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Sunday, 26 January 2014

Secret 7" - Massive Attack - Research

Massive Attack: Music Genre

Massive Attack were the fathers of the music genre: Trip Hop, and their input into this genre has became so great that they're contributions are still noted in trip hop album covers...

Trip Hop

Trip-Hop is a genre of electronic music that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which contained influences of soulfunk and jazz. It has been described as "Europe's alternative choice in the second half of the '90s", and "a fusion of hip hop and electronica until neither genre is recognisable." Trip hop music fuses several styles and has much in common with other genres; it has several qualities similar to ambient music and its drum based breakdowns share characteristics with hip hop It also contains elements of R&Bdub and house, as well as other electronic music. Trip hop can be highly experimental in nature

Stylistic Origins: Electronica, dub, alternative hip hop, alternative dance, house, experimental rock, acid, jazz, soul, neo-psychedlia, lounge, post-punk, alternative rock.

Art Work

Del Naja is one of the founding members of Bristol trip hop collective Massive Attack, who have released 5 studio albums and 2 compilation albums, and has often featured as a vocalist on their releases. In addition to his work with Massive Attack, he provided vocals to "Invasion" on Unkle's album Never, Never, Land, and "Twilight" on War Stories.
Robert Del Naja (pron. /ˈrɒbə(r)t dɛl ˈnaʒa/; born 21 January 1965), also known as 3D, is an English artist and musician. Initially gaining notoriety as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective known as "The Wild Bunch", Del Naja went on to become a founding member of the band Massive Attack, with whom he is still active.
Del Naja was a graffiti artist before becoming a vocalist. His work has been featured in magazines and on record sleeves. The graffiti artist Banksy cites his work as an influence. Del Naja is credited as one of the people who brought the American hip-hop and graffiti culture from the USA to Bristol in the early 1980s.
Del Naja took part in a group show in 2007 called 'Warpaint' at the Lazarides gallery, London, featuring his art from the Unkle album "War Stories". He also created an exhibition of flags at "Massive Attack's Meltdown festival" on London's south bank in 2008. The installation was called "Favoured Nations". Alternative flags of the British commonwealth recoloured in the anarchist red and black, were hung from the ceiling of the Royal Festival Hall main floor.
Del Naja has co-designed all of Massive attack's lighting shows with UVA; the shows have been overtly political, always dealing with current local and international issues.
In a 2010 interview, Del Naja said "Painting is difficult for me because I'm colour blind. Back in the day, I had to label my spray cans with what colour they were because I couldn't tell" ... It's like the emperor's new clothes: [people] telling me it's great, and me pretending that's what I intended. Del Naja's first solo art show ran in the Lazarides gallery, central London from 24 May to 22 June. The show featured many of the works he created for Massive Attack, reinterpreted especially for the exhibition. The show also featured three one-off 'digital infinity mirrors' two of which contained phrases supplied by Reprieve extracted from drone pilot dialogues. Del Naja and Grant DJ'd at the opening night on 23 May.
A multi medium show conceived and designed by Del Naja and filmmaker Adam Curtis (filmmaker) – in collaboration with United Visual Artists (UVA) – premiered in Manchester in July 2013. The show featured Curtis' film, unofficially titled 'The Plan', which was projected on huge screen surrounding the audience. The lighting and LED elements which surrounded the film and players was designed by Del Naja and UVA.

Bristol Underground scene

The Bristol underground scene is the culture associated with drum and bass, and graffiti art that has existed in Bristol from the early 1990s to the present.
The city of Bristol in the UK has spawned various musicians and artists, and is typified by its urban culture. While the city is most associated with a group of artists who emerged during the 1990s, especially the "Bristol Sound", the city maintains an active and diverse underground urban scene.
The city has been particularly associated with trip hop. Salon magazine has said that trip hop was spawned in "the bohemian, multi-ethnic city of Bristol, where restlessly inventive DJs had spent years assembling samples of various sounds that were floating around: groove-heavy acid jazz, dub reggae, neo-psychedelia, techno disco music, and the brainy art rap.
The Bristol scene is characterised by a strong relationship between music and art, especially graffiti art. A founder member of the band Massive Attack, Robert Del Naja, was originally a graffiti artist, and local graffiti artist Banksy has also gone on to produce album covers and artworks. Banksy collaborator Inkie was also part of the scene.
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From this research you can see the attraction for Massive Attack to incorporate urban aspects into their album artworks, along with their keen attraction to political issues both international and local.

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