Portishead is a British band that combines hip-hop, experimental rock, jazz, lo-fi elements, ambient, cool jazz, the sound of live instruments and various synthesizers.
Music critics and journalists have pinned the group to the term "trip-hop", although the members themselves do not like being labeled.
History of the Portishead Group
The group appeared in 1991 in the city of Bristol in England, on the coast of the Bristol Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. The band's name Portishead has a geographical origin.
Portishead (Portishead) - a small neighboring town of Bristol, 20 kilometers towards the bay. One of the members of the group and its creator, Geoff Barrow, spent his childhood and a rich musical life there.
The group consists of three Britons - Jeff Barrow, Adrian Utley and Beth Gibbons. Each with their own life and musical experience. I must say very different.
Geoff Barrow - his musical life began at about 18 years old. Young Jeff became a drummer in youth bands, got into a party and soon began working at Coach House Studios as a sound engineer and sound producer. Worked on mixing, mastering, arranging.
There he met Massive Attack, the parents of the trip-hop genre. He also met trip-hop pioneer Tricky, with whom he began to collaborate - he produced his track for the album “Sickle Cell”. Wrote a track for Swedish singer Neneh Cherry called "Somedays" from the album "Homebrew". Jeff has been producing a lot for bands like Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Paul Weller, Gabrielle.
One day, Jeff Barrow walked into a pub and heard a female voice singing Janis Joplin songs incredibly. The singing struck him to the core. It was Beth Gibbons. This is how Portishead was born.
Beth Gibbons grew up on an English farm with her parents and sister. She could listen to records for hours with her mother. At 22, Beth realized that she wanted to become a singer and went to Bristol for good luck. There, the girl began to sing in bars and pubs.
In the 80s, immigrants from various countries came to the port city of Bristol in England - Africans, Italians, Americans, Hispanics and Irish. The life of an immigrant is never easy. People needed to express their feelings through art.
Therefore, a peculiar cultural environment began to form. The name of the underground artist Banksy was first mentioned there. A large number of restaurants and bars with musical accompaniment appeared, festivals were held where each nation played its own music.
Shaping Portishead's Unique Style
Reggae, hip-hop, jazz, rock, punk - all this mixed up, multinational musical groups were formed. This is how the “Bristol sound”, famous for its melancholy, gloominess and at the same time bright spirituality, appeared.
It was in this environment that Geoff Barrow and Beth Gibbons began their creative collaboration. Jeff is a composer and arranger, and Beth writes the lyrics and sings of course. The first thing they made and showed to the world was the short film “To Kill a Dead Man” with a soundtrack completely created by them.
There, for the first time, a track called “Sour Times” was played. The film is based on a love-spy story, filmed in the style of an art-house movie. Beth and Jeff played the roles themselves in the film, deciding that no one could do the job better than themselves.
After the film they were noticed by Go! Records and since 1991 they officially became known as Portishead.
This is how Portishead's first album, Dummy, was born. It included 11 tracks:
1.Mysterons
2.Sour Times
3. Strangers
4.It Could Be Sweet
5.Wandering Star
6.It's A Fire
7.Numb
8.Roads
9. Pedestal
10.Biscuit
11 Glory Box
At this point, Portishead has a third member - jazz guitarist Adrian Utley. In addition, sound engineer Dave McDonald with his State Of The Art recording studio makes a great contribution to the creation of the album.
Adrian Utley is a producer and jazz live guitarist who has worked with many jazz artists such as Arthur Blakey (drummer and jazz band leader), John Patton (jazz pianist).
Atli is also famous for his collection of vintage musical instruments and sound equipment.
The musicians of the Portishead group turned out to be very shy people who do not like the hype and the press. They turned down interviews, so Go!
Records had to approach their promotion from a different angle - they released some unusual clips that aroused the interest of the public.
Their debut was eventually appreciated by the music press closer to 1994.
Portishead tracks began to take places in the music charts. The single “Sour Times” was taken over by MTV, after which the album was released in large numbers. Rolling Stone Names 'Dummy' a Major Musical Event
Portishead 90s
After receiving the Mercury Music Prize, work begins on the band's second album. The album was released in 1997 and became known as Portishead. The incredible skill of the guitarist Utley, the enchanting voice of Beth, who was called the Billie Holiday of electronic music by critics, wins the hearts of an even larger audience.
The trombone (J.Cornick), violin (S.Cooper), organ and piano (J.Baggot), as well as horns (A.Hague, B.Waghorn, J.Cornick) appear in recordings. The album was warmly received by critics and soon the band went on tour in Britain, Europe and the USA.
The tracks on the Portishead album are as follows:
1. Cowboys
2.All Mine
3.Undenied
4. Half Day Closing
5. Over
6.Humming
7. Morning Air
8.Seven Months
9.Only You Electric
10. Elysium
11 Western Eyes
In 1998, Portishead recorded a new album, Pnyc. This album is a live album, made up of recordings from the group's performances from different cities of Europe and America. Here appears the string and wind group of musicians. The scale and sensuality of the sound of the new recordings delight music lovers. The album becomes an undoubted success and success.
Portishead are distinguished by their special perfectionism in their work, which is probably why until 2008 they did not have new music. However, fans of the Bristol group waited for the release of the album “Third”.
Tracks included:
1.Silence
2.Hunter
3.Nylon Smile
4.The Rip
5.Plastic
6.We Carry On
7.Deep Water
8 Machine Gun
9.Small
10 Magic Doors
11.Threads
In the future, the creative career of the group continued with concerts around the world until 2015. There were no new albums.
