4Play

Dec. 20, 2006

Moby - Go: The Very Best of Moby - V2

Every single track off of Moby’s Play album was used in either a film, ad, or TV show - the first album to have that distinction - and if the catchiness of the tracks on Go are any indication, this album looks to be sliding the same way.  Granted, five of Play’s tunes are included here (it is a best-of disc, after all), but so are 11 other tracks that will stick with you like peanut butter on the roof of a dog’s mouth - it’s a comprehensive overview of much of Moby’s best to date.  A terrific techno/pop/rock mix (including a bonus disc of remixes that you’ll also dig), the set includes Moby’s famed “Natural Blues,” the standout “God Moving Over the Face of the Waters,” and a richer remix of Moby’s 1991 tune “Go” (also the title track, of course), plus the new single “New York, New York” with Blondie’s Debbie Harry. You may even be a Moby fan without knowing it, as so many of the songs have already been showcased through all manner of audio outlets - that’s just how appealing Moby’s work is.

 
Crowded House - Farewell to the World - Capitol

In November, 1996, Crowded House - perhaps one of the most underrated pop bands ever - played their final gig as a band in front of over 100,000 fans in their homeland of Australia. Finally, there is an official release of that concert recording, which stands as both an extensive overview of the band’s back catalogue of catchy, bittersweet, smart songs and a poignant souvenir of a band that never really got their worldwide due.  This two-CD set of the live performance includes a wide sampling of the band’s well-written, evocative hits and album tracks, including “Something So Strong,” “World Where You Live,” and, of course, the song that got it all started chart-wise for them, “Don’t Dream It’s Over.”  Of course Neil Finn has gone on to a successful solo career that, as expected, has generated even more impressive songcraft - but this is where it began, and it’s good to hear these songs appropriately revived on the 10th anniversary of this Aussie trio’s final performance.

 
The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity - UMVD

It may have taken this Swedish band a full year to find a label that would distribute this album stateside (?), but now that it’s here, it’ll be more than the Swedish who will find the Cardigans worthy of fandom.  Their sixth studio album is a far cry from their first (and only, really) U.S. hit, “Lovefool,” as it leans more towards the band’s darker sound as opposed to just pulling the poppier tracks out for the mainstreamers to digest.  Singer Nina Persson has one of the more unique voices in pop music, as she brings her glossy, quirkily-accented tones to such tracks as “Little Black Cloud,” “Losing A Friend,” “Drip Drop Teardrop,” and the pointed, accurately-titled “I Need Some Fine Wine, and You, You Need To Be Nicer.”  The rest of the band aren’t slackers, either;  the instrumentations here are sharp and carry Persson’s vocals buoyantly, as they defy the gravity of the disc’s title and make songs that rise well above many of the other import bands.


 
The Divine Comedy - Victory for the Comic Muse - Parlophone

The Divine Comedy - otherwise known as the skilled Neil Hannon - continues to craft sad songs that say so much.  Hannon’s low-toned grumbles serve as counterpoint for the beautiful orchestrations and guitar strums that anchor most of the tracks on this set, making these b-i-g, storytelling songs that, were they not devoid of corniness, would make for great accompaniments to a big-budget Broadway musical.  Bringing in influences ranging from The Smiths to Leonard Cohen, DC also experiments with instruments from the harpsichord (“The Light of Day”) to spoken word tracks (“Count Grassi’s Passage Over Piedmont”) and continue to craft some of the best orchestral passages in pop music today.  Other highlights include the long-named “Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World,” the thoughtful “Snowball in Negative,” the monotonously appropriate office workers’ tale, “Plough,” with its equally appropriate surprise of an ending, and the ear-sticking first single, “Diva Lady.”