May 11, 2015

Trip Hop has been described as a fusion of Hip Hop and Electronica. It's often called The Bristol Sound, as it was born in the UK, in the early 90's. It's downtempo electronic music mixed with jazz samples, pianos, strings, saxophone, trumpet and it often utilises vocals, to create atmospheric (sometimes even cinematic) listening experiences. Instead of the hard hitting lyrics that we hear in 90's rap, trip hop offered a mellow tone and melancholic sounds.

Some of the most important artists are Massive Attack, Portishead, DJ Shadow and Bjork.

Massive Attack's debut album, Blue Lines, was released in 1991 and is basically seen as the first trip hop album; the group are considered the originators of this new sound. They have released 5 albums: 3 in the 90's [Blue Lines, Protection, Mezzanine (which is considered their best)], 100th Window in 2003 and Heligoland in 2010. The term trip hop was born in 1994, but not because of Massive Attack's 2nd album, but because of DJ Shadow, a San Fransisco DJ (part of the group UNKLE) whose music gave the listeners the impression that they were tripping. Endtroducing..... which was released in 1996, is highly recommended.

In 1994, Portishead (a trio) released their debut album, Dummy. It featured a jazzy sound that accompanied Beth Gibbons' (the group's singer) vocals. It would be the most succesful trip hop album by that time, and it was followed by other 2 albums: Portishead and Third. All are highly recommended.

Tricky, who had began his career as an early collaborator of Massive Attack, would persuade a solo career by releasing his debut, Maxinquaye, in 1995, which would be followed by several others. Maxinquaye and his 2013 album False Idols are my favourite. Furthermore, Bjork (an Icelandic musician) would heavily feature trip hop elements in her work during the 90's: Homogenic (1997) is considered one of the genre's very best records.

After the genre's success during the early -> mid 90's, trip hop would start being incorporated into different genres like ambient, dubstep, dnb and would influence various artists, from Gorillaz to Radiohead. Burial, who's been active since 2001, is an electronic artist who's experimented in post trip hop territory and has made many important albums. He has also collaborated with Massive Attack, Four Tet and Radiohead's Thom Yorke. FKA twigs is an example of a modern trip hop artist.

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*** Feel free to post which trip hop albums you've listened to or ask for further recommendations either from the 90's or from later (artists like Burial). I can post some tracks if you don't want to check out full albums.

 

May 12, 2015

You should start with Dummy, I think it'll be the best starting point for you man.

If I had guessed I'd say that you've already listened to some albums haha. I'm pretty sure you'll like some of these

You're gonna love it

 

May 11, 2015

I'll give these a listen

 

May 12, 2015

Bonobo is fantastic.

 

May 12, 2015

Been listening to Blockhead this week. Some of you might know him as Aesop Rock's main production head on his earlier work. The guy just has a mind for vivid and otherworldly sound design. He does this without too many bells and whistles. Just an understanding for retaining a clean and crisp sound no matter how grande his intentions. Lots of hip-hop influence.


I've posted this multiple times before and don't intend to stop. I first heard Emancipator and some of his beats from this record on Sadistik's debut The Balancing Act. While The Balancing Act serves as a footnote of my angsty-backpack stage, this record continues to be in my rotation for its mystique. One half of the duo is a violinist which helps their calming, ethereal signature sound.

 

May 12, 2015

I have Endtroducing in my iTunes... guess I should listen to it to see wassup.

 

May 11, 2015

I've heard the term trip hop several times before but didn't know what it was and I've never gone out of my way to look it up. Nice to finally know, I'll have to try some of this out.