- Ciao Marco cosa ascolti di bello?
- Sto ascoltando per l'ennesima volta "Maxinquaye".
- Max... che?!??"
- Comprensibile, comunque è il primo album di Tricky!
- E chi è Tricky? Sempre con questi musicisti sconosciuti tu...
- Ma come sconosciuti? Questo è un artista che ha smosso le acque per un certo periodo nel panorama musicale internazionale per avere proposto qualcosa di veramente originale e non etichettabile. Nel mio iPod sotto la voce "genere" l'ho importato come Tricky perchè non si riesce a classificare la sua musica.
- Bohh... non mi rappresenta ancora nulla?!
- Forse se ti dico che una sua canzone "Hell Is Round The Corner" è stata utilizzata per lo spot della Superga tanto tempo fa ti può aiutare. Ecco ascoltala...
- Ah è vero, ora ricordo.
Ma come è possibile che ancora oggi molte persone non conoscono Tricky. Forse è la gente che frequento ad essere ignorante musicalmente ma non credo perchè alcuni sanno chi sia ed inoltre proprio "Maxinquaye" mi è stato doppiato a suo tempo su cassetta da una mia amica. In seguito ho dovuto comprare il cd perché il nastro si è rovinato dal troppo ascolto e diciamolo, anche perché l'artwork è troppo figo: con lui vestito da sposa e Martina da sposo. Da avere. È anche vero che Tricky non ha mai cercato la notorietà o meglio non si è mai venduto perché ha sempre fatto quello che si sentiva di fare e cioè cose non del tutto accessibili al pubblico di massa. Al contrario quando ha firmato per una Major (Island) si è dedicato a progetti più rischiosi mentre adesso che è con una indie-label(Anti-Epitaph) è più solare che mai.
Più alternativo di così? Forse l'unica spiegazione al fatto che non è molto conosciuto sta nell'essenza stessa di Tricky e cioè che lui non è mainstream.
Si parte con "Overcome" e cioè una presa per il culo alla "Karmacoma" dei Massive; in questa traccia d'aperura, nettamente superiore e più intensa della bella canzone di "Protection", l'anima dark e sognante di Tricky si fa sentire, si lascia dietro le spalle la cadenza rap delle liriche per consegnarle alla debuttante Jazz singer Martina Topley-Bird. Non mi vorrete mettere a paragone l'interpretazione di Del Naja con quella di Martina? Ottimo inizio per un Trip-Hop radicale. La seconda traccia è l'orientaleggiante "Ponderosa" prodotta da Howie B ovvero un must per le produzioni più modaiole del periodo mentre nella luciferina "Hell Is Round The Corner" viene campionata "Ike's Rap II" di Isaac Hayes (scelta fatta anche dai Portishead). La voce da bambina di Martina è "l'ombra luminosa" di quella roca di Tricky o viceversa e alla fine si crea questo gioco dello sdoppiamento della personalità rappresentato proprio dalla doppia voce. Unica cover è "Black Steel" dei Public Enemy realizzata grazie all'ausilio della metal band FTV ed è tra le tracce più famose e preferite dai suoi estimatori. Ai vocals non c'è solo la voce infantile di Martina: nella struggente "Pumpkin" per esempio c'è Alison Goldfrapp che ti si infila sotto la pelle come neanche la Topley-Bird avrebbe saputo fare e soprattutto non ci fa rimpiangere la campionata "Suffer" anzi la nobilita. In "You Don't" duetta con la poderosa Ragga che si rivela la scelta più azzeccata perché Martina interpreta meglio canzoni più scure, paranoiche e seducenti come "Aftermath" (primo singolo), "Suffocated Love" e "Abbaon Fat Track". Proprio quest'ultimo è il pezzo più bello del disco dove viene campionata una parte di dialogo dal film "The Rapture" ("Can you fly? You fly as fast as you can to Baby Jesus") e dove si scaglia contro il mondo discografico ridicolizzandolo, come del resto fa nella satirica "Brand New You're Retro".
La musica è veramente ipnotica, straniante e malata; non si sa come abbia potuto creare una cosa del genere e secondo me neanche lui aveva chiaro che cosa volesse ottenere infatti oggi non riuscirebbe a rifare la stessa canzone in quel modo. Ma tutto il disco è così ovvero ingenuo ed intenso e soprattutto unico anche se messo a confronto con gli altri album di Tricky, figuriamoci se viene paragonato con altri dischi. Andate subito a recuperarlo anche se un po' mi fa invidia per quelli che non lo hanno mai ascoltato perché scoprirlo ha un sapore diverso che averlo nel lettore da parecchi anni anche se ogni tanto scopro ancora qualcosa di nuovo e continua ad emozionarmi. Anestetizzante.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Overcome (04:30)
Martina:
You sure you want to be with me?
I've nothing to give
Won't lie and say this loving's best
Whoa, leave us in emotional peace
Mmm, take a walk take a rest, and taste the rest
Don't wanna be on top of your list,
Monopoly improperly kissed
We overcome in sixty seconds with the strength we have together
But for now, emotional ties they stay severed
And when there's trust there'll be treats
When we funk we'll hear beats
Karmacoma (x7)
You and her, walking through the suburbs
No, not exactly lovers
You're a couple, 'specially when your bodies double
Duplicate and then you wait
For the next Kuwait
Karmacoma (x6)
Jamaican aroma, karmacoma
You sure you want to be with me?
I've nothing to give
Won't lie and say this loving's best
Whoa, leave us in emotional peace
Mmm, take a walk take a rest, and taste the rest
Don't wanna be on top of your list,
Monopoly improperly kissed
We overcome in sixty seconds with the strength we have together
But for now, emotional ties they stay severed
And when there's trust there'll be treats
When we funk we'll hear beats
Karmacoma (x7)
Karmacoma (x7)
02 Ponderosa (03:30)
Martina :
The place where... X6
Tricky:
...Where I stand
Martina:
The place where I stand gives way to liquid lino
Underneath the weeping willow lies a weeping wino
The place where I stand gives way to liquid lino
Underneath the weeping willow lies a weeping wino
Tricky:
Uhh...
Martina:
The mind's a crowd-
Martina and Tricky:
Search for the spaces
Martina:
Turn around time's gone-
Martina and Tricky:
I take ten paces.
Martina:
Been up ahead -
Martina and Tricky:
Can't make heads or tails of it
Martina:
I drink till I'm drunk-
Martina and Tricky:
And I smoke till I'm senseless.
Martina:
See in black and white
Martina and Tricky:
Feel in slow motion
Martina:
I drown myself in sorrow
Martina and Tricky:
Until I wake up tomorrow.
The illusion of confusion
Martina:
It's not from where I am sat
Tricky :
Recircle recycle resemble me
Martina :
Different levels of the devil's company
Tricky:
Yeah x3
Martina:
They lead us outside-
Martina and Tricky:
Take us out quietly
Martina:
To the cage through the bars-
You see scars-- results of my rage
Martina:
The place where I stand gives way to liquid lino
(gives way to)
Underneath the weeping willow lies a weeping whino
(underneath the...there lies a weeping)
The place where I stand gives way to liquid lino
(the place where...gives...liquid)
Underneath the weeping willow lies a weeping whino
(underneath the...there lies a weeping)
The mind's a crowd, search for the spaces
(the illusion of confusion...search for...)
Turn around time's gone, I take ten paces.
(turn around...gone, i take ten paces)
Been up ahead - can't make heads or tails of it
(can't make heads or tails of it)
I drink 'til I'm drunk, and I smoke 'til I'm senseless.
(I smoke, I smoke, I smoke)
You see in black and white, feel in slow motion,
(feel in slow slow motion, and drown drown myself in sorrow)
Drown myself in sorrow, until I wake up tomorrow
(till i wake up tomorrow, the illusion of, the illusion of)
I drown myself in sorrow, until I wake up tomorrow
(the illusion of, the illusion of)
I drown myself in, I drown myself in
(the illusion of...until I, until I wake up tomorrow)
The illusion of confusion is not from where I am sat
(it's not from where I'm...circle)
03 Black Steel (05:40)
I got a letter from the government
The other day
I Opened and read it
It said they were suckers
They wanted me for the army or whatever
Picture me given' a damn -- I said never
Here is a land that never gave a damn
About a brother like me and myself
Because they never did
I wasn't wit' it, but just that very minute...
It occured to me
The suckers had authority
Cold sweatin' as I dwell in my cell
How long has it been?
They got me sittin' in the state pen
I gotta get out -- but that thought was thought before
I contemplated a plan on the cell floor
I'm not a fugitive on the run
But a brother like me begun -- to be another one
Public enemy servin' time -- they drew the line y'all
To criticize me for some crime -- never the less
They could not understand that I'm a Black man
And I could never be a veteran
On the strength, the situation's unreal
I got a raw deal, now I'm lookin for the steel
(Tricky: Many switch in, switch on, switch off (x5))
Nevertheless they cannot understand
That I'm a black man, and I could never be a veteran.
On the strength of situations, I'm real.
I got a raw deal, so I'm lookin' for the steel
Lookin for the steel.
06 Aftermath (07:38)
Martina :
The world revolves for,for someone
For him, for she
The world revolves for, for someone
For him for me
Martina & Tricky :
Your eyes resemble mine, you see as no others can
Here inherit my kingdom, speak of our people's plan
I'll be here for my baby, for my baby I'll be near
So many things I need to tell you, things you need to hear
Martina :
So this is the aftermath
Tricky :
Your eyes resemble mine, you see as no others can
Here inherit my kingdom, speak of our people's plan
I'll be here for my baby, for my baby I'll be near
So many things I need to tell you
Martina :
The world revolves for,for someone
For him, for she
The world revolves for, for someone
For him for me
'Let me tell you about my mother' ( From the film, Bladerunner )
Martina :
The world revolves for,for someone
For him, for she
The world revolves for, for someone
For him for me
Tricky & Martina :
Your eyes resemble mine, you see as no others can
Here inherit my kingdom, speak of our people's plan
I'll be here for my baby, for my baby I'll be near
So many things I need to tell you, things you need to hear
How can I be sure
In a world that's constantly changing
How can I be sure
In a world that's constantly changing
How can, how can I be sure
( Backward vocals )
Just when I thought I was winning
Just when I thought I could not be stopped
Just when I thought I was winning
Just when I thought I could not be stopped
How can I be sure?
07 Abbaon Fat Tracks (04:26)
fuck you in,
tuck you in,
suck you in
"then you fly,
fly as fast as you can to baby jesus"
(sample from film "the rapture")
I am she,
mistakes of men,
Gritty teeth,
fists all clenched,
Breast stroke,
lots of touching,
See you in the sauna
There'll be big fun up at my
Hotel, motel, hotel, motel
I fuck you in the ass,
just for a laugh,
With the quick speed,
I'll make your nose bleed,
I ride the pre-menstrual cycle,
Forget about Michael,
Now here's the big blast,
I like the big catch,
I'll spray you straight through,
I spray your daydreams
Enjoy myself,
within myself,
And back again, encouraging sin,
a powerful mind,
Devious mind for a devious kind,
Ugly noises and strange ways by the two praise
I roll up the blue bills,
I snort the cheap thrills
08 Brand New You're Retro (02:54)
Tricky:
We know, yes we know
It's my ego on fantastic
But still, you're fuckin' with my plastic
Dedicated, medicated,
They bend and break me
Overrate me
I take a small piece and make it breathe
It takes a second to wreck it sucka niggas won't believe
They stress me, test me, vex me
So what, you got a gun?
That shit don't impress me
Yes yes you always walks with the crew
You're a motherfucker 'cause you're not alone
If you don't think I'm a brother, then check my chromosome
Brand new, you're retro
I already passed you on a one-two
I've been cued to this already
Bullet to the head
Bullet to the head, what you know I's joking?
What the fuck you doin'?
You gonna represent my intention?
You need more than a mic and a mention
Through the scars you see bars
Through the bars you see scars results of my rage
Brand new, you're retro (x3)
Martina:
Scared to skip and step in case you trip and fall
Thunder picks you up, slaps you on the wall
That's maniacal, I cuff through my manocle
Mechanical and super-natty
Love is not talk, I walk on by
Exotic spices
If your mouth can't tame the meaning
Be careful of the faces you're seeing
A dread of the past and fear of the future
That's maniacal, I cuff through my manocle
Mechanical and super-natty
Tricky:
Brand new, you're retro (x3)
Brand new, you're retro (x3)
Bullet to the head, what you know I's joking?
What the fuck you doin'?
You'll never represent my intention
You need more than a mic and a mention
Through the scars you see bars
Through the bars you see scars results of my rage
Brand new, you're retro (x3)
Brand new, you're retro (x3)
Brand new, you're retro (x3)
Brand new, you're retro (x3)
11 Strugglin' (06:38)
Tricky:
Because, in, in hell I'll be lost in the layers of weakness
All around the surface brainwashed with the cheapest
Strugglin...strugglin...strugglin
Brainwashed with the
Hallucinagenics in my system
I cock the trigger
Many switch in
Switch on, switch off
Martina & Tricky:
Here I'm lost (I'm lost)
In the layers of weakness (Brainwashed)
All around the surface brainwashed with the cheapest
Exhausted by the mundane
Simplicity no longer plain
(Strugglin, strugglin)
Strugglin, strugglin with the insane
Tricky:
I'm strugglin
I'm strugglin with the insane
...
Hallucinagenics in my system
...
They say I'm insane
I'm strugglin, strugglin
Martina & Tricky:
Darkness and warmth
Obvious and mysterious
Magical colors
(Mystical shadows)
Mystical shadows
Thought with no meaning
(They say I'm insane)
Label me insane
But I'm more normal than most
Strugglin so hard
(I just need to remain)
('Cause I'm strugglin)
To remain
(I know I'm the truth)
'Cause we are the truth
See what we want to see
(Please, please tell me, tell me what i want to hear)
Hear what we want to hear
Strugglin so hard
(I'm strugglin)
I took a ride, yeah
(Roll with the bullets to survive... to survive... to survive)
(Self preservation)
Roll with the bullets
Just to survive
(Self preservation)
Self preservation
(Keeps the crowd alive)
Keeps the crowd alive
Tricky:
Strugglin... strugglin
They... they say I'm insane
I'm strugglin... strugglin
They say I'm insane
Martina & Tricky:
Strugglin
(I'm more normal than most)
Strugglin
(I'm just strugglin)
Strugglin
(Mythical shadows)
Strugglin
(Mysterious...the obvious)
Strugglin
(They say im insane...I'm strugglin)
Strugglin
Tricky:
Switch in, switch on, switch off
I'm lost in contradiction
Feed me my visuals
A flashback... a flashback from way back
I'm strugglin... strugglin
Do you know what its like to struggle?
Do you...do you...have you...have you ever had to struggle?
Strugglin...strugglin
Roll with the bullets to survive
Strugglin...strugglin...strugglin to remain
They label me insane
But i'm...i'm...i think i'm more normal than most
Strugglin with the remains
Brainwashed with the cheapest
And if pain makes me stronger
Then how am i stronger?
There's a fate for the late
But the late must wait longer
Strugglin...strugglin
Roll with the bullets to survive
Self preservation keeps the crowd alive
Strugglin
In hell I'll be lost in the layers of weakness
All around the surface brainwashed with the cheapest
In hell I'll be lost in the layers of weakness
All around the surface brainwashed with the cheapest
Exhausted with the mundane
Simplicity means no longer plain
Strugglin with the insane
Darkness and warmth
The obvious and mysterious
Magical colors, mythical shadows
Half thought with no meaning
They label me insane (x3)
12 Feed Me (04:03)
Tricky:
Hey you, so whatcha gonna do
Unbearable, searable, popular demand
From cradle to grave, the simple diary of man
Unbearable, searable, popular demand
Unbearable, searable, popular demand
From cradle to grave, the simple diary of man
Unbearable, searable, popular demand
Martina:
How things are together we'll destroy
And then we can destroy what we are
Together we can build what we are when we dream the spirit free
We don't give praise, we take praise
So why are we?
Tricky:
Unbearable, searable, popular demand
From cradle to grave, the simple diary of man
Martina:
How things are together we'll destroy
And then we can destroy what we are
Together we can build what we are when we dream the spirit free
We don't give praise, we take praise
So why are we?
Tricky:
Unbearable, searable, popular demand
From cradle to grave, this simple diary of man
Unbearable, searable, popular demand
Martina:
Feed me when I'm hungry
Drink me 'till I'm dry
The dream of yesterday becomes another lie
You feed me lies, distortion, the English disaster
No one's free from love for one master
Tricky:
Unbearable searable popular demand
From cradle to grave, the simple diary of man
Martina:
We found a new place to live where we're taught to grow strong
And strongly sensitive, it always sets the scenery
Colors leave only beauty, words and wine amongst the greenery
See how it is (x2)
The only lessons you teach us from a margin
They ask my origin
The only lessons you teach us from a margin
They ask my origin, it's a moral sin, it's a moral sin
Extract from crystal though nothing is clear
I despise you, damn you, dream you
I love you
But still nothing is clear
I think of when i found you
You keep on singin while I'm drowning
Down into that two-tone vision
I've been raised in this place
And now concrete is my religion
See how it is (x4)
The only lessons you teach us from a margin
You ask my origin
The only lessons you teach us from a margin
They ask my origin
The only lesson you teach us, wrong and right
You ask my origin
The only lesson you teach us, wrong and right
They ask my origin, it's a moral sin, it's a moral sin
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