Rating: NNN
The tear sheet accompanying Listen Again, their new two-disc comp, dubs Ibiza-playboys-turned-BBC-Radio-One-jocks Rob da Bank and Chris Coco “musical evangelists,” and though I’ve never dropped E during one of their club sets or tuned in to their radio show, the claim feels like major hyperbole. Coco’s half comes off as an iTunes playlist of sad bastard music, collecting mournful tunes from not-quite-mainstream white-boy strummers like Adem and James Yorkston. He provides a few ghastly moments (skip over the dance remix of Man Of Constant Sorrow or be sorry), but generally picks the tracks you’d expect from a dance-oriented punter who’s suddenly discovered indie rock. The only real gem is a live version of Arab Strap’s bilious Speed Date. Rob da Bank weighs in on the clubbier side, with bubble-gum dance cuts from the likes of Uffie and worldier acts like Amadou & Mariam and Gogol Bordello. The mix is varied but serves up nothing new to anyone who scans music mags now and again.
