Portishead Reissuing Trip-Hop Classic ‘Dummy’ on Vinyl
Portishead are reissuing their landmark debut LP, 1994’s Dummy, on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl to honor the trip-hop classic’s 20th anniversary. The trio announced the news on Monday via Twitter and their official website.
The first 1,000 copies of the reissue will be pressed on blue vinyl, with subsequent copies “reverting back to heavyweight black vinyl.” Though the LPs won’t include any additional material (“with the songs remaining exactly as recorded on the original release”), each copy will include a download card of the original album. Pre-orders will begin on Wednesday, August 13th.
The reissue does come as a surprise, though, given the band’s recent attitude toward the subject. Back in 2011, founder-producer Geoff Barrow told Rolling Stone, “No, unfortunately special editions have been a dirty word because they’ve just basically been a tool of the industry to try and squeeze more money out of the fan or the music buyer. . . We would only do that if we were maybe forced into it by some label contractual thing.”
The band has several festival appearances scheduled for August, starting on the 15th at Route Du Rock in St. Malo, France. Meanwhile, back in February, band member Adrian Utley told The Quietus that Portishead had finally started work on a new album, their fourth overall and first since 2008’s Third.
Utley noted that he and Barrow are both “really enthusiastic” about the LP, adding that “enthusiasm counts for a lot in Portishead world.”