Just for the record, DJ Shadow absolutely hates being labelled as trip-hop! Personally I agree though that his stuff is acceptable to throw into the debate, the term has become a bit of a discredited label I suppose but yeah, that first LP at the very least was strongly associated with the genre at the time.
Anyone heard anything on Manchester's Grand Central label? Again not strictly trip-hop maybe but we're talking downbeat electronica, straight hip-hop at times, often a fusion of those with funk/Northern Soul....you know, it's of that ouevre. The label went under in the mid 2000s sadly but left a great legacy. These are all well worth a look:
Riton 'Beats Du Jour'
