10 Perfect Trip-Hop Albums With No Bad Songs
7. Endtroducing..... - DJ Shadow (1996)
If you're the kind of person who loves those three hour 'chill-out, lo-fi' mixes on YouTube, then you'll love this. This is what started it all. The debut album from American artist DJ Shadow, was a groundbreaking foray into the realm of instrumental hip hop. It was one of the first records to be made up, almost entirely of samples.
Although sample layering is common practise now, this early example of it, was unlike any other. The tracks are notable for their length, with many breaking the nine minute mark. This was instrumental hip hop entering the world of prog.
Much of this music sounds like it was made to overlay movie sequences. Changeling/Transmission is an expansive, almost eight minute number that could have happily scored Ocean's 11. It's mellow, effortlessly cool, and has an engaging purpose.
Stem/Long Stem/Transmission II, is equally as evocative. With twinkling guitar and piano melodies, punctuated by a breakbeat that constantly builds in intensity - you can picture it scoring some sort of dramatic climax to a movie sequence.
Modern hip hop has a lot to thank this album for. It's the foundation for the atmospheric approach common in the genre today.