As this is my first semi-serious attempt at maintaining a blog, I'm still figuring out how to go about it, and I imagine this blog will always be perceived as amateurish (by me most of all). Having truly come to this realization (I'm looking at this whole project as practice and a way to hone my writing/thoughts), I'm not going to try and break into any truly serious articles here (although it will probably happen from time to time). I'm looking at this space more as a place to just shoot the shit, so to speak, with my gigantic imaginary fan base. The theme will always be music related in some way, though. Well, I'll try to keep it that way, at least.
Right, onto the points of interest. Here is a site elaborating on one of my favorite genres: trip-hop. I found it interesting, and I think it's a good starting point for anyone wishing to delve deeper into this quadrant of the musical universe. Tricky is, particularly in the album Maxinquaye, the quintessential trip-hop artist. If you're looking for a starting point in your explorations of this genre, Maxinquaye is it. Portishead's Dummy is a close second if you want more female vocals...but be careful: too much concentrated Portishead may lead to depression, and long sessions of staring out into the mist on dark and rainy afternoons.
I will say that I can't agree with that site that Morcheeba really belongs in this genre after their 4th-5th albums. They've just strayed a little too far into a more...dare-I-say...overproduced alley? I can't say I care too much for Fragments of Freedom (their third alb) either. Fragments just sounds too forced at times, although I admit Coming down gently is a guilty pleasure, even if it is trying a little too desperately to sound like a remixed 70's organ-grind jam with some Jethro Tull-ish flute tossed in for kicks. To me, at least, Morcheeba was at their finest with Big Calm, their second album--and if you want to sample some of Morcheeba's sound, this is the album I would suggest. Their first album, Who can you Trust?, is good too, but they shine brightest in Big Calm.
Air is an excellent group as well (despite the fact that they're French)...but they're in a more calm and breezy place than many of their contemporaries. 2004's Talkie Walkie is a good place to start with these guys, as the music is more accessible to new-comers than some of their earlier stuff. In particular, I point you to Cherry Blossom Girl, which is track two I believe. I'm not saying Air's early work is bad...it isn't, but I think you'll appreciate it more after you've gotten used to them in Talkie Walkie. Incidentally, if you like Cherry Blossom Girl, you'd probably like Mandalay as well...but more on them later.
Faithless...well, I've been listening to Faithless since the God is a DJ EP came out. I quickly backtracked a bit and snagged their first album Reverence as well, but yeah...I've been a fan for a while. While I can definitely see them belonging in trip-hop territory at times, they definitely have one foot firmly in the house music genre. I was a little disappointed with Outrospective, as it failed to do anything new with the group's sound, but No Roots was excellent. I haven't heard To all New Arrivals, but reviews of it are not very favorable on the whole.
I'll type more later. I need some sleep.
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