This is a thoroughly researched exploration of one of the most original, unexpected, and durable British albums of the 1990s. An album which distilled a genre from the musical, cultural, and social ether, Portishead's "Dummy" was such a complete artistic achievement that its ubiquitous successes threatened to exhaust its own potential. RJ Wheaton offers an impressionistic investigation of "Dummy" that imitates the cumulative structure of the album itself, piecing together portraits and interviews, impressions of time and place, cultural criticism, and a thorough exploration of the music itself. The approach focuses as much on the reception and response that "Dummy" engendered as it does on the original production of the album. How is it 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. "33 1/3" is a series of short books about a wide variety of albums, by artists ranging from James Brown to the Beastie Boys. Launched in September 2003, the series now contains over 60 titles and is acclaimed and loved by fans, musicians and scholars alike. 'It was only a matter of time before a clever publisher realized that there is an audience for whom "Exile on Main Street" or "Electric Ladyland" are as significant and worthy of study as "The Catcher in the Rye" or "Middlemarch"...The series, which now comprises 29 titles with more in the works, is freewheeling and eclectic, ranging from minute rock-geek analysis to idiosyncratic personal celebration' - "The New York Times Book Review", 2006. 'A brilliant series...each one a word of real love' - "NME" (UK).
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"A growing Alexandria of rock criticism - Los Angeles Times, 2008 Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just aren't enough - Rolling Stone One of the coolest publishing imprints on the planet - Bookslut"
About the Author
RJ Wheaton is Senior Producer for PopMatters.com, where he writes and edits articles on music, film, and literature. He is a manager at Chapters/Indigo, and lives in Toronto.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By P. Brooks
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The best thing you could say about a book like this is that it makes you enjoy the album more! I was a bit young to have heard Dummy in a club, so my idea of it was a bit more dinner party-ish, and associated in my mind with a lot of the boring sound -alike music. RJ Wheaton reminds us that this is bass music, to play loud. Its a different beast altogether when its pushing serious air molecules. Best played loud. Interesting book all round.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the strongest entries in a good series
4 Jan 2012
By jafrank
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is probably the single strongest book of the 7 or 8 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. The 33 1/3 series would be better as a whole if more people had Mr. Wheaton's wide ranging curiosity.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the better works in the series despite the embarrassing, flowery, worshipful prose
21 Jun 2012
By Hotrodimus
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Easily one of the stronger books in the series that I've read, this fills in all sorts of gaps about the making of the album, the influences, and the people behind it. That said, the prose is out of control - you'd think that "Dummy" was Beethoven's 5th combined with the entire Beatles discography, the way the author constantly splatters and slathers heaps and gobs of worshipful praise all over it, over and over again. There's nothing remotely impartial or objective here - just blatant, overwrought fanboy worship in the way he talks about everything.
2 of 8 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A mixed bag
16 Oct 2011
By Red Badge
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Interesting information on the making of the album combined with sophomoric gushing praise that takes away the focus of the book from the album to the writer. If you can get past the writer's attempt to be oh so creative with praise, the info the writer collected and organized on the album is worth the price.
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