CRAFT ★★★★★
Although nominated for the Mercury Prize, Martina TopleyBird’s debut album didn’t get nearly enough love on its release in 2003. Maybe the public had tired of the Bristolian scene. Perhaps Topley-Bird’s association with Tricky – she featured on her former partner’s first three albums – meant she wasn’t trusted enough in her own right.
Either way, it’s a scandal Quixotic only reached No.70, and that its incendiary first single, Need One, missed the Top 75 altogether. Finally released for the first time on vinyl, 21 years on, Quixotic deserves far more than being seen as a trip-hop curio.