As always with Tricky, the right idea for pop isn't necessarily just right for him. Beats, of course; songs, sure; a band, who could say no? And right, individual tracks connect pretty good–hot lesbian porn, you devil you. Yet though his soundscapes be obscure and forbidding, they're what he's great at; his rap affinities and rock dreams are off the point, especially in the studio. So the best thing about these shapely selections is that they remain obscure and forbidding as they stand up and announce themselves. Second-best is their scorn for criminal pretensions, always a boon from a borderline nihilist.

Sonic wizard Robin Guthrie (ex-Cocteau Twins) and vocalist Siobhan de Mare (ex-Mono) made up the hazy dream pop of Violet Indiana. Shortly after de Mare was relieved of her Mono duties, she received a phone call from Guthrie, asking her if she'd like to work with him. Unfamiliar with Guthrie's cult status, she asked her sister about him and decided to take him up on the offer. In late 2000, the duo released the Choke EP on Bella Union, the label run by Guthrie and former Cocteau mate Simon Raymonde. Retaining some of Guthrie's trademark characteristics and combining them with de Mare's lazy, confident delivery, the Choke EP established them convincingly enough as something removed from Guthrie's prior band – a tricky thing indeed. 2001's full-length Roulette improved on the promising debut. A singles collection, Casino, followed in early 2002. Russian Doll was the proper follow-up to Roulette, released in June of 2004.

Like drum 'n' bass, ambient is a genre which relies on making a little go a very long way; the resultant glut of weedy minimalist pastiches barely bears a cursory listen for the most part, but this collaboration between Harold Budd and Hector Zazou demonstrates better than any recent offering how the spaces between the sounds can be made pregnant with possibility. On "Pandas in Tandem", the ghost of Erik Satie treads lightly over a shuffle breakbeat; the result is fragile and crystalline, as tentatively pristine as snowflakes. Elsewhere, heavy rhythmic breathing carries "Around the Corner from Everywhere"; slivers of what sounds like hammered dulcimer undulate through "Johnny Cake", and clarinets collude conspiratorially on "As Fast as I Could Look Away She was Still There".

Despite the fact that Wagon Christ-related releases started to pile up for various labels, Luke Vibert wasn't in danger of repeating himself - his productions on Sorry I Make You Lush differ stylistically and thematically from any material he's issued under any other alias, while still being less a genre holiday than his previous YosepH for Warp. Still pushing his beats and basslines farther into funk and soul territory even while he pulls his effects from the realm of experimental electronics, Vibert may play the dance technician while producing his tracks, but he's become much more a natural trackmaster than in the past. "I'm Singing" may be his first vocal feature of all time, but regardless, it is a vocal track, and one that shows him integrating sung vocals into his hipster funk very well (a later track finds him sampling a female folksinger à la Jacqui McShee to good effect)…

Four years on from Smoker's Delight and, fortunately, little has changed for George Evelyn's Nightmares on Wax project. While he could've easily been forgiven for following the nu-beat crowd and inserting a few prescient big beats into the blunted trip-hop formula, it's all clear from the opener, "Les Nuits" (a NoW theme of sorts, repeated from Smoker's Delight), that at hand is a return to form, not a turn away from the trip-hop style that took such a beating during the late '90s. The lazy-day soul samples driving tracks like "Morse" and "Finer" are perfect examples that instrumental hip-hop doesn't have to resort to the usual producer's bag of tricks to make for music leagues beyond the average. There's also a focus here lacking from previous material; fewer interludes make for a more concentrated listening experience…

To achieve longevity in music you need many things but if you want to stay relevant, it boils down to two - growth and invention. For over 25 years, Leeds-born George Evelyn, aka the main man behind Nightmares on Wax, has expanded his sound from the studio-based electronics of a Word of Science: the 1st & Final Chapter, to a live sounding, multiple instrument affair that explores everything and anything from dub and hip-hop to funk, soul and R&B.; This desire to stretch and expand his signature sound continues on his album Shape the Future.
Musically, the album furthers the studio band vibe of Feelin Good. While that album had its stand out moments, Shape the Future feels much more cohesive and more confident…