My new fav genre of muzik is trip-hop...i guess it all started with Dido (even tho some would argue that she isn't of the purest form of trip-hop). Now I can't stop listenin to stuff like Portishead, Morcheeba, Esthero, Olive, and Massive Attack. Do any of y'all dig it?...and if so tell me ur fav artists so I can explore. Thanx
I don't know if you would call them trip-hop, but Zero 7 has been labeled that by some. It's kind of a mix of electronica and jazz. Good stuff. I like Thievery Corporation, too.
Oh man...I about missed this thread! hoopgod13: You have to get, if you haven't done so already, "Mezzanine" by Massive Attack. It is their 3rd and last CD and it is a f*cking masterpiece! "Blue Lines", their debut, is my next favorite one by them followed by "Protection". I had read somewhere that they had broken up, but someone else has told me that they are back together again. If that is true, then they need to hurry up and come out with another freaking CD. Some other trip-hop CDs I have (at least I considered them to be trip-hop): Dummy - Portishead Portishead - Portishead Big Calm - Morcheeba Maxinquaye - Tricky No Angel - Dido (I consider this CD trip-hop as well) Lamb - Lamb A New Stereophonic Spectacular - Hooverphonic Blue Wonder Power Milk - Hooverphonic Moon Safari - Air (maybe not really trip-hop, but it has some elements of it, IMO) Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars - Fatboy Slim (his most trip-hop CD, IMO) Play - Moby (Not Trip-Hop?? *** you, I say it is ) Endtroducing - DJ Shadow Sunday 8pm - Faithless (led by Dido's brother, Rollo) The problem is that outside of Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky, Morcheeba, Hooverphonic, and Lamb, it is hard to find other "trip-hop" artists, but a couple of these CDs I named are great "downtempo" CDs. I'm providing a link to my list of these CDs....you will see off to the right, some more lists. I encourage you to explore these lists further & read reviews on certain CDs if they look interesting. BTW - "Blue Lines", "Dummy", and "Maxinquaye" are generally considered the "Trinity of Trip-Hop".
Trip Hop is sooooo chill.... I DIG it... I also really enjoy downtempo, ambient and mild electronica, you know, sorta trip hop, but with more of a faster groove. Mind you, I'm not into the 140+ BPM stuff... Stuff I like: (mixed) Alpha Starseeds Morcheeba Babble Air Massive Attack Kruder & Dorfmeister Stereolab Tortoise Daft Punk Tricky Uncle (plus many more not featured in this thread!)
too bad Tricky sucks now. His first two albums Maxinquaye and Pre-Millenium Tension are probably the two best of the genre. His last couple have not been good. I think Blue Lines by Massive Attack is pretty overrated. It gets the most props because it was really the first true "trip-hop" album. I wasn't a big fan of Protection either. Mezzanine is the only album by Massive Attack that I can say I truly love. Portishead has only made two albums and they've both been incredible. Unlike most, I like the self-titled album more than <i>Dummy</i>. They haven't made a new album in five years, but I think they're supposed to have one coming out soon. So, if I had to give the six essential trip-hop albums I would rank them in this order. 1. Tricky - Maxinquaye 2. Tricky - Pre-Millenium Tension 3. Portishead - Portishead 4. Massive Attack - Mezzanine 5. Portishead - Dummy 6. Massive Attack - Blue Lines Two other border-line "trip-hop" artists are the Beta Band and Beth Orton. The Beta Band uses a lot more guitars and are more "pop" than some of the others. All three of their albums are good. Dido is pretty much a poor man's Beth Orton if that tells you anything.
I haven't seen any reggae-oriented artists mentioned, but sometimes there seems to be a thin line between reggae dub and trip hop. I'll listen to Scottie on KTRU on Wednesdays to his reggae show and on occasion I will hear something that is "way out cool". A few years back, he played something that made me call up to see what it was. There is a volumized set, I think they are up to three called "Hi Fidelity Dub Session". Pretty cool trip hop/reggae mix that probably should only be played when you've dropped some acid (I never have so I can't verify this). Here's the links to the two volumes that I have Hi Fidelity Dub Session - Volume 1 Hi Fidelity Dub Session - Volume 2 If you have time, you might want to check it out. Otherwise, personal favs include Morcheeba, DJ Shadow (I love "Midnight In A Perfect World") and Gus Gus.
DCKid: Good job in mentioning Beth Orton! I listened to Trailer Park for the 2nd time last night. It is definitely more techno & down-tempo than Central Reservation, which I think is more folksy. boomboom: Although, I don't have anything by him, Horace Andy, who has been on every Massive Attack CD, is supposed to be a really good reggae artist. He would seem to be the ideal artist that fits into what you were talking about in your post.
All of the above named groups in thread are great places to start in the genre. I would add Tim "Love" Lee's "Tales of the Selector" and anything by Dan the Automator. He is the DJ behind Dr. Ooctogon, Deltron 3030, Gorillaz and Bombay the Hardway cds (which brilliantly uses Bollywood film scores and funky beats). Finally, Lee "Scratch" Perry is one of the great innovator of regaee dub music..a heavy and trippy bass sound that trip hop owes much to.
Lee "Scratch" Perry deserves his own thread, this man is amazing... I hear he buries his recordings for like 6 months then un-earth's them and releases them... has something to do with a ritual!? Sounds good to me! Didn't he also produce/engineer some Bob Marley music too?
Man, it seems like Scratch has had something to do with EVERYTHING that comes out of the reggae/dub scene. He comes to Flamingo Cantina a lot up here in Austin, but I have never made it to one of his shows yet.
There's also this off-shoot of triphoppy stuff which sounds like... I dunno, like 60s European film soundtracks or something? Artists like St. Etienne and Goldfrapp. I *love* all this music, anyway.
I love Goldfrapp. Felt Mountain is a great album, with lots of movie music influences (Ennio Morricone in particular). Tricky does suck now - I guess he was a one-trick pony. Trip hop (and all electronica for that matter) is also influenced by Miles Davis' electric albums (In A Silent Way). And along with Lee Perry, Bill Laswell has contributed alot to "trippy" (which essentially means bass oriented with lots of delayed sounds) music.
Whoa u guyz are really helpful! Thanx Manny for the "Mezzanine" tip...i listened to some clips of "Teardrop" and "Angel" and "Inertia Creeps"...I'm definitely gonna have to pick that up. WOOO!!! Thanx to everybody else too....after finals i'm gonna come back to this thread and explore some more....this bbs rulz.
It's no problem, hoop. Mezzanine is one of my top 5 CDs of all-time out of over 550. Every track on there is great, especially the 3 you cited but also listen to "Risingson" and the next to last 2 tracks at the end - I think those are "Group Four" and "Mezzanine". "Inertia Creeps" is actually been featured in a TV commercial, for I think of all things, Victoria's Secrets. Elizabeth Fraser, who sings on "Teardrop" and a couple of other tracks is best known for singing in a group called the Cocteau Twins. They along with another great group, Dead Can Dance, are 2 of the best bands I have ever heard when it comes to ethereal, gothic, soundscape type music. I would recommend "Heaven or Las Vegas" by them if you really like Liz's voice. Don't be expecting Mezzanine, but it is still an outstanding disc. Also, I can't believe that I forgot to mention Craig Armstrong. He has composed some tracks for Massive Attack, mainly "Sly" off "Protection" and his CD, "The Space Between Us" is an outstanding CD. It has a great mixture of trip-hop tracks with emotional instrumentals (like a love theme from Romeo & Juliet) and 2 great vocal tracks including one by Liz on "This Love". HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
Crap - I forgot to say this. I noticed, hoop, that you like Olive. I don't have anything by her, but she did sing a couple of tracks on Enigma's "The Screen Behind the Mirror" including one of my all-time favorite songs, "Gravity of Love." That song is also on their greatest hits album, "Love, Sensuality, Devotion, the Greatest Hits". You might want to start there if you are not that familiar with Enigma. Not trip-hop by any means, Enigma is a completely different type of animal. Let me know if you are interested in them, and I can tell you more.
lol rockH... Ya but as far as Olive...you should check out their 2 albums, "Extra Virgin" and "Trickle". "Extra Virgin" contains two of my fav songs, "Miracle" and "You're Not Alone"..."Miracle" perhaps being in my top 10 songs of all time. "Trickle" is perhaps a better top-to-bottom album than "Extra Virgin", however... http://store.artistdirect.com/store/artist/album/0,,254787,00.html And as far as Enigma, I'm of course familiar with the hits (ala "Return To Innocence", "Sadeness") but I really do need to delve further... The vocals on "Teardrop" are incredible...I guess that's what really draws me to trip-hop....the sensational vocals. That wispy female voice....that soothes my brain after a crappy day at skool...ooohhhh...I can dig that. EDIT: I just listened a bit of "Gravity of Love"....veerrrrrry nice! Dang...Elizabeth Fraser has the voice of an angel...Do i sense a bit of "O Fortuna"? great combo...
