| Tricky
Angels With Dirty Faces (Island) |
| Tricky may not be
the inventor of trip-hop, but this Bristol producer is vertainly steering
the ship. Each of his releases has successfully redirected the genre's
sound, traversing down avenues more sinister, dark and alluring than anything
before it. Angels With Dirty Faces, his fourth full-length, makes
his earlier releases sound cheery and effervescent by comparison: His gothic
raps have grown gruffer, his beats more menacing, and his soulful, jazzy
musical backdrops more haunting and mysterious. On each of the album's
12 tracks, Tricky takes the listener deeper into his underworld, a dank
realm full of funky demons and dismal divas. Longtime partner Martina Topley-Bird
serves as the disc's main chanteuse and her honey-coated words are a stark
contrast to Tricky's devilish growl. Alternative siren Polly Jean Harvey
guests on "Broken Homes," but it's Tricky who always remains the album's
centerpiece whether he's seducing your ears with his gritty Bristol accent
or manipulating the sound into the creepiest urban symphony. This dreary,
disjointed trip-hop masterpiece deservers all the acclaim it will undoubtedly
receive
--
M. Tye Comer
|
| "Angels..." presskit |