Nialler9 Podcast: A deep dive into Portishead – Dummy (1994)

This month’s deep dive Listen Closely album is:

Portishead – Dummy (1994)

The debut album from the Bristol trio of Geoff Barrow, Beth Gibbons, and Adrian Utley was released during the summer of Blur’s Parklife and Oasis’s Definitely Maybe. Dummy was a darker, stranger record that would become a trip-hop classic that paired hip-hop, jazz, and electronic textures with Beth Gibbons spine-tingling voice and twangy tremolo guitars that belong in spy movies.

The winner of the 1995 Mercury Music Prize, Dummy features the singles ‘Sour Times’, ‘Glory Box’, and ‘Numb’, and is notable for its soulful turntable-sampling, melancholic film noir atmosphere. A modern classic indeed.

We delve deep into how the band met, what trip-hop and the Bristol sound was, how the band got their name, how Dummy became hugely popular and a bit of a dinner-party LP ripe for sexy background music in film and more.

The hosts of the Nialler9 Podcast (Niall Byrne and Andrea Cleary)  present the Listen Closely series of listening parties on the Big Romance’s warm Toby Hatchett soundsystem, featuring a focus modern classic album and a chat around it on the last Wednesday of the month.

The Portishead – Dummy Listening Party happens Wednesday March 27th at The Big Romance.

Big special extra thanks to Georgia Hallion for editing the podcast.

* Support Nialler9 on Patreon, get event discounts, playlists, ad-free episodes and join our Discord community

Listen on Apple | Android | ACAST | Patreon | Pocketcasts | CastBox | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed

Show notes

• Songs played on the Nialler9 Podcast Spotify Playlist
• KEXP 25 year anniversary interview in 2019
• Dummy Samples
• Pitchfork’s review by By Philip Sherburne

* Get this podcast ad-free and with additional playlists, Discord community access, Nialler9 and Lumo event discounts on Patreon from €5 a month.

Subscribe in your favourite podcast app:

Listen on Apple | Android | ACAST | Patreon | Pocketcasts | CastBox | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed

Follow Nialler9 on Insta | Twitter | Youtube | Spotify

---

Hey, before you go...

Nialler9 has been covering new music, new artists and gigs for the last 19 years. If you like the article you just read, and want us to publish more just like it, please consider supporting us on Patreon.

What you get as thanks in return...

• A weekly Spotify playlist only for patrons.
• Access to our private Nialler9 Discord community.
• Ad-free and bonus podcast episodes.
• Guestlist & discounts to Nialler9 & Lumo Club events.
• Themed playlists only for subscribers.

Your support enables us to continue to publish articles like this one, make podcasts and provide recommendations and news to our readers, and be a key part of the music community in Ireland and abroad.