Air - "Moon Safari" (1998)

What is this? An older record on the blog? This hasn't happened in like 4 years! I am going to see Massive Attack in a few weeks and I have been listening through the supports, one of which is Air, a French electronic act who debuted in the late 90s with this record, Moon Safari. Apparently the band is fairly acclaimed within the scene, and so I'm surprised this is my first time coming across them. Maybe it's just the Anglospheric bias of British music tastemakers and historians.

On listening to Moon Safari, I feel like it is representative of the watershed moment in the late 90s where the very localised Bristol-based trip hop scene was adopted into the more mainstream friendly, broader downtempo genre. A lot of the grimier, more dangerous soundscapes that characterised the work of Massive Attack, Portishead and UNKLE were toned back and replaced with looser, jazzier samples that fitted better to the Ibiza clubs that were playing this music in their chill-out rooms. However Moon Safari maintains a weirder edge that lost just a year later with the likes of Moby and Groove Armada releasing their very successful and very palatable downtempo tunes (Porcelain and At the River respectively).

Similarly, as you would expect from a French act, there is certainly a French pop flair to Moon Safari compared to their English contemporaries. It is a very gentle, smooth and sensual record; completely eschewing the more neurotic song topics and musical elements that the trip hop scene was known for. Not a single drug reference or scratchy drum breakbeat in sight. Instead elegant strings and smooth saxophones occupy the mix. The opening cut, Le femme d'argent, swoons in with a gentle conga rhythm, a smooth, funky bassline and and a jazzy keyboard riff. There's no vocals, no real melody, just loose noodling set against the tight rhythm section. A simple string backing and bubbling effects get introduced as the song progresses, giving a little more depth and progression to the mix. Its a very suave and sophisticated sounding tune. Sexy Boy on the other hand is much more passionate and sensual. The whining guitars and intimate female vocals give off a much more urgent and seductive vibe.

All I Need featuring Beth Hirsh definitely feels the closest to British trip hop with its very stripped back production and moody, yearning vocal performance that with a passing listen you could easily mistake for Portishead's Beth Gibbons or Elizabeth Fraser who featured on many a trip hop tune. You Make It Easy also features Hirsh on vocals, which sounds very Portishead if I say so myself. It's a good tune and a highlight of the second half. Talisman is a low key, bluesy number which again feels quite moody. The strings start to ramp up towards the end of the song which adds some tension and drama to the track. Ce matin-là on the other hand, is the most chilled out song on the planet with its strummed acoustic guitar and gentle trumpet motif. It sounds like an M&S summer food advert.

Not everything is a winner though. Kelly Watch the Stars is a bit of a departure for the record, with it's squelchy synths and robotic vocals sounding more Daft Punk than downtempo. It's not bad but it doesn't really retain the relaxed and elegant vibe of the tracks that proceed it. Similarly, the robotic vocals on Remember are more distracting than they add to the atmosphere of the song. On the whole, the back half of the album feels quite safe and unchallenging. It does start to sit in the background, which I get is the point; but when I give it my entire focus I'm left wishing the songs just went a little further and made more of an impact.

On the whole, Moon Safari is a good album and I can see the acclaim it received mostly off the back of the first three tracks. It certainly highlights the difference between the influence and 'importance' of a record, and the overall impressiveness of a record from front to back. Well worth checking out if you like chill electronic music, but don't expect it to be a profound boundary pushing experience.

Top Tracks: Le femme d'argent, Sexy Boy, All I Need, You Make it Easy, Ce matin-là

7/10

Massive Attack - "Heligoland" (2010)

7 years after their last studio album release, Massive Attack returned with their most recent LP, Heligoland (named after a German Island archipelago). The record also features the return of Grant Marshall to the group and a step away from the incredibly synthetic and electronic sounds of 100th Window, back towards the more organic soundscapes of the first three albums. It's a change I welcome, as I much prefer that side of the group's sound. However it is not just a rehash of their 90s era, with the group creating an entirely different atmosphere and soundscape. In the years since the group's peak, artists like Gorillaz and Radiohead have combined electronica with mainstream rock and pop in a more immediate way, and I can definitely here that influence within Heligoland. The synth tones are sharp and colourful, and really pop out of the mix; and the guitars have a real snarl to them in places, making this the rockiest of all the Massive Attack records. Gorillaz' Damon Albarn even features as a guest vocalist on one of the tracks.

The first half of the record gives off a very hot and desert-y atmosphere. While not sonically similar to stoner rock, it has a similar feel to it. It's tense, dirty and loud. The opening track, Pray For Rain, kicks things off with a very dry, rolling drum beat and moody piano keys as Tunde Adimpe's slow and somewhat prayer-like vocals chant about 'praying for rain'. This prayer is seemingly answered by a section with much more saturated 'plink-plonk' synths and ethereal backing vocals in the middle of the track before returning to the moodier drums and piano section to pray once more. This is followed by the glitchy and dancy Babel. The track has a real propulsion to it, and also has a real juxtaposition between Martina Topley-Bird's very smooth and gentle vocals against the harsh and industrial beat. The descending melody of the hook lodges itself into your brain.

Perhaps my favourite track on the record is Girl I love You, a massive sounding tune that leans into the bands dubby side and also a bit of dancehall. The track builds off this rumbling guitar line, with the tension rising until these fat, distorted horns blindside the song and the whole track just explodes in colour. It sounds like stumbling upon a secret carnival in the middle of the desert. Horace Andy kills in on the vocals, sounding so dramatic yet keeping his cool. Towards the end of the track the horns disintegrate into a frenzy, leaving the impression that this carnival of colour might just have been an illusion, a mirage. Following this, Martina returns for the hypnotic Psyche. The track is built off a super simple, super short acoustic guitar loop and the multi-tracked vocals add to the delirium.

However from this point onward the hot desert-y atmosphere starts to boil over into heatstroke. Everything becomes a bit dour, but not in a good way. Guy Garvey is a magnificent vocalist, but he was not the right fit for the incredibly ridged and skittery beat of Flat Of The Blade. He tries his best to sound rough and gritty, but it just doesn't work. Rush Minute is honestly pretty forgettable and Saturday Come Slow is probably the most dour the record gets. Damon Albarn's performance comes across bitter and sour, as opposed to the dreamy and wistful performances he tends to give on Gorillaz' work. I see why Paradise Circus is the most played track on Spotify, it's the only track that comes close to the elegance of the likes of Unfinished Sympathy and Teardrop. However for me, the repeated piano motif is so short and simple it starts to get a bit annoying. It becomes less of a problem towards the end of the track as the song becomes less reliant on it and some soothing strings pop into the mix, but at this point it feels a little to little, a little too late.

The record does bring back some of the intensity and colour for the closer, Atlas Air. This 8 minute tune grows out of a repeated drum loop and some spooky, psychedelic synthesisers. It's simple but groovy and enticing. The synths become darker and more distorted as the track progresses like it's swirling out of control. It's a shame the record looses all momentum before this point because it is a pretty strong closer.

Heligoland is a bit odd within Massive Attack's discography, because it's the only one that isn't consistent. It has some of the group's best songs, and also some of their weakest. However the highs of this record do make me feel like I'd throw it on more than I would 100th Window, and none of the lows are particularly bad, it's just a shame they all come in the second half. It makes the album seem quite lopsided.

Top Tracks: Pray For Rain, Babel, Girl I Love You, Psyche, Atlas Air

7/10

Massive Attack - "100th Window" (2003)

Continuing on with Massive Attack's discography into the 21st Century, 100th Window makes a unique stylistic shift for the group. The record came after a period of tension within the group, with only Robert Del Naja (aka 3D) and producer Neil Davidge working on the record, with no involvement from Andrew Vowles or Grant Marshall. As a result, the record is far less indebted to the sounds of dub, soul and hip hop than the group's previous albums, instead heading of the direction of ambient and minimal techno. The record is still just about trip hop, but as a sign of how different it is, the album contains zero samples.

What results is a an incredibly low-key album that feels very serene and measured. The tracks fade together, all occupying similar tempo, sonic pallets and tones. The Vocals in particular have much less emphasis on them. All the tracks have them, yet the only track where they really draw attention is Special Cases. Most of the time, they float about in an ethereal fashion, almost as if their purpose is to be an additional instrument rather than a lyrical focus. The tracks also feel very synthetic, with their emphasis on rigid techno beats. Take for example Butterfly Caught, a track which has these flourishes of strings as additional layering, but the core of the track (the repetitive beat and 3D's vocals) feel so mechanised and sterile. The best tracks have something to grab you're attention, for instance the aforementioned more intense vocals on Special Cases. Everywhen has a more organic feel to it; and A Prayer For England has a prominent, much more groovier bass guitar line which feels like it gives the track some more heft compared to some of the other cuts

The record has been great to have in the background while working, the tracks are busy enough to not feel like droning, but ambient and minimal enough to not be distracting. But unlike the rest of the group's records, I don't really want to listen to it while not doing anything else. It feels so sterile and passive. The cover represents the album well, clean, glass-like, varying shades of grey. It's like a brand new skyscraper in a world city; impressive and elegant, yet characterless and unremarkable. I'd say only check it out if you're really into checking out the group's entire discography, although the record still maintains a decent quality and the best moments are pretty good. It just feels a bit one note and uneventful compared to the genre-sprawling of Massive Attack's 90's work.

Top Tracks: Everywhen, Special Cases, A Prayer For England

6/10

Massive Attack - "Protection" (1994)

Massive Attack's sophomore album, Protection, for me really sits between Blue Lines and Mezzanine, in both its sound and how I feel about the record. The groups style has evolved from the more embryonic version of trip hop present on Blue lines; with the dub, soul and hip hop influences more seamlessly merged together into something darker and more brooding. Yet the album doesn't possess the alien and suffocating atmosphere that runs through much of Mezzanine, and made it so utterly captivating. It's still a really great listen though.

The record opens up on its best, the absolutely fantastic title track. Tracey Thorn's soothing vocals glide over a reverb heavy drum loop and an emotional synth chord pattern. Other elements come and go in the mix, building up to a swell during the chorus. The nearly 8 minute track gives so much time to be absorbed by its atmosphere and heartfelt lyrics about caring about someone and wanting to protect them. Karmacoma follows, contrasting the serenity of Protection with a dubby, tropical atmosphere. It has this cavernous, repetitive sounding percussion and weirdly distorted synths that crop up during the chorus. Thorn also provides vocals for the track Better Things, a minimal and laid-back tune. A simple guitar loop provides the backbone for the song, with the occasional swell of synths or guitar as flourishes. It is all about vocals here. Tracey croons over the mix about not overthinking life and provides the mantra of "Here me say, better things will surely come my way" as the hook.

The tracks Three and Sly feature Nicolette Suwoton on vocals, and both have a mysterious, Middle Eastern vibe to them. Sly in particular is accentuated by lavish strings, making the track sound effortlessly cool, like it should accompany a globe trotting film where the protagonist has found some mysterious hidden city in the desert. Three has more of a synthetic feel to the instrumentation, with a rigid electronic beat and a looping sample of someone saying "Three", repeated into a chant that fades in and out. It certainly makes the track feel less cinematic, but no less mysterious. Euro Child also has a very synthetic atmosphere to it, with the group gently rapping over the grimy beat. There's some melody in this track that sounds almost like vocals, but they are processed to the point that its hard to tell. These are juxtaposed a lounge-esque keyboard line, which gives a very weird off-kilter quality to the song; as if its trying to lure you in despite its harsh and rigid atmosphere.

The penultimate track, Heat Miser, is much closer to the tense claustrophobia of Mezzanine. Ventilated breathing appears at the back of the mix alongside a rigid beat. A dramatic string part accentuates the main piano melody of the song, which itself is intense and spooky. The actual closer is a live, dub cover of The Doors' Light My Fire. It's a great cover, but does feel like a bonus track (even though it's part of the regular track listing), since it is far more lighthearted and fun than the rest of the album.

While I feel like my perception of this album is slightly affected by experiencing Mezzanine first (as everything the group do here is done even better on the next record), it is still a really well executed record. The sounds of this record ebb and flow, and take you on a moody and atmospheric unwind. It also strikes me as an interesting listen from the perspective of the band's sonic development over their first three records. There is a clear progression between each album, yet the development is very linear - there's no real detours into completely different genres along the way. And the title track is so good it makes a listen worth it just for that.

Top Tracks: Protection, Karmacoma, Better Things, Euro Child, Sly, Heat Miser

8/10

Massive Attack - "Blue Lines" (1991)

Continuing on with my '100 albums you need to listen to' poster, and also Massive Attack's discography, I have jumped from Mezzanine to the band's debut, Blue Lines. This record is generally considered the origin point for trip hop, and so a more embryonic form of the genre is on show here. The genre's hip hop and dub elements are more clearly on show here than in later records, and the fusion between them is more fractious. Some tracks have a much stronger hip hop vibe, and some lean into soul, dance and dub, but these influences aren't as combined as they would later become in the genre.

Safe From Harm opens up the record with this rolling bass line and drum rhythm, with Shara Nelson's soulful vocals contrasting against the chunky synth lines and rhythms. It's very much a blueprint for the 'Massive Attack sound' going forward. One love follows a reggae beat with Horace Hinds' crooning on top, yet the tune is more chilled and stripped back than full on dub. Five Man Army is much heavier, with dubby bass and psychedelic effects floating around all over the mix. Horace's and Tricky's vocals play off each other, rapping in different registers in a call and response style. The title track is near enough a jazz rap song, where the group raps in a very 90s style over a funky beat and soothing lounge-esque keys. Be Thankful For What You Got and the single that put the band on the map, Unfinished Sympathy, are much more soulful. Unfinished Sympathy is particularly intense with swelling strings sitting on top a relentless percussion loop and sampled ad-libs from Mahavishnu Orchestra's Planetary Citizen. Shara Nelson returns for a emotional gut-punch of a performance, singing the hook "Really hurt me baby" with so much passion and intensity.

Daydreaming has a dreamy chord progression and eerie background vocals from Nelson. The group's rapping also is very dream-like on this track, floating from one topic to another, and features references to The Beatles and other famous songs. Lately has a slight R&B vibe to Nelson's vocals and melody, but the chunky beat and squelchy bass steer the song in a more spacious direction. The album closes with Hymn Of the Big Wheel, which sounds like synth-pop meets reggae. It's quite a triumphant way to end the record, with lyrics dealing with the idea that the world keeps turning, despite anyone's troubles - so you should try to enjoy yourself as much as you can despite whatever is going on. 

While Blue Lines is not as complex or intensely enveloping as Mezzanine, the more chilled out and straightforward approach make it an easier listen to throw on in more situations. I don't feel I have to give it all my attention to maximise my enjoyment. It's also engaging to see the starting point of the genre, where its influences are more clearly on show.

Top Tracks: Blue Lines, Be Thankful For What You Got, Five Man Army, Unfinished Sympathy, Daydreaming

8/10

Massive Attack - "Mezzanine" (1998)

I have known and loved Massive Attack's most famous song, Teardrop, for years, but would have been stumped to identify any other songs from the trip hop pioneers. As I've been delving into more of the genre this year (trip hop playlists make for good background music to work too), I took the time to listen to its parent album, Mezzanine. This hour long collection of spacious and subtle electronic mood-pieces ebb and flow from tense and claustrophobic, to relaxed and laid-back. I wouldn't say it is as much a chill-out album as other trip hop releases, but it certainly has a real late-night vibe to it.

The album opens with Angel, a track I would have previously recognised from edgy perfume adverts on at Christmas. It opens with a rumbling bass-line and rattling hi-hats. Ominous sound effects and some enchanting vocals join the mix, ramping up the tension as the bass becomes more prominent. All this tension is released as a whining guitar floods in with the vocals repeating "Love you, love you, love you...". The next track, Risingson, is far less cathartic, sounding very industrial and alien. The vocals on this track just have this creepy non-emotional quality to them, which combined with the mechanical beats of the track make it feel so off-kilter and alien.

Teardrop follows this, and couldn't be further from the inhumanity of Risingson. The song features real gut-punching chord progressions as Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser soars above them with some beautiful vocals. She was inspired to write the lyrics after the death of her friend (and excellent musician and songwriter) Jeff Buckley, and you can really feel the grief and pain in her voice. Once again, this emotion is punctuated by the return of the more intense and industrial Inertia Creeps. This song isn't as alien as Risingson, with a thunderous drum beat and mantra like hook of "Moving up slowly, inertia creeps". The guitars which come in at various points of the song and the beat inspired by Turkish Tsifteteli rhythms give the track a dirty and dangerous atmosphere. Exchange gives the first real breather in the album, a purely instrumental cut which is straight out of some beach-side bar on some Mediterranean coast. It is such a chilled song, with a bouncy bass and some gliding keyboard notes on top.

The tracks on the second half of the record aren't quite as contrasting or stand out from each-other quite as much as they do in the first half, but seep into each other to build a real moody atmosphere. Dissolved Girl's sensual but sarcastic vocals from Sarah Jay Hawley and wild guitar which breaks out midway through give it a Garbage-esque vibe that I really do enjoy. Man Next Door is built around a sample of the iconic drum riff in Led Zeppelin's When The Levee Breaks, but it is twisted and mutated into something more distant and spacious than the thunderous drumming in the original. This is combined with a sample of the Cure's 10:15 Saturday Night, to make a strange groovy instrumental base for the cover of an originally reggae song to sit on top of.

Black Milk is a very gentle song which sees the return of Fraser's soothing vocals. The track doesn't explode or change up, so acts as nice breathing room after the groovy Man Next Door. The title track returns to the emotionless vocals of Risingson, but with sparser instrumentation, with makes the track feel very tense and restrictive. This leads into Group Four, a similarly sparse song, yet Fraser's vocals contrast the rest of the song, being smooth and angelic. This really juxtaposes against DJ Ninja's mechanical and methodical vocals on the track. The album closes with a reprise of Exchange (titled (Exchange)), with added vocals. This almost acts as a wind-down for the tension built up across the second half, allowing it to dissipate as the soft keyboard note glide along.

Mezzanine is fantastic, start to finish, maintaining a consistent tone yet covering so many styles within the 12 tracks. It is very much an album just to sit back and take it all in. That being said, particularly the tracks on the first half can stand very much on their own in isolation. This might be the best entry point into this side of electronic music I've come across, being that I loved this on first listen, where things like Portishead's Dummy and the more electronic side of Radiohead took longer to sink their teeth into me.

Top Tracks: Angel, Risingson, Teardrop, Inertia Creeps, Exchange, Dissolved Girl, Man Next Door, Black Milk

9/10

Portishead - "Dummy" (1994)

Portishead's debut album, Dummy, is the record which broke trip hop into the mainstream, winning the Mercury Prize in 1995. I've been really enjoying having it on when I've been working or just chilling out to in the evenings. The band incorporate elements of film noire aesthetics to the standard trip hop fusion of break beats, electronica and jazz to create a smokey and introspective atmosphere unique from many other trip hop acts of the time.

The incredibly low bass and roughly produced drum beats give off a slightly industrial vibe across the record, like some heavy machinery working quietly in the night. Ominous and spooky synths layer on top smothering the mix like a thick fog, with Beth Gibbons' vocals gliding on top with plenty of  breathing room. Her lyrics detail isolation, longing, desire and self reflection.

Despite maintaining a consistent aesthetic across the 11 tracks, each one has unique flourishes which maintains my engagement. Mysterons opens the album with some spooky synths which rise and fall, creating a kind of alien vibe. Sour Times has a low-fi beat with a smooth guitar and bass, while Gibbons' sings the hook "Nobody loves me, it's true, not like you". The film noire feel really comes across in this track, I just get the sense of some dark seedy club. Numb and Wandering Star have the hip hop style scratches which give the tracks a sense of 'bounce'. The beat doesn't come in right away in It's A Fire, leaving Gibbons' vocals alone with organ sounding synths. The chord progression they follow gives a quietly triumphant sound to the song. Roads benefits from an even slower pace than usual trip hop and a simpler mix, allowing Gibbons' incredibly sad vocals to shine through over the vibrato affected chords and guitar. A sax sample breaks out half way through Pedestal, and Strangers has a lot of funky guitar and horns in the mix. The closer, Glory Box is louder than the other tracks with this screeching guitar over the top of the groovy sample of Isaac Hayes' Ike's Rap II. The track even ends with a big drop and breakdown before fading out.

This album is incredibly low key, but that's the point. It has a great late-night atmosphere to wind down and chill out to. It easily works in the background, however has a lot of subtleties which provide an engaging experience when you pay attention to it. The film noire vibe really comes across in the music, giving it a dark and moody edge that some might not like, but I think really adds to the engagement I have with the record.

Top Tracks: Mysterions, Sour Times, Strangers, It Could Be Sweet, It's A Fire, Numb, Roads, Pedestal, Glory Box

9/10