Saul Williams on Portishead's "Dummy" (1994)

Saul Williams is super talented.  The multi-hyphenate artist not only has a way with words, he has an ear for heat rocks.  And apparently kept a fire starting five in his CD changer.  We were fortunate enough to have him bring his ear and words to the booth to discuss Portishead's debut album "Dummy" on Heat Rocks. Brooklyn meets Bristol in Atlanta, at a time when Saul was discovering global sounds, immersing himself in culture and scholarship - in other words, he and the album were both in the right place at the right time. We spoke about Beth Ortons haunting vocals, the rise of the trip hop genre, sampling as an aesthetic, lyrical ingenuity and why Atlanta’s club scene was unmatched in the 90s.   More on Saul Williams Saul's Tiny Desk Concert Saul's new album, Encrypted & Vulnerable Website | Twitter More on Dummy Pitchfork's review of Portishead Portishead's Dummy is 25. The Band Asks That You Play it Loud (The New York Times) Portishead's first TV appearance Show Tracklisting (all songs from Dummy unless indicated otherwise): Sour Times Saul Williams: Fight Everything Mysterons Gang Starr: No Shame In My Game Young Disciples: As We Come (To Be) Cleveland Watkiss: Project 23 Omar: Need You Bad Mysterons Numb Glory Box Tricky: Hell is Round the Corner Glory Box It Could Be Sweet Sade: No Ordinary Love It Could Be Sweet Sour Times Lalo Schifrim: Danube Incident Isaac Hayes: Ike's Rap II Glory Box Strangers It's A Fire Pedestal It Could Be Sweet Esthero: Superheroes Isaac Hayes: Walk On By Nearly God: Poems Goldie: Mother Soho: Hot Music Fela Kuti: Lady   Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find there. If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!