In 1994, Bristol’s music scene went from being a cult concern to large information, as Huge Assault consolidated their fame with sophomore album Safety, and Portishead joined the get together with Dummy. If there was any doubt left as to the town’s expertise, in 1995 it was banished for good.
Coming from a mixed-race household, Huge Assault rapper and Portishead collaborator Tough (aka Adrian Thaws, and previously Tough Child) had been steeped in Bristol’s sound-system tradition since delivery and had already signaled his intentions with the (initially independently-released) single “Aftermath” and the Indian-vibed Howie B manufacturing “Ponderosa,” earlier than releasing his equally era-defining debut solo album, Maxinquaye.
Take heed to Maxinquaye on Apple Music and Spotify.
Ably abetted by seasoned producer Mark Saunders (who introduced one thing of his work with The Treatment to proceedings), Tough’s late-night-toned, depressive, beautiful-ugly debut album was a No.3 UK hit, a crucial touchstone in damaged and bombed Britain, and the drug-damaged epitome of each the “trip” and the “hop” in trip-hop. That is regardless of a lot of the document being a deliberate affront to American hip-hop conventions, beginning with the continued references to sexual dysfunction.
A Bowie for the 90s
Named poignantly for his late mom, and that includes references each to Rastafarianism and to being a “weeping wino,” Maxinquaye was additionally crammed with nods to Tough’s contemporaries, each in Bristol and additional afield. Opener “Overcome” has the album’s closely featured visitor singer Martina Topley-Chook revisit his key contribution to Safety, “Karmacoma,” and the wonderful “Hell Is Round The Corner” appears to Isaac Hayes’ “Ike’s Rap II” (as sampled by Portishead on the moody “Glory Box”), flipping it right into a crackling, paranoid nightmare.
Topley-Chook was most putting on the duvet of Public Enemy’s anti-draft “Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos,” including an sudden gender-political dimension to the monitor (as she does on lots of Maxinquaye’s others written by Thaws). The resultant “Black Steel” was additionally switched from its comparatively low-key origin into heavy metallic, with the assistance of drummer FTV. The emphasis on gender obfuscation was underlined by Tough and Topley-Chook’s androgynous photograph shoots and movies: Thaws stated that he was appearing as a conduit for his late poet mom, however he additionally (consciously or not) supplied a Bowie-esque determine for the 90s.
Capturing the zeitgeist
Launched on February 20, 1995, Maxinquaye was so full of unsettling, greased-lens goodies that the entire first half of the album got here out as singles. These confirmed a number of sides of Tough’s persona, reflecting the eclecticism of the instances, with the Smashing Pumpkins-sampling “Pumpkin” having a torch track really feel much like that of Portishead (courtesy of an early look from Alison Goldfrapp). “You Don’t” took a extra reggae-influenced tone (with vocals from Icelandic singer Ragga) and the ambiance of the Mark Stewart-featuring “Aftermath” was summed up by one of many single’s remix titles: hip-hop blues.
The one remixes took issues even additional, because the powerful funk of “Brand New You’re Retro” was twisted into drum’n’bass within the palms of Alex Reece (as featured on the deluxe model of Maxinquaye), whereas Thaws employed American horrorcore rappers Gravediggaz so as to add to the gloom on the The Hell EP.
Whereas Tough has remained attention-grabbing since his debut, he has by no means captured the zeitgeist so dazzlingly, nor has as a lot collective care been taken on his total idea and execution as is was on Maxinquaye, a real 90s traditional.
Maxinquaye will be purchased right here.
