A Perfect Debut - Prelude to Worse Follow-Ups... (Maxinquaye - Tricky)

Member Name: beedubblyer

Product:	Maxinquaye - Tricky
Date:	08/08/00 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The inventive sampling, Martina's voice, the beats, the lyrics... i could go on.

Disadvantages: Deserved adulation for this album in part pushed Tricky along the curmudgeonly road that led to him recording the rather less phenomenal "Angels with Dirty Faces" (to take a holistic view of it all).

Underworld, the Chemical Brothers and Leftfield all had a major effect on drawing alternative music fans over to dance. But just as great was the amount of pull exerted by Bristol's holy trinity of Massive Attack, Portishead and Adrian Thaws, aka Tricky. In '95, i was languishing in Indiekidsville, Idaho. i can still remember the fantastic impact "Dummy" had, when i first listened to it, staring into the dark, wondering why music like this hadn't been done before. It sounded entirely natural, and yet completely new, a quantum leap in style (the number of imitators they spawned verify this). But to then put on "Maxinquaye" shortly after, and have exactly the same sense of awe, of unimaginably original music...

"Maxinquaye" (christened after Tricky's ma, Maxine Quaye) is undeniably his best album. The adulation heaped on his shoulders seems to have led him to become ever more obtuse and unlistenable, desperate to escape the clutches of the unthinking fans who will appluad his every move regardless (remind anyone of Chris Morris?). But this album is enough to make you want to cut him a helluva lot of slack.

The first time i heard 'Ponderosa' (when in the aforementioned Indiekidsville) was when the video was on TV, in the depths of the morning, with a dedicated b-boy for company. We both loved it instantly - Tricky's rasping West Country tones, the skewed genius of the lyric, the Tom Waits beats... it's one of the perfect tracks that will stand up whatever else Mr Thaws does in the future.

'Overcome' is familiar to anyone who owns Massive Attack's "Protection" as nearly the same song as 'Karmacoma'. And 'Hell is Around the Corner' is built around the same sample as Portishead's majestic 'Glory Box'. But Tricky's tracks are at least as good as his compatriots, the former ploughing a much darker furrow, and the latter - a
ided by the silken vocals of collaborator Martina - possibly the sweetest twist on the album.

While most of the album nestles spikily inside a blunted groove, 'Brand New You're Retro' and the Public Enemy cover 'Black Steel' both kick like mules. Many of the lyrics on the album manage the same level of social concern as PE, though without the politicized focus. This is sorely lacking from his later releases.

Basically, if ya like yer music to be inspiring, dark, innovative and melodic, and if you've time for sharp and thought-provoking lyrics..? Nothing less than ESSENTIAL!

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