November 25, 2003
Portishead have given a new
interview to GrandSlam
Magazine in which they talk about their forthcoming
album. You can order a copy of
the magazine from the website.
Rolling Stone named "Dummy" as the 419th best
album of all time. The Beatles came in first. The full list
of the 500 greatest albums is available here.
In addition, "Dummy" came in 48th when Pitchfork
listed their Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.
October 31, 2003
Snippet from an interview with Buck 65, a Canadian hip hop artist:
Q: Are you involved in any current side projects with anyone? Are you collaborating for the future?
Buck 65: Yeah, I’ve got a handful of things in the works. There’s a hip-hop group from the UK, Bristol, called Aspects, and I’m about to do some recording with them and there down with Portishead, at Portishead’s studio that I’m going into to do the work. I recently recorded an album with DJ Signify and Sage Francis that will be out soon on the Lex label. There’s talk of all sorts of things and a whole bunch of stuff in the works, but until its done or confirmed, I shouldn’t say too much. But what’s exciting to me is that I’m looking at doing some collaborative work outside the realm of hip-hop that I think could be really, really interesting. Something to watch out for.
Here's
the full interview.
Beth has now finished her American tour. Please send in your
pictures and reviews!
October 7, 2003
"Out Of
Season" was released today in the USA by Sanctuary
Records. You can now purchase the album from Amazon.com.
The U.S. release features a live version the Velvet
Underground song "Candy
Says" as a bonus as well as the video for "Mysteries".
The American tour kicks off with a show in Philadelphia
tomorrow. For the rest of the dates check out the
tour page.
Beth Gibbons came in at number 19 when the Guardian listed
their 40
greatest British bands today:
19. Beth Gibbons
Glaciers move quicker than the career of hip-hop torch singer turned folk siren Gibbons, but it was always worth the wait. With Portishead, she was a goosebump-raising voice in the dark. She reappeared last year in tandem with former Talk Talk member Paul Webb on the extraordinarily beautiful Out of Season, a record with the autumnal tang of bonfire smoke. Foolishly underrated, Gibbons's voice and songs will be cherished years from now.
Sound: 16
Songs: 18
Gigs: 14
Style: 8
Attitude: 11
Total: 67/100
September 23, 2003
The articles section has been updated with
new stories, including the recent Rolling
Stone article which featured a small
interview with Paul Webb.
A small excerpt: "With Gibbons still an
active member of Portishead and Webb
expecting to take a year off to be with his
new baby, there are no definite future plans
to continue their collaboration."
Portishead song "Roads" has been
used in "Live Forever", a
feature-length documentary that explores the
phenomenon that was Britpop, and the culture
and politics that surrounded it.
September 16,
2003
You can now pre-order the U.S. edition of
"Out Of Season" from Amazon.com.
August 24, 2003
From bethgibbons.com:
The album Out of Season is scheduled for
release in the US on October 7th.
Gibbons and Webb will perform live in the USA
during October and in Brazil on the 30th
October, joined by members of both bands -
Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley, Talk
Talk's drummer Lee Harris and bassist Simon
Edwards - along with keyboardist Jason
Hazeley Smith of Ben & Jason and
violinist Clare Mactaggart.
Whilst you'll know the empathetic sounds of
both Portishead and Talk Talk, prepare to be
surprised by wispy acoustic guitars, swooping
strings and stark piano, dominated above all
by Gibbons' extraordinary voice --
exquisitely melodic, haunting, calm and
nape-hair-raising at the same time -
conjuring the ghosts of Nico, Sandy Denny,
Billie Holiday and Nick Drake.
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man "..played
with such taut, restrained dynamism that it
seems to seep into the courtyard's every
crevice." "Resolve is played with
with breathtaking subtlety; by contrast Tom
The Model unfurls luxuriously under deep red
lights. Gig of the weekend, no
question." - The Independent (review of
London's Somerset House summer series dates
July 2003).
Out Of Season "is in the rarefied
company of those records that have a dignity
and otherness. the mood is desperately
intimate, overwhelmingly autumnal. Out of
Season is gorgeously uneasy listening."
-The Guardian
"It's the kind of enormously special
record that's destined to be treasured for
years. Bewitching" - Esquire
Check the tour page for dates &
venues.
August 15, 2003
From the NME:
Radiohead took over a US radio station on
Tuesday night (August 12) - playing a
selection of their favourite tracks ranging
from the Aphex Twin to Bob Marley.
The band, currently on tour in the US,
dropped in to Boston radio station FNX for a
few hours to take part in their Hostile
Takeover show.
Arriving with suitcases stuffed full of their
personal faves, Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood,
Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway were, according to
DJ Paul Driscoll, on top form all night,
introducing songs between bites of vegetarian
sushi, and, in Thom's case, even putting in a
spot of dancing at one point!
Driscoll says: "The whole thing was very
surreal. I've been a fan of theirs since
1993... It's hard to put the experience into
words." He went on to say how refreshing
it was that they were so down to earth and
fun to have in the studio.
Among the tracks played by the band were
Aphex Twin's Zkthr, Bob Marley's Put It On,
Tindersticks' Until The Morning Comes,
Outkast's Hey Ya!, Beth Gibbons' Mysteries
and The Meters' Just Kissed My Baby.
The British superstars are not the first band
to have taken part in Hostile Takeover -
Supergrass, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Feeder and
The Music have all in the past opened up
their record boxes for the show.
Radiohead FNX Hostile Takeover 9
Tracklisting:
Beth Gibbons - Mysteries
Mclusky - The Hell With Good Intentions
Outkast - Hey Ya!
Aphex Twin - Zkthr
Bob Marley - Put It On
The Meters - Just Kissed My Baby
Tindersticks - Until The Morning Comes
Odd Nosdam - Le Mixtape Deluxe
Gilberto Gil - Aquele Abraco
The Black Keys - Hold Me In Your Arms
Autechre - P.:NTIL
Swervedriver - Duel
??? - Marts
Mahalia Jackson - Amazing Grace
August 11, 2003
As you may
have noticed this site has been down for a
couple of weeks due to server problems. I
apologize for any inconvenience.
This summer's "Out Of
Season" tour is now over. However there is a
Brazilian show scheduled for this autumn.
Beth and Paul will perform 30th October at
the TIM Festival in Rio De Janeiro.
May 2, 2003
From the official website: Beth Gibbons &
Rustin Man are doing a one-off show at
London's Somerset House on 12th July with
support from Mark Linkous and Scott Minor of
Sparklehorse fame. Tickets are available
through Ticketmaster or online at www.somerset-house.org.uk.
April 30, 2003
More festival
dates
announced, including Glastonbury and
Benicassim.
Some photos from the London gig in
March 2003. Thanks to Steve for those!
April 28, 2003
As reported
earlier on this site Geoff Barrow has indeed
been working with Stephanie McKay on her
debut solo album along with Adrian Utley on
guitar duties. "McKay" was recorded
in Bristol, UK and will be released on 19th
May with the single "Tell Him"
preceding it on 5th May. Find out more about
this artist on her website www.stephaniemckay.com.
Amazon.co.uk has the single and album available for
pre-order.
In other news the new and improved Portishead message
board
is finally up. Geoff has already been spotted
there so what about registering yourself,
too.
April 16, 2003
A limited
edition of "Out Of Season" was released
February 4, 2003. This French reissue of the
2002 album includes three bonus live tracks,
'Tom The Model', 'Spider Monkey', 'Funny Time
Of The Year', recorded at the Olympia in
Paris November 11, 2002.
You can order it now along with the new
single "Tom The Model" from our Portishead
shop.
April 7, 2003
Site updates:
Front page - minor changes
Collaborations - updated
Lyrics & song info - added lyrics
Links - updated
+ new section Remixes - lists Portishead
remixes of other artists and remixes of
Portishead songs
Additions? Corrections? This way, please.
March 28, 2003
Information on
Beth's new festival dates in France, Germany,
Denmark, Switzerland and Belgium this summer
can be found on our tour page.
March 19, 2003
It has been
now officially confirmed that
"Alien" is NOT a forthcoming
Portishead release.
From the official website:
"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!"
March 9, 2003
"Tom The Model" single reached
number 70 on the British singles chart this
week.
Beth will play the Quart Festival in Norway 5
July. For the other dates this summer go to
our tour page.
Here's a review of the
Liverpool show in February. Nice photos as
well.
The kind people at www.bristolcancerhelp.org recently held an
auction to buy celebrity signed Sloggi pants.
Celebrities from the West Country UK have
personally signed individual pairs of these
pants. Portishead also signed a pair and they
went for 53£. To see a pic go to www.bristolcancerhelp.org/stardraws.php
And finally I'd like to clear something up
for good. Sources around the Internet are
saying that Portishead's next album
"Alien" would be released later
this month or early April. This however is
not true. First of all if there really was a
new Portishead album coming out this spring
there would be so much press coverage that
I'm sure none of us could miss it. Second, no
one has officially confirmed the existence of
such an album. And most of all when asked
about it Geoff, Adrian and Beth have all said
to fans that they haven't recorded any new
material yet but are indeed working on the
new album.
February 23,
2003
New Portugese
dates:
4th April Lisbon Coliseum
6th April Opporto Coliseum
New German festival dates:
20th June Hurricane Festival
21st June Southside Festival
Go to our tour page for more details.
Here are the confirmed "Tom The
Model" single cover and tracklisting:
1. Tom The Model
2. Spider Monkey (L'Olympia, Paris)
3. Tom The Model (L'Olympia, Paris)
4. Tom The Model (Video)
February 11,
2003
Glasgow show
27th February has been cancelled! Please look
out for an alternative Scottish date to be
announced shortly. Ticketholders will be
contacted on this.
Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley and John Baggot
from Portishead are credited on the sleeve
for the new Massive Attack album "100th
Window", out this week.
January 23,
2003
When
wandering around music publishing sites I
found loads of unknown songs registered to
Portishead. For example "3 Chord
Tune", "Half Lit World",
"Sound", "Sour Times
Too", "Imagination",
"Interlude" and
"Portshead" were written by at
least two of the group members together.
I also noted that Geoff Barrow's name came up
often with the pair Tim Saul and Stephanie
McKay. The former is a member of Earthling
who have worked with Portishead before and
the latter is known for collaborating with
Tricky. Could this mean a new side project
for Geoff perhaps?
Adrian Utley has tracks registered to his own
name also and a bunch co-written with Will
Gregory from Goldfrapp with whom Adrian is
known to have worked before.
Go to EMI Music Publishing and start searching,
it's an interesting read indeed.
January 20,
2003
"Tom
The Model" will be released as a single
on 3rd March on 7" and CD. Extras
include live cuts from their show at
L'Olympia in Paris last November and a CD-Rom
of the video.
The official website will preview a clip
from the video 3rd February.
Also, Go! Beat reports about the end
of year press round-ups for Beth Gibbons and
Rustin Man:
As if being called a modern classic (Times)
and one of the best albums ever recorded
(MOJO) wasn't enough, the end of year
round-ups of the best records of 2002 went
potty over 'Out Of Season, like
this:"Staggering" Guardian
"Alternatively skeletal and lush, the
music is a powerful amalgamation of folk,
blues and jazz" Financial Times
"Dusky, acoustic masterpiece, haunted by
the ghost of Billie Holiday" The
Scotsman
"The Find Of The
Year....spellbinding". Mail On Sunday
"A spell binding album of wintry
beauty" Q
"The most intensley moving music of
recent times" Uncut
"Slips a lifetime of ache into the span
of a breath....enchanted". Observer
"Genius in spades" Hotpress
January 9, 2003
The
German dates have finally been announced!
More info on our tour page.
You can listen to the two tracks Beth
recorded for the Janice Long show on BBC here.
According to bethgibbons.com 'Out Of Season'
featured heavily in the end of year polls:
Uncut LP's - Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man
#12
Independent top 10 - Beth Gibbons &
Rustin Man
Guardian 2003 preview top 10 - Beth Gibbons
& Rustin Man
