Flashback: The Trip Hop Test, Part One (1995)

The very definition of trip hop was in flux when Moonshine Music released The Trip Hop Test, Part One in January of 1995. The term had already surfaced in the US characterizing the downtempo music coming across the pond from Bristol producers like Tricky and Massive Attack but those listening closer to the underground also described rave music influenced equally by hip hop and psychedelic music by the same name. Was it the same movement? The Trip Hop Test doesn't answer the question but instead presents evidence allowing the listener to decide. Compilations almost always take related tracks to make a statement on a scene or time so taking the risk to ask questions about a scene is one of the most endearing things about the collection. Impressively the disc also manages to catch many of the major players of electronic music before they came to prominence in the later half of decade. Here is the track listing and some thoughts:

Saint Etienne "Filthy"
Originally the b-side to "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" the oldest track on the collection dates from the Saint Etienne's early days when they only had guest vocalists here featuring British rapper Q-Tee who was only 15 when she recorded the track.  The song was later remixed by Monkey Mafia and included on the band's Casino Classics remix collection.
The Dust Brothers "My Mercury Mouth"

Actually a track from The Chemical Brothers taken from the last EP they released as The Dust Brothers before going chemical for legal reasons.  The reason to buy the disc since the track is closer to delicate ambient techno than anything Brothers have released since becoming album artists.
Step Disk "Boing Dragon" 

The disc's first misstep from a group that faded away shortly after releasing this.  Notably "loose" production emphasising samples demonstrate the sound of the time but it is extremely repetitive.
Skylab "Sea Shell" 

This was a massive track on college radio at the time that introduces an unusual laidback beat to an ambient template. This group effort is the first time future Bjork and U2 producer Howie B appeared on my radar.
Paul Weller "Wild Wood (Portishead Mix)"

Who would have guessed the sole representation of the Bristol sound would come from The Modfather?  Portishead weave their Dummy-era sound around the original song's structure incorporating the best of both worlds.  A must for Portishead fans.

The Aloof "Society"

This group is probably better known for their work in other projects which include The Sabres Of Paradise, Red Snapper and the vocals to Luke Slater's 2002 electropop masterpiece Alright On Top.  This track is a bit shouty and has sirens but fails to effectively convey the talent involved.

Tranquility Bass "They Come In Peace"

More music branching out of ambient adding hip hop beats to the mix.  While they would go on to release higher profile albums this is as good as Tranquility Bass ever got.
The Crystal Method "Dubeliscious Groove"

American electronica's great hope turn in an early ambient techno track that sounds unfinished.  Try the far superior Fly Spanish Version from the Keep Hope Alive EP for something that will stick to your brain. 

Single Cell Orchestra "Transmit Liberation"

Another college radio hit here from San Francisco artist Miguel Fierro.  One of my favorite ambient techno tracks of all time.
Lemon Interupt "Minneapolis"

When Karl Hyde and Rick Smith left behind the gothic gloom of their first Underworld outing they added Darren Emerson and gained some techno edge but chose to release their initial offerings, and production on Saint Etienne's Tiger Bay, under the name Lemon Interupt.  This b-side to "Dirty" shows them working their new sound out even if it falls short of essential.

Tales from the Woodshed "Brainclog"

Proto-big beat from a duo that would shorten their name to The Woodshed before disappearing a few short years later.  

:  Moonshine Music would go on to release another two volumes of The Trip Hop Test before branching off into other ventures but they deserve credit for taking a snapshot of electronic music at the crossroads and not giving us the answer key.

Hot Cover Alert: Faith No More "Glory Box"

Sometime before going on hiatus the best hard rock band of the 90s Faith No More played a version of Portishead's "Glory Box" live. It's pretty fantastic:

Pedestal

Portishead are one of the few bands that have fundamentally changed the way I listen to music so I celebrate the release of their new album Third. Since we last heard from them there has been a decided shift in the sound of the band and rather than simply ask "where did the tunes go?" I am going to hold off on any real comment until I have had time to absorb the album and decipher what it all means. I'll meet them on their terms and since it took over ten years for the band to deliver a new album I pledge to opine within the next five years.

Video: Portishead "Machine Gun"

The first shot out from Portishead's upcoming Third album is the single "Machine Gun". An uncompromising piece of minimalist electronic percussion it sounds like something you might hear from Cabaret Voltaire or Nitzer Ebb in the mid 80s making it something bound to put off many of the band's fans who have been waiting for over a decade for a new album. Those claiming to be familiar with the whole album have said this is the oddest moment on it which suggests to me that the band have no interest in being on the mainstream musical radar. Geoff Barrow in particular seems to be an opinionated fellow, try skimming a few of his blog entries to get an idea, that despises most everything mainstream and I suspect releasing this single first is an attempt to separate the group from anything even remotely pop:



: If the video above isn't working then stop by the official site where you can watch it in full screen mode after a quick sign up. Now it should be really interesting to see where the rest of the album takes us.

Just The Facts

The journalistic geniuses at Spin & NME just reported that Portishead have "finally unveiled new tunes" suggesting that it's their first new material since 1997. I understand some of the confusion because there are two tracks up on the Portishead myspace, but both tracks have been up there for months. Are they really new songs? Geoff Barrow took a break from his usual daft ramblings in the Portishead blog to explain:

i heard from my mate that bbc radio 6 has been telling everyone that we have new material on here so id thought id better tell you that its not..

the tracks on here are doodles from about 3 years ago....

we are in the studio with tunes done but its unlikley that we will post any new stuff just yet

: It's a classic case of media reporting what other media are reporting, but you would think that respected news organizations that have previously created news items based on the Portishead's blog, only available at their myspace page, would have noticed these "new songs" before. In fact the only thing I've found online in the media noise over these new tracks that acknowledges that Portishead have officially released anything since '97 is Pitchfork who reference to Portishead's Serge Gainsbourg cover that I posted about at the beginning of the month. It's puzzling to me that my blog has more journalistic integrity than news sources with people who get paid to research and editors who are supposed to check facts.

Wandering Star

Perusing the itunes store this morning I thought I'd take a listen to the "Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited" tribute disc that I had seen a couple reviews of noting the high profile tracklisting. Indeed there are covers from Franz Ferdinand, Jarvis Cocker, Marc Almond, Sly & Robbie, Michael Stipe, Tricky, Placebo, Fiest and Portishead. I'm sorry, did I just say Portishead? This is the first studio track the trip hop legends have officially released in seven years (make that eight years if you don't count a track with Tom Jones on the vocals). Portishead did get a fair amount of attention a couple of months ago when they announced on their myspace that they were finally getting their third album together, but I hadn't seen a thing about this new track until it was released. Any new Portishead is cause for celebration!
The song is an English version of "Un Jour Comme Un Autre" originally performed by Anna Karina on the soundtrack of 1967's "Anna" which Serge Gainsbourg wrote the music for. It sounds exactly how you would expect Portishead to cover Gainsbourg except there's more guitar, lots of feedback and the track feels a bit short at 2:39. It's a good start, but I'm really looking forward to something with a little more musical meat on it. How much longer until the long promised new Portishead album is out?

The Big Jump

So the new Chemical Brothers album came out yesterday, and like their last three proper albums I went to pick it up the first day, but this time I ran into trouble. Maybe I got their too early, but when I arrived at Tower around 2pm there was only one copy of the album, not with the new releases, and it was marked up at full price ($19!) so I passed on it. I went looking again today and only found two copies of it at Best Buy, but with a good price. It's just a bit odd, since both these places had tons of copies of recent Fatboy Slim. Maybe there was a distribution problem? Well, I am listening to "Push The Button" for the first time, and so far I like it. Someone else is bound to want to buy a copy too.
Just another note about the album, I was doing a search through Live 365 today, and was surprised that SlothRadio had a song from the album added to the playlist. The station is, after all, what Cosmicity called* "the most conservative place for synthpop on the internet," and here Slothdog is playing a song with no vocals.
Dealing a bit more with the exclusive club, which those lucky Chems belong, of musicians who changed my views on music it recently came out that Portishead did not actually break up! NME recently reported that Portishead are "close" to finishing their third album, and Geoff Barrow doesn't understand why people think the group have broken up. Maybe an eight year break since the last album, with a side-project album from Beth Gibbons, might be the reason Geoff. While I look forward to any new material, I'm not going to hold my breath. "Close" within the context of eight years is a long time.
Here's an odd thing. I was reading about Bez, the Happy Mondays' dancer, winning "Celebrity Big Brother" in the UK when I was shocked to discover that the hardest working woman in reality tv came in third. Brigitte Nielsen, who I vaguely remember, but can not recall having seen any of her movies is suddenly the "it girl" of reality tv. She did "The Surreal Life" a couple of months ago, and her relationship with Flavor Flav spawned "Strange Love" and somewhere in there she squeezed in this Brit show. Why? I suppose it's raised her profile, but I have no idea where she would take her career from here. Yet another reason I'm not a Hollywood agent.


*Quote taken from memory, so it might be off by a word, but the sentiment was there.