Trip Hop Heaven

Saltillo is the music project behind the album Ganglion, released in 2006. Four years on Saltillo is not particularly well known which is a shame because Ganglion is an amazing album. Broadly speaking Ganglion is a trip hop album. If we are to indulge ourselves it is a supreme fusion of trip hop, electronica and Shakespeare with Radiohead-esque backbeats and a smattering of classical cello.

The opening track 'A Necessary End' is a good example of the aforementioned trip hop and classical cello mix. It is quite a beautiful piece in terms of the cello. This is complemented, albeit in an eye-opening way by percussion thick with cymbal crash rolls. The majority of the vocal samples used, see 'Hair On The Head Of John The Baptist' are quite striking. A good deal of them are also from Shakespearean plays.

Another track that really catches my ear on this album is the second from last 'I'm On The Wrong Side'. It is a sparse and tender song, with gorgeous female vocals and some brilliantly echoey and epic guitar. It is for me the most instantly powerful song on the album, the chorus instrumental is positively awesome!

Ganglion is quite likely to be unlike anything you have ever heard before. From start to finish it is a beautiful, melodic yet cool and chilled wander over those amazing beats and samples. There are a number of tracks from the album available to listen to on the Saltillo myspace page (link below). I would recommend you lie back in your bed, headphones in and just get lost in what is unquestionably something brilliant you are unlikely to have heard anything similar to before.

Saltillo Myspace