Portishead.

Portishead is ranked among the precious few: They are a band who has created what I consider to be a "Perfect 10" album. Not only that, they made two of them. Then, they stopped.

The band went into seclusion for eight years after their last studio release in 1997, leaving rabid fans with little hope for a follow-up. Rumors of a new album, concert appearances and even a couple of downright hoaxes turned Portishead into the Loch Ness Monster of the indie music world. In January, Portishead put up a MySpace page devoted to a new album. This forum post seems to confirm the legitimacy of the MySpace blog entries.

Thanks to Piotr for showing me this.