The best Trip Hop tracks?

Basil said:the absolute king of sampling

honestly, nobody—and I mean nobody—has ever come close

The Avalanches and Go! Team were in the running, but they got old fast
whereas "Entroducing..." still sounds incredible today

man, if he could just practice a little self-control... personally, I can't get into listening to ten straight minutes of just sampling🙄

but then again, there's just so much genius in there

Topic

You guys are acting like absolute cavemen... 🙄

Do yourself a favor and check out Howie B, Nightmares on Wax, Amon Tobin, or Baby Mammoth... though I’ll say it one more time just to be clear: the true architects of the trip hop sound were U.N.K.L.E. and the Mo'Wax label.

And please, for the love of god, stop bringing up Morcheeba—get outta here! If I hear anyone claim Morcheeba is trip hop one more time, I might actually have to throw my hands up in frustration. 🙂

Jason Chavez32, give it a rest🙂

I listened to Nightmares on Wax once—never again.

Sure, Morcheeba has branched out lately, but don't act like they weren't pure trip hop before.

Jason Chavez32 said:And what kind of damn Morcheeba are you talking about? Get outta here! If I hear one more person call Morcheeba "trip hop," I'm going to lose it. 🙂

enlighten us 🙄

Jason Chavez32 said:you guys are acting like cavemen... 🙄

listen to Howie B, Nightmares on Wax, Amon Tobin, Baby Mammoth... though I'll say it again, the actual architects of trip hop were U.N.K.L.E., basically the Mo'Wax label.

And what kind of Morcheeba nonsense is that? Get outta here. If one more person calls Morcheeba trip hop, I might actually lose it. 🙂

I've listened to them all on CD and live, and they have zero connection to trip hop, except maybe Howie B.

Nightmares and Tobin are in a different league entirely, and Mammoth is just downbeat...
for true trip hop you need something a bit more... 😉
like U.N.K.L.E., but I don't even need to go there.

Morcheeba is just pure hippie trip hop. 👍

someone gave you kids the wrong info.

Jason Chavez32 said:go listen to Amon Tobin...

That has absolutely nothing to do with trip hop. You're just talking nonsense.

Uncle used to work in that trip-hop circle, though he leaned more toward the dance scene.

Trip-hop is basically just a blend of hip-hop, soul, and that 80s alternative psychedelia. Maybe some dub thrown in there, but not always.
That’s why 🙏 Massive and those blue stripes...
So, you've got Massive up to the mezzanine, that tricky first album, Morcheeba for when you want to chill, and Red Snapper for the heavier psychedelic stuff.

Everything else mentioned either doesn't really count as trip-hop or is just commercial fluff that mostly missed the mark. ☕

Man, you really hit the nail on the head with this topic... I'm totally with you on Morcheeba, but honestly, my heavy rotation is mostly Tricky, Massive Attack, Portishead, Lamb, Supreme Beings of Leisure, and Najwajean...

shadowgardener12

It's not "the mammoth is," it's "the mammoths are."

shadowgardener12 said:that guy did some work in the trip-hop scene, but he was leaning more towards the dance side of things.

Trip hop is basically just a mix of hip-hop, soul, and that 80s alternative psychedelia. Toss in some dub if you want, but it's not mandatory.
That's why 🙏 Massive and those blue stripes.
So, you've got Massive up to the mezzanine, Tricky's first album, Morcheeba for the chill hop vibes, and Red Snapper for the deeper development and heavy psych stuff.

Anything else mentioned either has nothing to do with trip-hop or it's just commercial garbage that mostly hit the mark. ☕

Hey Jimmy...

Look, we all know which song is the ultimate trip-hop anthem—High Noon!
It’s got that genuine, slightly faster trip-hop groove.
But that was ages ago... way, way back...

Out of the old-school trip-hop/hip-hop guard, only Herbaliser stayed true to themselves.
Everyone else just kept changing...

Ugh, Herbaliser is just so boring 🙂

...says the guy bringing up Morcheeba, Hooverphonic, and one single track by Sneaker Pimps.

Whatever.
Keep listening to those girl groups singing pretty melodies and just pretend you're actually into real trip-hop.

If it isn't Coldcut, Herbaliser, or that first wave of trip-hop mixed with heavy hip-hop, it isn't trip-hop. Just because that pop-leaning Massive sound broke through and dragged a bunch of pop garbage along with it doesn't mean that's all the genre is.

Ollienntsh said:U.N.K.L.E. (DJ Shadow and James Lavelle)

DJ Shadow hasn't had anything to do with Lavelle for ages... and honestly, Lavelle himself just pivoted his production toward nu-school breaks.
If you ask me... it's a smart move.
That whole trip-hop/downbeat thing got watered down, unoriginal, and pretty low-quality a long time ago, so Lavelle moved toward stuff you can actually dance to.

cosmicjackal33 said:..coming from the guy mentioning Morcheeba, Hooverphonic, and one single track by Sneaker Pimps.

Whatever.
Keep listening to those girl groups singing if you really think that's what real trip-hop sounds like.

🙄 🙄

Honestly, I don't care if it is or isn't—the fact remains that Herbaliser is just boring.👎

Amon Tobin is just more trip-hop, similar to Coldcut or Herbaliser...

cosmicjackal33 said:jimmy

it isn't "the mammoth is" but "the mammoths are."

the live version is just one mammoth😉

cosmicjackal33 said:Hey, like Jimmy..

Look, we all know which track is basically the anthem for trip-hop—High Noon.
It’s got that slightly faster trip-hop groove.
But that was ages ago... way, way back...

Out of that old-school trip-hop and hip-hop guard, only Herbaliser stayed true to themselves.
The rest? They changed...

Oh yeah, High Noon from the Ninja Tune compilation...

northernscout3 said:Amon Tobin is basically trip-hop, just like Coldcut or Herbaliser...

Just wanted to point out that Coldcut and Herbaliser definitely fall under trip-hop. The issue is people associate everything with the Bristol scene, which leans more pop, so this specific kind of trip-hop doesn't really fit their mold.
Trip-hop is a subset of downtempo that draws its roots from hip-hop; they're incredibly close cousins.
If you want a textbook example of a modern trip-hop track, look at "Divine Sounds" by Rae & Christian. It’s super close to hip-hop even though it’s an instrumental.
Personally, I think Amon Tobin is a bit too experimental to be lumped into that same category...

But man... that whole sound is dead. It's slowly fading away because modern production is just getting worse and worse.
Even James Lavelle, one of the icons of that underground movement, moved toward more danceable electronic stuff... nu-skool breaks and some tech-house.

Damn... the era of Massive, Smith & Mighty, and that whole crew is over... people don't care about that trip-hop depression anymore, they just want to dance.
And that's what Meat Katie, Dylan Rhymes, Elite Force, Plump DJs, Drummatic Twins, and the rest of them handle now...

Jose Chase2 said:🙄 🙄

I honestly don't give a damn whether it's true or not, the fact remains that Herbaliser is just boring... 👎

Yep, that’s exactly why people calling Morcheeba "one-trick ponies" are actually hilarious...
MTV is working miracles...

cosmicjackal33 said:Yebba, that’s why people calling Morcheeba "all the same vibe" are actually onto something fun...
MTV magic at work.

what a mess 🙄 🙄