Trip-hop described some of the 1990s' best music and it was one of the decade's most revealing
bad ideas. This book chronicles the music and its leading artists packed with recommended
listening essential tracks great remixes and under-recognized albums. Your playlists will
soon be overflowing. - Spectrum Culture The music itself was an intoxication of beats bass
and voice. It emerged amid the social tensions of the late 1980s and as part of hip-hop's rise
to global dominance. It carried the innovations of Jamaican soundsystem culture the sweet
refuge of Lovers Rock the bliss of club jazz dancefloors and post-rave chill-out rooms. It
went mainstream with Massive Attack Portishead Tricky DJ Shadow Kruder & Dorfmeister and
Björk and with record labels like Ninja Tune and Mo' Wax. To the artists' despair the music
was tagged with a silly label and packaged as music for the boutique and the lounge made
respectable with awards and acclaim. But the music at its best still sounds experimental and
dramatic and its influence lingers through artists like FKA twigs Sevdaliza James Blake
Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey. This short book is a guide to 'trip-hop' in its context of the
weird 1990s: nostalgia and consumerism pre-millenium angst and lo-fi technology casual
exoticism amid accelerating globalization and gentrification.
