The best trip hop songs change from day to day and person to person, but there are a few standouts that seem to be withstanding the test of time. Any list of great trip hop has to have big names like Massive Attack, Portishead, and Boards of Canada, but what about Radiohead?
Wait, Radiohead? Well, okay, they aren’t really known for their trip hop music, but Zero 7 certainly pushed the 1997 track “Climbing Up the Walls” into the hit category by remixing it (and put themselves on the world’s radar in the process).
So what are the best songs in the trip hop category then? It’s always debatable, but here are five to consider.
- “Unfinished Sympathy” (Massive Attack) – It’s a bit of a toss-up between this one and “Teardrop.” Really, anything put out by Massive Attack can give any other track of theirs a run for its money, so it’s hard to pick a favorite. Still, this remains one of their most popular tracks to this day.
- “Sour Times” (Portishead) – Just three years later, Portishead came out with this track, which is a bit mindblowing and absolutely satisfying to listen to. I mean, who doesn’t want to hear Gibbons repeating the sad words, “
Nobody loves me, it’s true”? It’s enough to make anyone cry. - “The State Of The Union” (Thievery Corporation) – Another one of my favorites, Thievery Corporation has rarely failed to please fans. This particular track brought a spirit of protest to the album (along with one more song). Downtempo protest music is both welcome and heartwarming in an age where punk rock and folk have something like a monopoly on the genre.
- “Rue The Whirl” (Boards of Canada) – This title is a fun play on words – or rather, on sounds, and electronic music is all about sounds when you think about it. Fun fact: it was used by Mercedes Benz for a commercial in 2007. No wonder. It’s great music to listen to in the car on a long road trip… or between errands.
- “Climbing Up The Walls (Zero 7 Remix)” (Radiohead) – Here’s the oddball in the bunch, but I do think this track deserves some credit. Zero 7 is a pretty awesome band anyway, but mixing Radiohead bumped them up even higher, in my opinion. By the way, they also remixed Lenny Kravitz and Lambchop before they ever released an EP or album with original music under their own group name.