Great Underrated Albums #1: Things to Make and Do – Moloko

This album, originally released in 2000, was probably the most commercially successful of Moloko’s four releases. However, whilst some of the derived singles achieved a certain amount of ubiquity in the afore mentioned year, throughout this decade, the album seems to have declined in popularity towards partial obscurity. Certainly, this demise is not warranted in relation to the musical content. Here, Moloko present us with a curious diversity of instruments, fusing a mixture of traditional guitars, violins and violas with a multiplicity of unconventional synth timbres. Numerous sonic layers are gently infused, yet separate. Moloko also utilize a positive abundance of effects, both subtle and overt - from copious varieties of reverb and compression, to backward tape effects and vocal transformations. Furthermore, the track lengths are also diverse, from “Keep Stepping” at 0.21 to “Sing it Back” at 9.20, which adds a supplementary degree of intrigue, and staves off format monotony for the listener.


It is also incredibly refreshing to hear different instruments taking different leads and different levels of precedence throughout the album. “Indigo”, for example, has drum and synth bass leads, whereas “Pure Pleasure Seeker” examples a prominent contra bass sax part, and even further, “Being is Bewildering” is mainly acoustic guitar with various organs. The numerous musical styles contained within this album is also something to hail as impressive; through their 70 odd minutes, the band progress though versionings of acoustic, funk, electro, muzak, rock, pop, classical, and quasi through to full on dance. The literal space of the tracks is changeable too, with saturated, heavy tracks, to lonely, sparse songs and segways.


An additional virtue, Roisin Murphy’s voice is gorgeously broad with a slight raspy quality; sometimes soft, delicate and sensual, at others whining, taught, and penetratingly, twistingly percussive. She also has a notable range, which she regularly utilizes. Furthermore, the content of her vocals are typically accomplished; lyrically Moloko’s work can be strong. Whilst the dancier numbers may have a bit more repetition than the average indie listener can tolerate, most of this album is lyrically assorted and interesting. “Absent Minded Friends” is a particular highlight.


This is a great album - a pure, fun little gem, which does not get the full recognition it deserves. The singles will probably be familiar to most, especially  “Sing it Back”, which although ridiculously massive at the time, is probably the weakest track on the album. But then again, it was the late 90s/early 00s, and dance was big news then. The rest of the album has occasional moments of weakness; the male vocal (sung by the other, relatively anonymous half of the Moloko duo, Mark Brydon) on “Someone Somewhere”, could be described as weak – certainly his vocals lack confidence. Personally however, I find it slightly endearing, and the rest of the track is sound. This is not necessarily an album for everyone – it twists and turns so much that many may be disappointed with certain elements. It is however an album I have continued to return to, relish and enjoy for nearly 10 years, and I feel it has many more juicy musical fruits to be unearthed by a wider audience.