By the early ‘90s, there was a real fracturing of the musical landscape when it came to pop music. To me, the popularity of rap, country, and grudge had split the music-loving culture into tribes that were trying to purify their identities by shunning what I love about pop music: the fusion of styles. Now, I know if I really wanted to be picky and pedantic about what I just wrote, I could go on a long dissertation about the “roots” of each of these genres and blah, blah, blah. Really what I’m trying to say is that by the mid-‘90s I didn’t feel alienated from new music, and part of the reason was a genre known as “trip hop,” or the Bristol sound.
Combining elements of rock, rap, electronica, and even jazz, the artists that are featured in this mix restored my faith that musicians would find new wine in old skins; new combinations of fresh sounds that still have great hooks.
“Blue Lines,” Massive Attack (download)
Now even though this album came out in 1991, I hadn’t heard of Massive Attack until the mid-‘90s, when my brother gave me Tricky’s first album. After grooving on Maxinquaye (named after Tricky’s mother), I went back and started filling in the gaps in my library when it came to trip hop — and that pretty much meant starting with Massive Attack. The groove on “Blue Lines” has such a cool/chill vibe that even if you don’t like rap (which I’m not a big fan of), it’s difficult not to like Massive Attack. (more…)
