Trip=Hop and Acid Jazz for Newbies

Cafe Society
1

There is a re-run of a Conan O’Brien show on right now, and a band called “Thievery Corporation” is playing. I’m really liking them. Conan said that they were considered part of the “trip-hop and acid jazz” genre. They remind me of several songs that I have heard recently that I have really liked. One of them is Connected by Stereo MCs. (I just took a trip over to Leo’s Lyrics to figure out what that song was called!) I don’t know if that is considered the same genre as the Theivery Corporation’s stuff, though.

Anyway, can someone suggest some albums or resources for me, as I’d definitely like to hear more of this type of stuff. Thanks.

2

Trip-hop is a fun genre. It’s pretty widely varied in its stylings, but fairly identifiable, in that you know it when you hear it.

I think the band Portishead could safely be considered a member… their album “Dummy” was my introduction to this sort of music.

I also recently heard of a Seattle trip-hop band called The Fading Collection, they’re one of my new favorites.

Hope that helps… and thanks for pointing out the Thievery Corporation! Some cool sounds there…

3

Protection by Massive Attack. Pretty much the alpha and omega of trip-hop.

The Big Calm by Morcheeba

Also bands like The Sneaker Pimps (6 Underground from the Saint soundtrack is amazing, amazing, amazing), Olive, The Lamb, all good.

4

Ooh, yes, Sneaker Pimps. Their whole album (Becoming X) just kicks. They’re great.

5

Be sure to check out tracks by Hooverphonic, too.

6

I watched the Conan episode with them the other night…and I now have a couple of mixed cds of Thievery Corp’s stuff playing all the time. I recognize a few of their songs, but I’ve never known who they were untill now. Does anyone know what Thievery Corp’s earliest “hit” was? What album was it on? One of the songs that I recognize seems to be quite a dusty memory, so I assume they’ve been around awhile?

7

Suggestions:

Massive Attack - Mezzanine, Blue Lines, Protection
Portishead - Dummy, Portishead
Tricky - Maxinquaye, Pre-Millennium Tension
Morcheeba - Who Can You Trust?, Big Calm
Hooverphonic - A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular

Other bands worth checking out:

Thiervery Corporation, Sneaker Pimps, Amon Tobin, Air, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Lamb, Groove Armada, Olive, Zero 7, Cinematic Orchestra, Nightmares on Wax.

8

One of my favorite Trip Hop artists is Nightmares on Wax you should definitely check them out. They have great stuff.

I can’t wait to check out Thievery Corporation this weekend at Coachella! Nightmares on Wax was supposed to be there too but they cancelled at the last minute :frowning:

9

If anyone is looking for a Thievery Corporation album to begin with, I can’t recommend The Mirror Conspiracy highly enough.

Another excellent act is Kruder & Dorfmeister–DJ Kicks in particular.

Some other European artists to check out: De-Phazz, Dzihan & Kamien, Yonderboi, Shantel, and Sofa Surfers. I can’t promise they all fit squarely in either genre (I really don’t know much about acid jazz), but it’s all great downtempo loungey stuff.

10

Air is also a good group, they did the soundtrack toThe Virgin Suicides. But the only label web site I could find does not seem to be working for me…

11

Yep, The Mirror Conspiracy is a great album, but I think Conan was talking out of his ass. You could call them TripHop but calling them “Acid Jazz” ? Err…no.
As far as TripHop recomendations, check out BlackLabel’s post. S/he hit all the “biggies”.