Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another label recently acquired by PolyGram, were both at the time the largest independent record labels in history, with Island having exerted a major influence on the progressive music scene in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. Island Records operates four international divisions: Island US, Island UK, Island Australia, and Island France. Current key people include Island US president Darcus Beese, OBE and MD Jon Turner. Partially due to its significant legacy, Island remains one of UMG's pre-eminent record labels.
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the British Phonographic Industry and British Association of Record Dealers in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards. The prize was originally sponsored by Mercury Communications, a brand owned by Cable & Wireless, from which the prize gets its name. It was later sponsored by Technics, Panasonic, Nationwide Building Society and Barclaycard (2009–14). The 2015 prize was sponsored by the BBC, while in 2016 it was announced that a three-year deal had been struck with Hyundai to sponsor the event.
Polly Jean Harvey is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments.
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey, released on 24 October 2000 by Island Records. Recorded during March to April 2000, it contains themes of love that are tied into Harvey's affection for New York City.
Rid of Me is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey. It was released by Island Records in May 1993, approximately one year after the release of her critically acclaimed debut album Dry. It marked a departure from Harvey's previous songwriting, being more raw and aggressive than its predecessor.
Dummy is the debut studio album by English electronic band Portishead, released on 22 August 1994 by Go! Beat Records.
To Bring You My Love is the third studio album by English alternative rock musician PJ Harvey. It was released by Island Records in February 1995. Recorded after the break-up of the PJ Harvey trio, it stands as her first proper solo album. The songs on the album are heavily influenced by American blues music.
Michael John Harvey is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
I Am a Bird Now is the second album by New York City band Antony and the Johnsons. It won the Mercury Prize on September 6, 2005. After winning the prize, the album shot up the UK albums chart from #135 to #16 in one week, the biggest jump in the history of the Mercury Music Prize. As of September 2011, UK sales stood at 220,000 copies.
Gwilym Simcock is a Welsh pianist and composer working in both jazz and classical music, often blurring any distinction between the two musical forms.
Schloss Elmau, built by the philosopher and theologian Johannes Müller and architect Carl Sattler between 1914 and 1916, is a four-story national monument with hipped roof, tower and porch, situated between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald in a sanctuary of the Bavarian Alps, Germany. It lies at the foot of the Wetterstein mountains in a Naturschutzgebiet, belonging to the Krün municipality.
White Chalk is the seventh studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 24 September 2007 on Island Records.
The discography of PJ Harvey, an English alternative rock musician, consists of nine studio albums, two collaboration albums with John Parish, twenty-two singles, one extended play, three compilation albums and a number of collaborations with other artists.
Man Alive is the debut studio album by British band Everything Everything. Recorded in various studios across England and Wales between 2008 and 2010 with producer David Kosten, it was released on 27 August 2010 in the United Kingdom through Geffen Records. The album peaked at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. The songs "Suffragette Suffragette", "Photoshop Handsome", "MY KZ, UR BF" and "Schoolin'" were released as singles between 2008 and 2010, though the first three were re-recorded for the album.
Let England Shake is the eighth studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 14 February 2011 by Island Records. Production began around the time of White Chalk's release in 2007, though it is a departure from the piano-driven introspection of that album. Let England Shake was written over a 2+1⁄2-year period, and recorded in five weeks at a church in Dorset during April and May 2010.
Obaro Ejimiwe is a British singer, songwriter and musician better known by his stage name Ghostpoet. His first album, Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam, was shortlisted for the 2011 Mercury Prize. His 2015 album Shedding Skin was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Following release of his fourth album, Dark Days + Canapés, on 18 August 2017. His fifth album I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep was released on 1 May 2020.
Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam is the debut album of British singer, songwriter and musician Ghostpoet. It was released worldwide on 4 February 2011 on Gilles Peterson's label Brownswood Recordings. The album was shortlisted for the 2011 Mercury Prize, but lost to Let England Shake by PJ Harvey.
This is a summary of 2011 in music in the United Kingdom.
The Hope Six Demolition Project is the ninth studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 15 April 2016 on Island Records. The album is Harvey's first since her acclaimed Mercury Prize-winning album Let England Shake, released in 2011.
