Can someone define trip hop?

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:21 pm

It's a strange thing - but when I had a huge office and staff to please, we had a sound system that anyone could play music on. With 16 people's choices to contend with- audio wars could easily start.
Want to listen to my Suicide anyone? See what I mean.

The odd thing was that everyone was OK with Trip-Hop and it's offspring. By that I mean Portishead, Nightmares on Wax, Tricky on to Lemon Jelly, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Fila brazillia ... etc.

ladies or gentlemen all seemed fine with all that stuff. I am in the UK though, it was / is massive. Trip hop open the doors of exploration into the sound of the UK coming down from a hard weekend

Phobik · Post by **Phobik** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:22 pm

I'm pretty much a novice to the genre, but I know all the mainstays like Portishead, Tricky, Ammon Contact, etc. But this is a group that few people seem to know about or mention when it comes to trip-hop. Check out ChungKing. They're one of my favorites, particularly "World of a Thousand Suns", "Making Music" and "Come with Me". Here's a link to listen to an album mix:

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.ns ... gx27x06x03

ultrasource · Post by **ultrasource** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 4:26 pm

"Some of Tricky's (who used to be in Massive Attack) later stuff is a bit dodgy though."
Dude, what the f happened to Tricky. I met him when he opened for PJ Harvey in NYC way too long ago. I didn't have tickets to the show so I was waiting outside near the stage doors and I got shit on by a pigeon. I was pissed but right then and there I saw Tricky and a small entourage get our of a limo so I was like.... "Hey Tricky, I'm trying to get in the show but it's sold out and I just got shit on!" He told me to hold on and within 2 minutes he came back and got me in. He was super cool.
I don't know what's going on now. Anything after Maxinquaye is laughable. What does it matter anywa?. I'll move on. Sorry for the rant.

defunkt · Post by **defunkt** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:05 pm

triphop is a term that magazine's like mixmag invented in the mid nineties to describe what was to most ears instrumental hiphop with spaced out pot smoking sounds.james lavelle released loads of it on mo-wax so check the early releases .some quality tunes on their compilations.

kabuki · Post by **kabuki** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:17 pm

I kind of like Tricky's later stuff (with Muggs), but it isn't Trip Hop.

I saw him hanging out before a show rubbing elbows in the croud and having a beer. I was too starstruck too talk to him, but he seemed approachable enough. You don't see too many bona-fide stars just hanging before a show (unless their publicists think it will help)...

Maximquaye is the SHIT. I really want to hear some more stuff from his MC on that CD. SHE was the pants.

glenclayton · Post by **glenclayton** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:54 pm

kabuki wrote: Maximquaye is the SHIT. I really want to hear some more stuff from his MC on that CD. SHE was the pants.

She is called Martina Topley-Bird and was Trickys muse and on/off partner I think. Has recently released a album 'Quixotic'

futureproof · Post by **futureproof** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 7:57 pm

Angstrom wrote:Zero 7 always impressed me, I reckon some of that is classed as trip-hop.
I know a lot of people would rate it as not particulary 'underground' and therefore not too cool, but I find it exceptionally well written.

I can definately see why you say that but for me I always saw a big difference between the sound of early mo'wax stuff like Shadow and Dj Krush or portishead compared to the smoother sound of zero 7.

its all good music anyways, no real point in splitting hairs

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:18 pm

Pants is slang for crap or some such. Might be cockney rhyming slang, dunno.

Like pony - pony and trap => crap. Obviously.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:23 pm

thoughts on the neo-etymology of UK pants

http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-pan4.htm

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 10:00 pm

Goodness Gracious Me! is one of the best things I've ever seen on tv...

melocoton · Post by **melocoton** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 10:18 pm

Anything after Maxinquaye is laughable.

I disagree. His recent stuff is pretty crappy but Pre-Millenium Tension and Nearly God are both brilliant.

Also be sure to check out Soul II Soul who were basically the precursor to the trip-hop scene. Their stuff is more smooth and soul oriented than the darker, more grimey trip hop stuff but it still has that downtempo, melancholy vibe plus slowed down hip hop breaks. You can pretty much trace a continuum from Soul II Soul, through Massive Attack and onto Tricky and hear the music get more lo-fi and gritty as it goes.

ingrid · Post by **ingrid** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:49 pm

I believe it was Louis Armstrong that once said something like this to a reporter: "If you have to ask what jazz is you'll never understand what it is." Same thing goes for trip-hop IMO. It's a vibe, not a genre. Thus I separate between trip-hop (Massive Attack, Portishead...) and down-tempo hip-hop (Entroducing, Smokers Delight...) But then again I also separate between techno and electro.

drush · Post by **drush** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:04 am

melocoton wrote:
Anything after Maxinquaye is laughable.
I disagree.

i do too.

besides agreement on every single thing Massive has done (yea, except the Light My Fire cover... lol) and iron clad agreement about the perfection of Maxinquaye (altho the Public Enemy cover bothers me), oh and Krush's first album too, whenever people ask about this stuff i often point them to this:

http://www.discogs.com/release/63148

one of my favorite old CDs. and i'm not sure if Mo Wax was even mentioned yet in this thread.

kinda ironic to see an Autechre track there eh. great track, Lowride.

ingrid · Post by **ingrid** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:09 am

melocoton wrote:You can pretty much trace a continuum from Soul II Soul, through Massive Attack and onto Tricky and hear the music get more lo-fi and gritty as it goes.

That makes a lot of sense since Nellee Hooper was a member of both Soul II Soul (on the two first albums) and the Wild Bunch (later named Massive Attack), and as have already been mentioned, Tricky being a member of Massive Attack before going solo. Thanks for bringing it up...I'd forgotten all about Soul II Soul.

telekom · Post by **telekom** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:20 am

Yeah the cover version of light my fire is utterly pants... big brown nylon pants with skid marks in fact.

However, I reckon we missed out one very important fella in all of this and that is Mr Isaac Hayes... Glory Box by Portishead and Hell Is Round The Corner by Tricky both feature the same sample (can't remember the track - anybody?) by Isaac Hayes. (If it ain't a sample it's at least a close rendition.) It sounds a bit like Walk On By but it isn't that... anyway if ya listen to Isaac it's just a blueprint for lots of the things triphop turned into. Even some of the beats are just lifted off his drummer. Like most hiphop... soul and funk are the starting point...

Ain't life great?

Can someone define trip hop?

Novice