juxtapose vs. maxinquaye

Exposure forces me to go with _Maxinquaye_, not least because I think "Overcome" is fucking gorgeous.

Would anyone actually prefer 'Juxtapose'? That said its probably his best work post-Maxinquaye but thats hardly a ringing endorsement. Cursory listens to 'Blowback' suggests another let-down. Curious case Tricky, why did he lose it so badly? Overbearing expectations? Wrong choice of collaborators? Too much chronic?

I think it's great he lost it. Despite the critics, sometimes quite justified, he lost it in a worthwile fashion. Maxinquaye is a great record, but it would have seemed pointless to repeat it. His (d) evolution into a suffocating hermetism owing to both Tom Waits, Throbbing Gristle and Public Enemy, in a very strange way, make his most twisted records as interesting and good as they are flawed. Flawed but unique. I have not heard the new record, note.

Simon has a point. Still with Juxashite he really lost it, and not in a cool way.

'Why did Tricky lose it?' Because that's the fate of all auteurs who brag about 'not having any musical skill', they blow their wad as soon as they get their 'idea'. Which is why Dr Dre is bigger than Hank Shocklee. Oddly, I like 'Nearly God' best tho

People either freak or give me a blank stare when I say I prefer "Angels with Dirty Faces". But I'd take maxinquaye over juxtapose given the two.

Yaaargh!! I don't think e "lost it" at all, his works are incredible. Some of the most harrowing, inaccessible, uncommercial visions ever created of dystopia that few really gave a chance to, since how many put in a lot of time and effort into albums these days - if they're not by Radiohead? Tricky's middle work is his best, but since its so challenging it demands patience, and since it didn't fulfill the trendy-friendly coffehouse-Nike commercial(relatively speaking) Massive-Attackish expetactions after Maxinquaye, they were just written off as "suffocating," "unlistenable" or "bitter." Sure, he IS really bitter for not having struck it big, but shouldn't he be given credit for turning his resentment into a totally uncompromising aural madness, which reflects his subjective reality at the time ?

Sorry, but I agree with those others who view the infernal Pre- Millennial Tension as the brilliant aural equivalent of Hell, an unforgiving fucked-up HIP-hop (it references so much hip-hop history, check the lyrics) twisted nightmare about our worst urban fears that Kid A could never approach in terms of intensity (and unfortunately, which would have sounded perfectly appropriate in New York 32 days ago). PMT still got a lot of critical acclaim, (even from jazz quarters) a fact that everyone forgets when they like to bash him; NME spit on it in the review but it placed in the top 10 of their annual critics poll. I also agree with those, in the minority, who've said it much better than I can: that Angels With Dirty Faces is a fully-realized dub/goth/gospel/electronica/whatever warped jazz- fusion or deconstructed blues-electro album for the 21st century, channeling the spirit of Miles Davis into the future. Not to mention that both of these albums are terrific discourses on the nature of celebrity, commercialism, artistic autonomy and the inherent corruption of the Record Companies (I love that song!!). All the Metal Machine Music comparsions are just soo ungrounded and stupid, besides.

Sure, the Mad Dog character seems to overshadowed Juxtapose, but sonically its tops. Ok, so maybe he made a few mistake with this last album but it's basically in terms of his collaborators. Sometimes I wonder how much Martina was essential to the Trickster's work, since I don't really think she can be replaced...she was his Billie Holiday, honestly. They have a kid together, they should get counseling too. Regardless, I think the songs on Blowback would have worked just fine if someone other than Hawkman or Ambersunshower were singing them; he doesn't deserve to be totally written off a la Mr. Erlewhine's AMG review. Or maybe Erlewhine was partially right: change your expectations, geez, and stop praying for Maxinquaye part IV...or just stay safe listening to your beloved copies of Dummy over and over again, and don't complain.

(Part Deux)

He himself said Blowback is his lighthearted "pop" album, made to be played on the radio - I just wish he had chosen someone other than Alanis or Ed. And note: I am commenting about his music herre, I could care less about his abrasive personality or all the the talk of how his "new diet" changed him - sure, he's full of shit and a monstrous asshole, but wouldn't you have to be to make these sorts of "dark" album, etc. etc.? (For those who care, read the Mixer interview from this summer, where he disses everyone from Aaliyah to Madonna to everyone in MA, of course. Hilarious!!). For the record, I still don't think Mezzanine surpasses Maxinquaye.

Gosh, I have just succeeded again in writing the longest ILM post evah. I could elaborate!!..haha, but I'm sure since I'm in the minority here at ILM, it would get even more annoying. I just don't like to read how his middle/difficult period is bashed as "unlistenable" since it's the most creative period and I listened to said albums every single day this summer along with Rid of Me/4- Track Demos....oh, btw did I mention I've been evaluated as being emotionally unstable and pathologically disturbed?

(by no means the longest ILM post but I am too ill to remember and dig up dj martian's still-stupefying nay awesome "records of the year so far" contribution)

Surely longer fellas (posts) abound?

I think people tend to focus too heavily on the lightness of Maxinquaye, which is really only relative to his later work. Any coffee-house that dared play "Strugglin" on a regular basis would go out of business. What maybe Maxinquaye has that the subsequent records don't is a consistent on emphasis on a maximalist beauty, with the profusion of sounds and melodies set against eachother so that they glint and sparkle with reflected light . The relative straightforwardness and bluntness of the arrangements on Blowback is in some ways the least like Maxinquaye for that reason.

fuck, did I kill this thread ?

No one besides Ally knows who I am here so I think I'm scaring people. But I'm too lazy to find that "Introduce Yourself" board....

Oh well ....

NOTHING by Tricky could ever come close to the dopeness of "Maxinquaye".. especially the incredible long version of AFTERMATH.

Todd http://endorphinbath.isCool.net