A product of the incredible Ollie Olson and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) funding, Trip Switch V1, provides a nugget of perspective into Melbourne's burgeoning dance music, radio and youth scene in the 1990s.
Released on minuscule label Technical Revolution of Sound, the compilation features a number of "experiments in trip hop," spanning breakbeat, techno and downtempo.
The CD also claims that some of the tracks appeared on short-lived ABC TV show Raw FM, based on the real efforts of Melbourne radio station Hitz FM to provide youth centered radio and serve the dance music community.
Raw FM never had the originally promised second season and was ridiculed by the audience it was supposed to serve. Cliche-heavy and dismissive of issues that young people in Hitz FM confronted, the show was unable to connect with young people.
There's a great recording of Julie Doyle of Hitz FM presenting a scathing review of the show on Radio National here. Adults making shows about what they think kids do never seem to hit the mark with the kids they portray.
Aside from the poor production of Raw FM, getting Ollie Olson involved clearly supported the soundtrack. Aside from his involvement, for information on producers featured in Trip Switch is incredibly thin. Some tracks appeared later in the 1990s on Australian techno label Odessa Mama.
I couldn't find any info on Dr. Roopa, but their tune Vincent seems to be a great example of the trip hop experiments on Trip Switch. Atmospheric vocals, ethereal guitar along a downtempo breakbeat show a remarkable forgotten piece of Melbourne electronic music.
Artwork also clearly deserves a mention. Still looks incredibly fresh for something from 1992. Here's some more photos of the CD.
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