Portishead is best known to help Trip Hop secure a foothold in U.K. pop culture and won a Mercury Music Prize for their work on Dummy, their 1994 hit album that had permanently breached the U.K. top 40. Their Jazz-inspired, lazy dubby swing that could be categorized as trip hop, a more feel of the offspring of Hip-Hop, Reggae, Punk and Electronic. [7]
Trip hop was an instrumental palette able foot in the door for the likes of electro to gain momentum in pop, making way for the bridger of the two: Dubstep, achieving what two-step couldn’t do in the 90’s, introduction to a broader U.S. market and infused into commercial mediums to get the masses used to the deep bass sounds for the future of music would follow the low-end heavy, high end harmonizing experiences and scapes instead of strict “4 on the floor” mentality. Not that that’s going away anytime soon…
Through clever marketing, Portishead was able to sell 150,000 copies of its first album in the U.S., despite the public-shy producers and the complete absence of touring. [8] This marked a conundrum in the system. How can so many records be sold with so little put in? One theory of course, is the lack of availability to the band and its visionaries so it puts the band in a position of causing one of two situations to occur: one is no one gains interest. Which is what happens regularly. The other, of course is you make people hungry enough for your material, the success will come despite your involvement. From a personal standpoint, this album signifies something I’ve held true for years and that is good music is transparent. Not so much in impact or content, but it is transparent from judgment and is uncontended through time. It is my firmest belief that worlds of “underground” past are now mainstream-able untapped (yet still) markets that favor sounds that are different but the same, not as in terms of pop – “the same, but the same”. Lame!
Portishead and bands and artists like Portishead (Tricky comes to mind) make it possible for niche’ music to slip in, unnoticed into the mainstream fold. Most often than not, alienating the original fans and receiving luke-warm welcomes from the average Jill or Joe. I thank Portishead in its participation in the past to make bass-heavy music (a personal favorite of mine) become so palatable over time. Maybe not so much for its direct involvement, but to be a guiding light for those who are tired of mainstream and those who are immersed to huddle around the same speaker in a non-judgmental way.
-Chuma
Dmitriy Chumachenko,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, great post! I am yet, another big fan of Portishead. They are the band that introduced me to Trip Hop/Acid Jazz. Since I had first heard them, my taste in music took much more of a broaden horizon. I really like how you went into the success element of Portishead’s career with their album sales. I also like how you mentioned that they went against the typical pop mainstream and was still a very successful band. Sometimes I get really tired of the music that’s “hot” or the same “4 on the floor style.” That’s where Portishead comes in and always inspires me to challenge myself musically. Overall, I think you did a great job on your post! I love reading about bands that I love and mean something to me. Keep up the good work!
~Ryan M. Reyes
email: RHYAN@FullSail.edu
Hello Dmitriy, Good Job on the post and I completely agree Portishead is an incredible group, their sound is haunting yet grounded in a trip hop groove. Roads is one of my all time favorite songs. I wish there were more artists that branched out and took advantage of the trip hop sound to help push it more into the mainstream of popular music. Though I personally feel that they helped lay the foundation down for other more indie artists to come through. I don’t think they got the larger recognition that they deserved, definitely a very underrated group. Really well written article that covers the information well. Chris
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