Groove Armada, live at Transmusicales Festival 2000 in Rennes, France.
Something a bit different this morning; a sampling of Trip-Hop. Swept into prominence by such names as Portishead and Massive Attack, Trip-Hop was a decidedly more cerebral look at EDM and has been a creative oasis for those artists going in an independent rather than mainstream route.
Never having personally been a fan of Hip-Hop – to me, the whole vibe is more commercial, more dance-oriented, less adventuresome than Trip-Hop has been – I’ve always found Trip-Hop has left lasting impressions where Hip-Hop appears and dissipates – perhaps that’s the intention and always has been with mainstream music; make the next one sound like the last one. Unfortunately it creates the law of diminishing returns which probably explains current frustrations over the state of Modern Music.
All that said, when Trip-Hop made its first appearances in the late 1990’s it offered an intriguing alternative to what was commercially going on in Music. And Groove Armada’s most notable early single “At The River” with settings and samplings of the Patti Page 1950s hit was a game-changer.
They’ve gone on to do some 9 albums, changing direction to a more dance-oriented direction, going on extended hiatus in 2012 and finally doing what they referred to as a “final tour” in 2022, a lot is still up in the air.
Contemporary Music is going through changes – it does what it always does; not stand still. Many are fearing a decided lack of creativity and experimenting, along with the economic and societal upheavals are putting everything in uncharted territory. We don’t know what’s coming next – if anything. Music is far from dead, it won’t die, it never will die but it may become more isolated and collective-driven; smaller returns, smaller venues and smaller exposure on social media. The Underground may become the norm while the mainstream becomes Greatest His and reissues. Time will tell.
But right now – this morning – this minute, it’s The Groove Armada in the early days, when Transmusicales was a melting pot of music.
Crank it up and stay sane.
