Massive Attack always looks for new ways
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
September 14, 2006
Located on England's western coast, the city of Bristol bristles with half a million people, a crossroads between white and black people, reggae and punk, soul and Brit pop, hip-hop and drum 'n' bass, digital and analog. In the early 1990s, all of these aspects converged into one genre called trip-hop.
“It's hard to explain why it's been such a fertile area,” said Robert Del Naja, wondering aloud about Bristol and trip-hop, a genre he helped define with his group Massive Attack. “One thing I go back to is that period of time – the late '70s, early '80s. If you wanted to not be part of the commercial club scene, there were only a few clubs you could hang out at where black and white people would hang out. The punk scene was quite integrated with the reggae scene – punks listening to reggae DJs and vice versa.
“It was a community of people that cast themselves as outside the establishment, by choice or by the color of their skin,” continued Del Naja, speaking from a gig in Copenhagen as The Cardigans blared in the background. “Then along came hip-hop, which was another rebellious kind of art form. It was a period that a lot of people drew inspiration from.”
Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky. These artists defined the “Bristol sound,” using technology to splice together the building blocks of hip-hop beats, coupled with a spacey dub sensibility and soulful jazz diva vocals.
“When we all started out, being in a small city and being quite competitive in a small music scene, everyone wanted to be respected as a unique component instead of being a part of something else,” Del Naja recalled. “When the term 'trip-hop' came out, we were all grouped together. But we all wanted to be seen as unique and individual.”
Despite wanting autonomy from others in the scene, Del Naja deemed the term “trip-hop” appropriate: “I thought it was a good description of music which obviously used the hip-hop technique in terms of recording and construction of the music, but at the same time went off on a tangent and was more of a psychedelic trip.”
Del Naja and partners Grant Marshall and Andrew Vowles released their first full-length “Blue Lines” in 1991 (with British singles “Unfinished Sympathy” and “Daydreaming” featuring the vocals of Shara Nelson), but didn't truly find their classic down-tempo sound until 1994's “Protection.” The album featured a more moody, introspective sound with the smooth rhymes of Del Naja and the growling raps of Tricky offset by the beautiful vocals of Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn.
Massive Attack continued to hone its trip-hop sound on 1998's “Mezzanine,” sliding into darker musical territory, this time without Vowles' collaboration. Sound manipulator Neil Davidge helped craft the album's eerie vibe, while Cocteau Twins vocalist Elizabeth Fraser added her angelic choruses. After a long hiatus, the group released “100th Window” in 2003, which failed to recapture their signature bittersweet down-tempo aura.
Soundtracks (“Danny the Dog” and “Bullet Boy”) and a greatest hits compilation (“Collected”) this year have kept Massive Attack busy the past few years, along with a high-profile appearance at this year's Coachella. The duo is currently working on a new release, tentatively titled “Weather Underground,” which Del Naja expects to be released next year.
Until then, Massive Attack will continue to find new ways to expand their music through technology. Del Naja believes tech and music will always be intertwined, and future musical innovations will come through the use of technology.
“I think that (technology) is a great tool to embrace,” said Del Naja, who performs at SDSU's Open Air Theatre Wednesday. The current North American tour is the band's first since 1998. “And I think that a lot of bands these days use the technology just to record their music and use it to mix a bit. But they don't use the technology to (mess) around with their tracks and branch out a bit, to be adventurous and take things apart. Music in general could use a bit more creative use of technology.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
