[blip]

Ahhh Mezzanine! That album has done more to shape my taste in music than just about any other!

Anyway, lots of good suggestions here... Not too much to add but:
Portishead - Portishead (Definitely the other half of the Bristol sound)
Goldfrappe - Felt Mountain (Expands on the chamber-electronica aspects of Mezzanine)
EBTG - Walking Wounded (A much more dance driven sound, but with clear MA influences)
MA - 100th Window (Not quite the masterpiece that Mezzanine is, but very good none-the-less. More trippy, more atmospheric, less aggressive or hard. Unquestionably worth a listen)
Mad Professor - No Protection (A dub remix of the MA album Protection. Dark, paranoid, absorbing it is almost an instrumental version of Mezzanine... And may have even been influential on Mezzanine's sound)
Tricky - Maxinquay (May be spelled wrong. Another masterpiece. More vocally driven than Mezzanine.... It describes an alternate path that MA could have followed.)

 

[Knuckledragger]

Ah, trip hop. It's been a staple in my listening (and DJing) world for over a decade now. Many of the usual suspects have been mentioned above, but I'd be sure to check out Perfume Tree. This Canadian group were criminally ignored while they were together, but have developed something of a cult following since their demise. Try to find A Lifetime Away, it is arguably the best trip hop album this side of Dummy. The followup Feeler isn't exactly trip hop, but it's also excellent. I'd hold off on earlier albums for now...

After Perfume Tree broke up, two of the members went on to form Veloce, which is a decidedly different sounding project, but features the same beautiful vocals from Jane Tilley. You can get the Veloce album from the Minimum Records website. You can find the two Perfume Tree albums I mentioned used on Amazon or eBay.

 

[dulath]

Just listened to the few opening of tracks of Blue Lines "Be thankful for what you've got" and it's much, MUCH more upbeat then Mezzaine.

*edit* Which I'm not really looking for.

 

[blip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dulath Just listened to the few opening of tracks of Blue Lines "Be thankful for what you've got" and it's much, MUCH more upbeat then Mezzaine. *edit* Which I'm not really looking for.

Yeah Blue Lines is probably the album that is the most different from Mezzanine in their catalog. Amazing in its own way... It is much more of a hip-hop/pop album than Mez. That said, check out tracks 6 + 7... They are much closer to the group's later sound.

Some people even argue that Blue Lines (the album which, in many ways, created the amorphous beast called trip-hop) is not a trip-hop album as the genre came to be defined. Honestly, I think of it more as being a Wild Bunch album than a MA one.

 

[kwitel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knuckledragger Ah, trip hop. It's been a staple in my listening (and DJing) world for over a decade now. Many of the usual suspects have been mentioned above, but I'd be sure to check out Perfume Tree. This Canadian group were criminally ignored while they were together, but have developed something of a cult following since their demise. Try to find A Lifetime Away, it is arguably the best trip hop album this side of Dummy. The followup Feeler isn't exactly trip hop, but it's also excellent. I'd hold off on earlier albums for now... After Perfume Tree broke up, two of the members went on to form Veloce, which is a decidedly different sounding project, but features the same beautiful vocals from Jane Tilley. You can get the Veloce album from the Minimum Records website. You can find the two Perfume Tree albums I mentioned used on Amazon or eBay.

that is a very strong statement my friend...I will have to check these guys out.

How come no one ever mentions Smith and Mighty on any of these trip-hop threads???
These boys STARTED the Bristol scene, and they have some of the most wicked dub-style/bass and beat driven trip-hop in existence!

 

[kwitel]

havent gone to the store yet, b/c I was really interested in hearing everyones responses...will be going tomorrow afternoon.
Was thinking, what about Hooverphonics "Blue Powder..." album? Is it any good?

AHHHH!! Theres so much good music out there, not enough time and not enough money!

 

[antiant]

don't skip on hooverphonic you'll be sorry

 

[Knuckledragger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel that is a very strong statement my friend...I will have to check these guys out.

It is, but I suspect the music will back it up. Unlike many of the trip hop divas out there, Jane Tilley's lyrics are very substantive. A Lifetime Away is a pretty dark album, with a strong dub influence. Much less trip-pop than, say, Morcheeba.

Speaking of, I quite like Morcheeba as well, but they are in a completely different sonic palate. I suggest the 2CD version of Who Can You Trust?, if you can find it. Some of the instrumentals on disk 2 are amazing.

I also echo the sentiments about Hooverphonic, at least for their first album. It's really more "trip pop" than trip hop, and it doesn't have a hell of a lot of substance (musical cotton candy, if you will), but it sounds fantastic. When I first saw the video for "2Wicky" on MTV's AMP some 10 years ago, I became slightly obsessed with the group. The US release of the album was significantly delayed as the band worked out the legal details from changing their name from Hoover to Hooverphonic (they were sued by the vaccuum cleaner company!) I'm not too fond of their later output, but if you're of a mind to track down singles, find the Bugs remixes of of "Club Montepulciano" if you can. I have it on vinyl, I'm less sure if it's on CD. If I remember correctly, the Downtown mix is a perfect slice of trip pop, and the Uptown mix is an awful drum n bass version.

 

[en480c4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel Was thinking, what about Hooverphonics "Blue Powder..." album? Is it any good?

I would definitely get A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular before Blue Wonder Powder Milk. While I like the albums that followed ANSSS, I prefer Liesje's voice, the songs and the overall darker feel on their first album to Geike's voice and the lighter feel to BWPM, The Magnificent Tree, Jacki Cane, Sit Down & Listen To and No More Sweet Music. Don't get me wrong... the albums that have followed ANSSS are great... so great I've paid a ton to get some of them as imports right after their European release and have never regretted it... but they really struck gold with their debut album's songwriting, performances and overall feel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel AHHHH!! Theres so much good music out there, not enough time and not enough money!

I hear ya! This place has cost me far more money in CD's than it has in equipment, and that's saying something! Damn this music forum!

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knuckledragger The US release of the album was significantly delayed as the band worked out the legal details from changing their name from Hoover to Hooverphonic (they were sued by the vaccuum cleaner company!)

That's gotta suck.

[size=xx-small]Sorry, had to be said.[/size]

Though: What?!?!? Who in their right mind is going to confuse a vacuum cleaner company with a pop group?!?!? Reminds me of the Pan sonic drop-the-'a' debacle...

 

[Squeek]

Archive - Londinium

This album should be in everyones catalog. It should fit your requirements nicely.

 

[Patu]

From the same artist Blue Lines and Protection are great albums also. 100th window is not so great at all.

 

[Masonjar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel havent gone to the store yet, b/c I was really interested in hearing everyones responses...will be going tomorrow afternoon. Was thinking, what about Hooverphonics "Blue Powder..." album? Is it any good? AHHHH!! Theres so much good music out there, not enough time and not enough money!

There's a commercial out there (some new Motorola phone?) that uses "This strange effect" from this album.. "You've got this strange effect on me, but I like it" -


Back when VW's "Bug" was new, and they had all those cool commercials, one of them used "Renaissance Affair" from this album also, took me FOREVER to track down who it was.. the internet wasn't quite as developed as it is now.
(they also used Stereolab's "Parsec" - if you remember, it's the one with the spinning Bug that is meant to look like a UFO.)

So, I like BWPM, it's a very bright, light album, not really dark at all, though it gets darker towards the end of the album. But if you like shiny electronics, skittery beats and sexy, breathy female vocals, BWPM is the album for you. It is VERY 1998. Kind of also like Stereolab's DOTS AND LOOPS, it's an album that will be very tied to the time it was released. I wouldn't go as far as to call them "dated" - but they are both are very reflective of the trends in electronica in the late 90's.

-jar

 

[Svperstar]

IMO if you haven't heard Portishead you haven't really heard Trip-Hop. I like Mezannine but I have tried to get into other trip hop artists and I can't stand most of them. Thievery Corporation to me = smooth jazz muzak. I REALLY tried to like them but after going through something like 200 mp3s I didn't hear one track I liked.

Trip-Hop is an odd genre for me in how hit and miss it is.

 

[megawzrd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squeek Archive - Londinium This album should be in everyones catalog. It should fit your requirements nicely.

I would second this recommendation...pretty solid album.

Another recommendation I had totally forgot about is Tricky - Maxinquaye...that album is practically a massive attack album and should sit nicely next to mezzanine. When he recorded that album he was fresh with the 'massive' mentality. Unfortunately that's probably his best effort becuase his other albums are creape in comparison.


Svperstar...why are you thumbing through 200 some odd thievery mp3s trying to force yourself to like them, wouldn't you have figured it out by half an album? Why waste your time.
"smooth jazz muzak" though?

sounds like your impression of jazz is thin....pickup some jazz classics, coltrane, davis...etc. and then re-evaluate thievery as such (oh wait that won't work). I don't even listen to that much jazz...its not my cup of tea, but I know thievery corp isn't simply smooth jazz music.

I do however agree with you that Portishead is essential trip hop and a must have.

oh and kweitel...smith and mighty has such wicked dub lines they don't even feel like trip hop. They are more like electronica/dub.