Take one part Tom Waits, add a dash of Dylan-mysticism, center it around Bomb Squad-esque production and you might have something remotely close to Tricky’s Maxinquaye (1995). Not that any of those things aren’t part of the strange surrealist collage that pulses and thuds along, but it is Maxinquaye’s sonic hallmarks, hedging slightly on the pre-millennial paranoia (later addressed in Tricky’s catalogue) that makes the album such a rich and textured happening. “Brand New You’re Retro” squeeks and rusts like a brand new toy, whereas other tracks like obvious go-to of “Black Steel” or charming slunk and smolder of “Hell Is Just Around the Corner”. For a debut, Maxinquaye sets up a gold standard that Tricky and co-pilot Martina Topley Bird first examined during the initial wave with their most closely associate act, Massive Attack. But it is within the overarching contextual history, with movies like oft-forgotten Shopping (1994) and headscratchingly dull though oddly prescient one-offs like Johnny Nmemonic (1995) that back up the albums aesthetic approach just as much as its timeless grasping at progressive anything. Truly an electric if not cybernetically juicy debut, Maxinquaye is an early look at what, if anything, humankind and musickind has become.
Listen to “Brand New You’re Retro” and “Abbaon Fat Track” (Live, 1999)
Download “Maxinquaye“
