Hesitated between putting this here or in the Hip Hop section since it's a bit of both...though maybe a bit more electronica inclined. So here we go.
Any trip hop amateurs? i'm a big fan. It's the first genre i actually became interested in to the point where i would go out of my way to discover new artists other than the mainstream ones. I've amassed a little collection but nowadays the genre has pretty much disappeared unfortunately and i've been less inclined to discover what's coming out.

Here's a list of my classics:
Archive - Londinium (the epitome of trip hop IMHO)
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Morcheeba - Big Calm
Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Portishead - Portishead
Portishead - Dummy

those are, to me, the basics for any trip hop collection. Some others

Air - The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack
Kruder & Dorfmeister - The K&D Sessions
Emilie Simon - Emilie Simon
Lamb - What Sound
Mandalay - Empathy
Zero 7 - Simple Things
Zerowatt - If I

Trip Hop is a funny animal....

Massive Attack are SUPERB especially Mezzanine.
Others that I've heard are K&D, Tricky and Portishead. Which I do all like, its just that Progressive House is much more to my taste.

I still think Massive Attack sound like a lot like Progressive House, even though they have been given the label Trip Hop.

Mezzanine is in fact pretty excellent. Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X was OK, it had that song "6 Underground" which is a big nostalgic button for me if nothing else (but probably something else) and I had "Walking Zero" looped for quite a while. It's what I listened to when I worked on WoW talent trees

Dr. Octagon - If triphop is the middle ground between hiphop and electronica Dr. Octagonecologyst is the middle ground between hiphop and triphop. Very cool stuff.

I'm an amateur (mainstream) trip-hop enthusiast. I got into it with the aforementioned Mezzanine and Dummy, though Massive Attacks' Blue Lines is often credited as the genre defining break-through. I also listen to some Thievery Corporation, Amon Tobin, and Tricky, though with the exception of Tricky I don't think those acts are as purely trip-hop as the traditional Bristol groups.

I think one could say that early efforts from bands like !!! and Gorillaz are indebted to trip-hop, given the frequent intermingling of down-tempo dub, electronica, and hip-hop, though they are more pop-rock oriented. DJ Shadow and UNKLE have considerable underground popularity and I've seen them discussed on these boards in other places. However, I haven't listened to them so I'll leave it up to someone more knowledgeable to comment.

In addition to all the aforementioned records, definitely check out:

Nearly God - Tricky
Brand New Second Hand - Roots Manuva

And to a lesser degree,
Who Can You Trust? - Morcheeba
Making Bones - Red Snapper
The K&D Sessions - Kruder and Dorfmeister


And yeah, I would credit Blue Lines with kick-starting the entire movement. It's one of my favorite albums EVER -- and definitely my favorite record of the 90s.

Massive Attack's Mezzanine is truly a trip hop masterpiece, but 100th Window is also really really good.

I really like Sneaker Pimps as well.

Does anyone listen to Wax Tailor? Or maybe he should be considered hip hop?

quote:

Does anyone listen to Wax Tailor? Or maybe he should be considered hip hop?

I do. Personnally, being a mix between hip hop and trip hop, i consider it as abstract hip hop.

I'm shocked to see so little mentioning of Sneaker Pimps. Becoming X was alright, but everything they produced beyond that point was classic. Splinter is one of the best albums ever put together.

They have been struggling to come back, shelving several albums over the years. It's a shame. No one will even listen to them if they don't have some "ethereal" chick singing vocals. Since, you know, it's Trip-Hop, and that's the formula.

Yeah, Sneaker Pimps are one of my favorites. And I agree with the Splinter statement. And I'm pretty sure that Sneaker Pimps kicked out their female vocalist on Becoming X after being labeled "trip hop". lol.

Pretty big trip hop fan here. But for me trip hop is definitely a genre I only listen to when I'm tired or just need calming. And I must say a handful of it is incredibly boring. Anyway, some highlights for me are...

Portishead - Dummy (obviously)
Daughter Darling - Sweet Shadows
Olive - Extra Virigin
Morcheeba - Who Can You Trust?

In addition to what was already mentioned, I like:

Hooverphonic, A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular
DJ Shadow, Endtroducing
Bonobo, all 3 albums, although only a few of the songs could be called trip hop
Kosheen, all 3 albums, although they straddle the line between trip hop and drum and bass
Unkle, Never Never Land
Jem, Finally Woken
Sonique, Hear My Cry. Most of the songs are not really trip hop, but the good ones are.

quote:

Originally posted by JeffinNYC:
Unkle, Never Never Land

Surely you mean Psyence Fiction? Never Never Land is good but Fiction is breathtaking.

Some great albums listed in the posts above and I totally agree with Twinkle...Psyence Fiction is breathtaking.

Now for something a little different but equally excellent. Some German trip hop. True that this album does a bit of genre hopping (no pun intended!) but no more or less than Psyence Fiction I guess. The album is called Wir koennen ja Freunde bleiben by German band Sankt Otten. Awesome.