Saint Etienne: London Conversations (The Best of)
Saint Etienne: London Conversations (The Best of)
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Saturday, 11, Oct 2008 10:53
Universal Music Operations, out October 13th.
In a nutshell...
Dancefloor classics for 90s clubbers.
What's it all about?
London Conversations is two discs, but it might easily have been three, with no fewer than 35 tracks on the combined playlist. Things kick off with Only Love Can Break Your Heart, which I reckon is the one most likely to get people who "don't know" who Saint Etienne are saying "oh yeah!". Many of the rest are likely to have been heard only of people of a certain age - that is, those who were clubbing during the 1990s.
However, this is not a compilation only for people who were there at the time. Rather, it's 35 tracks of music that stands the test of time and is still good enough to have you dancing round your living room. As is often the case, the publication of a "best of" here is not a look back at an ended career, but part of a relaunch for Saint Etienne which is due to see some of their albums from the past made available to a new generation, while a new single, Nothing Can Stop Us, is also hitting the shelves.
Who's it by
Saint Etienne are Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs and, in the words of their PR firm, "soundtracked London in the 90s". But don't panic, northerners - I'm one of you and I promise this album isn't totally south-centric. If anything it provides a useful comparison to some of what was happening in the north in the 90s, with a reasonably similar style to some northern classics too.
People who were in London at the time might be that much more likely to recognise every single track on the list, while there are distinctly southern elements here and there too - such as the rumour (spread via Wikipedia, naturally) that Hobart Paving - track six on this collection - is named after a paving firm in Croydon.
As an example...
"Hobart paving, don't you think that it's time?/The ticket's in my hand, the train pulls down the line/Rain falls like Elvis tears/Oh no, no sugar/Out on the high street, dim all the lights/And cry coloured tears." - Hobart Paving
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Do they give an award for Best Best Of? Probably not. May be best to look out for new releases if award fodder is what you're after.
What the others say
"Purportedly designed as a soundtrack of the capital, Saint Etienne's second singles collection ranges from inspired to intolerable." - Times
"This comp[ilation] does an excellent job of picking and choosing from the past ten years of Saint Etienne's output and for the uninitiated or less curious could serve as a proper substitution for the entire thing." - Pitchfork
So is it any good?
Not to spoil the ending of this review, but I give it seven out of ten. I only mention that up here because it pretty much sums up the album - it's good, but it's not quite worthy of an eight, not quite poor enough for a six. It lands in that seven grey area of being perfectly adequate. And that's fine - the next time I'm looking for something to put on, it'll be there on the top of the pile and probably get played a few times and then again every few weeks in the future. But I wouldn't go out and buy it.
Don't get me wrong though - it is worth buying. But I'd say it's worth buying as a present, an introduction for the uninitiated, a reminder for those who were there first time around. A thoughtful gift for any 90s clubbers who may just never have caught the name of who recorded their favourite tune. A "best of" is retrospective by its very nature - so why make that a bad thing? If I'd been there in London in the early 90s, I'm sure I'd be giving it more. But, like I said, I'm a northerner, so it's a respectful but restrained seven from me.
7/10
Bob Bardsley