Trip Hop

[Zooey]

My favorite genre of music. Trip Hop is a mixture of electronic, hip hop, and a dash of that seedy film noir, street detective vibe. If it has a hip hop beat (aka breakbeat), and it makes you feel stealthy, then chances are its Trip Hop (or Downtempo). This genre used to be huge in the 90's. It was used in TV commercials, Films, TV shows, and even video games. So chances are you've heard at least some Trip Hop before in your life. The genre started around 1994, and died around the early 2000's. I guess because everyone got bored of it.

Everyone knows this, or at least they should. It was featured in The Matrix. This track really makes you feel like youre some sorta secret agent, right?

Another classic, this time "Teardrop" by Massive Attack. You might know this if you've watched the TV series, House.

Portishead, one of the greatest Trip Hop acts. This was used in a Levi's Jeans commercial. Very seductive.

"6 Underground" by Sneaker Pimps. I love them. This is their most known song, you've most likely heard if you grew up in the 90's.

There's a bunch more i could mention. Like i havnt gone into the video game stuff. Alot of the Silent Hill music by Akira Yamaoka is either Trip Hop, or heavily inspired by Trip Hop, and for some the Silent Hill games was their introduction to the genre. The pause menu music for N64 Goldeneye is also another call to Trip Hop.

 

[Num]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awYXAgqzADc this one wont embed so ill stop here

 

[Tonberry]

Discovered this last year. One of them is in Swedish but it’s insanely good, the latter one was my song of the year by a country mile:

 

[miguk]

I like trip-hop, though never made the time to delve into it deeply. I had a lot else to concentrate on, and music publications often failed to go into enough detail on the artists and what songs to listen to.

As for some of the bands mentioned above, I like the songs listed, but have other preferred favorites. For Massive Attack, I prefer both "Hymn of the Big Wheel" and "Unfinished Sympathy" over "Teardrop." It's not that I don't think "Teardrop" is one of their best; it's just that it's so overplayed that I'd rather list to other songs by them than the one film & TV constantly inserts into their works.

And on a related note, I like Tricky's solo stuff, but he was better in Massive Attack. Don't have much of a specific reason for that, so take that for what you may. If it's any consolation to his fans, "Black Steel" and "Christiansands" are really good.

Portishead has a lot of good songs. They are definitely my favorite trip-hop group. "Glory Box" is a similar case to "Teardrop"; love it, but will more often play another song by them because I'm the one choosing how often it plays. "Sour Times", "Mysterons", "Humming", and even "Machine Gun" get more airplay on my devices. Oh, and hot take: Portishead's cover of "SOS" is better than the ABBA original, and the only thing ABBA-related I enjoy.

Cibo Matto is one of the most underrated major trip-hop acts. That's possibly partially because they aren't originally from an English speaking country (like most others in the genre) despite forming in one, and partially because of their weird gimmick from the early days (having about as many songs involving food as Weird Al). Nonetheless, I recommend listening to "Spoon", "Sugar Water", and "Moonchild" as an introduction to them.

 

[fishboneKiller]

I like trip-hop, though never made the time to delve into it deeply. I had a lot else to concentrate on, and music publications often failed to go into enough detail on the artists and what songs to listen to.

As for some of the bands mentioned above, I like the songs listed, but have other preferred favorites. For Massive Attack, I prefer both "Hymn of the Big Wheel" and "Unfinished Sympathy" over "Teardrop." It's not that I don't think "Teardrop" is one of their best; it's just that it's so overplayed that I'd rather list to other songs by them than the one film & TV constantly inserts into their works.

And on a related note, I like Tricky's solo stuff, but he was better in Massive Attack. Don't have much of a specific reason for that, so take that for what you may. If it's any consolation to his fans, "Black Steel" and "Christiansands" are really good.

Portishead has a lot of good songs. They are definitely my favorite trip-hop group. "Glory Box" is a similar case to "Teardrop"; love it, but will more often play another song by them because I'm the one choosing how often it plays. "Sour Times", "Mysterons", "Humming", and even "Machine Gun" get more airplay on my devices. Oh, and hot take: Portishead's cover of "SOS" is better than the ABBA original, and the only thing ABBA-related I enjoy.

Cibo Matto is one of the most underrated major trip-hop acts. That's possibly partially because they aren't originally from an English speaking country (like most others in the genre) despite forming in one, and partially because of their weird gimmick from the early days (having about as many songs involving food as Weird Al). Nonetheless, I recommend listening to "Spoon", "Sugar Water", and "Moonchild" as an introduction to them.

DAMN IT, i was gonna suggest Cibo Matto! well, if you end up checking them out, i'd say their best album (or, at least my favorite one) is definitely Viva! La Woman. it's so, SO good, my favorite track is probably Le Pain Perdu

 

[Ian Naxieas]

Crap, I don't think I have any deep pulls, but I do have a few things up my sleeve. Trip hop is one of my favorite genres, lots of good stuff mentioned so far.

 

[gundamnut14]

Maybe a bit stretching the definition of Trip Hop but Kitty Craft is a fantastic mix of Hip-Hop sampledelia and sung vocals.

Also, Bowery Electric are a very cool Shoegaze-Trip Hop hybrid.

 

[Num]

Crap, I don't think I have any deep pulls, but I do have a few things up my sleeve. Trip hop is one of my favorite genres, lots of good stuff mentioned so far.

just hitting a simple reaction button isnt enough. im just here to express how much i really like all of these

 

[Ian Naxieas]

just hitting a simple reaction button isnt enough. im just here to express how much i really like all of these

Awww, I'm super glad to hear that. ? I haven't really looked into Moloko, I think I got that song off one of the P2P services when searching for trip-hop probably around 20 years ago, but I can vouch for the other bands, they have more good stuff. I actually ended up annoying my boyfriend while gathering those songs. x) I was looking for decent sounding copies and I'd listen to the first little bit before skipping around to hear if it sounded like shit. He was in bed and was all "Why do you keep listening to songs for 30 seconds?!" Haha, no biggie though, just thought it was a silly event. Anyway! I have one more song that was cut because I was limiting myself to five. I hope you enjoy it too.

 

[thecrow2313]

 

[PurpleShoes]

You gotta love that Lovage, baby

Dan the Automator (known for Deltron, the first Gorillaz Record, Booksmart OST etc) and all his goons produce some delightful trip-hop beats over which Mike Patton and Jennifer Charles croon double and triple-entendres about threesomes. Very NSFW and very very good.

 

[IDMTINP]

I didn't know this thread existed! Thanks everyone so much for having such a great taste in music. By the way @Ian Naxieas, your taste is fucking solid.

Olbigatory "Seeya Later" post

@Zooey, this one is less detective film noir or sneaky and more waking up in the morning and feeling perfectly fine with life. I wonder what you think of it? This one is a slowed down version. This was one of my most played songs last year.

The entirety of the lyrics hits me in the damn soul, but my favorite part that makes me explode is this one:
"Snow falls in silence and covers the green
Still you can see where the birds have been
Hungry
But alive and free"

 

[gundamnut14]

You gotta love that Lovage, baby

Dan the Automator (known for Deltron, the first Gorillaz Record, Booksmart OST etc) and all his goons produce some delightful trip-hop beats over which Mike Patton and Jennifer Charles croon double and triple-entendres about threesomes. Very NSFW and very very good.

Expected good stuff from the Automator but damn that bangs.

 

[Zooey]

I like the songs listed, but have other preferred favorites. For Massive Attack, I prefer both "Hymn of the Big Wheel" and "Unfinished Sympathy" over "Teardrop." It's not that I don't think "Teardrop" is one of their best; it's just that it's so overplayed that I'd rather list to other songs by them than the one film & TV constantly inserts into their works.

Portishead has a lot of good songs. They are definitely my favorite trip-hop group. "Glory Box" is a similar case to "Teardrop"; love it, but will more often play another song by them because I'm the one choosing how often it plays.

My goal with listing "Teardrop" and "Glory Box", wasn't to show their best song, or to show something obscure, but to show that, despite not a lot of people knowing about the genre, that its been in the mainstream in some way or the other. A lot of times when introducing people to Trip Hop (or Shoegaze, or Dream Pop), they've actually heard it many times before, but just didn't know it was a entire genre of music. Hopefully that makes sense.

I'll link some actual obscure Trip Hop here,

Industrial group that got noticed by Nine Inch Nails, their first album dabbled slightly, before going full Trip Hop on their second album.

Ever wanted more Portishead? 21 Hertz is just that. "Ocean of Time" is like a loveletter to 90's Portishead.

Baby Fox, both their albums are great, but their second is far more darker which is why i enjoy it. Deep bass, seductive, all that.

Italian Trip Hop? Sure why not. This is the good stuff.

Post automatically merged: Feb 13, 2025

Also, Bowery Electric are a very cool Shoegaze-Trip Hop hybrid.

If you want to see Bowery Electric go fully into the genre, i recommend the album, "Lushlife", which came after it. I do think "Beat" however is a good bridge between Shoegaze and Trip Hop, although im not sure many Shoegaze listeners would enjoy Trip Hop? I remember some people feeling disappointed that "Lushlife" abandoned alot of the Shoegazey elements.

Post automatically merged: Feb 14, 2025

@Zooey, this one is less detective film noir or sneaky and more waking up in the morning and feeling perfectly fine with life. I wonder what you think of it? This one is a slowed down version. This was one of my most played songs last year.

Bent's "Programmed to Love" has quite a few good tracks, "Private Road", and my other favorite being "A Ribbon For My Hair". I forget how much of a beast of a album it is, something like nearly 20 tracks, and 70 minutes, so its been a while since ive given it a full listen thru.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

You gotta love that Lovage, baby

I didn't recognize the song by it's title or artist, but I have 100% heard that and I don't know from where. It's driving me crazy. Maybe it was on the radio? We did have a couple stations that played all kinds of music. Anyway, thank you for sharing, it's a really good song. :> It's always good to hear Mike Patton and Jennifer Charles is a new name for me, but so far so good. Can't go wrong with Dan the Automator either!

By the way @Ian Naxieas, your taste is fucking solid.

Awww, thank you so much Bat Paladin! Is that a bat? Looks like it could be a mask too. Hmm. Regardless, I appreciate the kind words. ? I can't deny that you have quality taste as well, anyone who drops a Boards of Canada song is automatically good in my books. The other song is rather good too. I hope they were able to do that video in only one take though. Just imagine lugging a piano up to a rooftop, pushing it off and then you realize you forgot to take the lens cap off the camera. Oof.

 

[thecrow2313]

 

[IDMTINP]

Awww, thank you so much Bat Paladin! Is that a bat? Looks like it could be a mask too. Hmm. Regardless, I appreciate the kind words. ? I can't deny that you have quality taste as well, anyone who drops a Boards of Canada song is automatically good in my books. The other song is rather good too. I hope they were able to do that video in only one take though. Just imagine lugging a piano up to a rooftop, pushing it off and then you realize you forgot to take the lens cap off the camera. Oof.

Yes! It’s a bat mask! Hehe
I know very little about that video or how it was shot but I find it beautiful. From the description, I think it’s some (Russian?) student film.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

Yes! It’s a bat mask! Hehe
I know very little about that video or how it was shot but I find it beautiful. From the description, I think it’s some (Russian?) student film.

Oh, so you ARE a false bat. Tsk tsk. I'll let it slide though, purple is my favorite color and it goes great with black. (Joking aside, it's neat. Is it from something?)
I actually really liked that video. It's creative and unique, I wouldn't have thought of something like that. I guess that's why I'm not a film student!

 

[IDMTINP]

Oh, so you ARE a false bat. Tsk tsk. I'll let it slide though, purple is my favorite color and it goes great with black. (Joking aside, it's neat. Is it from something?)
I actually really liked that video. It's creative and unique, I wouldn't have thought of something like that. I guess that's why I'm not a film student!

I was playing around on a pixel art editor and made that character. Had the pic laying around and used it here. Thank you for commenting on it!

Yeah the video is great!

 

[PurpleShoes]

Not sure if this is technically Trip-Hop, but if Endtroducing.... is here, then I think it fits:

Jazz Spastiks are a producing duo from Scotland who have made albums with the likes of Benificence, Junclassic, People Without Shoes, and theyre currently putting out an LP with Godfather Don.
Every now and then, they put out an instrumental LP, and this one is their best! Every song on it is themed after a scent (hence the title), and in fact the physicals came with actual Scratch and Sniff books with every scent on the album!
Great piece of psychedelic instrumental hip-hop, they blend together vintage drum breaks, Brazilian jazz keys, funk basslines, and vocals from Sesame Street, making it sound as natural together as The Beatles. Amazing stuff,

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Seriously? Nobody posted Dummy?

 

[Antilocal123]

 

[Zooey]

Antrabata, the first few tracks are some really good Trip Hop, its too bad the rest of the album is very weak.

Atomica Project. Very much a Portishead influenced group. The whole album is solid.

 

[NatalieZaki]

Dummy by Portishead is one of my favourite albums of all time :)))))))))))))