Nicholas, an artist from Minneapolis recently contacted us about his work under the name headtriiip. Described as experimental music with influences from the abstract cinematic realm, ambient, noise and hip hop, we dove in for a listen! You can too at both Apple Music and Disco.
Honestly, we receive quite a few requests to investigate artist’s works from the fringes of where experimental music resides, and for the most part they are most difficult to review. Not all music can be simply summarized, or put in context without knowing more about the musician’s intentions and techniques. Some is masterfully executed, yet quite unlistenable. Others are the opposite way around. As a reviewer you quite often end up feeling unarmed with the tools required to even form an opinion.
In the case of headtriip though, there is something special here that we thought made it more than worthy of letting our readers know about! Be gone, negativity! This isn’t some album of impersonal endless noise, or randomised shifting between samples. Oh no! There is a very delicate and personal feel to the way that headtriiip has presented an album full of surprises, moments that make one smile, and a delectable brushing of that cinematic, ambient, noise and hip hop that we mentioned earlier. Listening to it really made our day! A short, yet memorable experience that formed a welcome break from today’s all too common predictability. It felt like a sonic escape into the memories and life of a distant stranger! As you listen, you’re forced to ask many questions too, like… who is that child speaking in the background? What’s her story? Are the garden sounds from the artist’s own residence? Where will this gentle folky guitar take us?
The work is highly musical, but not in the traditional sense. Think of it more as a story, requiring the listener to take the presented facts, and form their own theories. The 16 tracks are short, yet sweet and an excellent escape if you’re open to trying something different.