trip hop

Record #840: Les Discrets – Prédateurs (2017)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

For most of their career, Les Discrets has been intrinsically locked with Alcest.

Both projects are pioneers in the blackgaze scene. Les Discrets bandleader Fursy and Alcest mastermind Neige played in the supergroup Amesouers (Neige has also played bass for Les Discrets on certain tours). They even shared drummer Winterhalter—who also played in Amesouers.

But when Winterhalter decided to work full-time with Alcest, Les Discrets was left without a drummer. Instead of try to replace him to write more hard-hitting, epic metal, Fursy decided to use the opportunity to change gears. And while the resulting album is a major change from earlier albums, it maintains the same delicate and beautiful balance between darkness and hope.

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Record #740: Gorillaz – Gorillaz (2001)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

It was supposed to be a joke, right?

No one would start a band fronted by cartoon characters who fight robots and ghosts and expect to be taken seriously, right? Especially not when that person already has an incredibly successful band that blurs the lines between Britrock and punk?

They were just supposed to bring in a couple underground rappers for some fun features, write some jokey tracks, and call it a day. They certainly weren’t supposed to eventually bring together legendary artists like Lou Reed, The Clash, Bobby Womack, Grace Jones, and Snoop Dogg to create multiple masterpieces. 

That seemed to be the plan when Gorillaz released their debut record on the world. Have some laughs, release a couple novelty singles, and call it a day. No one expected them to become one of the most impressive projects in the landscape of modern pop music.

But looking back at Gorillaz from the other side of their now legendary catalogue, it’s clear that this understated LP was hiding a bit more than they let on.

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Record #696: Massive Attack – Mezzanine (1998)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

For years, I’ve had a fascination with trip hop. I became a huge fan of Portishead when Third was released, and later got into acts like Emiliana Torrini, Telepopmusik, and Air when my wife and I started dating. I’ve been a fan of Gorillaz since the beginning of their career.

But somehow, I’ve ignored the rulers of genre, Massive Attack, and their most celebrated album Mezzanine. Of course, I’ve known how great this album is, but much in the same way that I know that I’m breathing: it’s happening all the time, but I don’t usually give it very much attention.

Recently, I decided to change that. And boy, am I glad I did.

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Record #475: Imogen Heap – Speak For Yourself (2005)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

speak for yourself.jpgYesterday, I told the story about how Imogen Heap turned me into a poptimist. And while that narrative informed much of the narrative for that post, this record actually deserves most of the credit for that.

Because if we’re going linearly (rather than alphabetically), the moment that shattered my aversion for all things pop was when I logged onto MySpace and listened to the featured track of the week: a mournful, vocoder-only ballad called “Hide and Seek.”

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