"Karmacoma" is a song by British

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

collective

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

, released as the third and final single from their second album, ''

Protection Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...

'', on 20 March 1995. It contains

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

vocals from band members 3D and Tricky. Tricky also recorded his own version of "Karmacoma", renamed "Overcome" for his debut studio album, ''

Maxinquaye ''Maxinquaye'' is the debut studio album by English rapper and producer Tricky (musician), Tricky, released on 20 February 1995 by 4th & B'way Records, a subsidiary of Island Records. In the years leading up to the album, Tricky had grown frust ...

''. Massive Attack themselves recorded a second version of the song (without Tricky) renamed "Fake the Aroma" on ''

The Help Album ''The Help Album'' is a 1995 charity album to raise funds for the War Child charity, which provided aid to war-stricken areas, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the songs were recorded in a single day. The album features British and Irish a ...

'', a compilation album for the charity War Child. The music video for "Karmacoma" was directed by

Jonathan Glazer Jonathan Glazer (born 26 March 1965) is an English filmmaker. He began his career in theatre before transitioning into film, directing the features '' Sexy Beast'' (2000), ''Birth'' (2004), '' Under the Skin'' (2013), and '' The Zone of Inter ...

, his first.

Samples

The main rhythmic structure of the track is a loop taken from Nusret Fateh Ali Khan qawali 'Dam mast qalender mast mast'. The melodic refrain (at 0:54) is taken from the opera ''

Prince Igor ''Prince Igor'' (, ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the early Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which recounts the campaign of the 12th-centur ...

'' by Russian composer

Alexander Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 183327 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as " The Five", a group dedicated to prod ...

, and also includes a sample of

Tuvan throat singing Tuvan throat singing, also known as Mongolian throat singing, is a style of singing practiced by people in Tuva and Mongolia, the main technique of which is known as ''khoomei'' ( or ). It is noted for including overtone singing. In 2009, it w ...

also used by

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band who originated in Liverpool and London in the late 1980s. Scottish people, Scottish musician Bill Drummond (alias Ki ...

in " Dream Time in Lake Jackson", both of which come from the documentary 'Herders of Mongun Taiga'. The bass line sample featured on the Portishead remix is the same bass line used by

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

in the song "Melody" from his 1971 album ''

Histoire de Melody Nelson ''Histoire de Melody Nelson'' (; "Story of Melody Nelson") is a 1971 concept album by French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, arranged and co-written by Jean-Claude Vannier. Produced by Jean-Claude Desmarty, the album was released on March ...

''. The "Napoli Trip Mix" of the song by Italian band

Almamegretta Almamegretta are a dub group from Naples, Italy. Their lyrics are in Napoletano. Their music became quite successful within the European trip hop scene, leading to collaborations with Massive Attack, Bill Laswell, Transglobal Underground, Zion ...

contains samples from

Roberto Paci Dalò Roberto Paci Dalò is an Italian author, composer and musician, film maker and theatre director, sound and visual artist, radio-maker. He is the co-founder and director of the performing arts ensemble Giardini Pensili and he has been the artis ...

's record "Napoli", released in 1993. The

Startled Insects Startled Insects, later known as The Insects, are an instrumental English pop-jazz band. History Startled Insects began around 1983 in Bristol, England, as a collective of three producers/multi-instrumentalists, Tim Norfolk, Bob Locke and Rich ...

wrote the music for this track (Tim Norfolk and Bob Locke).

"Overcome"

Tricky remade "Karmacoma" for his 1995 debut album ''

'' under the title "Overcome", enlisting

Martina Topley-Bird Martina Gillian Topley-Bird (''née'' Topley; born 7 May 1975) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky (musician), Tricky's debut album, ''Maxi ...

to sing his lyrics and incorporating a sample of

Shakespears Sister Shakespears Sister are an alternative rock, alternative Pop rock, pop and rock musical duo that was formed in 1988 by Irish people, Irish singer-songwriter Siobhan Fahey, a former member of Bananarama. Shakespears Sister was initially a solo a ...

's 1992 song "Moonchild". It was released as the third single from the album, a month before the album release.

David Bennun David Bennun (born 1968) is an English writer, journalist and music critic. Career Bennun started his career in music journalism in the 1990s. Notable publications he has written for include ''Melody Maker'', ''The Guardian'' and ''The Quie ...

from ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'' later called his version "a thick, unquiet fever dream – and an almost

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

vision of a moment in time that encompasses within the same frame a couple walking through quiet suburbs as the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

rages three thousand miles away". In an interview for ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', Tricky was asked about the sexual nature of the song and other material on ''Maxinquaye'', to which he responded: According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Amy Hanson, the intensely "breathless and claustrophobic" song is still one of trip hop's best works: "Featuring Martina Topley-Bird's clear, otherworldly vocals, the song is constructed around a thrumming slow, low heartbeat bass beat and looped catch of breath that becomes earnest yearning – an act of foreplay which frames the lyrics, 'don't want to be on top of your list, and never been properly kissed.'" The song was featured on the soundtrack to the 1995 film '' Strange Days''.

Track listing

"Karmacoma"

# "Karmacoma" – 5:21 # "Karmacoma" (Bumper Ball Dub) – 6:01 # "Karmacoma" (The Napoli Trip Mix) – 6:10 # "Karmacoma" ( Portishead Experience Mix) – 4:03 # "Karmacoma" (Ventom Dub Special) – 6:08 # "Karmacoma" (

UNKLE Unkle (often stylised as U.N.K.L.E. or UNKLE, occasionally known as UNKLE Sounds) is a British musical outfit founded in 1992 by James Lavelle. Originally categorised as trip hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a ...

Situation Mix) – 5:42

"Overcome"

# "Overcome" (Album Mix) – 3:45 / 4:30 # "Overcome" (Bungle Mix) – 2:39 # "Abbaon Fat Tracks" – 5:53 # "Overcome" (Zippy Mix) – 2:39 : Even though the first track is listed as "Album Mix", it is 45 seconds shorter (on the CD single) than the version on the album ''

''. Conversely, the third track is an extended version compared to the version on ''Maxinquaye''.

References

External links

Watch the video
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YouTubeEntry
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mvdbase.comMASSIVEATTACK.IE song info entry on Karmacoma
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2020 1995 singles Massive Attack songs Tricky (musician) songs Music videos directed by Jonathan Glazer 1995 songs Virgin Records singles Songs written by Andrew Vowles Songs written by Robert Del Naja Songs written by Daddy G