Portishead

:For the town, see Portishead, Somerset.

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Portishead is a trip hop band from Bristol, United Kingdom, named after the small town of Portishead, 12 miles west of Bristol. The name is pronounced 'Por-tis-head', with an 's' in the middle, and not 'Por-ti-shead'.

Related Topics:
Trip hop - Bristol - United Kingdom - Portishead - Mile

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The band was formed in 1991, by keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Geoff Barrow and singer Beth Gibbons. Barrow had previously worked with two other trip hop bands from Bristol, Massive Attack and Tricky, and decided to name his new endeavour after his hometown.

Related Topics:
1991 - Geoff Barrow - Beth Gibbons - Massive Attack - Tricky

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After releasing a short film (To Kill A Dead Man) and its accompanying music, Portishead signed a record deal with Go! Beat and their first album, Dummy, was released in 1994, and featured heavy contributions from guitarist Adrian Utley. In spite of the band's media-shyness, the album was successful in both Europe and the United States, spawning two hit singles, "Glory Box" and "Sour Times". Portishead has often been used as accompanying music in the media. Such examples include car adverts, Channel 4 intermissions, and most notably the teenage drama series Sugar Rush.

Related Topics:
To Kill A Dead Man - Go! Beat - Dummy - 1994 - Adrian Utley - Europe - United States - Channel 4 - Sugar Rush

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Their second album, Portishead, was released in 1997, and featured the single "All Mine". A live album featuring new orchestral arrangements of the group's songs was recorded primarily at Roseland in New York City, and released in 1998 with a DVD of the concert soon following. 1999 saw a cooperation with singer Tom Jones for a track on his album Reload.

Related Topics:
Portishead - 1997 - Orchestra - New York City - 1998 - 1999 - Tom Jones - Reload

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In 2005, Utley and Barrow produced The Coral's The Invisible Invasion.

Related Topics:
2005 - The Coral - The Invisible Invasion

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There have been rumours of a third album to be published, possibly called Alien, but no such record has been released, and Portishead's official site dismisses the rumours: "We have noticed that there is some confusion on an album release called "Alien". Please be aware that this is NOT a Portishead release. The band are in the studio working on new material now but no release dates are scheduled as yet. Keep an eye on the site as any release plans will of course be announced here first!" Portishead official site news

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Portishead and other so-called trip hop groups have expressed dislike for the term, arguing it is a media invention designed to categorize their otherwise not-so-categorizable music.

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