|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Overcome |
| 2. Ponderosa |
| 3. Black Steel |
| 4. Hell Is Round The Corner |
| 5. Pumpkin |
| 6. Aftermath |
| 7. Abbaon Fat Tracks |
| 8. Brand New You're Retro |
| 9. Suffocated Love |
| 10. You Don't |
| 11. Strugglin' |
| 12. Feed Me |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Less experimentally brash than his more recent release, Tricky's debut CD Maxinquaye is actually a better introduction to the British hip-hopper turned international trip-hopper than his later work. The dozen smoldering, moonlit tracks are less concerned with loopy aural exaggeration than they are with showcasing Tricky's slow-mo rap and singer Martine's sexy soprano. With the exception of the stellar "Pumpkin," (featuring vox from Alison Goldfrapp), the duo mix a colorful palate of rhythmic vocals, throbbing backbeats and gravelly electronic textures. Toss in large doses of sexual innuendo and Maxinquaye becomes a libidinous foray into languor and lust. --Nick Heil
Product Description
Adrian Thaws (aka Tricky), one of the key components of Massive Attack around the time of their important Blue Lines album, seemed to find more space to explore his fears, loves and neuroses as a solo artist on this, his debut release, which is also something of a classic itself. Whilst the Massive Attack sound is a standard one of dub basses, Tricky gains greater contrast with his smoky vocals by utilising a disjointed, handmade mix of sounds, from hard noise ("Black Steel") to marimba-like plonks ("Ponderosa") and slow-beat joints ("Brand New You're Retro"). Here, alongside vocalist and one-time partner Martina Topley Bird, Tricky is able to maintain a sense of perspective lost in later works--the recording sounds positive and instructive, as if they were happy just to make a good album. Named after his mother, Maxin, who committed suicide when Thaws was six, there is just the right level of paranoia in the claustrophobia of his rhymes, creating a musical document that sounds homespun and satisfying. --Charlie Porter
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Trip-hop masterpiece
Aug 28 2003
Format:Audio CD
Coming out of collaboration with Massive Attack, Tricky was clearly bursting with ideas of his own. On Maxinquaye he sticks to a trip-hop bluieprint, ironically nicking Karma Coma's lyrics for the brooding 'Overcomes' and even sampling Portishead's 'Glory Box' - one of the classic triphop songs - on 'Hell Is Round The Corner'. Yet he infuses the sound with a dark, understated urban menace and with singer Martina Topley-Bird he creates sweltering, sexy grooves that sometimes, as on 'Abbaon Fat Tracks', descend into pure erotica. She has a sultry, alternative voice which complements his laidback rapping style very well, both of them sounding very British. Its an intriguing combination though its a shame that he doesnt take the mic and go solo more often. His only real freestyle rap comes on the almost old-skool hip-hop of 'Brand New You're Retro'.
Occasionally as on 'Strugglin' they wander astray without a tune and it makes for a somewhat routine track, acceptable as a 2-minute filler but unbearable stretched into 6 and 1/2 minutes. Yet there's more than enough to make up for it: the masterpiece of paraonoia that is an inspired cover of 'Black Steel', Topley-Bird's voice awash in aggressive guitars and gritty production. Her voice is an acquired taste, especially on tracks like 'Ponderosa' where her sound is totally Estuary, but its nicely broken up by the lush 'Pumpkin' which takes the ingenious tactic of marrying a Massive Attack-style backing track to Orbital (and, after this album, Goldfrapp) vocalist Alison Goldfrapp and a brooding Smashing Pumpkins sample. Also, when the tracks are as good as 'You Don't' which is reggae-tinged and almost like the Horace Andy tracks on 'Blue Lines' its churlish to complain.
Ultimately, Maxinquaye is not only a trip-hop masterpiece but an urban classic. Highly reccomended to fans of not just triphop but those new to the genre or mainstream hip-hop fans.
awesome
July 26 2008
Format:Audio CD
The influences peel off like stickers on a notebook. Utilizing Bomb Squad-confrontational production and subtly primitive IDM textures, Tricky's uniquely muddy form of soundclash shocked the mid-90s listening populace with his merger of angular, raw sampling, dark synth innovation, and pseudo-intellectual lyrics to build the convention-destroying music of Maxinquaye. A collaborative effort from a former husband/wife team, Adrian Thawes and singer Martina Topley-Bird, demonstrated a bizarrely genuine chemistry in such shielded music. Topley-Bird's distinctively British dialect developed a refreshing retreat from her more typical peers, yielding a more modern voice for a changing musical landscape. As she sings, Tricky's monstrously cracking vocals shadow hers to make the listening experience a more personal feat than many pieces before it.
Borrowing more than lyrics from his previous tenure guesting for Massive Attack, Tricky's producer/singer relationship is stronger than the interplay in more linear genres, making this an obsessive work of customization. Unforgettable moments appear frequently, from the gorgeously hard drum break of "Ponderosa" to the clicking future saloon shootout screamer of "Strugglin'" to the Michael Jackson-sampling "Brand New, You're Retro". It's hard to imagine the landscapes of modern electronica and underground hip-hop without this record's influence.
Borrowing more than lyrics from his previous tenure guesting for Massive Attack, Tricky's producer/singer relationship is stronger than the interplay in more linear genres, making this an obsessive work of customization. Unforgettable moments appear frequently, from the gorgeously hard drum break of "Ponderosa" to the clicking future saloon shootout screamer of "Strugglin'" to the Michael Jackson-sampling "Brand New, You're Retro". It's hard to imagine the landscapes of modern electronica and underground hip-hop without this record's influence.
TRICKY IS TRICKY!!!!
May 27 2004
Format:Audio CD
I stayed away from this CD for the longest, scared of what I might hear--I mean Tricky does look slightly demonic. But all that aside, "Maxinquaye" turned out to be just the opposite of what my initial perception was. It is in fact a masterpiece that can only be tantamount to the works of Massive Attack, Portishead and even DJ Shadow. With sexy vocals from Martina and Tricky himself, "Maxinquaye" keeps it appeal in 2004 with material that doesn't at all sound dated or forced, but instead sounds fresh and innovative as the day it was released. Tricky is truly a "trip-hop pioneer." "Maxinquaye" is haunting, sexy, profound, intense and down right funky! Highly Recommended!
Want to see more reviews on this item?
Most recent customer reviews
Number 1
After owning this album since 1996, I can safely say...This is the best album I own. Hands down.
Published on Mar 22 2004
Being Haunted Has Never Been This Much Fun
This debut album, like Tricky's work with Massive Attack, signified an innovation in contemporary pop production and arrangement, like Eno's best work was to the 1970s or My Bloody... Read more
Published on Feb 23 2004 by C. Gardner
Something like it, but not really..
The flow of the piece itself expelled alot of talent, and Im sure took alot of time and energy. Though to completely glorify this album at all, would not be my own doing. Read more
Published on Jan 12 2004 by Casey Thompson
The Heart of Darkness
It's been nearly 10 years since the release of "Maxinquaye", and there have been many pretenders to the throne, but the once and future king is still Tricky. Read more
Published on Dec 30 2003 by Gavin B.
Trip-hop masterpiece (4.5 stars)
Coming out of the critically acclaimed Massive Attack, Tricky (having dropped Kid from his name) released his debut in 1995. Read more
Published on Aug 17 2003 by Kurt Lennon
This CD is totally weak, just stick with Portishead!!
I read the reviews and decided to give Tricky a try. I am a huge fan of Portishead and their huge level of talent and inspirational music. Read more
Published on Aug 4 2003
Hard
Tricky's solo debut echoes the work of his former colleagues Massive Attack while simultaneously distancing himself from their influences. Read more
Published on April 25 2003 by Gillian L. Rosheuvel
Tricky's Only Good Album
Those words might seem kind of harsh, but I consider them to be true. Maxinquaye is the only Tricky album that is consistently spinnable. Read more
Published on April 23 2003 by gallipoli
probably Tricky's best album - and effective mood music!
I realize Tricky has incorporated many elements from other peoples' work, but that doesn't make these songs any less genius or mind-blowing. Read more
Published on Oct 26 2002 by "richlatta"
OVERRATED BUT...
Tricky(nee Adrian Hawes), former member of Massive Attack, released one of the most critically lauded albums of the 1990s with with his 1995 debut "Maxinquaye". Read more
Published on Oct 26 2002 by J. Johnson
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles > Alternative Rap
- Music > Dance & DJ > Electronica
- Music > Dance & DJ > Trip-Hop
- Music > Pop > Pop Rap
- Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Experimental
- Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > International
- Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Pop Rap
- Music > Rock
- Music > World Music > Europe > British Isles
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
