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PortisheadHumming
Portishead (play /pɔrtɪsˈhɛd/) are an English musical group formed in 1991 in
Bristol. The band is named after the nearby town of the same name,
13 km (8 mi) west of Bristol.[1] Portishead consists of Geoff Barrow,
Beth Gibbons, and Adrian Utley, while sometimes citing a fourth
member, Dave McDonald, an engineer on Dummy and Portishead.[2][3] Portishead's first album Dummy was released in 1994. The credits of Dummy indicate that at this juncture, Portishead was a duo of Geoff Barrow and Beth Gibbons. Adrian Utley, who co-produced the album with Portishead (and who played on 9 of the tracks and co-wrote 8), became an official band member shortly after the album's 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).[4]
Dummy spawned three singles: "Numb", "Sour Times", "Glory Box", and won the Mercury Music Prize in 1995.[5] In 2003, the album was ranked number
419 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums
of all time.[6] The album cover features a still from the band's
own short film To Kill a Dead Man. After their initial success, Portishead withdrew
from the spotlight for three years until their self-titled second
album, Portishead, was released in 1997. The album's sound differed
from Dummy, characterised as "grainy and harsher."[citation needed] Three singles, "All Mine", "Over" and "Only You" were released, the first one achieving a Top 10 placing in the UK.[7] In 1997, the band performed a one-off show with
strings by the New York Philharmonic orchestra[8] 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. There was also a long-form VHS video of the performance,
and a DVD followed in 2002, with substantial extra material including
many early music videos. In 1999, Portishead recorded the song "Motherless
Child" with Tom Jones for his album Reload. For the next few years, the band members
concentrated on solo and other pursuits. In February 2005, the
band appeared live for the first time in seven years at the Tsunami
Benefit Concert in Bristol.[9] 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".[10] 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.[11] 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,[12] together with a headline spot at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 26 April 2008,[13] their only U.S. date on the tour. Third was made available on Last.fm the week before
release, attracting 327,000 listeners in just under 24 hours.[14]
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.[15] On 29
May 2008, Portishead's Geoff Barrow 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 on October
2011. He contributed a freestyle rap over Portishead's single "Machine Gun".[16] On 18 May 2008, Barrow expressed Portishead's enthusiasm for recording new material on their official website's blog, stating that he "can't wait to write some new tunes".[17] 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.[18] Whilst the album is 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.[19] Additionally, on 3 December 2008, Universal Music Japan reissued the albums Dummy and Portishead in limited edition on SHM-CD. During Summer 2011, Portishead performed at a number of festivals in Europe. On 9 July 2011, Portishead performed at the main stage of Pohoda Festival, Trencin, Slovakia, in front of 20,000 fans. On 10 July 2011, Portishead performed at the main stage of Exit Festival, Novi Sad, Serbia, in front of more than 20,000 fans. Portishead were also scheduled to perform at the 2011 Benicàssim Festival[20], Rock Werchter in Belgium, Pohoda Festival in Slovakia, Paleo Festival in Switzerland, Roskilde Festival in Denmark, the Hurricane/Southside Festivals in Germany, and the Super Bock Super Rock music festival in Portugal[21]. In 2011 the band headlined and curated the line-up for two All Tomorrow's Parties music festivals entitled I'll Be Your Mirror. The first took place in London at Alexandra Palace on 23 and 24 July[22] and the second will take place in Asbury Park, New Jersey from 30 September – 2 October.[23] The band also announced on 11 July 2011 their plans to headline their first full North American tour in over a decade. Though the tour is small, Portishead will be visiting New York, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Seattle, Vancouver, and Denver during October. On 15 October, they will be performing in Mexico's "Corona Capital Fest" alongside The Strokes and many other bands. Finally, in November 2011, the band will be returning to Australia to headline The Harvest Festival alongside The National, The Flaming Lips, and Bright Eyes. While there, they will also play in New Zealand, on 10 November, at Vector Arena. In September 2011, Geoff Barrow stated in a Rolling
Stone interview that he would begin work on his portion of the
album in January 2012, humorously pointing out "that could mean another fucking 10 years" before a new album is released.[24] Dummy (1994)
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