Jeff Wragg. PhD Candidate, The University of Waikato, New Zealand.

info@jeffwragg.com

Illuminating the Intertext: Categorising Signifiers in the

Music of Portishead

Presented at the Intertextuality in Music Since 1900 Conference

Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 6-7 March, 2015, Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract
The music of British trip hop band Portishead makes frequent reference to other
styles, cultures, and periods, typically by way of quotation. The recurring use of
quotation suggests that theories of intertextuality may be fruitful in decoding the
musical, cultural, and historical signifiers found in their music. Lacasse (2000)
provides a useful model for understanding intertextuality in recorded popular music,
and it is this model that I will be drawing from and subsequently expanding. The
introduction outlines Lacasse’s model of transtextuality, which is composed of
intertextual and hypertextual practices. The second section expands this model by
introducing the concept of autosonic self-quotation (the practice of sampling oneself),
before the third section introduces the concept of phonematic reference
(transformation of medium). This section then goes on to describes three specific
types of phonematic reference. The final section analyses a number of Portishead
songs to demonstrate the applicability of the expanded model.

1. Introduction
Lacasse (2000: 38) describes intertextuality as a ‘text in which one finds elements
from a previous text.’ Accordingly, intertextuality describes a composition that
references a musical gesture evident in another specific and identifiable work. The
most common way in which a work references another is by quotation, which Lacasse
situates alongside other referential practices within his model of transtextuality.1
Lacasse’s model places each referential practice within one of four quadrants, based
on two pairs of distinctions (figure 1).

1
Transtextuality combines both intertextual and hypertextual practices. Unlike intertextuality, where one text
 Syntagmatic Paradigmatic
(Subject/Content (Style/System)
Autosonic Autosonic Quotation Remix
Autosonic Parody
Plunderphonics
Cento
Instrumental Remix
Allosonic Allosonic Quotation Transtylisation
Allusion Copy
Cover
Allosonic Parody
Travesty
Translation
Pastiche

Figure 1. Lacasse’s model of transtextuality.

The first criterion is the distinction between syntagmatic and paradigmatic

references. A syntagmatic reference transforms the subject of the initial work, such as
Weird Al Yankovich’s Smells Like Nirvana. This parody of the Nirvana hit Smells
Like Teen Spirit retains the stylistic features of the original but transforms the lyrical
content, or subject matter. Conversely, a paradigmatic reference transforms the style
of a work. For example, Jeff Buckley’s version of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen
retains the content of the original work but is transformed to reflect Buckley’s
personal style.

The second criterion is the distinction between allosonic and autosonic. An

allosonic reference recreates a musical gesture that can be found in another musical
work. For example, in jazz it is common for a soloist to quote a melody from a
different tune, which can then be embellished, played in a different style or played on
a different instrument. Here the quotation is of an abstract nature; there is no tangible
connection between the two works. Conversely, an autosonic reference inserts an
actual recording of a work into a new composition; thus referencing not only the
gesture but also the recording of that gesture, a practice commonly understood today
as sampling. Here the quotation is of a physical nature; it is the recording itself that is
common to both works. These distinctions provide a useful way of understanding
different referential practices, and offer new perspectives when seeking to link one
work with another. However, there is potential for the model to be expanded.

2. Quotation
First, I will discuss the notion of quotation, which Lacasse divides into allosonic
and autosonic forms. The significance of quotation is that it not only references
musical gestures but also the cultural and historical associations of that gesture, and in
the same way that a musician can transform a quoted melody, cultural and historical
associations can also be transformed (Metzer 2003). These transformations have the
power to recontextualise traditional relationships, such as those between east and
west, black and white, and past and present. Metzer (2003) suggests that in order for
these transformations to occur, the listener must be able to identify the original work
so as to understand its cultural and historical associations; simply put, ‘if a borrowing
is not detected then it and its cultural resonances go unheard.’ However, the intent of
borrowing often acts on the original as a stylistic topic, rather than as a specific and
identifiable work, and it is the associations implied by a work’s style, performance
technique, or timbre that carry cultural resonance (Leydon 2010). Listeners often
associate certain musical gestures with specific cultures and eras, even if only
subconsciously, therefore cultural resonances can still be heard without knowledge of
the exact work being borrowed.2 For example, a novice listener is unlikely to listen to
Portishead’s Sour Times and identify the sample from the soundtrack of the Mission:
Impossible television series. However, they may well suggest ‘it sounds like spy
music’.

Lacasse’s notion of allosonic quotation and autosonic quotation is certainly useful,

though with regard to Portishead, it does not capture the full range of their
compositional practices. For example, in addition to sampling other artists, Portishead
developed a novel approach to composition by sampling themselves. This involved
composing, performing, and recording multiple musical gestures and printing them
onto tape or vinyl in order to build a library of musical ideas. This library then
becomes a source for musical material that can be sampled and manipulated to form
new compositions. This method meets Lacasse’s definition of intertextuality in that a

2
For a further discussion of intertextual references as style topics, see Williams, Justin A. “Theoretical
Approaches to Quotation in Hip Hop Recordings.” Contemporary Music Review 33:2 (2014): 188-209.
recording of a musical gesture from a previous text makes an appearance in another. It
is important to remember that, although these initial recordings were never released to
the public, they can still be classified as a ‘text’.3 The fact that Portishead are quoting
themselves suggests that this practice does not neatly fit into Lacasse’s idea of
autosonic quotation, where the implication is that the quotation is of another artist;
therefore I will introduce the term autosonic self-quotation.

2.1 Autosonic self-quotation

Autosonic self-quotation can be heard in numerous Portishead songs and, like
other types of quotation, carries cultural and historical associations. As previously
mentioned, these associations can be understood by a listener without knowledge of
the exact source of the borrowing, an important distinction to keep in mind as, in the
case of Portishead, their original sources are unknown to everyone except the band
themselves. Sampling promotes the idea of author as editor, mediator, and hybridiser
(Toynbee 2000), and the notion of author as hybridiser is especially relevant to
Portishead, where references to jazz and hip hop, analogue and digital, and past and
present are often forcefully juxtaposed. These juxtapositions are directly influenced
by their practice of autosonic self-quotation. By assembling a library of isolated
gestures, Portishead are able to create a musical bricolage, resulting in contrasting
styles, timbres, and recording and performance techniques within a single track.
These contrasting gestures stand apart by virtue of being out of context, and foster the
stylistic multiplicity of their music. In interviews, the members of Portishead have
spoken of their fondness for amassing a ‘rucksack’ of musical ideas. Geoff Barrow
states, ‘you get these little lines that you write throughout the album and they don’t fit
somewhere, but you know you’ve got it in your rucksack.’ Adrian Utley furthers this
line of thought, adding ‘and its gonna(sic) work somewhere isn’t it, and it’s too good
to just throw it away, but it’s not enough of an idea to be a whole song either, so it has
to be a part of something else.’ 4

While the practice of sampling supports notions of stylistic multiplicity, it also

raises concerns regarding authorship, not only from a legal perspective but also an

3
See Horn (2000) for a discussion of the musical work.
4
New Musical Express: Portishead - Track by Track. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwWGZucWVlQ
accessed February 3rd, 2015
aesthetic one. Portishead’s use of autosonic self-quotation allows them to engage
with sampling’s more creative aspects, such as transformation of culture and history,
while sidestepping the common charges of thievery and inauthenticity. Accordingly,
autosonic self-quotation allows for the stylistic multiplicity that arises from the
mélange of previously unrelated gestures, while still retaining the romantic notion of
composer as sole author.

3. Phonematic reference
Portishead were part of the countercultural reaction during the 1990s that rebelled
against digital technology’s victory over low fidelity, often employing analogue
recording equipment, instruments, and playback media in the production process.
Portishead’s music makes frequent reference to other cultures and eras and these
references are often given further significance by the medium through which they are
presented. For example, Portishead will often heighten the historical reference of a
musical gesture by presenting it in an analogue environment such as the crackling of a
vinyl record or limited frequency response of a transistor radio. In this way, medium
also carries meaning and, like style and subject, that meaning can be transformed.
Therefore I propose to expand Lacasse’s model by introducing the term phonematic
reference, the transformation of medium.

Several authors have discussed the transformation of medium by different artists,

including Portishead, and have offered several possible motivations. Brøvig-Hanssen
(2013: 94) describes Portishead’s approach as a kind of ‘schizophonic
experimentation’, whereby the characteristic signature of earlier media is split from
its source and inserted into a new, digital context to produce an aesthetic effect. This
suggests that, in addition to transforming cultural and historical associations,
Portishead also sample out of their fascination with the characteristic sound of a
particular era (Brøvig-Hanssen 2013). Guitarist Adrian Utley adds: ‘me and Geoff
[Barrow], in the studio, will have an idea for the end kind of result and the whole
basis of what we do is making it sound like old breaks, old records or whatever it is’
(Curwen 1999: 75).5 This interest in sounds from the past resonates with the wider
retro movement and suggests an ambiguity about contemporary culture, in which

5
Quoted in Brøvig-Hanssen 2013.
neither the new nor the old are valued in their unmitigated form, rather new forms are
created by reinventing the past from the position of the present (Brøvig-Hanssen
2013).

Askeroi (2013) argues that stylistic traits act as sonic markers and function not
only as imitations of the past but also as representatives of the past’s socio-cultural
values. The characteristic signatures of different mediums also act as sonic markers,
as through their history of use they have acquired both cultural and historical
associations. Zak (2001), and Goodwin (1990) have pointed out that digitally
recorded sounds were often criticised for sounding ‘harsh’ and ‘cold’ while analogue
technologies are praised for their ‘warmth’ and ‘human feel’. This suggests that some
contemporary composers may attempt to add warmth to a track by enveloping it in a
more human, analogue environment. To further understand the motivations for
referencing past mediums, and to situate the discussion within Lacasse’s model, it is
necessary to discuss some of the ways in which phonematic reference can occur.

3.1 Types of phonematic reference

I would like to begin by discussing three types of phonematic reference, although
this is by no means a complete list. I call the first kind of practice retronormativity, to
borrow a term from Askeroi (2013: 42), who defines it as ‘the mechanism of placing
the past in the present.’ Retronormativity can be understood as the coalescing of
different carriers of meaning by referencing a combination of stylistic traits,
instrumentation, and/or medium; all of which possess their own sonic markers that are
emblematic of certain eras.

The second type of phonematic reference is vinyl aesthetic. Williams (2014: 194)
discusses this term as a ‘signifier of hip hop authenticity associated with the sounds of
vinyl.’ I extend this to also discuss associations of warmth, authenticity, and
humanity, when compared to the perceived cold, disembodied character of digital
recordings. Yochim and Biddinger (2008: 183) write ‘throughout both their history
and in the contemporary moment, vinyl records have been articulated with human
characteristics, such as fallibility, warmth and mortality, which, for record enthusiasts,
imbue vinyl with authenticity.’ Vinyl aesthetics, therefore, describes the process
where sonic references to an analogue medium are added to imbue a track with a
warm, authentic, or ‘retro’ feel, in the absence of any other sonic markers to previous
musical eras.

Finally, analogue allusion describes brief sonic deviations that reference previous
instrumental and/or recording technologies, highlighting the contrast between
historical and contemporary, and exposing the inauthenticity of the historical
reference (Auner 2000). The key distinction here is the juxtaposition of contradictory
medium and the brevity of the reference. Having discussed new referential practices
regarding quotation and medium, Lacasse’s model can now be expanded. The
expanded model situates the practice of self-quotation, both autosonic and allosonic
iterations, and adds to the syntagmatic/paradigmatic dichotomy by including
phonematic references (figure 2).

Syntagmatic Paradigmatic Phonematic

(Subject/Content) (Style/System) (Medium/Technology)
Autosonic Autosonic Quotation Remix Autosonic Retronormativity
Autosonic Parody Autosonic Vinyl Aesthetics
Plunderphonics Autosonic Analogue Allusion
Cento
Instrumental Remix
Autosonic Self-quotation
Allosonic Allosonic Quotation Transtylisation Allosonic Retronormativity
Allusion Copy Allosonic Vinyl Aesthetics
Allosonic Parody Cover Allosonic Analogue Allusion
Allosonic Self-quotation Travesty
Translation
Pastiche

Figure 2. Expanded model of transtextuality.

The model includes autosonic and allosonic iterations of phonematic practices, as

these references can be achieved in different ways. Vinyl aesthetic, for instance,
initially required an actual vinyl record in order to capture the distinctive crackling
sound. The presence of a physical object that links two separate texts suggests the
reference should be categorised as autosonic. However, there are now many digital
plug-ins, such as iZotope’s Vinyl, that recreate the sound of a vinyl record. Therefore
it is now possible to reference an analogue medium without ever straying from the
digital environment. The abstract nature of this type of reference suggests it should be
categorised as allosonic. Additionally, referencing the sound of a transistor radio can
be achieved by recording an actual transistor radio (autosonic) or by applying a
specific type of equalisation to create the illusion of a transistor radio (allosonic).
Having introduced new types of referential practices, the following section analyses a
number of Portishead songs in order to demonstrate the applicability of the expanded
model.

4. Retronormativity
The song Strangers starts out with a heavily compressed drum beat that displays
several identifying markers of a typical sample; it is comprised of a repeating one bar
loop, the sound quality is generally poor, and a continuous vinyl crackle is clearly
evident. In actuality, the drums were first performed by regular Portishead drummer
Clive Deamer and subsequently sampled, edited, and manipulated in the manner
typical of sampling. 30 seconds into the song the harsh atmosphere of vinyl crackle,
noisy drums and distorted sounds is suddenly replaced with a clean, hollow-body
electric guitar, accompanying Beth Gibbon’s melodious vocals. We can hear a great
deal of background noise, as if someone is in the room with the band, which
associates the music with the typical live recording setup that was common before
multi-tracking became available. Beth’s vocals have been prominently filtered to
recreate the limited frequency response of earlier recording technology and we can
hear a great deal of sibilance, which again references the low-fidelity recording
techniques of the past. We hear an attempt by the band to create the illusion of a
sample, both in regard to the poor sound quality and also the forceful juxtaposition of
contrasting styles.

The phonematic reference can be categorised as an example of retronormativity,

in that the historical reference is implied through instrumentation, performance
techniques, and also medium. When taken as a whole, the listener appears to be
suddenly transported to a New York speakeasy in the 1930s, and it is this kind of
cultural and historical relocation that one often associates with sampling. As abruptly
as this change occurs, the drum loop returns, the vocal filter is removed and the
listener is transported back to present day. This section of the song is clearly
presented as though it were a sample, though in truth it was composed and recorded
by Portishead. The contrasting style of that section acts as a cultural and historical
signifier, relocating the listener to another time and place, and the transformation of
medium reinforces that relocation. This kind of stylistic multiplicity is informed by
their practice of autosonic self-quotation, in that by amassing a large library of
various musical gestures they are able to assemble a work from contrasting musical
styles.

Retronormativity is also evident in the song Western Eyes. There are a few sonic
clues that suggest the track has been assembled from multiple samples but it is in the
closing section of the song (3:12) where the illusion of sampling is made explicit.
Some vinyl scratching sets up the relocation of what appears to be a dated recording
of an anonymous American crooner, accompanied by a clean hollow-body guitar and
some sparse piano licks. The timbral quality of the voice suggests that the recording
has been slowed down and pitched lower, a common feature of sampled music, and
along with the continuous tape hiss, points to an outside source that has been
transported into a new musical environment.

The illusion is further supported by a credit in the album liner notes, which states
that the song uses a sample of Hookers and Gin by The Sean Atkins Experience from
1957. Further research, however, shows that this is merely an inside joke on the part
of Portishead. There is no such group The Sean Atkins Experience, Sean Atkins is in
fact an acquaintance of the band and receives credit for additional vocals on the song.
This suggests that the fake sample credit is a poke at the sub-culture who relish the
challenge of identifying and locating obscure samples. In this regard Portishead are
commenting on the culture of sampling without participating unreservedly in that
culture.

4.1 Vinyl aesthetic

Phonematic references do more than reinforce syntagmatic or paradigmatic
references, they can also carry their own sense of meaning. The song Humming is an
example of vinyl aesthetic. The track opens with an orchestra and theremin and, while
they both carry historical implications, there are no obvious sonic references to
suggest a particular period. However, when the drums enter (1:34) they bring with
them an obvious vinyl crackle that suggests the drums are sampled from an earlier
performance. The drumbeat is devoid of any obvious stylistic indicators but what is
significant about the use of this sample is the clear reference to medium. The
juxtaposition of the sonically degraded drums with the relatively noiseless sound of
the orchestra transforms the analogue medium into a new, digital, context.

Perhaps the more intuitive way of handling this transformation would be to

present the orchestra and theremin in an analogue medium, given their historical
association. However, Portishead go about this in the exact opposite way, revealing
the more historic instruments in an implied digital environment while bathing the
drums in the historically loaded analogue medium. This has the effect of stripping
each instrument of its historical grounding and assigning them new associations based
on the medium in which they are presented.

4.2 Analogue allusion

An example of analogue allusion can be found in Only You, where a cut and paste
technique highlights the stark contrast between the sound of the analogue medium and
that of the digital. At 2:21 we hear brief snippets of a sample from She Said by The
Pharcyde that are punctuated with brief moments of digital silence. The clean sound
of digital silence is in stark relief to the warm sound of crackling vinyl previously
heard, as the silence is achieved not in the usual way of performers simply quieting
their instruments, but by an abrupt clipping of the sound file. No effort has been
made to clean up the audio or dirty up the silence in order to smooth out the
transition. Instead, a conscious decision was made to highlight the contrast between
the warmth of the analogue sample and the cold cleanness of the digital silence. This
immediate juxtaposition reminds the listener that each medium not only carries its
own signifier, but also reinforces the other; the emptiness of the digital ascribes
greater meaning to the warm analogue, while the warm analogue renders the digital
silence that much more barren. It is important to note that these juxtapositions should
be heard as aesthetic choices rather than technological limitations; the analogue sound
aligns the music with an earlier era, while the brief moments of digital silence reveal
where the music actually sits in time (Brøvig-Hanssen 2013). By referencing the
analogue medium, Portishead provide a way in which the present can not only view
the past, but also view itself in relation to that past. By enveloping the analogue
medium within a digital context, it suggests the possibility that the digital climate of
the time, much like retro vinyl today, could perhaps one day be viewed with a sense
of nostalgia.

5. Conclusion
In conclusion, while Lacasse’s model is very useful for understanding intertextual
references, there is room for it to be expanded. The addition of autosonic self-
quotation shows how stylistic multiplicity can be achieved through contrasting
musical material, instrumentation, performance practices, and recording and playback
media, while avoiding charges of inauthenticity. Additionally, various types of
medium have acquired aesthetic values through their history of use, affording
musicians the ability to comment on these values by way of transformation and
relocation. The inclusion of phonematic references as an intertextual practice allows
for greater understanding of the various ways these transformations can be achieved.
By including these two practices, Lacasse’s model can have greater applicability
when seeking to understand referential music.
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