01	Mysterons						05:06
	02	Sour Times						04:14
	03	Strangers						03:58
	04	It Could Be Sweet						04:19
	05	Wandering Star						04:56
	06	It's a Fire						03:47
	07	Numb						03:57
	08	Roads						05:09
	09	Pedestal						03:40
	10	Biscuit						05:04
	11	Glory Box						05:06

Dummy
Date of Release Oct 1994

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. Beginning with the otherworldly theremin and martial beats of "Mysterons," Dummy hits an early high with "Sour Times," a post-modern torch song driven by a Lalo Schifrin sample. The chilling atmospheres conjured by Adrian Utley's excellent guitar work and Barrow's turntables and keyboards prove the perfect foil for Gibbons, who balances sultriness and melancholia in equal measure. Occasionally reminiscent of a torchier version of Sade, Gibbons provides a clear focus for these songs, with Barrow and company behind her laying down one of the best full-length productions ever heard in the dance world. Where previous acts like Massive Attack had attracted dance heads in the main, Portishead crossed over to an American, alternative audience, connecting with the legion of angst-ridden indie fans as well. 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. - John Bush


Portishead - Group, Producer
Clive Deamer - Drums
Andy Hague - Trumpet
Richard Newell - Programming, Drum Programming
Adrian Utley - Bass, Guitar, Organ (Hammond), Theremin, Producer, Mixing
Dave McDonald - Engineer, Nose Flute
Gary Baldwin - Organ (Hammond)
Geoff Barrow - Drums, Programming, Fender Rhodes, Mixing
Beth Gibbons - Vocals
Neil Solman - Organ (Hammond), Fender Rhodes

CD Go! Discs/London 828553
1995 CD Go! Discs/London 82 8522
1994 CS Go! Discs/London 828553
2000 LP Go! Discs 60162






Portishead

Formed 1991 in Bristol, England
Group Members Adrian Utley Geoff Barrow Beth Gibbons

Portishead may not have invented trip-hop, but they were among the first to popularize it, particularly in America. Taking their cue from the slow, elastic beats that dominated Massive Attack's Blue Lines and adding elements of cool jazz, acid house, and soundtrack music, Portishead created an atmospheric, alluringly dark sound. The group wasn't as avant-garde as Tricky, nor as tied to dance traditions as Massive Attack; Instead, the band wrote evocative pseudo-cabaret pop songs that subverted their conventional structures with experimental productions and rhythms of trip-hop. As a result, Portishead appealed to a broad audience - not just electronic dance and alternative rock fans, but thirtysomethings who found techno, trip-hop and dance as exotic as worldbeat. Before Portishead released their debut album Dummy in 1994, trip-hop's broad appeal wasn't apparent, but the record became an unexpected success in Britain, topping most year-end critics polls and earning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize; in America, it also became an underground hit, selling over 150,000 copies before the group toured the US. Following the success of Dummy, legions of imitators appeared over the next two years, but Portishead remained quiet, as they worked on their second album.
Named after the West Coast shipping town where Geoff Barrow grew up, Portishead formed in Bristol, England in 1991. Prior to the group's formation, Barrow had worked as a tape operator at the Coach House studio, where he met Massive Attack. Through that group, he began working with Tricky, producing the rapper's track for the Sickle Cell charity album. ...



1994 Dummy Go!
1997 Portishead Go!
1998 PNYC [live] Go!
1998 PNYC [UK Enhanced] Polygram
2002 Alien Mercury