- published: 18 Sep 2015
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Dummy is the debut album by English band Portishead. Released in August 1994 on Go! Beat, the album earned critical acclaim, winning the 1995 Mercury Music Prize. It is often credited with popularising the trip hop genre and is frequently cited in lists of the best albums of the 1990s. Although it achieved only modest chart success overseas, it peaked at number 2 on the UK Album Chart and saw two of its three singles reach number 13. The album was certified gold in 1997 and has sold two million copies in Europe. As of September 2011, the album has sold 825,000 copies in the United Kingdom and is certified double-platinum.
Building on the promise of their earlier EP, Numb, Dummy helped to cement the reputation of Bristol as the capital of trip hop, a nascent genre which was then often referred to simply as "the Bristol sound". The cover is a still image of vocalist Beth Gibbons taken from To Kill a Dead Man—the short film that the band created—for which the self-composed soundtrack earned the band its record contract.
Dummy may refer to:
Films:
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Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, then from 1948 as vinyl LP records played at 33 1⁄3 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century albums sales have mostly focused on compact disc (CD) and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used in the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl.
An album may be recorded in a recording studio (fixed or mobile), in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to several years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately, and then brought or "mixed" together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation, so as to assist in mixing different takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", allow for reverberation, which creates a "live" sound. The majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones; with each part recorded as a separate track.