#315Albums is a list of 315 albums that appear on both the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, as well as the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die book, edited by Robert Dimery. At its best, it is a representation of some of the greatest music ever released; at its worst, it is a journey through the history of music that the majority see as important, influential, and/or relevant. If nothing else, these albums are worth experiencing at least once to get a better understanding of music, which is why we are working to complete all #315Albums.
No. 027
“Portishead uses some of the same building blocks as fellow Bristol, England trip-hoppers Massive Attack – woozy break beats, jazzy samples, live guitar, girl-singer/guy-programmer dynamic – but Beth Gibbons’ brooding, pop-cabaret vocals showed to the world that you could feel real pain over a trip-hop groove.”
Artist: Portishead
Album: Dummy
Released: 1994
Label: Go! Discs
Rolling Stones Ranking: 419
Dummy is an interesting album. It is one of the more unique I’ve ever heard, let alone throughout this journey. It is listed as electronic on Apple Music, and though I caught elements of that, it doesn’t sound how I’d expect an electronic album to sound. The emphasis is more on the non-human sounds with other electronic songs I’ve heard, where Portishead mixes in a good amount of vocals. Admittedly, I am not too familiar with this genre, and usually avoid it because I’m just not a big fan of instrumentals without vocals. Here, though, that isn’t a problem as Portishead uses vocals quite a bit to deliver the aesthetic they’re going for. I can’t say I loved it, but it’s definitely interesting music. This really feels like one where you would need to sit in a dark room with headphones on, and eyes closed to allow the music to fully immerse you. That’s just not how I tend to listen to music, unfortunately, so the experience I had with it is probably lacking the attention it demands. This one falls firmly in the middle of the road for me because of that.
Cinefessions’ #315Albums Rating: 58%
Image and quote courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine.
Branden has been a film fan since he was young, roaming the halls of Blockbuster Video, trying to find the grossest, scariest looking VHS covers to rent and watch alone in the basement. It wasn’t until recently, though, that Branden started seeking out the classics of cinema, and began to develop his true passion for the art form. Branden approaches each film with the unique perspective of having studied the art from the inside, having both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in acting. He has been a film critic since 2010, and has previously written for Inside Pulse Movies, We Love Cult, and Diehard Gamefan. His biggest achievement as a film critic, to date, has been founding Cinefessions and turning it from a personal blog to a true film website, housing hundreds of film and television reviews, and dozens of podcasts.
