Massive Attack’s Blue Lines

Name: Massive Attack’s Blue Lines
Brand: Allen & Unwin
SKU: 9781501339691
Price: 21.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Ian Bourland

Series: 33 1/3

0.0 (0 reviews)

3.76

( 82 ratings, 10 reviews)

Summary

Massive Attack's Blue Lines explores the groundbreaking 1991 album that defined trip hop, blending American hip-hop and soul with British underground sounds. The record's innovative fusion of bass lines, guitars, and psychedelic effects, rooted in Caribbean soundsystems and the rave scene, created a new musical genre and launched the career of rapper Tricky. More than just a debut, Blue Lines offered a powerful sonic vision of a hybrid, digital, and cosmopolitan future shaped by black and immigrant urban communities, standing in stark contrast to the prevailing Brit Pop narrative.
Read More

Format: Paperback / softback

$21⁹⁹

AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Massive Attack’s Blue Lines

$21⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book will appeal to enthusiasts of music history, cultural studies, and fans of Massive Attack and trip hop, as well as anyone interested in the evolution of British music and urban culture in the 1990s.

Description

In 1991, a loose-knit collective released a record called Blue Lines under the name Massive Attack, splicing together American hip-hop and soul with the sounds of the British underground. With its marauding bass lines, angular guitars, and psychedelic effects, Blue Lines built on the Caribbean soundsystems and nascent rave scene of the 1980s while also looking ahead to the group’s signature blend of epic cinematics and lush downtempo.

In the process, Blue Lines invented an entirely new genre called trip hop and launched the career of a rapper named Tricky. Ultimately, Blue Lines created the sonic playbook for an emerging future: hybrid, digital, cosmopolitan, and rooted in the black and immigrant communities who animated the urban wreckage of the postindustrial city.

Massive Attack envisioned an alternate future in sharp counterpoint to the glossy triumphalism of Brit Pop. And while the group would go on to bigger things, this record was both a warning shot and a definitive statement that sounds as otherworldly today as on the day of its release. As Blue Lines’s iconic flame logo spun on turntables the world over, Massive Attack and their spaced-out urban blues reimagined music for the 1990s and beyond.