Music Review: 'Pre-Millennium Tension'

As on last year’s Maxinquaye, Pre-millennium Tension finds the British producer and remixer Tricky blending chill-out electronics and mild hip-hop beats into a new genre. But the addition of more soul and reggae doesn’t expand his trademark trip-hop so much as dilute it. With its revue-style singers and bumpy, hiccupy rhythms, Tension feels less like a cohesive record than a Tricky variety show. Engrossing, progressive background music is one thing; pretentious background music is another. B-