Bristol Sound

Downtempo · 1988 · 80 to 95 BPM · also known as Bristol Trip Hop, Wild Bunch Sound

The local root of trip hop: the Wild Bunch collective in the 1980s, sound systems, dub, punk and soul in the same port city. Smith and Mighty lay down its first recorded translations, Massive Attack would grow out of it. This entry documents the mother scene, the one before the word trip hop existed, when Bristol invented its own slowness, years before the genre had a name.

16 reference tracks

1. Fresh 4: Wishing on a Star (1989)
2. Massive Attack: Daydreaming (1990)
3. Portishead: Sour Times (1994)
4. Massive Attack: Teardrop (1998)
5. Smith and Mighty: Walk On By (1988)
6. Smith & Mighty: Anyone (Who Had A Heart) (1988)
7. Massive Attack: Unfinished Sympathy (1991)
8. Tricky: Aftermath (1994)
9. Portishead: Glory Box (1994)
10. Roni Size & Reprazent: Brown Paper Bag (1997)
11. Smith & Mighty: B-Line Fi Blow
12. Massive Attack: Rush Minute
13. Massive Attack: Saturday Come Slow
14. Portishead: Western Eyes
15. Portishead: Elysium
16. Portishead: Seven Months

At a glance

• Tempo: 80 to 95 BPM
• First appeared: around 1988
• Machines: Sound system, Akai S1000, Platines vinyle, Magnétophone quatre pistes
• The sound: Sound systems, Breaks et dub mêlés, Samples soul, Production home studio 80s
• Labels: Three Stripe Records, FFRR, BBC Radio International, !K7 Records
• Key artists: The Wild Bunch, Smith & Mighty, Fresh 4, Carlton

Producing Bristol Sound

1980s Bristol is faster and brighter than the trip hop that followed, 90 to 105 bpm, a hip hop breakbeat or lovers rock tempo. The swing comes from the sampled breaks themselves rather than any setting, so program straight and let the break carry its own feel, with a straight kick on every beat like digital reggae. Build it from two layers, a looped funk drum break, and a dry drum machine kick underneath, a spring-reverbed snare cracking on 2 and 4, an offbeat rimshot like a reggae skank, and a dub-style wood block running through a delay. For bass, play deep sound system lines on electric bass, a lovers rock model, mixed loud and heavily compressed. Layer reworked soul samples, a softly sung vocal, spring reverb, tape delay, and cassette hiss standing in for the tape.

The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.

Frequently asked

What is Bristol Sound?

The local root of trip hop: the Wild Bunch collective in the 1980s, sound systems, dub, punk and soul in the same port city. Smith and Mighty lay down its first recorded translations, Massive Attack would grow out of it. This entry documents the mother scene, the one before the word trip hop…

What tempo is Bristol Sound played at?

Between 80 and 95 BPM.

Who are the key Bristol Sound artists?

The Wild Bunch, Smith & Mighty, Fresh 4, Carlton.

In the same family

• Downtempo
• Trip-Hop
• Lo-Fi Hip Hop
• Chill-Out
• Lounge
• Balearic
• Ambient House
• Nu Jazz
• Psybient
• Chillwave
• Folktronica

Listen to Bristol Sound in the atlas · Cette page en français