It's a bit tricky (no pun intended) to write about trip-hop, bearing in mind that most of those accused of being trip-hop attempt to deny that they are in any way part of any scene whatsoever.

However, it's fair to take instrumental hip-hop as a working definition of what trip-hop is, what happens when a DJ or producer is left to his own devices instead of providing a musical backdrop for a vocalist or rapper. Without vocals, which are always going to provide a focus for the listener, the emphasis shifts to the music itself, and all manner of interesting things can happen. The music has nothing to hide behind, and so it needs to be more than just a looped chord progression or ultimately it would be lifeless and dull. The question is how to keep someone interested in the music, and there is no one answer. Each musician has to provide their own way of keeping the track alive, and each has their own answer, maybe this is why there can never be a distinctive trip-hop sound. Having said that though, trip-hop borrows from jazz, blues, hip-hop, dub, ambient, even classical music, although it is only with the technology available today (especially the sampler) that trip-hop is possible at all.

A good place to start (other than Bristol, which isn't too hard to find out about) is with the Mo'Wax label. 'Some Scientific Abstract Type Shit' was released last year, and is a compilation which provides as good a cross-section of the label's output as any, featuring the likes of Attica Blues, U.N.K.L.E., and also DJ Shadow's awesome 'Lost And Found' and DJ Krush's equally great 'A Whim'. DJ Krush has also released two albums through the label which are well worth tracking down, 'Strictly Turntablized' is an eerie, bass-heavy affair, while 'Meiso' is more varied, and features some guest vocalists. Other highlights include the 'Clubbed to Death' single (which made single of the week in the NME), and 'A Polished Solid' by Luke Vibert (aka Wagon Christ) which grooves around like an incredibly bouncy mad thing. DJ Shadow's bottom-of-the-chart-scraping 'What Does Your Soul Look Like?' is also well worth checking out. It's an epic 40-minute four-part journey, and like most of his other stuff, is incredibly beautiful.

Moving on, Wagon Christ's 'Throbbing Pouch' on Rising High, is a rather fine and indeed strange thing, seemingly able to mix old James Bond theme tunes, (ch)eesy listening, and subliminal basslines together over strange, jerky rhythms and somehow make the whole thing worth listening to. This is no small feat. Continuing in the (vaguely) easy listening theme, Jake Slazenger's 'Makesaracket' on Clear records would make Mike Flowers blush, although it is probably far too poptastic to qualify as trip-hop (but I thought I'd mention it anyway). Depth Charge's 'Nine Deadly Venoms' on Vinyl Solution covers a variety of moods from upbeat to introspective and back again (and also has an unhealthy karate B-movie obsession). Also by Depth Charge is the single 'Legend of the Golden Snake' which I'd also recommend. The Chemical Brothers have been described as trip-hop on occasions, and although this depends on your point of view, 'Exit Planet Dust' (Junior Boy's Own) is certainly worth a listen, especially towards the latter half of the album where they mellow out a little.

The above is a fairly subjective account, but it is worth considering that the sampler has changed the way in which music can be created, and trip-hop (along with jungle) is a reflection of this - music no longer depends on the limitations of the instruments and the people who play them, and (almost) anything is possible. People can play with raw sound, and experiment with frequencies, tones and tempos which were previously out of reach, making music that previous generations could not have imagined possible.

Jon.