Murphy had no prior professional singing experience when Moloko was formed,[1] while Brydon had previously worked on music as a producer with musicians such as Boy George and Cabaret Voltaire on releases from the 1990s.[2] In 1994, the two met at a party in Sheffield, where Murphy approached Brydon with the chat-up line, "Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body!"[1] Its first sentence became their début album's title, recorded while the pair had begun dating.[1] The name Moloko comes from the narcotic-filled milk drink, Moloko Plus, in the Anthony Burgess novel A Clockwork Orange,[3] based on the Russian for milk, "молоко" ("moloko").
The group signed to Echo Records and released their single "Where Is the What If the What Is in Why?"[1] The group's debut album Do You Like My Tight Sweater? was released in 1995.[1] The group toured with Pulp following the release.[1] The single "Fun for Me" was featured prominently on the Batman & Robin soundtrack and received radio airplay and strong MTV rotation.[4] It reached number four in the US Dance chart. In 1997, their cover of "Are 'Friends' Electric?" featured on the Gary Numan tribute album Random.
Moloko-Catalogue full album 15
After Moloko finished the tour, they built a home studio and recorded their second album, titled I Am Not a Doctor, which was released in 1998 in the United Kingdom.[1] Though the album was unsuccessful, reaching only number 64 in the UK Albums Chart, a Boris Dlugosch remix of "Sing It Back", the third single from the album that originally failed to reach the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, was a huge hit, reaching number four in the UK chart and number one in the US Dance Chart. Moloko toured in support of the album, opening for Garbage in UK and Ireland in January and February 1999.[5]
Their third album Things to Make and Do was released in the year 2000[6] and reached number three in the UK Albums Chart. The first single, "The Time Is Now" was their biggest hit, charting at number two in the charts. They started touring as a full band along with percussionist Paul Slowly, keyboardist Eddie Stevens, and guitarist Dave Cooke.[citation needed]
Their 2003 album Statues produced two hit singles, "Familiar Feeling", which reached number ten in the UK, and "Forever More", which reached number 17. Brydon and Murphy ended their romantic relationship in 2002, just before they began work on the album.[7] Murphy toured without Brydon for eighteen months in support of the album throughout 2003 and 2004.[7] The concert at the Brixton Academy, recorded on 22 November 2003, was released on the live DVD 11,000 Clicks in 2004. Following the tour, the group disbanded.[1]
On 22 May 2006, the band announced their greatest hits album Catalogue, including the unreleased track "Bankrupt Emotionally", released on 17 July.[8][7][9] The same year, Murphy and Brydon, along with long-time Moloko guitarist Cooke, briefly interrupted their hiatus to play a select number of acoustic radio performances.[5][10][11] Commenting on the end of Moloko, in 2006, Murphy refused to give a definitive answer, saying "it's something that I don't know at the moment, and I refuse to make a definitive answer to that to be honest."[7] In 2008, she further refused to definitely rule out a Moloko reunion, explaining "I would never say never. I know myself if I said, 'No, I'll never do that again,' five, 10 years down the line I'll end up fucking doing it and you'll come back and say, 'Ahhh - you said you'd never do it,' so I'm not going to say I'll never do it."[12]
Moloko's music has been described as alternative dance,[1] dance-pop,[1] experimental pop,[18] dance-punk[19] and electropop.[20] Heather Phares of AllMusic described the sound of their debut album similar to that of Portishead and Massive Attack with elements of dance, funk, and trip hop, while noting the group had "a sense of humour and sass unique to Moloko."[1]
Greeting from Iceland Airwaves! To paraphrase a letter sent to Pee-Wee Herman in his "Pen Pals from Around the World" segment, brrr it sure is cold! With that I've used up my exclamation point quota for the rest of the year. Despite being in rare festival mode, I've got a new Indie Basement for you. The one record I was planning on writing about this week -- Girl Ray's new album, Girl -- got pushed back to November 22 (spoiler alert: it's really good) and it's not the biggest week for new releases, but I've still got some excellent stuff for you. Cult indie band Rocketship return with their first album in 13 years and it's their best since their first; Canadian band Capitol make gloomy guitar pop in the tradition of The Stills; plus two reissues that would make a great double-play cassette (Everything But the Girl's Walking Wounded and Moloko's Statues).
Inspired by the organ-heavy sound of Felt's "Song for William S. Harvey," Dusty Reske formed Rocketship in 1993 and released their debut single -- '90s indiepop classic "Hey Hey Girl" -- on the Bus Stop label the next year, and their fantastic first album, A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness, in 1996 via Slumberland. From there, Dusty guided Rocketship further from public view, releasing ambient album Garden of Delights in 1999, and then disappeared until 2006's Here Comes... Rocketship which was only released as a CD-R. From there it was mostly radio silence, though the band played an excellent set at NYC Popfest in 2014.
So what a nice surprise to see a brand new Rocketship album out in the world. It's their highest-profile, fullest-production release since their debut, out via Darla Records, and I'm happy to report it's not just good but genuinely great. Almost shockingly so. Dusty's found a great new collaborator in Ellen Osborn, who sings lead on at least half of the songs here -- "she was just the kind of singer that I had always wanted to work with" Dusty told chickfactor -- with a voice that can do ethereal, coquettish and alluring qualities, depending on what the song needs.
It's a good thing too, as Thanks to You covers a lot of ground, musically, though all of it probably falls on the spectrum between Stereolab to Saint Etienne. (There's still a lot of ground, there.) The album opens with the dazzling "Under Streetlights Shadow" which is like if The Cardigans and The Field Mice merged, jazzy but shy and with a little fantastic guitar solo that comes out of nowhere. The album pulls lots of rabbits out of its hat like that: blasting, tremelo'd guitar worthy of Kevin Shields on the otherwise baroque "Nothing Deep Inside"; a wall-of-sound worthy of Phil Spector dive-bombing the middle of "I Just Can't Get Enough of You"; and the manic Peter Hook-style bass on almost punky "Milk-Aisle Smiles." This is the kind of ambitious record shoegaze bands made in the mid-'90s and if it had come out in 1994 it probably would've been talked about in the same breath as The Boo Radleys' Giant Steps.
Thanks to You also has a danceable side which is just as sweeping and ambitious as the rest of the album, with the gorgeous, string-laden "Outer Otherness," and funky duet "I Don't Know Why I'm Still in Love With You" that's like a "Don't You Want Me?" for 2019. Two weeks ago I didn't realize this record existed but now I can't imagine this year without it.
Gloomy guitar rock/pop has been a staple of alternative/indie for 40 years. (That is a scary sentence for me to write.) Sometimes it falls back into fashion -- like when early-'00s gave us Interpol, Bloc Party, etc -- and sometimes they're just out there doing it for themselves. Here we have Hamilton, ON's Capitol who have been around for the second half of this decade and you only need to look at the cover art and title of new album Dream Noise -- a black and white picture of snow-dusted trees with an out-of-focus silhouette in the foreground -- to get a good idea of what kind of music they make.
Specifically, Capitol cite Joy Division, the Cure, and Slowdive, but if I were to draw comparisons (and I will right after writing this parenthetical statement), the groups they remind me most of are fellow Ontarians The Stills (whose 2003 album Logic Will Break Your Heart is still one of my early-'00s faves) and Sweden's The Marionettes. Like those groups, Capitol are adept with delay and other effects pedals, and know a good hook and driving beat when they hear it. They're also not afraid to crib from other bands or namedrop them ("Heart of Glass," "Love Will Tear us Apart," and "Bittersweet Symphony" are all mentioned on this album). They pull it off, too, thanks to no small amount of swagger and romance, and in that way are also just a bit like The National with more of a Cure obsession (see "In Ceremony," "Wish I Was Here"). They've also just got some excellent pop songs, songs like the zooming "Never Been to Paris" and bright and soaring "Blondie" and the aforementioned "In Ceremony," while "Kids on Bikes" and "Infinite Reel" show great skill with atmosphere and dynamics. If much of it is evocative of a faded scene (take your pick), Dream Noise burns bright on its own.
Everything But the Girl's 1996 album Walking Wounded is an established classic at this point, one that really revitalized Ben Watt & Tracey Thorn's duo after years of making superior, sophisticated (if a safe and MOR-ish) major label adult contemporary. A few things happened that led here. One was Watt nearly died from rare disease Churg-Strauss syndrome (which he chronicled in his highly recommended memoir Patient); surviving that, in part, led him into the fertile UK drum-n-bass scene. There was also Tracey Thorn's contributions to Massive Attack's Protection, which used her powerful voice in ways the group never had. Most of all, it was Todd Terry's blockbuster remix of "Missing" off of Amplified Heart (which was already dabbling in synths) that had the new album diving headfirst into clubland. 2ff7e9595c
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