{
  "slug": "portishead",
  "name": "Portishead",
  "description": "Portishead appears 4 times in our Trip-Hop, 1994, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred lists, placing as high as No. 2. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.",
  "updated": "2026-08-29",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/portishead/",
  "appearanceCount": 4,
  "distinctRecordings": 2,
  "years": {
    "first": 1994,
    "last": 1994
  },
  "highestPlacing": {
    "rank": 2,
    "list": "Trip-Hop"
  },
  "appearsOn": [
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "trip-hop",
      "name": "Trip-Hop",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/",
      "entries": 2
    },
    {
      "kind": "curator",
      "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four",
      "name": "1994",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/",
      "entries": 1
    },
    {
      "kind": "curator",
      "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
      "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/",
      "entries": 1
    }
  ],
  "tracks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "portishead--glory-box",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/portishead--glory-box/",
      "title": "Glory Box",
      "year": 1994,
      "label": "Go! Beat",
      "isrc": "GBAQT9400066",
      "whyItMatters": "An Isaac Hayes loop, a guitar that sounds like a broken theremin, and Beth Gibbons delivering the most desolate vocal of the decade. Grim, gorgeous, unrepeatable.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four",
          "name": "1994",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Portishead%20Glory%20Box",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQyUi4zfDs",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 2,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "trip-hop",
        "name": "Trip-Hop",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/"
      },
      "artist": "Portishead"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "portishead--roads",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/portishead--roads/",
      "title": "Roads",
      "year": 1994,
      "label": "Go! Beat",
      "isrc": "GBAQT9400064",
      "whyItMatters": "Barely a beat, a Rhodes, and a string arrangement that arrives like a collapse. The quietest track on this list and easily the most emotionally violent.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Portishead%20Roads",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7nxWP9BhI7w",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 6,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "trip-hop",
        "name": "Trip-Hop",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/"
      },
      "artist": "Portishead"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "portishead--glory-box",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/portishead--glory-box/",
      "title": "Glory Box",
      "year": 1994,
      "label": "Go! Beat",
      "isrc": "GBAQT9400066",
      "whyItMatters": "Trip-hop had existed for a couple of years and had no centre until Dummy. This is the track that fixed what the genre sounded like — the Isaac Hayes loop, the slowed drums, a voice singing over both as if it were a torch song.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "trip-hop",
          "name": "Trip-Hop",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Portishead%20Glory%20Box",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQyUi4zfDs",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four",
        "name": "1994",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/"
      },
      "artist": "Portishead"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "portishead--glory-box",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/portishead--glory-box/",
      "title": "Glory Box",
      "year": 1994,
      "label": "Go! Beat",
      "isrc": "GBAQT9400066",
      "whyItMatters": "An Isaac Hayes loop, a broken-theremin guitar and the most desolate vocal of the decade. Grim, gorgeous, and nobody has repeated it.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "trip-hop",
          "name": "Trip-Hop",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four",
          "name": "1994",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Portishead%20Glory%20Box",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQyUi4zfDs",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": null,
      "on": {
        "kind": "curator",
        "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
        "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
      },
      "artist": "Portishead"
    }
  ],
  "curates": null
}