Back in 2004, when Mark Pritchard, aka Troubleman, released his album Time Out of Mind. At the time, critics labelled it as eclectic trip hop, loved it, and so did the listeners who were curious enough to listen. Yet, unfortunately, at the time, that was about it, as it was thought that trip hop was already dead.
Well, as is the case with many other genres (or sub-genres), they usually linger on longer than many predict, some have a comeback in some shape or form, and trip hop is no exception. Whether that comeback will last is another question, but this Pritchard album got its timely reissue now, and there are quite a few reasons it deserves it.
Prichard’s songwriting here and musicianship are in many ways trip-hop highs, at a time when so many artists were leaving the genre behind, or were turning into producers’ excesses, either trying to re-hash successful ideas or going overboard. At the same time, Pritchard sublimated here all the good musical elements trip-hop had to offer, particularly its eclecticism and ability to include elements from all over the musical spectrum – Bossa, R&B, Latin, and downtempo to start with, with his musical references more or less interwoven with personal ideas, making them part of Pritchard’s personal creation here.
It turns out that on Time Out of Mind, Pritchard composed a detailed summary of what trip hop was (and still is) all about.
