But in absolute terms, "Cowardice" still sounds great -- and I suspect, from memory, that it sounds better than much late period Stewart. But Icould be wrong.
Actually, my fave Mark Stewart album is METATRON, especially when he drops the Tackhead boys and goes digi-dub with Dave Harrow on 'These Things Happen'. (I saw Dave Harrow perform with Gary Clail at the Reading festival in about 1991, which seemed quite a radikal thing at the time - a dance/dj act sandwiched between all these guitar groups on an outdoor stage in broad daylight....).
But as I discovered a couple of years ago, the track 'Shame' steals the lyrics wholesale from an old David Bowie song called 'I Can't help Thinking About Me' . The album credits clearly state 'words: Mark Stewart'. Outrageous! I expected better from a fellow Bristolian.

Speaking of Bristolians, now that Beth Gibbons has finally lost patience and gone solo, what of the other members of Portishead? What's Adrian Utley up to these days, apart from guest appearences on Sparklehorse records and such? I first met him when he bought a TR-808 drum machine off me about 7 years ago. Last time I saw him was when I bumped into him in a DIY store and he was drooling about his new purchase - an ARP 2600 synth. lucky bastard...