Gone But Not Forgiven

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 2009-12-06

Label: Make Mine Music

Gone But Not Forgiven contains 11 tracks spanning the period 1998 to 2006, three previously available only on vinyl 7" singles and eight that have never been released before in any format. All of the tracks have been remastered.

#1 : originally released as one side of double A-sided 7" single on Roisin Recordings in 1999.
#2 : released in 2000 as one side of a 7" split single on Awkward Silence Recordings.
#3 : originally appeared on Falling EP 7" in 2001.
#4 : alternative mix of a track from Tristesse.
#5 & #6 : recorded live in Oxford during 2004.
#7 : a hybrid of elements of the tracks Half-Light and Breather taken from Tristesse.
#8 & #9 : recorded in 2005 for the Dutch internet radio show Senzor on DFM.
#10 : remixed from the original Waves & Echoes album track by Ben Holton of Epic45 in 2006.
#11 : alternative mix of the title track of Waves & Echoes.



Album info:
"Gone But Not Forgiven" is a collection of rare and unreleased tracks from the period 1998-2006. In my mind, it cleared out the cupboard, so to speak, and left a clean slate, whether or not I decided to carry on with doing music under the name of Portal. The cover photograph of part of a dead tree was chosen as an appropriate metaphor for how I felt about Portal at the time, and was also as a twist on the notion that Make Mine Music sleeves all too often had photographs of trees on them. I don't think anyone clocked this at the time. Or since.

Recorded in various locations (see notes below). Mastered by Matt Robson of RandomNumber at Random HQ, Leeds, UK.

Sleeve photography and design by Scott Sinfield.

Personnel:
Rachel Hughes – Vocals
Scott Sinfield – Squier Stratocaster guitar, Yamaha Pacifica 12-string guitar, Peavey Milestone III bass, Boss SP303 sampler, Boss DR202 groove box, Roland TR505 drum machine, Casio FZ1 sampler, Akai SG01 synth module.
Effects: Ebow Plus, Boss CH1 Chorus, Boss PH1 Phaser, Boss DD3 Digital Delay, RAT Distortion, Tandy Reverb Unit, Alesis Midiverb 4.

Track notes:
July – One side of Portal's first 7" for Roisin Recordings, recorded on a Tascam 414 cassette 4-track. Released on black vinyl in an initial pressing of 500 copies, with half that number again on lovely Baltic blue vinyl. "July" was played several times by John Peel on his BBC Radio 1 show and described as "rather wonderful", making me an incredibly happy and proud young man.

Series 1 – A version of an original track by Yellow6, recorded based purely on a visual chord chart, i.e. I hadn't heard the original track when I recorded it. Jon of Yellow6 did the same for the Portal track "naming Stars", recording his version based a chord chart that I'd sent to him. All four tracks were released by the very fine Awkward Silence Recordings, across two 7" singles, in 2000 and 2001. I really like this track.

Sometimes I'm Lost (Schengen remix) – An excellent reworking of the track "Lost" by my friends and labelmates Ian and Nick, aka Schengen. The track appeared on a cassette compilation given away with copies of the Leeds-based fanzine Aluminaut.

Even the Sun (version) – This is the version that should have appeared on the "Tristesse" CD (see the notes for "Tristesse").

An Open Sky (live) – A rare live outing for this track in its original version because it was so difficult to play in time with the sampled strings, without the help of a drum track. I can't remember where this was recorded, but it was most likely at The Kiss Bar in Oxford, on 14th May 2003, as part of the Oxford Punt festival. Recorded directly to minidisc from the onstage mixing disc, which is why there's no crowd noise. Honest.

Shifting (live) – Again, most likely recorded at the Oxford Punt festival, this version of a track from "Reprise" features an additional drum track, making it much easier to play live. I prefer this version to the original recording.

Breathless – An amalgamation of two tracks from the "Tristesse" CD, "Breathe" and "Half-light." I think this works really rather well, even though it was just a random experiment.

Sometimes (session) and Bloodline (session) – Both tracks were recorded at home for my friend Jan Willem Broek's radio show in Amsterdam, Holland. I went over to stay with Jan Willem and was interviewed on his show, live on air, before the tracks were broadcast. We were both a little bit worse for wear, having drunk a healthy amount of red wine before and during the show. Going by a recording of the show that I was subsequently sent, it didn't show too badly, but I do remember feeling a bit rough the next morning. I still think this version of "Bloodline" is the closest I ever got to how I really wanted Portal to sound.

Trace (Epic45 remix) – A track from the "Waves & Echoes" album, remixed by Ben Holton of Epic45. Ben did a great job of this, I think.

Waves & Echoes (version) – When I mix songs down, I often end up with countless versions, which are so similar that probably only I can tell the difference between them. Actually, I'm not even sure that I can tell a difference between them, if I'm honest. Anyway, this was one of the rejected versions of "Waves & Echoes", but that I now regard as a better mix. The vocals are a touch louder, the synth bass EQed differently, and the rhythm sample was a bit quieter. Possibly. Anyway, this song is still my proudest Portal moment.

Free download from:
http://portal-archive.blogspot.com/