New Tricky album on the way

Some fifteen years after his classic debut album Maxinquaye, Tricky comes with a new album called Mixed Race. It’s already his ninth studio album and the second one to be released on Domino Records after 2008’s Knowle West Boy. Mixed Race was recorded in Paris, where Tricky currently lives, and he seems to be taking a bit of a new direction. Influences this time range from the UK and Jamaica to North Africa and France. But while the songs are anounced to be more uptempo, this mostly stays the same dark and rich Tricky all the way.

The album’s called Mixed Race because being mixed race is the single biggest influence on my music. You sat down at the table in my house and you saw every colour. It’s made me much more open-minded than I could’ve been. I come from both worlds.
Mixed Race is a gangster album. I can’t do gangsta rap. That’s not me. I can’t talk about being a bad boy, ‘cos I’m not. But I’ve been around that. So this is the closest I can get to a gangsta album. Its very gully, as Jamaicans call it… very dark. Tense, street and urban. It’s like a movie, almost.
This is also the most uptempo album I’ve done. I wanted something that could be played in a club…maybe! Which is unusual for me. Because I don’t give a shit about clubs.

It made us curious and we have to say the first single from the album is quite promissing. Murder Weapon is a rework of a classic early nineties Jamaican dancehall tune from Echo Minott. You can hear the Peter Gunn theme, some B52′s (Planet Claire) and even a Claude François sample (Comme d’habitude). Bien étonnés de se trouver ensemble, but it works well. Wonder what the rest of the album sounds like.

Here’s the original Murder Weapon.

Wonderland

This one is taken from the second Jahtarian Dubbers album. It’s a tune by Black Chow and that’s short for Kiki Hitomi and Kevin Martin playing upgraded dancehall and achingly sad torch song dubs. Dub the way we love it.

Tenor Saw – Ring The Alarm

Just some vintage dancehall, hailing from the early days of digital reggae. Released in 1985 on the Techniques label, it was considered an instant classic and since those days the tune has lost nothing of its freshness.

“Ring The Alarm” is the best known cut of one of the most infectious riddims ever, Winston Riley’s Stalag riddim. It’s also a perfect example of Tenor Saw’s style: his airy voice and the simply-structured repetitive melodies with short, barely sung notes. This combination of the riddim and the vocals are simply irresistible.

The song was Tenor Saw‘s response to the fact that the sound system he was performing for in a sound clash wasn’t getting the recognition it deserved. That sound system was Sugar Minott’s ‘Youth Promotion’.

The video’s a nice one as well, especially with the images of “the making of” a vinyl record. Ah, just wondering how long ago that must have been.

XLR8R interview with the Bug and Warrior Queen

XLR8R has an interview with Kevin Martin (aka the Bug) and Warrior Queen over on their site, including a few small but fascinating live snippets. It’s funny to hear how the onstage Warrior Queen is different from the offstage persona.
Watch the interview here.

If you would be wondering what the onstage Warrior Queen sounds like, here’s the video of the Bug’s “Aktion Pak”.

Welton Irie interview

DanceCrasher publishes an extensive interview with deejay veteran Welton Irie. Complete with live recordings from sound system sessions and samples of some of Welton’s records plus the usual collection of label scans this is a superb interview that gives a great insight into Welton’s career and sound system business in the late 70’s and 1980’s.

Some great deejay style in this video of the 1983 Gemini Soundsystem with Johnny Ringo & Welton Irie as DJ’s and controllers. And just in case you’re wondering: Welton Irie is the guy in the middle.