I first sampled the new Tricky at the LAB  "anti-mall" in Costa Mesa.  From the few snippets I reckoned it was pretty cool; a little disappointing, though, when I brought it home for the first time.  Favoring texture and atmosphere over melody and hook, Tricky has concocted a swirling, disturbing brew of stuttered beats and rhymes.  A duet with Polly Jean Harvey, "Broken Homes," is almost worth the price of admission alone, with a haunting gospel chorus and smoothed out rhythms.  The other tracks are difficult--Tricky slurs and half-sings and whispers vocals chopped up with distortion, Martina warbles the blues a la Beth Gibson, guitar and drums scatter around the edge of chaos--I think I'm more intrigued with the idea of this Tricky disc rather than actually listening to it.  I want to like this album, I really do.  I'm gonna sit on it for awhile before trading it back in--maybe it will grow on me.  

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