The Synthetic Sound: Trip Hop (Part II)

Trip Hop, also called the Bristol Sound, is now an internationally recognized genre of electronic music; however, it wasn't always as widely known as it is today. In fact, the genre had much humbler beginnings than most other musical styles, and the sleepy city of Bristol is hardly the kind of environment that coins its own sound. The, ahem, less-than-professional documentary above attempts to answer the questions "Why Bristol?" and "Why this sound?" The DJs in the film provide interesting, underground insights to the music movement that changed the world's perception of electronic music forever. (Interestingly, one of the MCs recounts how his songs became darker as soon as he arrived in Bristol. He believes that the environment absolutely influenced his art in unforseen ways.) There are more scholarly articles on the Bristol Sound and the Bristol underground, but it's always interesting to have an up-front, immediate perspective on the culture and the real people who sustain it.

The Synthetic Sound: MASSIVE ATTACK.

Appendix C: Members.

Before Massive Attack, the three founding members were part of a five-person Wild Bunch Crew. Wild Bunch also fostered Tricky and Grammy-winning producer Nellee Hooper.

Mushroom (Andrew Vowels) - Although Mushroom was a founding member of Massive Attack, his creative differences from 3D and Daddy G led him to leave the group shortly before the release of Mezzanine in 1998. He was a proponent of taking Trip-Hop in a distinctly hip-hop direction and likened touring to "pimping."

Daddy G (Grantley Marshall) - A founding/existing member of Massive Attack and a DJ who has been produced as part of the DJ-Kicks mix series. "Daddy G" comes from a 1960's American song by the Dovells called "The Bristol Stomp." The song actually refers to Bristol, PA, but Grantley Marshall took the name "Daddy G" and established it within the realm of the Bristol Sound, AKA Trip-Hop.

3D (Robert del Naja) - A graffiti artist and MC, 3D is a powerful creative influence in Massive Attack (and a source of much creative unhappiness for his collaborators). As Massive Attack has aged, 3D has assumed a directorial position; many fans and reviewers claim that 100th Window was solo project for 3D. The album got mixed reviews. His breathy vocals and dark electronic riffs are said to typify the Bristol sound (which I will expound on later, since this is a sociogeographical examination of Trip-Hop). He also happens to be the most open with his political views, opposing the Bush Administration vocally and playing concerts to benefit Katrina victims.

In terms of his graffiti...the great Banksy has cited 3D as a major influence.

The Synthetic Sound: MASSIVE ATTACK.

Appendix B: Famous Songs. They are Numerous.

Karmacoma featuring Tricky. This song is a perfect example of the bizarre hip-hop hybrid that coined the use of the term "Trip Hop." At the very beginning of the band's career, the public had trouble categorizing them, but ultimately the vocals and regular beats of (a few of) their songs allowed critics to draw a bridge between electronica and American hip-hop/early rap.

Teardrop has remained perennially on the Itunes Top 100 (always lingering at number 20 or thereabouts.)As you can see, the (rather odd) video has attracted over six million views. The vocalist, Liz Fraser, is a fairly frequent guest on Massive Attack tracks. Although Portishead set the precedent for unusual female vocals in Trip Hop, Massive Attack also has its fair share of crooning sirens on their tracks. "Teardrop" made Liz Fraser's voice almost as iconic as Beth Gibbons'. However, as a rule, Massive Attack tends towards breathy or intensely soulful male vocals.


"Inertia Creeps" is a perfect example of the aforementioned breathy male vocals. Here, the singer is Massive Attack member MC Robert del Naja; he is heavily featured in Massive Attack's Collected Rarities because his songs are unique to the point of extremity. He also sang the iconic Butterfly Caught. "Inertia Creeps" also illustrates the inherent complexity in Massive Attack's often simplistic lyrics. Although the singer seems to be talking about how boredom and idleness overtake you when you least expect it, he personifies this sensibility quite sexually; we then have to ask ourselves whether inertia is a woman he knows or whether, ominously, he is losing his ability to take action.

Angel featuring Horace Andy is one of Massive Attack's most ambient/least dissonant songs. It has been featured in multiple movies and TV shows, but nothing of particular interest. (Horace Andy is the reggae singer who declared Trip-Hop to be the "new world music.")


"Live with Me" is THE example of Massive Attack's soulfulness. Enough said.

Of course, we should all know the original version of "Dissolved Girl," just because it showed up in The Matrix. Ten points to anyone who provides a viable philosophical interpretation of the Wachowski brothers' use of the song:

The Synthetic Sound: MASSIVE ATTACK.

Appendix A: Proof that you KNOW Massive Attack even if you currently believe that you've never heard them in your life.


The first scene of the first Matrix movie. Although the Massive Attack is very subtle, the song "Dissolved Girl" is playing in Neo's headphones as articles flash across his screen.


Further evidence of Massive Attack's immortality: they've collaborated with David Bowie. The track "Nature Boy" was slightly altered to open and close Baz Luhrmann's 2001 movie release Moulin Rouge! (The original can be heard here.)


If you have a song in The Matrix, then it follows that you must have a song in one of the Blade movies. "I Against I," Massive Attack's collaboration with Mos Def, appeared in Blade 2.

Continuing the Race Conversation, and We're Bringing it to the US

Dear Ms. MEHness,

Unfortunately, I could not find a radio report on bi/multiracial identity in Europe, but this is a good start: Farai Chideya's interview with Lise Funderburg. Although this report mainly deals with "combinations" of black and white, the themes discussed are universal for people identifying as racially plural. Naturally, the exact historical context of racial pluralism would be different in Europe, perhaps drastically; in Spain, for example, the proximity to northern Africa and the long presence of the Moors made racial and cultural pluralism a reality early in its history. Although there was discrimination against people who had Moorish blood, the Spanish part of these people was also recognized, which was rare at the time. (They were still considered inferior.) Germany, on the other hand, was a purist state despite its decidedly "impure" background. It will be interesting to see where racial development goes from here.

Internalization vs. Globalization

Dear Classier Hoeing,

I, too, love Goodbye, Lenin! and agree with your point about the internalization of oppression that occurs among the people of totalitarian governments. I think an interesting question to consider on this subject is how such internalization works in a rapidly globalizing society. In Europe it is more difficult for any country to achieve the kind of isolation needed to sustain a totalitarian government; with the establishment of the EU and the enduring political suspicion of many European governments, an outright dictatorship would be taken down pretty quickly. However, in North Korea, the country with the least personal and political freedom in the world, the people reject offerings of knowledge from the outside world. On NPR recently, there was a story of a man who went to North Korea in order to persuade Kim Jong-Il to have a national rock concert. He showed a woman on the bus a newspaper from South Korea, and she looked at it to be polite but did not read it. This incident is an example of the internalization you speak of, but one must wonder how long it will be until the information bug is caught by those who have forced out the desire to know.

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?