Portishead (band)

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Portishead
Portishead performing in March 2013
Background information
OriginBristol, England
Genres
Years active1991–1999, 2005–2016, 2022–present
Labels
MembersBeth Gibbons
Geoff Barrow
Adrian Utley
Websitewww.portishead.co.uk

Portishead (/ˌpɔːrtɪsˈhɛd/ PORT-iss-HED) are an English band formed in 1991 in Bristol. The band comprises Beth Gibbons (vocals), Geoff Barrow (multiple instruments, production), and Adrian Utley (guitar). Dave McDonald, an audio engineer who helped produce the band's first two albums, is sometimes regarded as the fourth member.[8][9]

Portishead's debut album, Dummy (1994), fused hip-hop production with yearning vocals from Gibbons and an atmospheric, cinematic style reminiscent of spy film soundtracks. The album was met with commercial and critical acclaim, quickly becoming a landmark album in the emerging trip-hop genre. However, the band disliked being associated with the term and would consciously step away from that sound on later releases.[10] They have released two other studio albums, Portishead (1997) and Third (2008), both of which received similar acclaim. Portishead have also released the live album Roseland NYC Live (1998).

History[edit]

Formation and Dummy (1991–1995)[edit]

Geoff Barrow and Beth Gibbons formed the band after meeting during a coffee break at an Enterprise Allowance course in Bristol in February 1991. Taking their name from the nearby town of Portishead,[11] they soon recorded "It Could Be Sweet", their first song for their debut album.[12] They then met Adrian Utley while they were recording at the Coach House Studios in Bristol, and Utley heard the first song Barrow and Gibbons had recorded, and began to exchange ideas on music.[13] The resulting first album by Portishead, Dummy, was released in 1994. The cover features a still from the band's own short film To Kill a Dead Man. At this time, Portishead was a duo of Barrow and Gibbons. Adrian Utley (who co-produced the album, performed on nine of the songs, and co-wrote eight) became an official band member shortly after its release.

Despite the band's aversion to press coverage, the album was successful in both Europe and the United States (where it sold more than 150,000 copies even before the band toured there).[14] Dummy was positively described by the Melody Maker as "musique noire for a movie not yet made".[15] Rolling Stone praised its music as "Gothic hip-hop".[16] Dummy spawned three singles: "Numb", "Sour Times", and "Glory Box", and won the Mercury Music Prize in 1995.[17] The success of the album saw the band nominated for Best British Newcomer at the 1995 Brit Awards.[18] Dummy was ranked number 419 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[19] The album is often considered one of the greatest trip hop albums to date and is a milestone in the definition of the genre.

Portishead and hiatus (1996–2004)[edit]

After their initial success, Portishead took a break from the spotlight and touring until their second album, Portishead, was released in 1997. The album's sound differed from Dummy, characterised as "grainy and harsher", with increased use of live instrumentation and less reliance on sampling.[20] Three singles, "All Mine", "Over" and "Only You" were released, the first one achieving a Top 10 placing in the UK.[21]

In 1997, the band performed a one-off show with strings at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. A live album primarily featuring these new orchestral arrangements of the group's songs was released in 1998. In 1999, Portishead recorded the song "Motherless Child" with Tom Jones for his album Reload. A DVD of Portishead's Roseland Ballroom performance, with substantial extra material including many early musical videos, was released in 2002. For the next few years, the band members concentrated on solo projects and other pursuits.

Third (2005–2008)[edit]

In February 2005, the band appeared live for the first time in seven years at the Tsunami Benefit Concert in Bristol.[22] Around that time, Barrow revealed that the band was in the process of writing its third album. In August 2006, the band posted two new tracks on its MySpace page (called "Key Bored 299 03" and "Greek Jam"), described by Barrow as "doodles".[23] Around the same time, Portishead covered Serge Gainsbourg's "Un Jour Comme un Autre (Requiem for Anna)" on the tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. On 2 October 2007, Portishead stated that the new album Third had been mixed and was nearly complete, and was due for release in early April 2008. The release was later pushed to 28 April. On 8 and 9 December 2007, the band curated the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Minehead, England. The festival featured their first full live sets in nearly 10 years.[24] They premiered five tracks from the new album: "Silence", "Hunter", "The Rip", "We Carry On", and "Machine Gun". On 21 January 2008, a European tour to support the album was announced,[25] together with a headline spot at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 26 April 2008,[26] their only U.S. date on the tour.

Beth Gibbons in 2008

Third was made available on Last.fm the week before release, attracting 327,000 listeners in just under 24 hours.[27] It was the first time Last.fm had made an album available before its official release date. The album was released on 29 April 2008 to coincide with the band's appearance at Coachella.[28] On 18 May 2008, Barrow expressed Portishead's enthusiasm for recording new material on their website's blog, stating that he "can't wait to write some new tunes".[29]

Adrian Utley in 2008

Later work (2009–present)[edit]

On 28 September 2009, Barrow announced "big plans" for a new project with a new angle, hinting that an album could arrive as soon as late 2010.[30] Whilst the album had yet to materialise, on 9 December 2009, the band released the song "Chase the Tear" for Human Rights Day to raise money for Amnesty International UK.[31] Additionally, on 3 December 2008, Universal Music Japan reissued the albums Dummy and Portishead in limited edition on SHM-CD.

Geoff Barrow in 2011

During Summer 2011, Portishead performed at a number of festivals in Europe, including, Pohoda Festival, Exit Festival, Benicàssim Festival in Spain,[32] Rock Werchter, Paleo Festival, Roskilde Festival, the Hurricane/Southside Festivals in Germany, and the Super Bock Super Rock music festival.[33] The band also headlined and curated the line-up for two All Tomorrow's Parties music festivals entitled I'll Be Your Mirror, in London at Alexandra Palace on 23 and 24 July.[34] The second took place in Asbury Park, New Jersey, from 30 September – 2 October.[35] Barrow stated that he realised a "boyhood fantasy" when Chuck D of Public Enemy joined the band onstage at the "ATP I'll Be Your Mirror" festival curated by Portishead in Asbury Park, NJ in October 2011. He contributed his verse from the Public Enemy song "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" over Portishead's single "Machine Gun".[36] Portishead then visited several cities in North America, including New York, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Seattle, Vancouver, and Denver during October. The Chicago Tribune hailed the concert and noted: "horror-movie accents—Gothic organ, guitar lines thick with menacing reverb, spooky theremin—ensured a certain darkness".[37] They finished their tour with a jaunt to Australia and New Zealand.[38] Barrow stated in a Rolling Stone interview that he would begin work on his portion of the album in January 2012, jokingly pointing out that it could be another decade before a new album is released.[39]

In 2013 the band headlined the Other Stage at the Glastonbury Music festival and embarked on a European tour.[40] In summer 2014, they played several concerts around Europe.[41] 2015 saw Portishead continue to perform live, playing festivals such as fib (Benicassim, Spain), Latitude (Southwold, Suffolk, UK), and the Montreux Jazz Festival (Montreux, Switzerland).[42][43][44] Additionally, Portishead produced a cover of ABBA's song "SOS" for the soundtrack to the movie High-Rise which had a Gala screening at the London Film Festival on 9 October 2015.[45] In 2016, the band won an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.[46] On 22 June 2016, Portishead released a video for "SOS" that recontextualized the song in the wake of the then-recent murder of member of parliament Jo Cox and the Brexit vote.[citation needed]

On 2 May 2022, Portishead performed for the first time in seven years at O2 Academy Bristol. Organized by War Child UK, the concert benefited refugees and children affected by the Ukraine war.[47]

Style and influences[edit]

Portishead's music was influenced by a wide range of singers and composers. Gibbons's voice has been compared to singer Billie Holiday.[48] Utley mentioned the spaghetti western guitar composed by Ennio Morricone; he said that "[Morricone's] The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the sort of soundtrack that I love".[49]

Discography[edit]

Main article: Portishead discography

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Awards Work Category Result Ref.
1995 Mercury Prize Dummy Album of the Year Won
NME Awards Themselves Best Dance Act Nominated [50]
MTV Europe Music Awards Best New Act Nominated [51]
Edison Awards Best International Dance/Rap Won
Brit Awards British Breakthrough Act Nominated [52]
1997 GAFFA Awards (Denmark) Beth Gibbons Best Foreign Female Act Nominated [53]
1998 Žebřík Music Awards Best International Female Nominated [54]
1999 Online Music Awards Themselves Best Alternative Fansite Nominated [55]
2008 Rober Awards Music Prize Best Band Won [56]
Cutting Edge Won
Best Electronica Won [57]
Third Album of the Year Won [58]
"The Rip" Single of the Year Won [59]
2011 Themselves Best Live Artist Nominated [60]
2016 Ivor Novello Awards Outstanding Contribution to British Music Won [61]
Music Week Sync Awards "SOS" Film Soundtrack Won
Rober Awards Music Poll Best Cover Version Won [62]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  2. ^ Staff (10 April 2008). "Bristol Time: The return of a trip-hop legacy". The Independent. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  3. ^ Miriello, Ralph A. (24 September 2012). "Casting for Gravity: Donny McCaslin's Adventure into Electronica". Huffington Post. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. ^ Taylor, Steve (27 September 2006). The A to X of Alternative Music. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0826482171. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  5. ^ Brandle, Lars (1 March 2008). "Coming (Back) Together". Billboard. Vol. 120, no. 9. p. 29. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 26 November 2012. The trend will continue this year when two of Britain's most important '90s alternative bands-The Verve and Portishead-make their respective U.S. returns for the first time in nearly a decade.
  6. ^ Wheaton, RJ (December 2011). Portishead's Dummy. A&C Black, 33 1/3. p. 179.
  7. ^ Palmer, Elle (27 June 2013). "Portishead discuss their favourite albums". Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  8. ^ "The Rock Hard Times: Dave McDonald". Trht.net. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  9. ^ "A Portishead Fansite: Dave McDonald". Kotinetti.suomi.net. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  10. ^ See Geoff Barrow's Twitter account for instance: https://twitter.com/jetfury/status/1165645561040691200?lang=en-GB
  11. ^ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  12. ^ The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion. Canongate Books. 2007. p. 610. ISBN 978-1841959733.
  13. ^ Rogers, Jude (24 August 2019). "'Dummy wasn't a chillout album. Portishead had more in common with Nirvana'". The Guardian.
  14. ^ Biography AllMusic. Retrieved 28 December 2007
  15. ^ O'Connell, Sharon (3 September 1994). "Portishead Dummy - Review". Melody Maker: 45.
  16. ^ Evans, Paul (5 March 1995). "Dummy review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  17. ^ Mercury Music Prize Winners BBC. Retrieved 28 December 2007
  18. ^ Portishead BRITs Profile Archived 4 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine BRIT Awards Ltd. Retrieved 21 November 2012
  19. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 18 November 2003. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  20. ^ "Portishead "Portishead"". Quality Records. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  21. ^ "everyHit.com search results". Everyhit.com. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  22. ^ Tsunami benefit concert review BBC Music. Retrieved 5 January 2008
  23. ^ Quote from Geoff Barrow The Guardian 29 August 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2007
  24. ^ Review of December 2007 ATP shows Archived 14 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine StrangeGlue.com. Retrieved 27 December 2007
  25. ^ Portishead announce 2008 tour NME. Retrieved 27 January 2008
  26. ^ "Coachella lineup". Coachella.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  27. ^ "Portishead fans flock together for early album stream". Side-line.com. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  28. ^ Broadley, Erin (5 May 2008). "> Interviews > Portishead". SuicideGirls.com. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  29. ^ "back home". Portishead.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  30. ^ Davies, Rodrigo (27 September 2009). "Geoff Barrow Interview For BBC". BBC News. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  31. ^ "Portishead to release 'Chase the tear' as limited edition vinyl for Amnesty". Amnesty international. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  32. ^ "The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Portishead, Primal Scream Confirmed For FIB 2011". PlugInMusic.com. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  33. ^ Fullsix Portugal. "SBSR, Super Bock". Superbock.pt. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  34. ^ "I'll Be Your Mirror London curated by Portishead & ATP". ATPfestival.com. All Tomorrow's Parties. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  35. ^ "I'll Be Your Mirror Asbury Park". ATPfestival.com. All Tomorrow's Parties. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  36. ^ Portishead on Public Enemy Archived 13 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine TheQuietus.com. Retrieved 11 June 2008
  37. ^ Kot, Greg (13 October 2011). "Portishead at the Aragon: The wait was worth it". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  38. ^ "Concert review: Portishead, Vector Arena". The New Zealand Herald. 15 November 2011.
  39. ^ Baltin, Steve (20 September 2011). "Portishead to Start Work on New Album in January | Music News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  40. ^ Smith, Caspar Llewellyn (28 June 2013). "Portishead at Glastonbury 2013 - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  41. ^ "Portishead Summer 2014". Portishead.co.uk.
  42. ^ "fib 2015 Lineup". Archived from the original on 1 February 2016.
  43. ^ "Latitude Festival 2015". Latitudefestival.com. 13 June 2023.
  44. ^ "Portishead at Montreux Jazz Festival". Montreuxjazz.com.
  45. ^ "Portishead News". Portishead.co.uk. 8 October 2015.
  46. ^ "The Ivors 2016". The Ivors. Archived from the original on 23 May 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  47. ^ Young, Alex (7 April 2022). "Portishead to Reunite for Ukraine Benefit Concert". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  48. ^ Walters, Barry (November 1997). "Portishead: Portishead". Spin. 13 (8): 142. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  49. ^ Miller, Jonathan (June 1995), Adrian Utley: Portishead Sound Shaper, Sound on Sound, retrieved 5 May 2016
  50. ^ "Rocklist.net...NME Lists readers Pop Poll Results..." Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  51. ^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (28 October 1995). "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  52. ^ "History". Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  53. ^ "GAFFA-prisen 1991-2006 – se vinderne". Gaffa.dk. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  54. ^ "2003-1997 – Anketa Žebřík".
  55. ^ "Google Groups". Groups.google.com. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  56. ^ "The Official Music Rober Awards 2008: Complete List of Winners | Rober Awards". 8 January 2012.
  57. ^ "ROBER NOMINEES 2008: Best Electronica | Rober Awards". 8 January 2012.
  58. ^ "The Official Music Rober Awards 2008: Complete List of Winners | Rober Awards". 8 January 2012.
  59. ^ "ROBER NOMINEES 2008: Single of the Year | Rober Awards". 8 January 2012.
  60. ^ "Nominations 2011: Best Live Artist | Rober Awards". 8 January 2012.
  61. ^ "Archive | The Ivors | The Ivors Academy | Champions of Music Creators". Ivorsacademy.com. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  62. ^ "The Rober Awards 2016 Music Poll - Rober Awards". Roberawards.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.

External links[edit]

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