Trip-hop & Urban Electronica (I like on eMusic & Bandcamp)
I gather living in big U.S. cities hasn’t been easy these past months and might be going from hard to bad. Urban music might be close enough for me right now. The height of cool in the 1990s and early 2000s, but other than Massive Attack and a few others, I don’t know how well the status and appreciation have endured or whether the style has aged well. Breathy female vocals in particular seem to have been done just about to death, but I’ll always have a soft spot for it (see female vocalists list for that https://np.reddit.com/r/eMusicofficial/comments/dzxju3/female_vocals_of_distinction/). I won’t be making another hip-hop list for a while, but these aren’t far off and are encouraged also for those who don’t just listen for the rapping.
1. “Blessed with Weird Things” & “Chaos Theories” - Contour (2015 & 2014). Both of these 99-cent eps are excellent reminders of how and why trip-hop appealed to listeners not ready or not in the mood for rap or other fast-paced hip-hop. Bass and vocal elements play strong roles on every track, but I wouldn’t describe any portion of them as aggressive. I prefer the slightly longer and newer of the two, in part for similarities to Gusgus, but both are quite nice. https://contoursounds.bandcamp.com/album/blessed-with-weird-things
2. “Northern Oscillations” - Loka (2017). Ever wondered what Broadcast or even Stereolab might sound like w/ a male vocalist? Try this boundless, unstructured pop music by way of something like fellow NinjaTuners The Cinematic Orchestra. This is a fine follow-up to 2011’s criminally under-appreciated “Passing Place.” More of his own vocals on this one may or may not please you, but one should never turn one’s back to this guy’s albums, lest one be unexpectedly frozen with intrigue. The harmonic layers on “Jacob’s Ladder” and the following two tracks are a particularly interesting stretch to me. The difficulty of categorizing previous work should excite and not confound the adventurous listener. https://lokauk.bandcamp.com/releases
3. “Hyena” - Red Snapper (2014). While I didn’t like this one as much as the departed “Key,” it has an interesting back story, and their body of work stretching back to the 1990s deserves far more recognition than it has received, at least Stateside. Midtempo for the most part and abundant in groove as always, as on the quietly triumphant opening track. The rhythmic variety gives this one a more worldly feel. Another general strength of theirs is to keep a perfectly balanced mix of vocal and instrumental tracks over the course of this and all their albums. The free EP accompaniment to 2011’s “Key” is still available also https://redsnapper.bandcamp.com/. https://lorecordings.bandcamp.com/album/hyena-lo114
4. “First Born” - Tomalone (2017). From the opening electronic R&B feel, the listener is seduced into expecting a smooth ride. The French rap that follows is a bit jarring but also very well done, as is the dance remix. The rest goes full Bonobo. Three remixes, excluding only the brief title track, bring the length up to fully half an hour. https://tomalone.bandcamp.com/album/first-born-ill001
5. “Pandæmonium” - Slugabed (2018). Without any vocals other than random, single-syllables popping in the mix occasionally, it’s worth asking what’s urban about this and other electronica on Activia Benz. I’ve yet to come across bucolic beats, so the category doesn’t really have an opposite in rural electronica, to my knowledge. I don’t have much interest in exploring synth-country, if it exists. The cut-up style reminds me of Prefuse-73, though again these tracks aren’t built of hip-hop snippets, nor would they be easy for an MC to rap over. Add deep, thumping baselines here, and I think that’s the ticket. Not easy listening or danceable by any means, but quite by design. https://slugabed.bandcamp.com/album/pand-monium-2 On the same label, the oddly titled 99-cent EP by S280F and Echavox offers more in this vein. I believe the lengthy Activia Benz 2020 sampler is available on a NYP basis also https://activiabenz.bandcamp.com/album/activia-frenz-vol-ii
6. “The Coming Storm” - Freestylers (2013). I intended to put this one on the earlier jungle list before hearing it in full, only to realize that only one or two actually fit neatly in drum & bass. After not really liking the follow-up to their groundbreaking “We Rock Hard” (whose contributions from MC Navigator remain iconic), I lost track of whether they had any new material until recently. These are mostly somewhere between big beat and pop, continuing the trend of shifting mercenaries on the mic to keep the listener guessing. Not all attain their anthemic goals, but all are intense and strong of sound. https://thefreestylers.bandcamp.com/
7. “Innermost” - Neuropol (2015). The opening beat and vocalist (Marlene Abuah) show an unusual, unhurried determination, seemingly building up to a fantastic, dramatic break that never actually comes. Until leading nicely into the next track, a drum & bass slow burner that itself explicitly teases in its title, “The Rise.” Two fine pieces of drum & bass nostalgia close out this excellent 99-cent EP. https://musichallrecords.bandcamp.com/album/innermost-ep
8. “The Cloud” - Tha Trickaz (2009). The vocal tracks on this come closer to actual hip-hop than anything else here. Though opening w/ a very old-timey gospel sample, there’s plenty of healthy self-hyping over the rest of the 99-cent EP. These tracks favor aggressive, pseudo-orchestral beats and scratching that wouldn’t sound out of place on an album by The Herbaliser. The bonus track is a delightfully frenetic, hot mess, a worthwhile, mishmash of a total reprise, a practice I wish more would attempt. Their 2017 LP “Cloud City” is just one Euro or more https://thatrickaz.bandcamp.com/releases
9. “Wom” - Mow (2017). Update early Portishead’s beats for the world of bass-heavy urban electronica of today, and you’ll have something like this seductive five-track EP for 99 cents (divided superfluously into singles and misleadingly called rock), complete with a sultry female vocalist. Guitars and other organic elements are by no means absent, and this is one of my favorites on this list, only so low on it b/c I happened upon it very recently. Too heavy and dark by a good measure to be pop, so nice and soothing I’ve played it again as soon as it finished, something I very rarely do.
10. “Máselfie” - Selvaag (2019). Four relatively short, slow numbers on a 99-cent EP that take care of business w/ a funky guitar and snapping electronic fingers. They might be intended as beats for a sensual R&B vocalist, but each can stand alone just fine, too.
11. “The Living’ Free EP” - Small World (1996). Close w/ one for 99 cents from the actual bygone era. Brass, string samples, and scratching might have been pretty novel back then, but just because they’re standard today doesn’t mean this electronic dub is less enjoyable. The vocals are chopped into tiny pieces, rendering it practically instrumental, and the last two tracks are almost minimalist.
Dedicated labels are hard to come by. Moller has some mellow cool stuff, Dham Rockas goes for Indian flavor. Mixpak is the finest remaining source of dancehall, some still reviewed by staff long departed. Just some fine beats on Chillhop.
Labels also recommended: WW Records; WordSound Recordings; Headcount; Colony Productions; Philos; Rub-a-Duck; ShadowTrix; Future Funk Squad; Tcheaz; Glitch Hop Community;
On the poppier (or more hip-hop) side, try Feel Up Records; Lit Kit10 LLC; Mad Decent; Mano a Mano; Chronic Ting; IZMAYLOV; Rad Summer; S.H.I.E.L.D.;
Less recommended labels: Defco; Eyethought; iCizzle; Lost Culture; Negative Audio; Night Slugs; Stereoptico;
Rather than reposting repeatedly, here’s my lists of what’s left on eMusic: http://www.omnifoo.info/pages/eMuReddit.html
& by my evaluation http://www.omnifoo.info/pages/eMusic%20Labels.html
& by genre https://www.emusers.net/forum/discussion/comment/94512/#Comment_94512