NuSound
The Very Best of Erotic Moods
Neurodisc / Capitol
Who listens to this stuff, anyway? Enough of them, it seems, that NuSound have been allowed to put out a full three albums in their Erotic Moods series, and for those of us who haven’t been paying attention, here’s the best of them, to get us up to date. Lucky us, then.
Or maybe not. After an hour of this, I still fail to see anything erotic taking place here, unless there are some particularly masochistic fetishism dedicated to listening to sub-Enigma “relaxing” mood music. A light and electronic take on world music – whatever that is these days – and washed-out ambient with the occasional dip into formulaic house music, this is music only a producer of exotic animals-shows could love. It could’ve been Deep Forest, only it’s worse, which is saying a lot.
There are a few tolerable moments on here. On “Shadows,” say, some drum n’ bass rhythms kick in to generate a wee bit excitement beneath the “smooth” saxophone, but before too long, we’re back to the by-now standard dullness. The semi-eerie “Hush” is up to something good as well, before that too falls flat on it=EDs face. That leaves only the closing track then, and “Visi D’Arte” is the best one by far, a soprano-led quasi-post rock kind of thing. Not exactly Tortoise, but better than what’s come before. It’s no wonder they had to bury it by the tail’s end of the album.
This one has the potential to sell a billion trillion copies through some New Age CD Club, but you don’t really want it. Better stay clear before they’re coming to “relax” you into submission, Kenny G in one hand and NuSound in the other. Scary is the word.
Neurodisc Records: http://www.neurodisc.com
