8 Oct 2011

Portishead

From RNZ Music, 4:00 pm on 8 October 2011

This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

Characterised by slick production, samples from old soul records, a head-nodding tempo and moody vocals 'Trip-hop' was the antidote to all the guitar thrashing of the early 1990s. Portishead began after hip-hop obsessed teenager Geoff Barrow met singer songwriter Beth Gibbons on a job training scheme. The pair tried collaborating despite their different tastes, and it worked. They were joined by guitarist Adrian Utley halfway through recording the debut 'Dummy'. That album won the Mercury Prize in 1995, and the second, self-titled Portishead album was released to critical acclaim in 1997 before the band went quiet for a decade. Portishead's 'Third' came out three years ago now, and the band is on the road again, including a New Zealand date in November 2011. Music 101 host Kirsten Johnstone asked Geoff Barrow about his memories of Portishead's last NZ shows in 1998.

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