Last month we posted about the UK band Malakai who seems to be single handedly carrying the ‘Bristol Sound’ torch. The group was personally signed to Portishead founder, Geoff Barrow’s label Invada. That in itself should speak volumes about the validity of this band.
A quick listen at the few tracks they have unleashed only and you can tell that Geoff definitely played a role in the production of Malakai’s forthcoming EP. A new promo video for the new single battle was released on youtube. So psychedelic.
And to my disbelief no one else picked up the first single ‘Fading World’ which we posted last month. In case you guys missed that post, here it is again.
A six track EP is set to be released September 3rd in the UK and September 10th here in the states on Island records. You can pre-order it from Amazon. Two more streamable tracks are available on Malakai’s myspace.
Back in school classmates would always ask each other ‘if you could marry anyone in the world who would it be‘? Most used to immediately reply with ‘Lark Voorhies’ or an ecstatic ‘Tiffany Amber Theissen’. I always had my answer poised at the tip of my tongue, should anyone ever ask me, though they never did… But if they did I’d scream shamelessly ‘Beth Gibbons’ at the top of my lungs and dance around the classroom imagining our wedding day & my beautiful dress…. but I digress.
Between the years 1994 and 2000 Beth, Geoff Barrow & Adrian Utley, collectively forming Portishead were the air that I breathed. Portishead posters, shirts, CD’s and vinyl were my food. I had it all, duplicates of the CD’s one to open and enjoy and the other to store in the ‘vault’. I collected as many import singles as my little paycheck would allow.
Since their extremely long ‘hiatus’ I’ve longed for something, anything closely resembling Portishead &/or the ‘Bristol Sound’ that they and Massive Attack helped create in the late nineties. Beth’s project with Paul Webb a.k.a. Rustin Man and Adrian’s experiments with Mount Vernon Arts Lab were like water in a drought but the since then the gods have not been kind.
Enter Malakai. This is the closest thing to Portishead since Portishead! A Bristol band discovered by one of Portishead’s founding members, Geoff Barrow. They’ve released a super limited 12″ on Geoff’s Invada label called ‘Fading World’ which is big beat-esque & horn heavy, hinting back to earlier times.
A Malakai EP is slated for release this August on Island. Call it Trip hop, call it ‘Bristol Sound’, whatever you decide to refer to it as you will undoubtedly label it as long over due. Add Malakai on myspace now so you can say you were on the team since way back.
Portishead are to be the next curators and will be performing exclusively at All Tomorrow’s Parties, Nightmare Before Christmas in December 2007.
They will be playing their first full live set featuring new material in nearly 10 years at the event which is set for December 7, 8 & 9 at Butlins Holiday Camp at Minehead.
“We have always loved the All Tomorrow’s Parties set up and we’re happy our first shows will be there. It’s great to have the opportunity to introduce bands we love or have influenced us. We’ve chosen a diverse collection of artists to play with us and we’re really looking forward to it”
Details of the line up will be announced here and at the All Tomorrow’s Parties site www.atpfestival.com
Wow. I wish I was living in England right about now (or about December, rather)! Portishead is about as epic as it gets for us.
Here’s some Portishead stuff (including remixes and Geoff Barrow / Beth Gibbons side projects) to celebrate their return to form:
…and that’s enough. You want more, check Amazon or your fav. spot and I’m sure they got you.
If you want to see some recent Portishead video, check this YouTube vid for what appears to be an small and impromptu February 2007 performance in Bristol, UK.
Portishead have a MySpace and are in the process of redoing their website (click the P’s).
