With their mellow backbeats, groove-based orchestration and vocalist Skye’s creamily soulful tones, Morcheeba described themselves perfectly in the title of their second album, Big Calm. Their sound?one step removed from trip hop?is coolly understated but ultimately unaffecting, as this compilation proves. There’s some magic in hits like “Trigger Hippie”, while Kurt Wagner’s hoarse-voiced charm is a perfect foil for Skye on “What New York Couples Fight About”, and new track “What’s Your Name?” (featuring Big Daddy Kane) borrows from UK garage, but overall it’s too soporific. Calming as the sound of waves washing on a deserted shore is, you soon long for a big, bad-assed storm to shake things up.
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