Dummy (album)

Dummy
Studio album by Portishead
Released 22 August 1994
Recorded 1993–1994
Studio State of Art and Coach House Studios (Bristol, England)
Genre Trip hop
Length 49:17
Label
Producer Portishead
Portishead chronology
Dummy
(1994)		 Glory Times
(1995)
Singles from Dummy
  1. "Numb"
    Released: 6 June 1994
  2. "Sour Times"
    Released: 1 August 1994
  3. "Glory Box"
    Released: 3 January 1995

Dummy is the debut studio album by English electronic band Portishead, released on 22 August 1994 by Go! Beat Records.[1]

The album received critical acclaim and won the 1995 Mercury Music Prize. It is often credited with popularising the trip hop genre, and is frequently cited in lists of the best albums of the 1990s. Although it achieved only modest chart success overseas, it peaked at number two on the UK Album Chart, and saw two of its three singles reach number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was certified gold in 1997[2] and has sold two million copies in Europe.[3] The album was certified double platinum in the UK in 1996, for sales exceeding 600,000 copies.[4] It had sold 825,000 copies in the United Kingdom as of September 2011.[5]

Background

Building on the promise of their earlier EP, 'Numb', Dummy helped to cement the reputation of Bristol as the capital of trip hop, a nascent genre which was then often referred to simply as "the Bristol sound". The cover is a still image of vocalist Beth Gibbons taken from To Kill a Dead Man—the short film that the band created—for which the self-composed soundtrack earned the band its record contract.

The album spawned two singles in addition to the already released "Numb": "Glory Box", which reached No. 13[6] in the UK singles chart; and "Sour Times", which reached the same position on re-release in 1995.[7] "Sour Times" achieved moderate success in the US, reaching peak positions of No. 5 and No. 53 on the Alternative and Hot 100 Billboard charts, respectively, in February 1995.[8] On 3 December 2008, Universal Music Japan released Dummy and Portishead as limited SHM-CD versions.

For the track "Sour Times", the album samples Lalo Schifrin's "The Danube Incident" and Smokey Brooks' (Henry Brooks, Otis Turner) "Spin It Jig"; for "Strangers", Weather Report's (Wayne Shorter) "Elegant People"; for "Wandering Star", War's "Magic Mountain"; for "Biscuit", Johnnie Ray's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"; and for "Glory Box", Isaac Hayes' "Ike's Rap II".

The tracks "Roads" and "Strangers" were used in the soundtrack of the film Nadja.[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Chicago Tribune[11]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[12]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[13]
Los Angeles Times[14]
NME9/10[15]
Pitchfork9.5/10[16]
Q[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[19]

NME summed up the record by writing: "This is, without question, a sublime debut album. But so very, very sad." It observed, "From one angle, its languid slowbeat blues clearly occupy similar terrain to soulmates Massive Attack and all of Bristol hip-hop's extended family. But from another these are avant garde ambient moonscapes of a ferociously experimental nature." The review concluded that "Portishead's post-ambient, timelessly organic blues are probably too left-field, introspective and downright Bristolian to grab short-term glory as some kind of Next Big Thing. But remember what radical departures Blue Lines, Ambient Works and Debut were for their times and make sure you hear this unmissable album."[15] Melody Maker stated that the band "were undeniably the classiest, coolest thing to have appeared in the country for years ... Dummy, their debut, takes perfectly understated blues, funk and rap/hip hop, brackets all this in urban angst and then chills it to the bone." The review described the record as "musique noire for a movie not yet made, a perfect, creamy mix of ice-cool and infra-heat that is desperate, desolate and driven by a huge emotional hunger, but also warmly confiding ... Most of us waver hopelessly between emotional timidity and temerity the whole of our lives and Dummy marks out that territory perfectly."[20]

Q described Dummy as "perhaps the year's most stunning debut album" and proclaimed that "the singer's frail, wounded-sparrow vocals and Barrow's mastery of jazz-sensitive soul/hip hop grooves and the almost forgotten art of scratching are an enthralling combination".[17] Mojo said that "Portishead make music for an early evening drinks party on the set of The Third Man. There is nothing kitschy about them either ... Beth Gibbons' voice has a genuine chill to it, and Geoff Barrow's background soundscapes are worthy of Lalo Schiffrin and Nellee Hooper."[21] Rolling Stone wrote: "From tape loops and live strings, Fender Rhodes riffing and angelic singing, these English subversives construct très hip Gothic hip-hop ... Assertive rhythms and quirky production, however, save Portishead from languishing in any cosy retro groove. Instead they manage yet another – very smart – rebirth of cool.'[18][18]

Retrospective reviews of the album also praised it highly. AllMusic wrote: "Portishead's album debut is a brilliant, surprisingly natural synthesis of claustrophobic spy soundtracks, dark breakbeats inspired by frontman Geoff Barrow's love of hip-hop, and a vocalist (Beth Gibbons) in the classic confessional singer/songwriter mold ... Better than any album before it, Dummy merged the pinpoint-precise productions of the dance world with pop hallmarks like great songwriting and excellent vocal performances."[10] Writing for Pitchfork, Philip Sherburne summarised that "Portishead's 1994 debut is a masterwork of downbeat and desperation. They invented their own kind of virtuosity, one that encompassed musicianship, technology, and aura."[16] BBC Music called it "quite simply one of the greatest debut albums of the 1990s" and said that "the constituents that make up much of this collection are easily traced – back to dub, to soul, and especially to hip hop; the array of scratch effects, loops and samples ... But it's the manner in which the pieces come together that makes Dummy special to this day ... Imitators have come and gone, but no act has reproduced the disquieting magnificence conjured here except Portishead themselves."[22]

Accolades

Dummy won the 1995 Mercury Music Prize, beating stiff competition which included PJ Harvey's To Bring You My Love, Oasis' Definitely Maybe, and Tricky's Maxinquaye.

  • Mojo (p. 62) – Ranked No. 35 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics."
  • Mojo (1/95, p. 50) – Included in Mojo's "25 Best Albums of 1994."
  • The New York Times (1/5/95, p. C15) – Included on Neil Strauss' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94.
  • NME (8/12/00, p. 29) – Ranked No. 29 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums."
  • NME (12/24/94, p. 22) – Ranked No. 6 in NME's list of the 'Top 50 Albums of 1994.'
  • NME (10/2013, p. 59) - Ranked No. 168 in NME's list of the '500 Greatest Albums of all time.'
  • Q (12/99, p. 82) – Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums of the 1990s."
  • Q (6/00, p. 66) – Ranked No. 61 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums."
  • Rolling Stone (5/13/99, pp. 79–80) – Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
  • In 2003, the album was ranked number 419 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[23]
  • Spin (9/99, p. 140) – Ranked No. 42 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
  • In 2003, Pitchfork ranked the album number 48 in their "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s" list.
  • The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[24]
  • The Wire named Dummy its 1994 record of the year.[25]

The album is the subject of a title in Continuum's 33⅓ series of books, published in October 2011.[26]

Track listing

All music composed by Portishead.

No.TitleLength
1."Mysterons"5:02
2."Sour Times"4:14
3."Strangers"3:55
4."It Could Be Sweet"4:16
5."Wandering Star"4:51
6."It's a Fire" (not on vinyl LP or original UK & Europe versions of album)3:48
7."Numb"3:54
8."Roads"5:02
9."Pedestal"3:39
10."Biscuit"5:01
11."Glory Box"5:06
Canadian bonus track edition
No.TitleLength
12."Sour Sour Times"4:01

Personnel

Charts and certifications

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Album Releases". Music Week. 20 August 1994. p. 26.
  2. ↑ "Portishead Biography at www.phead.org". Phead.org. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  3. 1 2 "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2007". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for 'Portishead' (from bpi.co.uk)". Imgur.com (original source published by British Phonographic Industry). Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Stoddard, Katy (7 September 2011). "Mercury Prize 2011: Every Mercury Prize winner, ever, including PJ Harvey". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "Portishead — Glory Box". Chart Stats. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "Portishead — Sour Times {1995}". Chart Stats. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  8. ↑ "Portishead Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  9. ↑ Wheaton, R. J. (2011). Dummy. 33⅓. ISBN 978-1-44115-582-5.
  10. 1 2 Bush, John. "Dummy – Portishead". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  11. ↑ Kot, Greg (12 January 1995). "Melancholy, Baby". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  12. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  13. ↑ Mirkin, Steven (18 November 1994). "Dummy". Entertainment Weekly. New York: 108. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Ali, Lorraine (2 February 1995). "Portishead, 'Dummy,' Go Discs/London". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  15. 1 2 Dalton, Stephen (13 August 1994). "Portishead – Dummy". NME. London: 44. Archived from the original on 23 June 2000. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  16. 1 2 Sherburne, Phillip (23 April 2017). "Portishead: Dummy". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  17. 1 2 Aston, Martin (October 1994). "Portishead: Dummy". Q. London (97): 125.
  18. 1 2 3 Evans, Paul (9 March 1995). "Dummy". Rolling Stone. New York (703): 66. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  19. ↑ Berger, Arion (2004). "Portishead". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 646. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  20. ↑ O'Connell, Sharon (3 September 1994). "Review: Portishead – Dummy". Melody Maker. London, England: IPC Media: 45.
  21. ↑ Thompson, Ben (September 1994). "Review: Portishead – Dummy". Mojo. London, England: EMAP (10): 112–13.
  22. ↑ Diver, Mike (2010). "Review of Portishead – Dummy". BBC Music. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  23. ↑ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  24. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  25. ↑ "Critics Choice: Record of the Year". The Wire. No. 131. London. January 1995. p. 29 – via Exact Editions.
  26. ↑ Later this year: Portishead Continuum 33 1/3 blog, Retrieved on 2011-04-28
  27. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Portishead – Dummy". Hung Medien.
  28. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Portishead – Dummy" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  29. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Portishead – Dummy" (in French). Hung Medien.
  30. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs — Volume 61, No. 3". RPM. 20 February 1995. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  31. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  32. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Portishead – Dummy" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  33. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Portishead – Dummy". Hung Medien.
  34. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Portishead – Dummy". Hung Medien.
  35. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Portishead – Dummy". Hung Medien.
  36. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Portishead – Dummy". Hung Medien.
  37. ↑ "Portishead | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  38. ↑ "Portishead Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  39. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2006". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
  40. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Portishead – Dummy". Music Canada.
  41. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Portishead; 'Dummy')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  42. ↑ "American album certifications – Portishead – Dummy". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  43. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/arts/music/13pare.html
  44. ↑ "Portishead: back on the beat". Telegraph. 12 April 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.