9880@reddit
Darlink, Portishead is old. I know it doesn't feel old to you, but trust this 46yo, it is.
Also, BTS are ok but Blackpink are where it's at.
Trick-Session2388@reddit (OP)
I will give Blackpink a whirl. I'm not super familiar with kpop.
remoteworker9@reddit
Portishead is old. Great but old.
Unhappy_Capital_917@reddit
I support your playlist my friend🤙🏽