Portishead
Formed: 1991
Location: Bristol, England
Genre: Trip Hop
Years Active: 1991 - 1998; 2008
Meaning of the Name: Portishead is a town in Somerset where Geoff Barrow used to live.
Core Members: Beth Gibbons (vocals), Geoff Barrow (producer), Adrian Utley (guitar)
Way of Working: Collaborative
Style: Icy cool, original music with great production
When Geoff Barrow, who had produced tracks for Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry, met pub singer Beth Gibbons on a course for the unemployed they decided to collaborate. In another fateful encounter, Adrian Utley was drawn to the studio by an unconventional sound and joined the band, bringing with him a wealth of experience and knowledge of unconventional instruments including the theremin.
In the early nineties, Portishead helped to launch a new form of music, trip hop, which combined the production techniques of hip hop and the singing of lounge with live instruments.
The band employed new-fangled production techniques such as recording fresh audio and making it sound like it was sampled from old vinyl. They pressed their original compositions on to wax, threw them across the room and jumped up and down on them to create the crackly, worn sound associated with the medium. The traditional sampling that was used came primarily from old spy films and Geoff Barrow went on to score features such as Ex Machina (2014).
Commercial & Critical Success
Awards >>>
- Mercury Prize Winner 1995: "Dummy" - Album of the Year
- Brit Award Nomination 1995: "Dummy" - Best British Newcomer
- Ivor Novello Award Winner 2016: Outstanding Contribution to British Music
Certifications >>>
- Platinum Album: "Dummy (1994)" in Belgium, Canada, New Zealand [x2], UK [x3]
- Gold Album: "Dummy (1994)" in Italy, USA
- Platinum Album: "Portishead (1997)" in New Zealand, UK
- Gold Album: "Portishead (1997)" in Australia, Belgium, Canada
- Gold Album: "Third" (2008)" in UK
Charts >>>
- Album Charts: "Dummy (1994)" - #2 in UK
- Album Charts: "Portishead" (1997)" - #1 in New Zealand; #2 in Australia, UK, #3 in France, Ireland
- Album Charts: "Third" (2008)" - #2 in Denmark, UK, #3 in Canada, France
Critics >>>
- Melody Maker: "Dummy (1994)" - Best Album of 1994
- NME: "Dummy" (1994)" - 500 Best Albums of All Time #168
- Rolling Stone: "Dummy" (1994)" - 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020) #131
