In common offhanded fashion, Beck managed to describe with ironic clarity the nature of his goal as an artist in the recent premiere of Talk Magazine.
"I'm not interested in making any millennial statements," he said, "I just want to make a dumb party album to have sex to."
Tricky -- who, like Beck, is a member of the short list of avante-pop icons of the '90s -- probably would not want his music reduced to its most superficial elements, despite its prevalence both in bedrooms and smoke-filled dens across the world. Still, on his new album, "Juxtapose," the trip-hop pioneer has moved away from the stranger elements of his recent recordings, and -- with the help of DJ Muggs and Grease -- has produced a more straightforward sound that is easily conducive to all of the things his colleague Beck holds dear.
Unlike Tricky's last full length album, "Angels with Dirty Faces," "Juxtapose" places substance above theory. On tracks like "Hot Like a Sauna" and "I Like the Girls" Tricky demonstrates that he can make music to roll in a jeep to just as well as he can cool out a grad student bar. Many of the familiar details are still there -- layered beats with sexy female vocals and Tricky's hypnotically raspy voice -- but there is a renewed focus on the strict groove that has been largely absent from his efforts in the past couple of years.
Tricky has a longer history than Scooby-Doo of having great guest stars, and the tight sound of "Juxtapose" owes much to DJ Muggs and Grease.
The all out hip-hop tracks are produced by Grease, who is best known for his work with DMX. Grease's beats are noticeably less schizophrenic than those produced by Tricky, and it is a testament to Tricky's real hip-hop credibility that their collaboration works so well despite their differences in style.
Muggs' rsum is similarly impressive. As the resident beat-junkie of Cypress Hill, his collaboration with Tricky is a logical union for reasons above and beyond mere music. "Juxtapose" presents Muggs in a different light from his East L.A. persona. On songs like "Call Me" and "Wash My Soul," Muggs' production displays a somberness and sensibility that is absent from his previous work. "Wash My Soul" features Spanish guitar and a string section layered above a prodding beat -- a string section for goodness sake! Quite a change from "Hits from the Bong."
Regrettably, the vocalist Martina is completely absent from "Juxtapose." Tricky has used other female singers, such as Bjork and PJ Harvey, on various recordings in the past, but none have been able to mesh with his music quite as well as the soulful Martina. The new crop of substitutes, Kioka and D'na, are lackluster at best. It is a wonder that Tricky would abandon Martina, who has been a consistently brilliant contributor to his music ever since he dropped his first album, "Maxinquaye," in '95. The only plausible explanation is that her absence has something to do with Tricky's more mainstream direction on "Juxtapose," but even this theory leaves room for confusion.
Also absent from the new album is a palatable number of tracks. Tricky has never been known to cram his records full of songs like many hip-hop artists, but the 10 songs on "Juxtapose" -- one of them a remix -- are a bit scant. In total the record is only about 35 minutes long.
Still, there is an overall eclectic quality to the album, and while it may not have the cohesive feel of 1996's "Pre-Millennium Tension," "Juxtapose" manages to satisfy in many ways.
Especially hot are the rhymes of Mad Dog, who emcees on two of the tracks produced by Grease. His rapid Cockney flow is unusual and mixes surprisingly well with Tricky's music, which has in the past been more accustomed to the slow methodical drawl of Tricky's rap.
Tricky seems to be using "Juxtapose" to enlarge his audience by capitalizing on the recent ascendancy of hip-hop to a more mainstream status. For those unfamiliar with his past work, "Juxtapose" is an accessible entrance point to more cerebral compositions like '96's "Nearly God."
However, longtime fans of Tricky may be slightly disappointed with "Juxtapose" for its comparative lack of depth. There is no crazy treatise on modern life beneath these songs as in the past. And as we have grown to expect so much of this prolific man from Bristol, England -- to whom many producers, such as Missy Elliot's Timbaland, owe their entire bag of tricks -- anything less than monumental at this point is rather ordinary.
"Juxtapose" is a great party album to have sex to, but for the more thoughtful listener Tricky's unique greatness may be better found in the past.