Performer Notes

Audio Mixer: Switch .
Photographer: Timothy Saccenti.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Alex Mills; Than Luu; Wayne Nunes; Dominic Glover; Hafds Huld; Eric Ronick; Mark Thwaite; Seb Lewsley; Jim Hunt; Nichol Thompson; Louis Jr. VanTaylor; Cameron Stone.
With his chameleon-like musical persona and penchant for mixing styles together with abandon, Tricky lives up to his name. His 2008 album, KNOWLE WEST BOY, refers to the Bristol neighborhood where he was raised, and the disc plays as a lyrical autobiography, collecting snapshots of his difficult upbringing (including the story of a teen pregnancy in "School Gates"). But even though Tricky's subject matter seems more accessible, his music is still a chimera of shifting parts.
Dancehall, hip-hop, cabaret music, pop, and electronica are woven throughout KNOWLE WEST BOY, but while the album is as dark and atmospheric as anything the artist has released, the disc is peppered with driving, rock-influenced tracks. The lead-off single, "Council Estate," which amps up a hybrid of punk and ska, is a good example, as are guitar-fueled tracks like "Slow." But the floating, cinematic charm of "Joseph," the campy blues of "Puppy Toy," and the gloomy balladry of "Past Mistake" keep the listener destabilized and riveted. The set is arguably the artist's best effort since 1996's PRE-MILENNIUM TENSION.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.115) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's variety that makes this Tricky's best since his 1995 debut, MAXINQUAYE. There's lurching cocktail-lounge blues; dancehall-style toasting; even a garage-rock Kylie Minogue cover."

Spin (p.128) - 3 stars out of 5 -- [A] wide-ranging aural autobiography....Tricky reengages with the pain that gave him his original power."

Entertainment Weekly (p.136) - "His trademark gravel-gargle vocals suit the disc's spookier, dancier tracks..." -- Grade: B

The Wire (p.60) - "[Tricky] coaxes vocal performances of oneiric yearning out of others....There are many memorable tracks here..."

CMJ - "Every word demands attention, every beat inspires awe and every track sounds like it's from a different album."

Q (Magazine) (p.145) - 3 stars out of 5-- "[H]is seventh album finds him energised...swapping his trademark murk for a brighter, more vivacious sound..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.103) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "'Veronica' boasts a percussive Killing Joke thump while the hypnotic 'Cross To Bear' and 'Bacative' exemplify the muffled, altered-states intimacy that fired his reputation."

Blender (Magazine) (p.78) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[W]hile the ghetto reminiscences of 'Council Estate' and 'School Gates' revisit where Tricky's from, he's still finding new places to go."

URB (Magazine) (p.87) - "Worth the wait, KNOWLE WEST BOY provides a uniquely varied soundscape from an equally enigmatic musicmaker."