Portishead's Dummy

33⅓ Main Series #85

by R.J. Wheaton

A thoroughly researched exploration of one of the most original, unexpected, and durable British albums of the 1990s. >

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Biography, Collections, British Literature, Musicals

248 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2011

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities.

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (quoted by R J Wheaton on page 154)

Years later Dummy sounds strange, filled with horror movie moments, ten songs to soundtrack your own autopsy and a singer who sounds like she's already unsheathed the straight-edge razor and this is the suicide note ("all for nothing" she keens on the first song, "all for nothing"). And the sounds themselves, the music, graffitied and defaced by its own creators with murk, old-45-scratches, mumbled slurry samples, sickening dropouts and smudges of unidentifiable audio sludge all the way through. If the guy with the bad haircut in Eraserhead had turned on the radio, out would have come Dummy. Cymbalom, theramin, old Duane Eddy phrases, chords always descending, down down down, never ascending, the beats leaden like zombies from the 1950s, slow foxtrots at the coroners' ball, brilliant and original and appearing at a time when I thought brilliant and original would never happen again. It's an album where I don't distinguish between the songs particularly, it's one 40 minute block of time, one queasy lurch of your stomach, a unique world. I never think I like this album until I'm listening to it, then I love it. You may wish to keep Dummy and Portishead as mysterious and alien as when they first emerged in which case avoid this book as it contains every last known fact about both of them. Exhaustive, exhausting, almost too much, like Dummy itself.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the single strongest book I've read in the 33 1/3 series. Wheaton strikes an excellent balance between smart, wide-ranging formal analysis and open praise. His attempts to tease apart the individual sounds that go into making the dense, dark, beautiful world of Portishead's music made me rush back to listen to each track of Dummy over and over again, and marvel at just how remarkable their work is. But what is even more impressive is how he successfully shows the resonances between Portishead's music and broader trends in musical/cultural history. The way he hints at the remarkable, tangled web of connections; of technologies, people and geography, which operate both above and beneath our basic daily awareness and how much of Portishead's music does the same. The writing in this book is sharp, engaging and weirdly ominous. Kind of like 'Wandering Star'. I sincerely hope Wheaton writes more books in the future.

[chantel nouseforaname · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reflection on Dummy and the emergence of trip-hop or Bristol-centric electronica as a genre. I love the intro to each segment which was like an amalgamation of words and concepts that reflect a particular word reflective of each track on Dummy. I thought it was genius and a masterfully sourced list of words and concepts relating to each track on the record. It's my favourite thing about this edition.

I've always loved the record and it always seemed like an enigma to me; dazzling in it's darkness and supremely comforting. I've never known a lot about Portishead as a group outside of their legendary coolness. Portishead were the group that no one I knew really fucked with, but everyone I wanted to know thought was so dope. R.J. Wheaton explained a lot of how they came together and transmitted a lot of their thought process from the few interviews they gave and some of their outstanding things that existed. Wheaton managed to also not spoil the surprise/mystery of the group and of this record. I love a little mystery and being that they didn't want to really be overexposed; I like that some of that has been retained in this edition.

I thought there were a few great moments in the later segments, Resonance and Loss, about how pioneers of the genre Massive Attack (my faves), Tricky, DJ Shadow, Earthling rejected the watered down trip-hop label which began to be a catchall for anything electronic and alternative coming out of the UK. As a fan of trip-hop, it was eye-opening - the ideologies of those in the game about the description of the genre. I enjoyed this volume of the series.

[Rachel Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this entry in the 33 1/3 series. As it is for many others, this album is one of my touchstones. I had to stop 50 pages in as the author uses too many of my pet peeves: Total lack of structure, making lists as a form of prose, and trying to capture the feeling of music with overwrought adjectives and comparisons. Compelling writing about music is one of the absolute hardest to get right, so it’s not surprising this didn’t work for me.

[Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

mostly treading water for the closing 100 pages but there's a couple of interesting parts then too, mostly on lyrics. pretty good for this type of book. i would have liked it more if it focused on the technical side or immediate context of the band. i think the technical side is really interesting/ unique with these guys. i didnt like the parts about random artists who were influenced or other bands who weren't very closely related at the time the way massive attack or smith & mighty or someone was. i also cant wrap my head around the twitter parts getting past editing

[Gavriel Ézara · Rating 2 out of 5]

tanto se enrolla meu fillo

[Petty Lisbon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
The parts about samples and inspirations were mildly interesting but there was too much about samples and the actual making of the music for casual fans to keep up with all of it. I liked some of the new things I learned about the band.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best in this series. Such an absorbing read.

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Beth said im so tired i felt that fr

[Abe Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a 200 page book smaller than a kindle, it was still too long

[Frejola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiophile dive into the making of one of the most beloved albums ever—certainly for me—leaves little unexplored. The passion for the music here is undeniable and infectious and I loved revisiting and scrutinizing this 90's masterpiece.

[Shant · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's more of a 2.5 but it's okay. It felt like some of the chapters covered similar territory (The production/sampling/instruments used in the album). I admit I don't know the album that well, so it was kind of hard to appreciate the book talking about specific samples or moments. I enjoyed reading about the 'legacy'/copycat effect of the album.

[Purple · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be an astounding insight into the album, and I really was not expecting it.

At first I was concerned by the layout of the book, as each chapter is split into bite-sized paragraghs, and I really wanted to just sit down and read something with more meat to it. However, as I got on with the book I gradually came around to the style. It actually works really well, with various sections (all subjects being listed at the beginning of each chapter) describing outside influences, people's reactions, the state of music in general at various times, and differing interviews, as well as having one section in each chapter devoted to a song from the album. It helps also if you listen to the album along side reading it, in that it's much easier to stop and listen than it would be with huge blocks of text.

R.J. Wheaton has really done his research here, and it is clear that he has no small love for the work. I know the album well, but, as a companion piece, I still learned things and heard things that had previously washed over me.

Basically, if you're a fan of the album this should be an unmissable read. I can only hope that other books in this series are as well researched, lovingly crafted, and informative as this was, but to be honest I don't hold out much hope. The bar has been set astronomically high.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great asset to the series, if a bit unfocused (assuming the 241 pages didn't give it away, which is a whopping behemoth by Continuum/Bloomsbury standards). But I know no one who will be unserved by this book. It's a great insight into the band's creative process, the British hip-hop/downbeat scene, the themes of isolation and communication that run rampant across the album, crit think, and just first-rate gear porn. Also it reads very quickly for its length.

I'm thinking of doing a blog wherein I go long on all these things. I expect dozens of hits on it.

[Jerome Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wheaton clearly admires the album and that gives the writing authenticity and empathy. It’s not a boring, scholarly dive into Dummy, but more of an understanding without explanation. Even the technical explanations regarding production style and studio techniques come off as interesting and necessary rather than laborious and complex. Wheaton really sticks to the root of how the music feels without getting overtly sentimental and that creates an openness one can insert their own feelings into, much like the album it explores.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very in depth look at Dummy, from Portisheads beginnings, to recording and dealing with success. I liked that the following two albums were discussed as well, even if only briefly, as it made it a rather complete story.

There are a lot of interviews with fans talking about how the album touched them at various points in their lives, and for the most part these are interesting, though occasionally a little hamfisted.

[Aiden Sartain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often found myself feeling less like I was learning about what made this music so good for culture and more like I was listening to someone chew on their own butt. That's not to say they didn't know what they were talking about, because they clearly know their stuff and care about this music a lot. At a bare minimum, that approach is the perfect one for music nonfiction like this. I enjoyed a lot of what I learned about their music applying as "easy listening" and how much that offended them and other artists at the time. That in particular was such an interesting shift in their creative process, there was a fear of becoming that again, a fear of their own identity getting consumed blindly by the masses. It's an apprehension that's carried with such great writing and storytelling. But I often found when they talked about the music itself, a tendency to put it on this pedestal, hold it up to this status that was untouchable, it made me a bit uncomfortable. It was clearly out of love, but it just feels like it doesn't coordinate well with all of the talk of how Portishead wanted their music to be digested and the reason it was the way it was. Unfortunate, but still with the clear love and dedication to honest music journalism that I enjoyed in my last 33 1/3 reading, so there's lots to appreciate here, and it's worth reading if you adore this album as much as I and many others do.

6/10

[Will S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall great read and made me fall even deeper in love with this album & the process behind it, the perfectionism at work from Barrow, the lyrical and tactical genius of Beth Gibbons, the sagely musicality of Adrian Utley and Dave McDonald. The concept of the sounds being run through physical mediums and processed heavily to give them warmth and feel and that intangible thing you sense when you listen to the record has really stuck with me.

That said, this book would have benefitted mightily from an editor. Some phrases are literally repeated - like yeah the snare on "Biscuit" dragging detritus behind it is a great metaphor but I don't need to read a paragraph about it 4 different times... The writer is great at describing sounds and the subtleties present in the vocal deliveries and samples contained within the album, but it gets long and by the end I couldn't wait to be done.

Still, would highly recommend to anyone interested in the creation of this album or who are fans of the 33 1/3 series

[Katarína Vyskočová · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consider this not a meticulous account of the genesis of trip-hop's ethereal, blue child; consider this not a groundbreaking piece of writing. Consider this not an impersonal track by track breakdown.

Instead, consider this an emotional outlet. Consider this an autopsy, of the album as well as that wonderful space between a piece of art and its audience. An eye for the technical meets excessive pathos (in the ring). Is it bound to get ugly?

Place your bets freely, but consider that the album itself is built on fragments - its creation a whirlwind of looping scratching chewing spewing dissecting - and R.J. Wheaton conserves that energy. No story or neat chapters, only associations and uncensored emotion. Brings me back to being 13 and playing the CD on repeat, almost desperately.

[Michael Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, I love Portishead and Dummy is one of my all-time favorite albums. However, this book was an absolute slog to get through. I'm not a musician, so the technical focus on instrumentation and electronic manipulation wasn't for me. The references to to other music should spurn me to explore more, but I largely wasn't familiar with the influential artists and the artists that came after. I'm not the type to analyze songs down to the most minute detail. The prose style also made it difficult for me to maintain focus on what the author was trying to say.

While this book did get me to re-listen to the all the Portishead releases, it really wasn't my cup a tea. This was my first book I've read in the 33-1/3 series, and perhaps it's a little too academic for my liking.

[Echoflow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had it been possible, I would’ve given this 6 stars. This was very well written, easy to digest and I love how every chapter, being basically about every song, was not just about the song but about so many elements relating to the song and the band. I have found a new series of books (33 1/3) to start collecting immediately. I have high expectations that all the other writers in the series are just as good as RJ, if not, better. If you love Portishead, reading this and listening to the album over and over, especially covering whatever you’re reading at the moment, about that song, and simply coming as close to hearing it for the first time, again.

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too screwn-up to do reviews in full but:

"I've enjoyed re[-]listening to the album while reading the book. It's not as consistent as Third, but the production is more complexly emotionally entraining, the nihilistic noirish ironies in vocal delivery on the best songs. I feel like it's overall allowed me to appreciate music more, if in the more fine w(h)ine-y end of the spectrum where such things are of consequence. Miss being blown away by albums in full. [Who knows what the future holds.]"

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a great job at indicating the influence of Portishead's album Dummy. As opposed to other 33 1/3 books I've read, this one is quite long and thorough. Although I love length in books, this one actually felt a little too drawn-out for me. But the writing is beautiful and descriptive. It's also written almost like a stream of consciousness, i.e., lots of short paragraphs that are placed next to each other with no transitions. It's an interesting style to use and I enjoyed it, but maybe that unorthodox style is part of the reason why it felt so long to me.

[Isaiah Espinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best reads in the series. Analytical and passionate about the music, Wheaton focuses on the culture surrounding the music and how it affected its creation. He goes on to show how Portiahead was part of a larger movement, not that they would call it one, let alone “trip-hop.” I’m grateful for the other recommendations given by name dropping other artists and songs that were made using similar production techniques.

[Adam Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is obviously a massive fan of the album (me too).

I loved the information about the musicians and the era and some of the forensic details about the songs, but...this book also has a section on the nature of bass that includes an explanation on its use, historically, as a signal to remind people they belong to an "acoustic community". This kind of tangent is pretty typical, so it felt like a really uneven read.

[James Almond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the longest in the series and a little bit on the technical side but worth a read of you're a fan of the album. Based on the US version so includes a lot about a track not on UK release (it was a b side).

[Seamus Thompson]

Terrific reflection on one of the great albums of the 1990s. Wheaton deftly weaves together analysis of each track with accounts of its recording, release, and influence. Anyone who loves this album will find much of value here.

[Meester Post · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful album. Listened to it on repeat while reading this book. And that was quite a long time: I got a bit bored by the nitty gritty descriptions of sampling and recording techniques.

But the album....man what a beauty.

[Tony GD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the background info about Bristol, about the band's gear and influences. I was less interested in florid descriptions of Beth's vocal style, and how Portishead makes people feel - although with a notoriously tight-lipped band, it's not surprising to find filler of that flavor.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually like this series, but just couldn't get into this one. I didn't finish it, but did listen to some of the Portishead contemporaries, so not a loss at all.