Baxter – Baxter
Trip-hop hasn’t been getting too much notice outside of the latest Portishead album. It is a really unique genre that has seemed to die out a bit, but that doesn’t mean we cant still go back and listen to some older stuff. Baxter’s self-titled album came out way back in 1998 but it still doesn’t seem to have gotten very much notice.
Baxter, who hail from Sweden, take a slight variation on trip-hop, using less hip-hop inspired beats and pushing more towards a ambient/techno type sound. Whereas bands like Portishead use more straightforward drum lines and sampling, Baxter uses more drum loops and synth-based sounds. This works insanely well to give the album a much darker tone then other trip-hop, which already has a pretty dark tone. But they also change it up using piano and trumpet on occasion, for example on the track “Possible” where the song is driven by a very simple piano line over the looped drums.
The album itself is very well constructed and has a very unique dark distant feel to it, almost like a film noir soundtrack. This makes the album stand out quite a bit, despite the distant sound to it. The album also makes crazy good use of rise and fall in the album, with each song having a definitive peak, which makes every song stand out. The opening track “Television” doesn’t this seamlessly, with a slow build up and peaking with a powerful repeating chorus, overtop power drum loops. The Vocals on the album are particularly impressive, especially on the song “Political” that makes excellent use of over lapping vocal tracks.
If you enjoy Trip-hop you should defiantly check out this album, although it does vary on the typical Trip-hop sounds it still has the great elements to it as well. The album hasn’t gotten enough recognition since it’s release over ten years ago, but if you do enjoy trip hop then you really need to find a copy of it.
Baxter – Television
Baxter – Possible
Baxter – Political
Baxter had a follow up record called “About This.” I found it on Ebay a number of years ago. I think it is currently out of print. http://www.igiveitall.com/nr_aboutthisspecial.html has the track listing from Baxter’s now defunct website. It is an excellent record, definitely worth the purchase if you can find it.