blondewave

According to Webster’s Dictionary, trip hop is defined as: ‘electronic dance music usually based on a slow hip-hop beat and incorporating hypnotic synthesized and prerecorded sounds.’ Trip hop was as powerful as it was fleeting – a ‘you had to be there’ kind of musical genre. 

No other album encapsulates the marvel of this era like U.N.K.L.E.s Psyence Fiction, released on this date 25 years ago. The strength of this work can be attributed to its ability to bridge the familiar with the novel. By the late 90s, many of us were already fans of James Lavelle, DJ shadow and artists like The Stone Roses, The Verve, Beastie Boys, Radiohead. To hear those worlds so expertly collide on Psyence Fiction was like unwrapping a present within a present within a present. 

Here are a few of my favorites: 

U.N.K.L.E. Main Theme  I was always drawn to the spoken word phrasing towards the end: There were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane. . .  Upon researching this album, I found that this was a sample of Francis Coppola discussing the making of the film Apocalypse Now (1979). According to whosampled.com, there are 16 pieces sampled on this one, including a sample of another track on the album: The Knock: Drums of Death Part 2 featuring the undeniable vocals of Mike D. from The Beastie Boys. 

Bloodstain It’s too late, and I’m too straight It’s time to blow this fire out  Alice Temple’s arresting vocals remain the strength of this song. If you are a fan of her voice, check out her 2018 album, The End. 

Lonely Soul  Is there any sweeter sound than existential dread delivered by the brilliant vocals of Richard Ashcroft? The song departs, midway through, for a two minute instrumental interlude, eventually returning to the original arrangement with a seemingly enlightened narrator.  I’m gonna die in a place that don’t know my name . . . 

Celestial Annihilation  With samples by Byron Davis and The Fresh Crew along with Newcleus, the one harkens back to the freestyle songs of the late 80s and are artfully interwoven with the most majestic of melodies. 

Rabbit in Your Headlights Released as a single, this song samples dialogue from the movie Jacob’s Ladder (1990):  “if you’re frightened of dying and you’re holding on you’ll see devils tearing your life away  but if you’ve made your peace then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.” The cymbals starting after the word peace (2:28) – impeccable. This song is equal parts unsettling and comforting.  

Be There  My favorite track and in my opinion, one of the best videos of all time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzJT0rElo0c . With an immediately infectious, seemingly endless hook coupled with Ian Brown’s soothing vocals, this is a stunningly haunting gem.  As I look into your eyes I pay no mind I found a way To get inside you I’ll give you peace of mind

When Psyence Fiction was first released, one critic said “‘Psyence Fiction can be chalked up as an ambitious failure; its principals can put it on their résumés, but cultural historians needn’t put in their books.’” Surely, no one could have predicted just how quickly trip hop would lessen in volume and popularity. But I heartily disagreed with his sentiment then and even more so now. 25 years later, Psyence Fiction not only endures as one of the best albums of all time, but an indelible artifact of the genre. They say, if you took it all away, this love would fall apart. I say no way, you don’t know the size of my heart.