Postponed from Wednesday, today's selection features Tricky aka Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws.
And about time too. Although, having said that, if I've done a bit more homework in preparing this, I might have delayed it just over a week and posted it on 27th January to celebrate Tricky's 55th birthday.
Sod it, he's waited long enough for a Dubhed selection, let's do it.
The above title refers to Knowle West, the south Bristol suburb where Tricky was born, five and a half decades ago. I was born a few years later but was living in a neighbouring - albeit rapidly gentrifying - suburb in the mid-90s and was well familiar with the term. The first time I remember seeing reference to The Bristol Bronx in print though was in the CD/Book series Volume. Number Ten to be precise, which previewed a song by Tricky (You Don't) from his then forthcoming debut album.
How much has changed since then. Tricky has swapped Bristol for Berlin and following that astonishing debut has released a steady stream of albums under his own name and a variety of aliases, Tricky's most recent project being 2021's Lonely Guest.
This selection of a dozen Tricky songs spans a twenty year period from 1995 to 2015. It skips the ubiquitous debut album, Maxinquaye, and cuts off at 2015 (which, in Tricky currency, converts into at least five albums and numerous other releases). What I love about Tricky is his endless hunger for collaboration, for blurring the boundaries between hip hop and pop, rock and rap and this selection provides a dizzying tour of the world.
To make up for the absence of anything from Tricky's debut album Maxinquaye, here's the video for Overcome, which I feel is often overlooked in favour of Aftermath, Ponderosa or Hell Is Round The Corner. The third of six (!) singles from the album, it was the first to crack the UK Top 40, entering at #34 in late January 1995.
I think I've only seen the video a couple of times previously, on TV, but it's a visually stunning few minutes directed by Mike Lipscombe, whose CV includes Inner City Life by Goldie, Angel by Gavin Friday, Deeper Underground by Jamiroquai and The Everlasting by Manic Street Preachers.
In December 2022, SWC over at No Badger Required wrote a brilliant post about Maxinquaye as one of the "Nearly Perfect Albums" series. If you'd never heard the album before, you'd read the post and want to rush out to buy it. If you had heard it before, you'd read the post and want to buy the album again. It really is that good.
I featured Lonely Guest here last July, proof if any needed that Tricky has not stood still since hanging with The Wild Bunch in the late 80s, constantly growing and developing as an artist. Hopefully, this selection gives a brief snapshot.
It's 30 years in March (I think) since Tricky dropped the first white labels of Aftermath. I'll aim to come back to the Knowle West Boy then with possibly a more ambitious career-spanning selection.
In the meantime, if your appetite has been well and truly whet, check out Tricky's False Idols label on Bandcamp.
1) Broken Homes (Album Version): Tricky ft. PJ Harvey (1998)
2) ESP: Tricky ft. Liz Densmore (2003)
3) For Real (Hip-Hop Remix By Dame Grease aka Damon Blackman): Tricky (1999)
4) Same Old Song: Tricky ft. Ajeya (2015)
5) Ghetto Youth (Album Version): Tricky ft. Sky (1995)
6) Scrappy Love: Tricky ft. DJ Muggs & Grease (1999)
7) Somebody's Sins: Tricky ft. Francesca Belmonte (2013)
8) Puppy Toy (Album Version): Tricky ft. Alex Mills (2008)
9) Hakim: Tricky ft. Hakim Hamadouche (2010)
10) Bury The Evidence: Tricky ft. Hawkman (2001)
11) 360º: Tricky ft. Martina Topley-Bird (1998)
12) Cross To Bear (Remix By South Rakkas Crew): Tricky ft. Hafdis Huld (2009)
1996: Pre-Millennium Tension: 5
1998: Angels With Dirty Faces: 1
1998: Money Greedy / Broken Homes EP: 11
1999: For Real EP: 3
1999: Juxtapose: 6
2001: Blowback: 10
2008: Knowle West Boy: 8
2009: Tricky Meets South Rakkas Crew: 12
2010: Mixed Race: 9
2013: False Idols: 7
2014: 54U EP: 2
2015: European Tour Bonus Tracks EP: 4
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