The Synthetic Sound: Trip Hop

After reading the rest of my posts regarding the Bristol music scene, many of you may be wondering what Trip Hop actually is. In 1998, after a slew of musical successes from Massive Attack and Tricky, an article in the New York Times came out announcing the advent of "the Bristol sound." The journalist Guy Garcia says of this sound:

WHEN Massive Attack came on the British dance-music scene in 1991 with its debut album, ''Blue Lines,'' the group's bass-heavy beats and brooding spirit of introspection became the sonic blueprint for trip-hop. A studio-concocted blend of hip-hop, ambient techno and reggae that set the tone for fellow Bristol artists like Portishead and Tricky, trip-hop seemed ideally suited to our globally aware, culturally fragmented times. Spawned by the latest recording technologies, yet resolutely human in its message, it was steeped in the ironic film-noir paranoia of 60's spy movies and apocalyptic angst.

As Garcia suggests, Trip Hop is far more than just a specialized sector of "Electronica." Trip Hop is a melting pot of sounds. Later in the article, the reggae singer Horace Andy (who has since collaborated with Alpha as well as Massive Attack) claims that "Trip Hop is the new world music." However, despite the popularity that certain groups enjoyed on Alternative Rock stations in the United States, Trip Hop never really took off. The genre has inspired artists from all over the world, and yet the so-called Bristol Sound seems to be dying. There aren't many groups that are producing quality Trip Hop or revolutionizing the signature sounds that have inspired so many artists. So where does Trip Hop go from here?