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Trip-Hop

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( 55 ratings, 13 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Trip-Hop explores the 1990s music genre that blended beats, bass, and vocals into an intoxicating sound. This concise guide charts the genre's origins amid late 1980s social tensions and hip-hop's rise, its main artists like Massive Attack and Portishead, and its fusion of Jamaican soundsystem culture, Lovers Rock, and club jazz. It examines how trip-hop's experimental edge was overshadowed by commercial packaging, yet its influence continues in contemporary artists such as FKA twigs and Billie Eilish.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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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 is ideal for fans of 1990s music, cultural critics, and listeners eager to understand trip-hop's artistic and social context. It suits readers interested in music history and genre studies.

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"Guides readers through the genre of trip-hop as the first book on the genre in 20 years, right at a time when trip-hop is making a revival in both underground scenes and popular artists"--

Guides readers through the genre of trip-hop as the first book on the genre in 20 years, right at a time when trip-hop is making a revival in both underground scenes and popular artists.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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-millennium angst and lo-fi technology; casual exoticism amid accelerating globalization and gentrification.

Series: Genre: A 33 1/3 Series

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    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...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

A detailed, authoritative, and knowledgeable unpacking of a notoriously complex genre. The author balances nuanced critique with evident passion for the music, promising to greatly enrich your playlists.Spectrum Culture

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781501373602

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 November 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 12.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 200g

Pages: 176

About the Author

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 DaCapo’s Best Music Writing series. He is the author of Portishead’s Dummy (2011) in Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series.

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