Tricky "Maxinquaye" [1995]

Clearly "trip-hop" is one of the biggest euphemisms ever prodded toward the music-buying public, as evidenced by "Maxinquaye," Tricky's first album after escaping -- and ripping off all the studio production techniques from -- Massive Attack. "Trip-hop" should be instead called something like "Technobummer" or "Disillusionectronica," steeped as it is in morbid emotion and the boredom of spoiled grown-ass children. Just because you can get your jailbait girlfriend to ruminate over the same two verses of a Public Enemy song doesn't mean you have depth; in fact, it just proves you shouldn't have gotten so high in high school, because now as a Gen-Xer in the workforce (to whatever extent such a concept ever existed) you could have used those brain cells for something constructive. "Maxinquaye" is pretty much the opposite of that: unapologetically materialistic and crassly vengeful, privileged yet still brim-full of unpleasant dickheadedness. This is a storm cloud of Bjorkist misery and Portishead conceit, or vice-versa. In any case, if smoking hydroponic weed makes you this morose, save yourself a few bucks, drink some cheap beer and go listen to Blues Traveler.