Fact 178: Tricky from Knowle West

Tricky was born Adrian Thaws in 1964. He grew up in the Knowle West area of, Bristol. He is regarded as one of the leading exponents of the trip-hop genre, Tricky began his musical career in the late 80s as a member of an informal crew of MCs, DJs and singers based in Bristol and known as the Wild Bunch.

'This collective eventually mutated into the pioneering Massive Attack, with Tricky contributing guest raps to 'Daydreaming' and 'Five Man Army' on the band's brilliant 1991 debut, Blue Lines. Although he worked on two tracks for the follow-up Protection (eventually released in 1994), Tricky expressed dissatisfaction with his colleagues' musical direction and moved to London to concentrate on his solo career. In late 1993, he released his first single, the trippy 'Aftermath', which arose from informal sessions with Mark Stewart (ex-Pop Group) on a four-track mobile.

Tricky employed the services of local schoolgirl Martine (the song was recorded when she was only 15) on vocals, releasing it on his own Naive label. Despite its strong critical reception, Tricky was, in the best traditions of Massive Attack, reticent about his abilities: 'I don't really consider myself to be a rapper. I'm more of a lyricist really'.

The subsequent Maxinquaye was one of the critical favourites of 1995, and a surprising commercial success despite being an atmospheric and unsettling record that explored the darker recesses of its creator's mind on tracks such as 'Hell Is Round The Corner' and 'Feed Me'. Stylistically, the album ranged from a dramatic hard rock cover version of Public Enemy's 'Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos' to the mock soul of 'Abbaon Fat Tracks'.

The album's murky, claustrophobic sound had roots in both the hip-hop and ambient genres, and was dubbed 'trip-hop' by critics struggling to define what would become known as the 'Bristol sound'. Later in the year Tricky collaborated with horrercore rap crew Gravediggaz on The Hell EP, and set-up his Durban Poison production company. The following year's Nearly God was a compelling side-project that saw Tricky collaborating with guest vocalists including Bj?rk, Neneh Cherry and Terry Hall.

After moving to New York City he continued to pursue a busy remixing schedule while writing tracks for his second album, and even found the time to make his big-screen debut in The Fifth Element. Pre-Millennium Tension made for even more uneasy listening, with tracks such as 'Tricky Kid' and 'Lyrics Of Fury' being both threatening and paranoid in turn.

By 1998's Angels With Dirty Faces, however, Tricky had begun to sound like a pastiche of himself as song after song stooped further into dark isolation against a relentlessly droning musical backdrop. The following year's Juxtapose, a collaboration with DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) and DMX producer Grease, was a timely return to form.

It proved to be his last release on Island Records, with whom the artist parted company at the end of the year. He subsequently signed to the hip Anti imprint of Epitaph Records and spoke candidly about being cured of a debilitating physical disease. The excellent Blowback was heralded as his best album since Maxinquaye.

Fact 179: Roni Size from St Paul's

Reprazent came to national prominence in 1997 when its founder and leader, Roni Size, was awarded that year's Mercury Prize. Much of the acclaim centred around Size's melding of the new with the old - the propulsive jungle beats accompanied by live drums and double bass.

The band are Roni Size, DJ Krust, Onallee, MC Dynamite and rapper Bahmadia. They came together on Bristol's highly fertile and disparate club scene. As a result, Reprazent's sleek, highly musical take on drum 'n' bass is equally informed by hip-hop, funk, soul and house.

Size was expelled from school at the age of 16, and starting attending house parties run by Bristol mavericks the Wild Bunch (later Massive Attack). His future partner, Krust, enjoyed an early dalliance with fame as part of the Fresh 4, whose 'Wishing On A Star' reached the UK Top 10 in late 1989.

Reprazent's debut album, New Forms, was released on Full Cycle Records, which Size runs in partnership with DJ Krust. Size was keen to describe the influences as intuitive: 'If Krust walks into the studio and his head is nodding, that's enough. I know I've got a result there. He doesn't need to touch a button or tell us what he thinks, 'cos we already know what he's thinking.' In consolidation of their mainstream breakthrough, Reprazent set out to become the summer sound of 1997 with a series of festival appearances. Size subsequently teamed up with DJ Die and Leonie Laws in Breakbeat Era, before returning to Reprazent to record October 2000's uncompromising In The Mode.

Fact 180: Portishead

Portishead are named after the sleepy port where Geoff Barrow (born in Weston-Super-Mare) spent his childhood. Barrow started out as a tape operator, working in a minor capacity with Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry, and also wrote songs for Neneh Cherry. With the aid of an Enterprise Allowance grant he recruited jazz guitarist and musical director Adrian Utley, drummer/programmer Dave MacDonald and vocalist Beth Gibbons (born in Keynsham), whom he encountered on a job creation scheme while she was singing Janis Joplin cover versions in a pub.

Together they recorded a soundtrack and film, To Kill A Dead Man, with themselves as actors because 'we couldn't find anyone else to do the parts'. At this point they came to the attention of A&R man Ferdy Unger-Hamilton at the Go! Discs subsidiary, Go! Beat, who encouraged Barrow to remix Gabrielle's 'Dreams'. He was sufficiently impressed with the results to sign the band immediately, despite several other interested parties.

Portishead's early singles 'Numb' and 'Sour Times' emerged to good press reaction, although the debut album slipped in and out of the charts with little fanfare. There was some problem with marketing the band - both Barrow and Gibbons were reluctant to do interviews, and had no initial interest in playing live. Instead the press campaign saw painted mannequin dummies distributed in strategic locations throughout London, ensuring press coverage outside of the expected media. Word of mouth continued to push the band's profile and, with virtually no radio support, their third single, 'Glory Box', entered the UK charts at number 13 in January 1995.

Aided by a distinctive, gender-swapping video, its arrival came on the back of several Album Of The Year awards for Dummy from magazines as diverse as Mixmag, ID, The Face and Melody Maker.

Mixing torch songs with blues, jazz and hip-hop, their sound became known as 'trip-hop', a loose term which was readily associated with other Bristol-based acts such as Massive Attack and Tricky. The interest also translated to America, where the album sold over 150,000 copies without the band even setting foot there. They were then awarded the Mercury Music Prize for best album of 1995. Following their success, the band were invited to contribute to several soundtracks, including two low-budget art movies and Tank Girl.

The long-awaited follow-up to Dummy was severely delayed when Barrow, a self-confessed perfectionist, reached a creative impasse that almost destroyed the band. His perseverance paid off, however, when Portishead was released in September 1997 to excellent critical reviews, but ultimately disappointing sales. Although first single 'All Mine' had suggested some variation to the Portishead sound, the album covered essentially the same ground as their debut, albeit in an impressively stylish manner. A perfunctory live album followed in 1998.

Portishead's painstaking work schedule allowed the members room for other projects, the most notable of which was Gibbons collaboration with ex-Talk Talk bass player Paul Webb under the moniker Beth Gibbons and Rustin' Man. The duo released their debut recording, Out Of Season, in November 2002.

Fact 181: Massive Attack

Were formed in 1987 in Bristol. The pioneering force behind the rise of trip-hop, Massive Attack are among the most innovative and influential groups of today.

Their distinctive sound has been described as 'hypnotic', 'dark' accompanied by a mix of hip-hop, soul, dub grooves and choice samples. It is this eclectic sound that has set the pace for much of the modern dance music we hear today. Their original sound paved the way for such acclaimed artists as Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Beth Orton and Tricky, himself a good friend of the members of Massive Attack.

Their history dates back to 1983 and the formation of the Wild Bunch, one of the earliest and most successful sound system/DJ collectives to arrive on the U.K. music scene. The Wild Bunch were renowned for their seamless integration of a wide range of musical styles from punk to reggae to R&B, the group's parties quickly became can't-miss events for the Bristol club crowd, and at the peak of their popularity they drew crowds so enormous that the local live music scene essentially ground to a halt.

When the Wild Bunch folded during the mid-1980s, two of its members -- 'Mushroom' Vowles and 'Daddy G' Marshall teamed with local grafitti artist 3D (born Robert Del Naja) to form Massive Attack in 1987.

The group's first single, 'Daydreaming,' appeared in 1990; it featured the sultry vocals of singer Shara Nelson and raps by Tricky. The classic 'Unfinished Sympathy' followed, as did another compelling effort, 'Safe from Harm'.

Massive Attack released their debut LP in 1991, 'Blue Lines'. The album did not sell well comercially, although the record was met with critical praise, and was dubbed an instant classic in many quarters. Soon after the albums release Nelson, a guest vocalist on many of their tracks on the album, decided to go solo and the group decided to change their name to 'Massive' to avoid any implication of approval for the U.N.'s policy towards Iraq.

Many people wrote the band off after a disastrous US tour and the band locked themselves in the studio for three years. They resurfaced with the album 'Protection'. Yet again they collaborated with Hooper and Tricky, they also brought into the fold vocalist Nicolette, as well as Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn. After three singles 'Karmacoma,' 'Sly' and the title track were released from the LP a lengthy tour followed, and over the next several years, Massive Attack's solo work was primarily confined to remixes for artists including Garbage. Finally, to promote their appearance at the annual Glastonbury music festival, the group issued a new EP, 'Risingson', during the summer of 1997. The third full-length Massive Attack effort, 'Mezzanine', appeared in mid-1998. 'Mezzanine' was a commercial success with the single 'Teardrop' successfully entering the singles chart.

After a further two years in the wilderness 3D and Daddy G returned, without Mushroom, to their roots in Bristol to launch the album '100th Window' in February 2003 and it went straight in at number one in the charts with the single 'Special Cases' charting later in the month.