From Mark Stevens Sent Sun, Jul 18th 1999, 09:52
From Mark Stevens Sent Sun, Jul 18th 1999, 09:52
On Thu, 15 Jul 1999 12:12:22 -0400, you wrote: >Anyway, any recommendations on smart trip hop? Archive - Londinium (pisses all over Massive Attack) Bomb the Bass - Clear (the ultimate summer album for the car) Esthero - Breath from Another (beautiful folk/trip-hop hybrid) Kushti - Secret Handshakes (minimalist trip-hop, produced by Plaid) Neotropic - Mr Brubaker's Strawberry Alarm Clock (dark and lush) Nicolette - Let No-one Live Rent Free Inside Your Head (Plaid again) Baby Fox - Dum Dum Baby (fucked up and surreal) Crustation - Bloom (melodic, spacious and blissed out) Howie B - Turn the Dark Off (the more ambient side of trip hop) DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (sample-spotter's paradise) Ragga & the Jack Magic Orchestra - R&TJMO (Icelandic madness) If you pick just one, make it Archive's Londinium. These guys deserve a lot more recognition. Very powerful stuff. There's two vocalists, a male rapper and a female singer (Roya Arab, Leila's sister). Many tracks have this bizarre combination of folky vocals, hip-hop rap, scorching beats and blistering analogue synths that will clear your head out. Lots of instrumental stuff too. This album's from '96, but they've got a new one out soon. The recent single, 'Take My Head', was awesome. They tend to release stuff on vinyl first and then on CD a few months later. -- Mark Stevens http://www.sonance.demon.co.uk/