Although her name will not immediately mean anything to most people, Martina Topley-Bird has earned her spurs in the music industry. She was Tricky's muse on Nearly God and Angels And Dirty Faces and she sang on Bow Down To The Exit Sign by David Holmes. Both gentlemen can be heard on Quixotic, her debut, on which she profiles herself as a very gifted singer / songwriter. Holmes throws out a bawdy
… swamp boogie (Too Tough To Die) for this occasion, while Tricky creates his 'dark mood' (Ragga) in the old-fashioned way. Quixotic opens as if Moby has once again found an obscure New Orleans sample. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, because this CD shows that Martina Topley-Bird is at home in many markets. On Need One, the second track, you can hear that she learned a lot from Tricky, but that could also be due to the collaboration with Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan from Queens Of The Stone Age. In that respect she does not tie herself to a music style, because Quixotic moves between extremely fragile trip hop and clanging nu metal. (AD)more