Metro Pulse/Platters/Tricky, Hi-Tek, Toni Price

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This Week: Tricky goes pop, Hi-Tek matures, and Toni Price throws a hell of a party

Tricky
Blowback (Hollywood)

Not too long ago, a new album by Tricky was cause for excitement. His debut, 1995's Maxinquaye, pretty much invented the whole idea of "trip-hop" and remains one of the few albums that actually made that phrase mean something. It was a hazy, sorrowful, angry record, full of piecemeal melodies, lurching industrial rhythms, and the interplay of, Tricky's stoned, paranoid drawl and vocalist Martina's affectless but sexy sing-song. The follow-up, Pre-Millennium Tension, was even darker, more claustrophobic—a defining album of the 1990s.

But we made it to the 21st century more or less intact, and all that apocalyptic stuff doesn't scan so well these days. Tricky knows it, and he's not sure what to do now. Following a flawed (but interesting) third release and assorted EPs and collaborations, Blowback is his slickest album to date, an obvious bid for broader pop appeal. As a marketing move, though, it seems curiously out of step. The guest stars—Alanis Morrisette, Cyndi Lauper, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the annoying bald guy from Live fer cryin' out loud—are even farther along the road to irrelevancy than Tricky himself. And none of his new collaborators, most notably the singer Ambersunshower (Ambersunshower?), make up for the departure of Martina.

It sounds great, of course. Tricky is a peerless producer and arranger. But putting those gifts at the service of hand-me-down metal riffs like "Girls" or the Santana-ish "Evolution Revolution Love" just seems unnecessary. And the droning remake of Nirvana's "Something In the Way" is a total misfire. There are plenty of nice moments (my favorite is the gentle lullaby "Your Name"), but nowhere does Blowback feel much more than perfunctory—most of the songs would work well as background music on ESPN. It's as if Tricky put up his bongs and replaced them with lite beer.

—Jesse Fox Mayshark

Hi-Tek

Hi-Teknology (Rawkus)

One of last year's better albums was Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek's Reflection Eternal. The spotlight was primarily on Kweli's tour de force vocal performance, but DJ producer Hi-Tek had just as much to do with the album's success, framing his partner's punchy delivery in a soulful, edgy sonic landscape that built on the pathos.

On his solo debut, Hi-Teknology, Hi-Tek further comes into his own as a producer and DJ. He leaves most of the vocal duties up to a long string of guests, including Kweli, Common, Mos Def, Jonell, Vinia Mojica and others.

Hi-Tek pastes together sonic collages that are at times mournful ("Breakin' Bread"), romantic ("All I need is you"), fierce ("Get Back Pt. II") and sexy ("Get Ta Steppin'"). And he's adept at more than just hip hop, composing a great R&B track that's better than anything currently in rotation on urban radio—"Round & Round," featuring Jonell on vocals.

With a different MC on every track, the album at times lacks a unifying voice. But it's a testament to Hi-Tek's talent as a DJ and producer that he manages to pull it all together and make it sound of a piece (and a true producer, he's not afraid to edit, avoiding the tendency of so many hip-hop artists to bog down their LPs with 20-plus tracks—Hi-Teknology closes out at a just-right 14 tracks).

Most importantly, Hi-Tek has a knack for finding the perfect beat and sound to wrap around whoever is on vocals—and that's all anyone could want from a producer or DJ.

—Joe Tarr

Toni Price

Midnight Pumpkin (Antone's/Texas Music Group)

Toni Price's voice always sounds like she's just walked in from one hell of a party. It's a little thin, a little smoke-scarred and rough on the higher notes, but those imperfections match the good-time, late-night groove of her songs. Naw, she doesn't write them herself, but we're having too much fun listening to them to care.

And that's where her gift lies, in creating such a friendly, bluesy vibe on her records (in person, it's so compelling you can't help but join the party with a glass of gin and a cigarette in your hand) that you start hunting around for someone—anyone!—to dance with. Price covers a fair portion of the American musical gamut from the easy swing of "Like You Used To" to the almost zydeco flavors of "Work On It" to the broad, open-road-friendly Texas rock of "Measure for Measure," to the high lonesome-ish "Darlin'." But rather than sounding like a mish-mash of styles, Midnight Pumpkins always comes back to the easy rhythms of Price, who takes on these songs like a true entertainer and thrift-store chanteuse.

Which isn't to say there aren't a couple of mis-steps on the album, like "Something in the Water," which makes Price sound like a washed-out, over-produced, post-Don-Was Bonnie Raitt. But these failings are small and easy forgiven when Price and Malford Milligan (formerly of Double Trouble and Storyville) launch into the earnest, soulful "I Want To Do Everything For You"—truly the stand-out cut on this wonderfully loose collection.

—Adrienne Martini