Trip-Hop
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
Trip-Hop
By (Author) R.J. Wheaton
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Bloomsbury Academic USA
12th January 2023
United States
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Musicians, singers, bands and groups
Electronic music
History of music
781.648
Physical Properties
Paperback
176
Width 127mm, Height 197mm
Description
Trip-hop described some of the 1990s best music, and it was one of the decades 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-hops 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 Bjrk; 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.
Reviews
A detailed, authoritative, knowledgeable unpacking of a notoriously conflicting genre written by a diamond-keen cultural critic who's not afraid to tackle nuanced, difficult topics while still singing the praises of music he loves to the high heavens. . . . Your playlists will soon be overflowing. * Spectrum Culture *
Author Bio
RJ Wheaton lives in Toronto and works in book publishing. He has been writing about music for twenty years and his work has appeared in outlets including The Oxford American and DaCapos Best Music Writing series. He is the author of Portisheads Dummy (2011) in Bloomsburys 33 1/3 series.
