I got spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle / As I go ridin' merrily along

Portishead is still beavering away at its new album, which is rumored to involve the Tunguska meteorite explosion, balloonists, Groucho Marx, and scraps of sub-Tin-Pan-Alley lyrics. Corn Chips & Pie managed to listen to a bootlegged tape of rough cuts, and I can report that Beth Gibbons has adopted an unconvincing Jamaican accent that fits rather poorly with the Leftover Salmon jam-band noodling in the background. Their cover of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" is similarly unexpected and unwelcome.