Portishead's Dummy (33 1/3)

Portishead's Dummy (33 1/3)

<p>An album which distilled a genre from the musical, cultural, and social ether, Portishead's <i>Dummy</i> was such a complete artistic achievement that its ubiquitous successes threatened to exhaust its own potential. RJ Wheaton offers an impressionistic investigation of <i>Dummy </i>that imitates the cumulative structure of the album itself, piecing together interviews, impressions of time and place, cultural criticism, and a thorough exploration of the music itself. </p><p>The approach focuses as much on the reception and response that <i>Dummy </i>engendered as it does on the original production of the album. How is that so many people have, collectively, made a quintessential headphone album into a nightclub album? How have they made the product of a niche local scene into an international success? This is the story of how an innovative, experimental album became the iconic sound for the better part of a decade; and an aesthetic template for the experience of music in the digital age.</p>