The Record Shop, part 1

I am tired of waiting for my brain to give me the correct words in order to write something. I hold my poetry to such a high standard, and wanted to write something less abstract, so I decided to dig into one of my favourite passions: music. Now, don’t mistake this for something it isn’t! I don’t play music, I have owned a bass and a guitar and both of them I played for a few months and then they sat gathering dust until I decided I wanted that corner of my room back. I am, however, a massive consumer of music. I listen to almost everything, excluding rap and country, but that’s mostly because I don’t know where to start. My listening history is sporadic, based on vibes, and I tend to focus on certain genres or albums for a time and then move on to the next. In the spirit of that, I want to welcome you to the first episode of The Record Shop, a series in which I am going to dive into genres that I adore, and give you some artist, album and/or playlist recommendations. This series will come with shameless self promo of my Spotify playlists, but absolutely doesn’t mean you have to check them out. If you want to though… the link to my profile will be in every edition. Make a cup of coffee, put on an album as you read, have a sit down and enjoy some tunes.

I want you to go into the first episode of The Record Shop thinking of albums as something singular, as this edition focuses mostly on albums in a genre. An album is a concept, with a start, a middle and an end. I was talking to Robi (name drop), our wonderful chief editor and my very close friend, about this as I started writing this piece. We both are the kinds of people that make vibes based playlists, but also we have both recently started listening to albums as albums, you know. We have been exploring that space an album creates in the music realm as a singular entity. Wow, I sound so pretentious… before I get even more pretentious, let's dive into the actual theme of today, which is trip-hop, one of my favourite genres of all time.

Trip-hop is a genre of electronic music which uses spoken word, sensual vocals, dreamlike instrumentals and slow hip-hop beats to build an almost trance-like atmosphere in every song. Every single song has you confused on whether you should be dancing and singing or crying and gasping. They are songs to fuck to, but also songs to sob to. I love the whiplash trip-hop gives me, and I love feeling like I’m floating when I listen to it. Allow me to introduce some of my favourite trip-hop albums, and before anyone says anything about these being mainstream, mainstream doesn’t mean bad. It’s popular for a good reason, usually. I mean this in the nicest way possible: get off of my dick and just enjoy things.

Madonna - Erotica (1992)

“Alex, really? Madonna? Like A Virgin Madonna?” I can hear it already. Listen here: Madonna was one of the trip-hop girlies in the nineties. Erotica is sensual, its deep, its slick and wet and hot, its painful and its fucking phenomenal. Madonna tackles homosexuality, the highs and lows and the encompassing emotions of it. Erotica takes you into the seedy underworld of a club as you kiss a stranger, your shoes sticking to the floor in a way that makes you a little nauseous but the vodka Redbull you tanked is making your blood flow just right. Erotica is That Girl; she walks out on stage in an outfit barely covering anything and leaves you wanting more, twisting herself in a way that makes you wince when she does, but does nothing to alleviate the pressure in your pants. Just trust me. Other honorable mentions from Madonna are “Justify My Love” and “Bedtime Story”; not on Erotica, but incredible songs.

Portishead - Dummy (1994)

Holy shit what an album. Portishead is where you go when you want to lie in bed in the pitch black and ponder your existence. “Glory Box” is a song that most people have probably heard but can’t name or place. Dummy makes you feel like you are walking through the fog on a stormy, cliffy beach. It’s such a specific feeling, the feeling of comfort but simultaneously being lost. Beth Gibbon’s voice transports you to the ends of the Earth and back, tearing you apart and putting you back together with the care of someone who loves you so deeply they can’t breathe without you. The band uses instruments in such an interesting way, describing it themselves as a “melting pot” of an album. I think the second half is stronger than the first, but that does not at all mean that the first half is weak. Personal favourites are “It Could Be Sweet” and “Sour Times”.

Tricky - Maxinquaye (1995)

This album changed how I thought about music. Tricky experimented with time in a way that I hadn’t thought about at all before. He fucked around and found out in a way that produced one of the most glorious albums to ever grace my random suggestions on Spotify. I went for a walk listening to this album once and simply sat outside in the rain and listened to the whole thing as I chain-smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. I have since quit smoking, but my god I have been chasing the feeling of Maxinquaye and nicotine ever since. This album experiments, big time. Some songs are faster, breaking away from the stereotypical slow, heavy steps other trip-hop artists use to walk you through an album, but Maxinquaye has you tip-toeing and quick-stepping throughout the whole thing. If you only listen to a few songs on Maxinquaye, make it “Aftermath” and “Suffocated Love”.

Massive Attack - Mezzanine (1998)

Last but not least; Mezzanine. Anyone who knows me was waiting for this to pop up. Massive Attack are The trip-hop band. I discovered trip-hop through Massive Attack, and I know I am nowhere near the only one to do so. Mezzanine was and is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. If you want your heart shattered by an album, listen to Mezzanine. If you want to experience Mezzanine the way I believe it should be experienced, listen to Mezzanine with headphones on, lying on the floor, with all of your lights off and when you are sad but also slightly horny. That is the essence of this album. Massive Attack have a wonderful talent at choosing the voices that fit their albums perfectly. Their use of strong beats make you feel it in your chest, and leave you feeling physically heavier. They build tension in every song that leaves the whole album feeling like an elastic band that is just on the edge of snapping. I am fully planning on getting the Mezzanine beetle tattooed, that's how much I love this album. If that doesn’t make you want to listen to it, I don’t know what will. The whole album is perfect, but if you put a gun to my head and make me pick favourites I think I’d say “Inertia Creeps” and “Dissolved Girl”.

Trip-hop leaves you feeling like you are both the steel and the feathers (please understand this reference). I hope you found something new to listen to. I’ll link my trip-hop playlist here in case you want to discover more, and The Record Shop is also on Substack in case you want more episodes than what are going to be on BTSB. Enjoy yourselves, remember to slow down and listen to more music. Thank you for spending a moment with me and I’ll see you in the next one!