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Portable grew out of the ruins of the post-apartheid era of South Africa, being part of the generation that was to bring about the freedom of Nelson Mandela and all that followed for his country. He is a celebrated live act. Inspired musically, yet frustrated geographically, he relocated to London in 1997. In London, Alan Abrahams began recording as Portable, the experimental, atmospheric project that acts a living link between the indigenous African sounds of his youth, and those first records whose futuristic aesthetic broadened his horizons. He founded he’s record label Süd Electronic in 2002 and the first single “ Gridshift “ was a recommended new release by the UK publication, The Wire magazine and received best release of the month by De:Bug magazine, Germany.
A succession of full-length albums followed , namely Futuristic Experiments #005 in 2002 on German label Background records , in 2003 he’s Cycling album, which received a Red Dot design award for outstanding graphic design . In 2005 Portable released he’s album ”Version“ on ~Scape records. And In 2007 Portable decided to change he’s base city and moved to Lisbon, Portugal.There he recorded his album ‘Powers of Ten' for his own Süd Electronic record label. A rich and expansive record, 'Powers of Ten' further explored his African heritage through a new lexicon of sonic influences. In 2008 Portable released he’s first single on legendary Berlin label Perlon called “ Knowone Can Take away “ and was listed as best of the week’s releases on Groove magazine who wrote “ ...delivers one of the most beautiful , heart rendering and dance floor shattering songs, A magic plate “ Lisbon was his base for 5 years. Here he launched his alter ego project BODYCODE and signed to US, Detroit record label Ghostly International / Spectral. He’s first album for them “ The conservation of electric charge “ Was a recommended release on online platform Resident Advisor with them writing “For dance artists, the album format is a tricky balancing act between keeping people interested at home and on the dancefloor. ‘The Conservation of Electric Charge’ fulfils both criteria. As an album, it’s really tight, nothing is slackly produced or rushed. He went on to release another album under the Bodycode moniker called “ Immune “.
The next capital city he relocated to would be Berlin. There, in 2010 , he released he’s single “This Life of iIlusion“ on legendary Berlin record label Perlon. It was voted best of the month’s releases at Groove Magazine saying“ ...full of timeless Chicago house magic with vocals that gives you goosebumps “ And 2011 Portable released the “Into Infinity“ album on Perlon. This release landed him on the cover of Berlin’s influential magazine, Groove, in May 2011, them quoted as saying “ in the annual charts of the Groove editors, Portable's album Into Infinity landed in the top 10 several times - with good reason, since Alan Abrahams, the man behind Portable, knew how to combine contemporary house music and song structures on this record like hardly any other producer “ . Portable’s music reached a new level of exposure when the 2014 track 'Surrender' received a “Best New Track” designation from Pitchfork, and appeared in a re-edited form on DJ Koze’s critically acclaimed DJ-Kicks mix (named the #1 mix of 2015 by Resident Advisor). And the video to which was named 2nd Best Video of that year by Inverted Audio. This gave birth to further video experiments which Portable began to use for his many live performances.
In 2016 Portable signed to major record label !K7, and released his sixth full-length album simply entitled “Alan Abrahams“ the 11 track affair was his most personal yet and had a Pitchfork review quoted “ paints romantic ecstasy as a kind of free fall and near spiritual “ and KCRU ( NPR) public radio saying “ Abrahams augments the stable of electronics and consciously Afrocentric rhythms, through a fascinating group of songs “ And XLR!r wrote “ ..an album of melancholic beauty“.
In 2018 Portable released his EP “A life without Notifications“ on German label Dial records and was once again selected as best of the week’s releases at Groove magazine them writing that “...once again reflects the artists typical embedding of traditional rhythms in warm toned electronic sound scapes paired with he’s distinctive vocal style...“.
2018 saw Portable move to Paris, France . There he set up a new record label called Khoikhoi Records and released A single “ Believing “ and a compilation “ Raising Ancestors “ featuring leading figures in the South African music scene and introducing them to a European audience. And in 2020 Portable released a new album named ‘The Transit of Mercury’ , this to critical acclaim and amongst Pitchforks best albums for Winter 2020, them writing that“...in the album’s most intense moments, distorted synthesizers turn thick and dissonant, throbbing like a knot in the stomach“ - Philip Sherburne
In 2022 Portable signed to French record label Circus Company and released his album “ My Sentient Shadow “ This once again was hailed by the critics, with a strong recommendation from Resident Advisor writing “...another deep ,and deeply affecting concept album, this time focusing on identity, sentience and belonging“ Groove magazine had it in their essential albums of the month saying “ The greatness of Portable is reflected in the subtle complexity of his tracks, in the springy arches that he spans from seemingly rigid frameworks. The rhythm has by no means lost its southern character, “And online music blog Inverted audio writing “if you’ve somehow missed the prolific Abrahams over the years, this is a superb point to jump in, his creativity and potency remaining undiminished“. And into 2023 Portable release’s a new album on Circus Company records called “ Augmented Dreams “.
