Wild Bunch -- The music of Massive Attack

Trip-hop is such a crap name for what Massive Attack were doing in the early and mid 90s. There's not a lot that is trippy about what they were doing. It was just good, soulful music that used interesting samples, dark beats and some skunked-out vocals. Everyone had a copy of "Blue Lines". It's still their best album. Their song "Unfinished Sympathy" was remarkable and to this day still features on the top of people's "Best Songs Of All Time" lists. How about this version from Tina Turner?

The Mad Professor produced a remix album of "Protection", their second album. He called it "No Protection" and it was a dubbed reggae mix with possibly the worst album cover in history. It was a good listen, though.

And now we have a mixtape version that combines a lot of the songs that were sampled or covered in their first three albums. This mix comes from DJ Hudson who has a nice little blog with a lot of great listening. It's a lovely mix, especially if you are a fan of Massive Attack. It's a trainspotter's dream. See how many samples you can recognise.

The Music of Massive Attack (1988 - 98)

Download available here

Tracklisting

1. You Know, You Know – Mahvishnu Orchestra (One Love – Blue Lines)
2. Isaac Hayes – Ike’s Mood I (One Love – Blue Lines)
3. So Glad You’re Mine – Al Green (FIve Man Army – Blue Lines)
4. Five Man Army Dub (Five Man Army – Blue Lines)
5. Les McCann – Sometimes I Cry (Teardrop – Mezzanine)
6. James Brown – Never Can Say Goodbye (Better Things – Protection)
7. En Melody – Serge Gainsbourg (Karmacoma [Portishead Experience])
8. Funkadelic – Good Old Music (Safe From Harm – Blue Lines)
9. Led Zeppelin – When The Levee Breaks (Man Next Door – Mezzanine)
10. Quincy Jones – Summer In The City (Exchange – Mezzanine)
11. Man Next Door – John Holt (Man Next Door – Mezzanine)
12. Lowrell – Mellow Mellow (Lately – Blue Lines)
13. Pieces of a Dream (Weather Storm – Protection)
14. Isaac Hayes – Joy (Lately – Blue Lines)
15. Billy Cobham – Stratus (Safe From Harm – Blue Lines)
16. James Brown – The Payback (Protection)
17. Be Thankful (Be Thankful – Blue Lines)
18. Sade – Siempre Hay Esperanza (Be Thankful – Blue Lines)
19. Mambo – Wally Badarou (Daydreaming – Blue Lines)
20. Tom Scott – Sneakin In The Back (Blue Lines)
21. Do the Funky Penguin – Rufus Thomas (Any Love)
22. Blind Alley – The Emotions (Any Love Remix)
23. Funk You Up – The Sequence (Any Love)
24. Daisy Lady (Any Love)
25. Planetary Citizen – Mahvishnu Orchestra (Unfinished Sympathy – Blue Lines)
26. Rock Creek Park – The Blackbyrds (Blue Lines)
27. JJ Johnson – Parade Strutt (Unfinished Sympathy – Blue Lines)
28. Young-Holt Unlimited – Light My Fire (Light My Fire – Protection)
29. Isaac Hayes – Our Day Will Come (Exchange – Mezzanine)

If you want to make your own version of this mixtape then you'll need access to all the songs in their original form. Lucky for you, they made an album for just that purpose and you can find it below.

"Protected -- The Samples of Massive Attack"

Download available here