Trip-hop: Any suggestions?

[Kriss]

dj shadow, kruder & dorfmeister,

These artist DO make "trip-hop"

faithless, Lamb, and zero 7.

Are definately NOT "trip-hop" at all. sure these artists use a few sparse beats around 138 bpm but hardly anyone outside of the BRISTOL MAFIA CONNECTION doesn't really fall into this genre. tHE artists listed above make pop muaic that falls into other sub-catregories but it's not really trip hop.

Bjork's contribution to this 'sound' via the 'Homegenic' album is largely down to her choice of producer, the very talented and media savvy Nellie Cooper, another offspring off the original Bristolians 'The Wild Bunch' who Re-generated into 'Massive Attack'. You're welcome "moi lover"

[Cat]

DJ Krush

And Zero 7 is regarded as trip-hop, Kriss.

[Kriss]

And Zero 7 is regarded as trip-hop, Kriss.

not by me

ZERO 7 is MARKETED AS 'trip-hop'. Really this is a BRISTOL TING and not a worldwide phenomenon. Its a dumb label that doesn't really mean anything and a misnomer to boot. "TRIP-HOP " implies some 'journey' or 'trip' , usually accossiated with psychedelic (which literally means 'to reveal to the psyche') plants. This is however not descriptive of the musical atmoshpere at all, really it should be called "skunk-hop" or "bong-hop" as that is what they all be doin. Zero 7 make atmospheric music and they are caners but it don't make em 'trip-hop'. that scene is over by some 6 years...

But if you want heavy, stoned, u.k. hip hop beats with intelligent lyrics, dubwise production AND a Bristol connection.......ROOTS MANUVA. not trip hop at all, too rhythmically diverse and lyrically involved but very good and really where the 'sound' started to progress after everyone agreed they had heard 'dummy' by portishead 100 times too many.

[sexyredman]

You might also want to check for Cinematic Orchestra, Thievery Corporation, Fila Brasilia, and Nightmares on Wax.

This dude Flying Lotus doesn't do trip-hop but atmospheric hiphop-tinged instrumentals.

And for a more electronic but dark sound check for Dabrye or Prefuse 73.

[Kabuki]

Anymore suggestions? Anything with a trip-hop feel actually. I've been playing a lot of Bittersweet lately. I heard the latest Bjork album isn't bad either. I'm in love with her Homogenic album still. I really need to pick up The Bird & The Bee album.

I spend a lot of time on www.amazon.com listening to snippets of tracks from various albums. Looking for that next gem...that next album that can compete with Portishead.

[SkyTwo]

Anymore suggestions? Anything with a trip-hop feel actually. I've been playing a lot of Bittersweet lately. I heard the latest Bjork album isn't bad either. I'm in love with her Homogenic album still. I really need to pick up The Bird & The Bee album.

I spend a lot of time on www.amazon.com listening to snippets of tracks from various albums. Looking for that next gem...that next album that can compete with Portishead.

I'd be more than happy to chime in. First, if you don't have Beth Gibbons with Rustin Man's album (Out of Season), buy it immediately. I love Portishead, but the live album is lackluster in spite of the great concept of orchestral backing. Another oldie-but-goodie is Massive Attack's Mezzanine. They're both pretty damn dark, but among the best. Tricky's debut, Maxinquaye, has a couple of outstanding tracks (Ponderosa and Pumpkin) but is otherwise forgettable. His later releases were just plain bad (he got his earliest exposure as part of the Massive Attack crew). I always thought Morcheeba was annoying, in spite of their 'standing' in the genre. Same for Moloco. There was a one-album group called Mono that wasn't bad-- a little more coy than your standard trip-hop outfit.

I think trip-hop is one of those genres that tended to produce albums with a couple of great ideas and a lot of filler, unfortunately. Laika released pretty decent stuff, so you might check out their two-disc retrospective. I forget the title. And somebody mentioned Hooverphonic, which also had a couple of great tracks and lots of crap. And I wish I could recommend Mulu-- another flash in the pan-- but their album was a huge letdown after their outstanding singles.

Knock yerself out, Kabu-chan.

[emmettray]

Kabuki, you might want to check out Smoke City and their particularly beautiful track 'Bossanova'. Trip-hop, lo-fi, who cares? Just listen and drift away. Works for me. Enjoy!

[SkyTwo]

Smoke City, I thought, is one of those hit-or-miss groups. But I did forget to mention a good one-- Goldfrapp.

[emmettray]

I couldn't swear to it Skytwo but I think Smoke City may be an anglo-Brazilian set-up. But I really wasn't attempting to impart other than whatever it is, it works for me: trip hop, lo-fi, latin laid back, bossanova-samba, whatever? It seems to hit the target its aiming for. Certainly for me, and if not for me, why not for anyone else ;o)
Carpe diem.

[afterburner]

Try Ben Westbeech's "Best Years of My Life" - not trip hop in a narrow sense, but excellent downbeat material. Everybody I had given this album to absolutely loved it. For some darker stuff, try the 2nd CD of Breakage's "This too Shall Pass". Superb...