Together with Massive Attack, Portishead broke new ground for the vocal style of Trip-Hop that grew out Bristol in the early 1990s. Their melancholy, rainy-day approach to electronica came as a refreshing alternative the overzealous club music that was being made around that time. Beth Gibbons’ passionate vocals offer a surreal complement to producer Geoff Barrow’s head-bobbing beats. It could be argued that Portishead make modern blues, given the way both lyrics and mood relate to troubling times.
- Peter Gavin

The Pet Shop Boys survived one-hit wonder status after the mega success of “West End Girls” by bringing elegant melancholy, ironic humor and cinematic orchestrations to electronic Euro-Dance. While Chris Lowe handles the BPMs and all the electronic gadgets, much of their success is due to Neil Tennant, who has a detached, John Lennon-esque vocal style and a love of such downbeat troubadours as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. While the excellent Behavior (1990) got them as far away from the dancefloor as they are ever likely to go, Nightlife sounds unimaginatively like the modern disco their critics believe them to hack out.
- Nick Dedina

London’s rising chill-out supastars Tom Findlay and Andy Cato are equipped with a “beats ‘n’ brass” sound that tones down the cheekiness of Tummy Touch label owner and friend Tim “Love” Lee. Revealing a jazz-tinted collection of Disco, Funk and House nuances that glitter like the contents of a treasure chest, Groove Armada prove that the gritty can shine. Solidly fragmented mellowness erupts in slow motion on arrangements decorated with delectable melodic musings from trombones, flutes, trumpets, pianos and synths. Choice vocal samples add to the sweet sensuality of mixes that send a warm rush through your body like a smile from a visually-appealing stranger. Subtly uplifting, this duo’s introspectively groovy style pleads with the summer season to stay a bit longer.
- Melissa Piazza