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Author Topic: Trip-Hop: The Good Records  (Read 12207 times)

PassiveTheory

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Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« on: 10 Sep 2008, 00:33 »

I got the sentiment from Jeph's last update that maybe, just maybe, there's the idea that Trip-Hop is juvenile or expendable at best. This topic is to prove that notion wrong.

Here's what I think are the cream of the crop in terms of Trip-Hop records:


Nightmares on Wax - Carboot Soul (1999)

Probably the best Nightmares on Wax record (the new one is pretty good though), it's a rich mix of downtempo, with tinges of psychedelia, old soul and blues. By no means a dark and brooding disc, this is trip-hop with soul.


Zero 7 - Simple Things (2001)

Just a great record, especially the tracks with Sia Furler. This record is best known for the Garden State song "In the Waiting Line" but the real clinchers are the instrumental "Red Dust" and the otherworldly "This World". Should be a part of everyone's record collection.


UNKLE - Psyence Fiction (1998)

Really more of a DJ Shadow record than an UNKLE record (especially given the direction the band has gone since Shadow's departure from the group) this record shines except for the occasional slip up (namely the awful track with Mike D from the Beastie Boys). Definitely an album that deviates from the usual formula of calm song after calm song after calm song that's present on so many downtempo records, Psyence Fiction is just an amazing record.

That's just three off the top of my head, and not even the three most obvious I had in mind. So what trip-hop records do you consider to be good?
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Dimmukane

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #1 on: 10 Sep 2008, 07:08 »

PORTISHEAD
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #2 on: 10 Sep 2008, 07:26 »

The first three Tricky records.

I really like Ruby's Salt Peter; it's a bit different than the typical trip-hop sound. Paraffin, Salt Water Fish, Hoops

Lamb's first two records are excellent: Lamb (Cotton Wool, Gorecki) and Fear of Fours (B-Line, Softly, Little Things)
« Last Edit: 10 Sep 2008, 07:53 by rynne »
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #3 on: 10 Sep 2008, 07:55 »

I really liked that Zero 7 record when it first came out but I've since listened to Air's Moon Safari and it seems less progressive than it once did. Oh well.

I was under the impression that the term "Trip-hop" was regarded with the same contempt that "IDM" is, what with it being so vague. Seems like Portishead alone could be covered under any number of genre distinctions.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #4 on: 10 Sep 2008, 17:15 »

Yeah they are pretty much alike, they're also alike in the sense that the artists who are covered by either genre hold the genre's name in contempt.

Also, the following are awesome:

Mono - Formica Blues
Tricky - Maxinquaye (as said previously)
Morcheeba - The Sea
Thievery Corporation - The Richest Man in Babylon
Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right to Children (one of the many IDM/Trip-Hop debatable-genre-wise acts)
Frou Frou - Details
Spylab - This Utopia
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Scandanavian War Machine

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #5 on: 10 Sep 2008, 17:22 »

so i don't really know what trip hop is exactly but Black Moth Super Rainbow's record Dandelion Gum was desribed to me as "psychedelic electro trip hop" and i fucking love that record.

do what you will with this information.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #6 on: 10 Sep 2008, 17:30 »

Oh man, I forgot about Frou Frou. "The Dumbing Down Of Love" was one of my favourite tracks for the longest time.
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Dimmukane

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #7 on: 10 Sep 2008, 17:54 »

so i don't really know what trip hop is exactly but Black Moth Super Rainbow's record Dandelion Gum was desribed to me as "psychedelic electro trip hop" and i fucking love that record.

do what you will with this information.

In general, this band is awesome.  Whatever they fit under.
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Phaedra

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #8 on: 10 Sep 2008, 19:40 »

Feel free to dispute, but, Goldfrapp? Bjork? Amon Tobin? (The earlier works of all three artists, that is. Not so much the newer stuff.)

PS I loathe Zero 7. Bedroom music for rich girls who want to lie around next to pools in Spanish resorts looking glamorous. Or something.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #9 on: 10 Sep 2008, 20:46 »

Felt Mountain and Post, yes. As for Amon Tobin? I feel like his stuff is more traditional IDM, along the lines of fellow "A" acts like Autechre and Aphex Twin, but you could make a case for Bricolage.
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ViolentDove

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #10 on: 10 Sep 2008, 21:06 »

Pretty much everything that DJ Krush has done is great downtempo stuff.

I never liked the genre "trip-hop" 'cause it's basically downtempo electronica, which never went away. Which is why I don't get when people say stuff like trip-hop is dead.

Yeah.


 
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #11 on: 11 Sep 2008, 18:13 »

If the topic got around to DJ Krush, I might as well help it further in the direction of awesome abstract downtempo stuff and mention DJ Frane.  He is so fucking good it hurts.  It's not exactly trip-hop, as there's no live vocalist involved to my knowledge and that generally seems to be an important piece of the trip-hop puzzle (Krush at least features vocalists regularly) but people who enjoy trip-hop will almost certainly get into his stuff.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #12 on: 11 Sep 2008, 20:35 »

I listened to DJ Frane's new album and while I felt like it was good, there just weren't any standout tracks on it.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #13 on: 11 Sep 2008, 22:14 »

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #14 on: 12 Sep 2008, 01:27 »

The Unseen is not, by any standards, trip-hop. A kind of freaky, cut and paste-inspired hip-hop sure - but trip hop? Naaa.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #15 on: 12 Sep 2008, 05:37 »

Is Massive Attack trip hop?
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #16 on: 12 Sep 2008, 06:38 »

Is Massive Attack trip hop?

Massive Attack basically invented trip-hop.  So to answer your question, yes.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #17 on: 12 Sep 2008, 11:17 »

It's more like Massive Attack, Nightmares on Wax and DJ Shadow invented it, but you get the picture.

I also need that Quasimoto record.
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dstalker34

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #18 on: 12 Sep 2008, 13:31 »

I am with everyone who said Tricky.  "Knowle West Boy" is a great addition to his discography.  I really enjoy Fat Jon's "Lightweight Heavy"

Even though it's a pretty generic addition I still have to say that Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" is a phenomenal album.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #19 on: 13 Sep 2008, 15:56 »

All this talk about TripHop with no mention of Sneaker Pimps ?!  (Their early stuff, not that craptacular newer crap-for-crap)

Then there is Hooverphonic... again, their early stuff.  Get "A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular" or "Blue Wonder Power Milk"... though the former is more recommended.

I also recommend Weekend Players, even though it is on the lighter side of Trip Hop.

I also second the Nightmares on Wax, Massive Attack, and Ruby recommendations.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #20 on: 14 Sep 2008, 00:22 »

Weekend Players... Someone told me about them once. What record would you recommend?
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #21 on: 14 Sep 2008, 12:48 »

As far as I know, they only made one, called "Pursuit of Happiness."
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #22 on: 14 Sep 2008, 13:37 »

I recently got Mezzanine, Blue Lines, and 100th Window off of the Mediafire thread, and listening to Mezzanine, it is AWESOME.

And of course, I love Psycence Fiction by U.N.K.L.E and DJ Shadow's solo shit like Endtroducing.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #23 on: 15 Sep 2008, 18:07 »

As for Amon Tobin? I feel like his stuff is more traditional IDM, along the lines of fellow "A" acts like Autechre and Aphex Twin, but you could make a case for Bricolage.
I was thinking mainly of Bricolage, yes. Although I love his newer work and actually think it's superior, it isn't quite so heavy on the dark atmospherics, which is what trip-hop came to be primarily known for. Though, he does lack a seductive female vocalist...

I don't think trip-hop is quite dead, but its heyday is certainly over. For now. I, for one, vote for a renaissance. Mezzanine is pretty much one of the best albums evar.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #24 on: 16 Sep 2008, 12:55 »

It's heyday MAY be over, BUT... 2008 has been one hell of a renaissance, if I do say so myself:

Portishead's Third (*****)
Thievery Corporation's Radio Retaliation (*****)
Morcheeba's Dive Deep (**)
Supreme Beings of Leisure's 11i (***1/2)
Tricky's Knowle West Boy (****)
Nightmares on Wax's thought so... ( [haven't listened to it yet] )
Martina Topley-Bird's The Blue God (***1/2)
Trifonic's Emergence (***1/2) <--- You can get this album for free off of their website (yes, I know I'm shilling them, but I interviewed these guys for my radio show, they're pretty awesome)

And then, if I were to stretch things...

Quiet Village's Silent Movie (****)
Why?'s Alopecia (****)
« Last Edit: 11 Oct 2008, 11:48 by PassiveTheory »
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Phaedra

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #25 on: 16 Sep 2008, 18:33 »

Thanks for reminding me, I need to actually listen to Third at some point...
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #26 on: 16 Sep 2008, 19:13 »

Anyone ever listen to Switchblade Symphony?

They had some good stuff in the vein of downtempo music with sultry vocals.
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Harun

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #27 on: 16 Sep 2008, 19:49 »

Lamb's first two records are excellent: Lamb (Cotton Wool, Gorecki) and Fear of Fours (B-Line, Softly, Little Things)

I really like Between Darkness and Wonder as well.
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cmoosey

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #28 on: 18 Sep 2008, 10:53 »

Archive - Londinium is probably one of my all time favourite albums, and probably one of the least known. Seriously worth checking out.

Also, check out Black Era. Very much the best Creative Commons licensed music I've heard, and certainly a great trip-hop act. Free to download (legally, for as stated, it's licensed under creative commons) from Jamendo: http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/blackera so worth trying.

I strongly support the nominations of Goldfrapp's Felt Mountain and Tricky's Maxinquaye. Again, both are fantastic. Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X is fairly decent too.

Then there is Moloko's I Am Not A Doctor. Perhaps not as downtempo as most trip-hop, but still good, although it trails off towards the second half.

Zero7 is NOT really trip-hop. Granted, it's a broad term to start with, but at least for me it specifically refers to a mix of downtempo electronica with some breakbeat element to the rhythm, which zero7 doesn't really have. Besides, they're not really anything that special; a few decent songs but nothing more than that.

Finally Massive Attack, and Portishead's Dummy, but they go without saying, don't they?
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #29 on: 22 Sep 2008, 19:20 »

"This World" instantly negates any and all negative commentary on Zero 7. Nuff' said.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #30 on: 23 Sep 2008, 19:46 »

I never really got trip-hop as a genre definition. It all just sounds like a 90's version of dream pop to me.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #31 on: 23 Sep 2008, 19:59 »

I never really got trip-hop as a genre definition. It all just sounds like a 90's version of dream pop to me.

more attached to "beats" and samples than real drummers or a "band" per se - also not always a dreamy female singer, sometimes it's rapped over, hence trip hop.

usually much more associated with dance music than rock/pop music.  also greatly associated with hallucinogens.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #32 on: 23 Sep 2008, 20:12 »

So it's a grimier version of Cocteau Twins.

It just always seemed like a marketing genre to me. I even like me some 'trip hop' bands.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #33 on: 28 Sep 2008, 17:28 »

eh, i think the hip-hop connection really changes that; see DJ Shadow, U.N.K.L.E
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Kaeldra1

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #34 on: 28 Sep 2008, 17:54 »

I havent listened to a lot of trip hop, but Frou Frou (and imogen heap I guess since that's basically an extension of frou frou, though not as uh...trip hoppy?) is one of my favorite artists.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #35 on: 01 Oct 2008, 01:30 »

So the new Thievery Corporation record is more like... a world music album. But it's still phenomenal. Get it, NAO.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #36 on: 01 Oct 2008, 03:06 »

Apparently Trifonic just released a new EP.  Their album was fucking boss.  I can't wait to listen to the latest effort.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #37 on: 01 Oct 2008, 21:31 »

I got to interview Trifonic last spring about Emergence. They're awesome dudes. They love Plaid and want to work with Sade some day. One of their songs is featured on Hybrid's last CD (Soundsystem 01). They're and awesome band that released their whole record for free, despite having no name recognition, so I love getting their name out there.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #38 on: 10 Oct 2008, 13:53 »

In my lurking days I read this thread I read this thread and thought "those people are all missing something".
The something is the great band Laika, among my favourite trip-hop acts. I like all their stuff, but
especiallly fantastic are their middle two albums Sounds of the Sattelites and Good Looking Blues.
Check them out if you like trip-hop with female vocals.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #39 on: 10 Oct 2008, 14:42 »

Yes, Laika are awesome.  I don't know if they're really trip-hop (I don't really know what to classify them as), but I guess the label fits as well as anything for the two albums you're talking about.  Personally I dig Silver Apples of the Moon best.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #40 on: 11 Oct 2008, 11:49 »

I will check out Laika, maybe play some of their stuff on my radio show.
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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #41 on: 11 Oct 2008, 21:15 »

You mean there were good trip hop albums besides Dummy, Maxinquaye, Mezzanine, and Moon Safari?
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heartwork

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #42 on: 12 Oct 2008, 06:57 »

You mean there were good trip hop albums besides Dummy, Maxinquaye, Mezzanine, and Moon Safari?

As far as Massive Attack goes, I think Blue Lines is generally more recognised as their trip hop masterpiece over Mezzanine (although personally Mezzanine is one of my favourite albums).  Trip Hop is a pretty vague genre as a whole though, I'd say it's more just a subset of electronica.  As for other recommendations, Archive - Londinium is a great album and the Kruder & Dorfmeister K&D Sessions album is well worth a look too.
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PassiveTheory

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Re: Trip-Hop: The Good Records
« Reply #43 on: 12 Oct 2008, 20:05 »

Actually, Mezzanine gets more recognition in the circles I swim in.
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