Toe in the Water

A Little About Portal

A Little About Portal

This morning I decided that I should write a post for the blog. This happens occasionally and is invariably followed by the thought, Yes, but what? All the posts about music caught my eye and I regretted not having been involved in that whole Soundtrack of Your Life thingy. But, no use crying over spilt milk, and there’s always next year.

And, of course, that’s no reason not to write about music. Which reminded me that I intended to dig into that tune that Anni Pon posted about a while back - you know, the Still Alive song by Portal. Today seemed as good a time as any to do just that.

It’s kinda weird. Portal turns out not to be a group but is rather, I think, a computer game based on a science fiction story about… And there’s the rub. I found a recording that attempts to explain the story but it was obviously not up to squeezing enough information into the short time allowed to it. I didn’t learn much.

But I did find a video with three songs, including Still Alive. The others are Want You Gone and Turret Song. And they share the strange and futuristic feel of Still Alive. Not everyone will like this odd kind of music but it fascinates me and, on the chance that there might be others out there with similar unlikely tastes to mine, I decided to share the video on the blog.

Just a quick word to prepare you (if you decide to listen). The music is simple but somehow compelling, the voice mechanical but magnetic. And each song, although clearly of the same type as the others, has something about it that makes it stand out. The bass in Still Alive, for instance, is a huge part of its appeal. For Want You Gone, think drums, and, for Turret Song, it’s all about a cathedral choir.

I can’t help it - I’m a sucker for this king of thing.




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