Today’s Live Friday session is with trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack. They put out a new album this year titled “Heligoland”, and it was their first in quite awhile. You might expect that coming off such a long break they’d have perfected every little nook and cranny of such a record, but the end product is more on a level of “very good” compared to “mindblowing”. Still, that doesn’t make this session any less exciting or intense, and they do concede by playing a couple of their more classic tracks in addition to the new ones. The song “Teardrop” is probably their biggest hit to date, though you might only recognize it as the opening credits song to the excellent medical drama “House”. Thankfully they perform that, along with some of the stronger material on “Heligoland” (with special guest Martina Topley-Bird). There’s also a pretty great interview with Daddy G and 3D as they talk about their creative process, how they work with so many guest vocalists, and the challenges of recreating their records in a live setting. Very informative, especially since I’ve never heard an interview with the guys before. You can stream that below, but the downloadable songs are the real treat. By the way, apologies but I’m unable to host “Atlas Air” directly, so you’ll have to go to Zshare if you’d like to download it. The 8+ minutes it lumbers on is pure excellence though, and worth hearing.
Massive Attack, Live on WXPN 10-14-10:
Massive Attack – Psyche (Live on WXPN)
Massive Attack – Teardrop (Live on WXPN)
Massive Attack – Atlas Air [Zshare]
Massive Attack – Mezzanine (Live on WXPN)
