Word: hops
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...English. Elements of African tribal chants and Pygmy song blend seamlessly with Daulne's incredible lead vocals, which flow easily from breathless pixie to soul sister. But A Ma Zone should not be consigned to the world music section of record stores. It's a pop and hip-hop album, and it markets itself as such, down to Martin Ledyard's hip stylised cover art. "Songe" and the impossibly beautiful "Call Waiting" both blend in the stuttering backbeats of 90s R&B, while the inclusion of rapper Black Thought (from the Roots, Philly's famed hip-hop collective) on "Rafiki...
...store selling wood carvings of Biblical characters. In such a store, one is so taken by the statues that it's easy to forget one's surroundings--which is for the better, in this case, since even in this little alcove of Christian peace, a quiet but immutable hip-hop bass line whispered from hidden speakers...
What makes all this so uncommon is that classic rockers--especially the prodigiously talented psychedelia-tinged guitar slingers of the '60s and '70s--are usually considered by radio to be as irrelevant to today's pop- and hip-hop-happy world as Benny Goodman was to the Woodstock generation. Santana's biggest smash, Abraxas, came in 1970. Radio now shuns most of the greats of Santana's glory days--the Who, the Allman Brothers, even Paul McCartney. Who cares if you're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? It's ratings they want...
Tricky, once Adrian Thawes, is undeniably one of the most influential artists to come out of the trip-hop scene. Countless bands and performers have followed the path he laid out with his work with Massive Attack and his debut album, 1995's Maxinquaye. Since then, Tricky's moved on: his albums following Maxinquaye, including Juxtapose, his latest, largely abandon its mellow vibe for a darker, harder hip-hop sound. The audience that came to see him at Avalon last Thursday seemed to be hoping to sway to the sounds of his first album, by far the most popular work...
...With Juxtapose, Tricky is positioning himself to appeal to mainstream U.S. hip-hop crowd. It's going to be a tough sell, though: Tricky's hip-hop resembles little else on the market. He's an extraordinarily versatile musician; while he may not always be palatable, he's certainly interesting, and you can't say that he doesn't put on a good show. Avalon unfortunately marred the ending of his show: the lights went up during the second encore, halfway through a terrific rendition of "Vent." Next time, maybe, they'll let him finish...