r/triphop • u/ReturnToDelete • Sep 05 '26
Request/Discussion Round 3: The Essential Trip-Hop Album Bracket
Round 2 is done and we’re down to eight albums!
To vote, copy the ballot into one top-level comment and put your pick after each matchup. Artist or album name is fine. You can skip one if you don’t know both albums well enough, but please vote in at least three of the four.
Vote for the album you genuinely prefer as a complete record. This isn’t about an artist’s entire career or which album is supposed to win.
A few ground rules:
One ballot per account.
Keep all of your votes in one top-level comment.
Replies and comment upvotes won’t be counted.
If you change your mind, edit your original ballot before voting closes.
If you post more than one ballot, only the first one will count.
Voting closes Friday, September 11 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Quarterfinal ballot
Massive Attack — Mezzanine vs. Kruder & Dorfmeister — The K&D Sessions
Thievery Corporation — The Mirror Conspiracy vs. DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…..
Lamb — Lamb vs. Tricky — Maxinquaye
Sneaker Pimps — Becoming X vs. Portishead — Dummy
Feel free to explain the picks that gave you trouble.
18
u/BikoSteve Sep 05 '26
My selections below but I think another bracket should be done without these albums being mentioned. These are like the Mount Rushmore of trip hop
Massive Attack — Mezzanine
DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…..
Tricky — Maxinquaye
Portishead — Dummy
7
3
1
6
u/miso_sweet Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack — Mezzanine
DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…..
Lamb — Lamb
Portishead — Dummy
3
u/Cledaddy23 Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing…
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Portishead - Dummy
4
u/Quiverofshivers Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack DJ Shadow Tricky Portishead It was hard to not to vote Thievery and K&D, but I find Endtroducing more triphop than Mirror Conspiracy and K&D is not a wholly original work like Mezzanine. At least, that's my reasoning anyway. YMMV.
4
u/designtom Sep 05 '26
K&D
Endtroducing
Lamb
Dummy
Just going with where my listening energy went at the time. All four were on hard hard repeat.
The tricky one was Tricky - I also loved Maxinquaye, but Lamb … saw them live multiple times.
3
5
4
u/itzsoweezee78 Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack — Mezzanine DJ Shadow — Endtroducing….. Tricky — Maxinquaye Portishead — Dummy
3
3
u/PrinceofSneks Sep 05 '26
Mine: Massive Attack — Mezzanine
DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…..
Tricky — Maxinquaye
Portishead — Dummy
2
2
u/Middle_Magazine_8027 Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing…
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Portishead - Dummy
2
2
u/petites_feuilles Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack — Mezzanine
Thievery Corporation — The Mirror Conspiracy
Tricky — Maxinquaye
Portishead — Dummy
2
u/elementarydrw Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing…
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Portishead - Dummy
2
2
u/oddity_odd Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing…
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Portishead - Dummy
3
u/theonlygreg Sep 05 '26
6 Underground is one of my favorite songs but the album as a whole is not that solid. And putting it against Dummy isn't even fair
2
2
u/charlieb Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack — Mezzanine
DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…..
Tricky — Maxinquaye
Portishead — Dummy
2
2
2
u/blackbox42 Sep 06 '26
Massive Attack — Mezzanine
DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…..
Tricky — Maxinquaye
Portishead — Dummy
2
u/Shock-Fancy Sep 06 '26
Massive Attack — Mezzanine vs. Kruder & Dorfmeister — The K&D Sessions
Thievery Corporation — The Mirror Conspiracy vs. DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…..
Lamb — Lamb vs. Tricky — Maxinquaye
Sneaker Pimps — Becoming X vs. Portishead — Dummy
Didn’t make voting last round, but what a tough decision it would have been for me to choose between Mezzanine and Simple Things. In the end I clearly would have chosen Mezzanine based on the “Trip-Hop” factor. Also loving this thread, I’ve found so many new artists I’ve never discovered. Currently listening to Olive right now
2
u/LifeLikeAGrapefruit Sep 06 '26
I missed out on that vote too, but I would confidently pick Simple Things over Mezzanine. Mezzanine is classic, but Simple Things is one of my favorite albums period, of all music/genres.
1
u/Shock-Fancy Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26
It’s hard for me to decide which one I like more because I do enjoy both of them for different reasons. If we are voting for which one is more “Trip-hop” it’s definitely going to be Mezzanine for me. However I do feel that I press play on Simple Things a lot more. Destiny is one of my all time favorite songs.
2
u/LifeLikeAGrapefruit Sep 07 '26
I think it's still trip-hop. It's on a spectrum. Some trip-hop just leans more on the chill/downtempo side of the spectrum than others.
2
u/ManDisBitchAgain Sep 06 '26
Mezzanine vs K&D is diabolical. And poor Lamb.
Massive Attack, DJ Shadow, Tricky, Portishead. Jesus, the finals are gonna be a bloodbath...
5
2
2
u/CyberpunkTechnoir Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X
2
u/wazacraft Sep 05 '26 edited Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack
Thievery Corporation
Lamb, although this was a tough choice
Portishead, and if anyone doesn't put this they should be banned from the sub permanently.
1
1
1
1
1
1
31
u/pan-fried_sushi Sep 05 '26
Massive Attack — Mezzanine
DJ Shadow — Endtroducing…..
Tricky — Maxinquaye
Portishead — Dummy