A Long, Strange Trip-Hop.
Over the past few years in music there have been some pretty interesting bands. People are trying to come up with different ideas and it is hard work because so many things have already been done. Music is no longer the young and largely uncharted land that it once was; now it is home to many turning points and landmarks.
I think that the last really fresh idea to come along in music was probably Trip-Hop. Bands such as Portishead and Massive Attack pioneered a distinctly retro sound that was offset with modern drum patterns, sampling and record scratching. Their ideas inspired other musicians and new bands came along, mixing Trip-Hop with other things.
Goldfrapp started out as having a definite ambient Trip-Hop sound. Their first album was very much in this vein and was also rich with the influence of Ennio Morricone. With their next recording, Goldfrapp went far more mainstream and settled into a ‘poppy’ electro-dance image.
Morcheeba started out with a very trippy sound. Their first two albums; ‘Who Can You Trust?’ and ‘Big Calm’ managed to blend some interesting new instrumentation into the Trip-Hop mix. A lot of their fans began to lose interest in the band after they went far more commercial with their third release; ‘Fragments of Freedom’ and some thought that they were going to become the new M People–
In 1998 the French band, Air released a brilliant debut album entitled, ‘Moon Safari’. This was certainly Trip-Hop inspired but they had also found a very strong individual style; their music is very spacey and electronic. ‘Moon Safari’ even featured the catchy, ‘Sexy Boy’ which found itself in the English charts. Since the first album, Air have released another five recordings. They have tried out a few different ideas but they have still got essentially the same sound.
Trip-Hop is far from being over. The latest offering from Portishead; ‘Third’ has still got that definite sound but it is a lot darker; it could almost be classed as ‘Trip-Goth’. Even though it is now almost fifteen years since the birth of Trip-Hop, there is still plenty of room for further experimentation.
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December 19 2009 02:11 am | General