A Journey Through Trip Hop

By: Bob Bradley

Date:: 02 Dec 2011

Trip Hop changed my life more than any other music style. It was the movement of my generation. Down tempo ultra cool beats fused with classic old samples, sparse female vocals and lush string arrangements. It all kicked off with Bristol's 'Wild Bunch' (otherwise known as Massive Attack) and their first record 'Blue Lines'. But it was their follow up 'Protection' that got me hooked and mildly obsessed.

Shortly after, Tricky (kid) left Massive Attack and released his very own debut Maxinquaye, which was such an inspirational record. Listening to it even now there is a magic and timeless quality that fills me with nostalgia. It fused the Bristol Trip Hop sound with elements of New Orleans swampy blues and 70s cinematica. There were many artists who followed with their own brand of Trip Hop such as Morcheeba and the Sneaker Pimps, but the band that really nailed the British Trip Hop sound and became thee band of 90s urban Britain was another Bristol collective…

Portishead
My good friend sat me down back in 1994 to listen to something he guaranteed would blow my mind. It was Portishead's Dummy and it completely blew me away. It somehow managed to fuse classic old film music that I loved so much (John Barry etc) with otherworldly cutting edge production that bizarrely didn't sound electronic but organic, merging eerie theremins, vibraphone, stunning orchestration and dark brass arrangements. I remember thinking, "Wow, that's just like the music that I create in my mind". It was that moment, album and Massive Attack's 'Protection' that inspired me to become a producer.

Influence from the US
Across the water, California had its own ideas on Trip Hop. Sampling pioneer Josh Davies (more widely know as DJ Shadow) was busy cooking up his debut 'Endtroducing', a sparser affair but equally impressive. This was due mainly to his sourcing and genius use of sampling vinyl but also of his clever beat manipulation using the classic AKAI MPC sampler/sequencer. It was after reading about him in a magazine that I got my hands on an MPC60 (which I still proudly own) and spent many months mastering it and subsequently going on to programme drums for some big records.

Sugababes 'Angels with Dirty faces' was created and programmed solely in my MPC although it had a more R&B/Urban approach, it still retained that legendary MPC feel. A better example perhaps is Oceanlab's 'Miracle' which was also programmed in my trusty old MPC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGTWaUV6Z10

The names Hop, Trip Hop
It's no surprise that the current Bond composer, David Arnold was also one of the talents to emerge from the Trip Hop scene (namely with his work with Bjork on the track 'Play Dead’). You can hear influences of the Bristol sound on Bond soundtracks since Arnold took the helm. It also found it's way into the mainstream pop world with the likes of Madonna employing William Orbit to mould her into a Trip Hop queen with her ground breaking track 'Frozen' (with strings arranged by none other than Massive Attack's Craig Armstrong)

To create a Trip Hop production music album was such a wonderful project to tackle for me. Especially with the added bonus of recording with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the legendary Pheonix Studios at Pinewood (Fittingly where all the James Bond movies were filmed). To keep things authentic, drums were recorded live with the musician who played beats on the first Unkle album and the classic 'Planet of the breaks' sample series in his own retro fitted studio.

Creating the sound
The beats were manipulated DJ Shadow style and saturated with some extreme tape compression to get that pulsating Trip Hop sound. Steve Dymond is one of the writers who collaborated with me on this album and like myself, he fell in love with the Bristol sound from the very first moment he heard it. Steve also pulled influences from some of his favourite artists such as Air and Pink Floyd which fitted perfectly into the album we wanted to create. My other collaborator, Matt Sanchez was only 10 when the Bristol sound struck, yet that didn't stop him getting involved in the action. By the time he was a teenager Massive Attack had become a force to be reckoned with and their 3rd album Mezzanine became one of the most sync'd albums of the noughties. What Matt has brought to the table is his love of the current crop of artists who are obviously influenced by the Trip Hop sound. James Blake, Mount Kimbie and Eskmo to name a few.

As one of the most used styles of music in television, film and advertising, the sound of Trip Hop continues to influence current musical trends. To listen to our latest Trip Hop release, click here.