TRICKY LONDON KENTISH TOWN FORUM, MAY 21 HE's a rum lad, that Tricky fella, you either “get him” or you dont. His music is not so much a style, more a frame of mind, an attitude, a feel. Laid back - yes. Relaxed - no. Spaced out- of course. Easy on the ears - you must be joking.     Take his new album, “Angels With Dirty Faces”, for instance. It's track after track of disenchantment, paranoia and disquiet. Lyrical barbs are aimed straight at the heart of the industry which surrounds him.    The record sees musical genres being swallowed whole and regurgitated in twisted, warped forms. Dirty funk, despairing blues and downbeat gospel all put in appearances, and that’s just the first 15 minutes. Yes, this is headspinning stuff.      It's no coincidence that left-field chanteuse PJ Harvey guests on the single “Broken Homes”; in a sense, Tricky is to dance music what Harvey is to rock - a pusher of boundaries, a loner, a complete individual.    So, a night out with this man is unlikely to be an uplifting experience, but if you're going to fully appreciate the highs in life, you’ve got to experience the lows. Take a walk down the corridors of his mind. ASHLEY BIRD

from: Melody Maker, 23. May 1998

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