Music from the OC Mix 1 is strangely unique for a TV soundtrack compilation. Often, US teen dramas don't put a great deal of thought into the show's music, relying heavily on bland, melodramatic MOR (think Paula Cole and Dawson's Creek). However, a glance through the track listing reveals a host of acclaimed indie guitar bands from around the world. Goodtime retro acts such as Jet ("Move On") and the Dandy Warhols ("We Used to be Friends") in addition to more downbeat artists such as Turin Brakes ("Rain City"), South ("Paint the Silence") and the Doves ("Caught By the Rain") make for an eclectic mix of new music. Music from the OC Mix 1 serves well as the soundtrack to a hit show but more importantly, it's a great introduction to good bands who many may not have been discovered without it. --David Trueman
£9.93
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This album is a culmination of Depeche Mode's middle-period experimentation. More informed by goth than techno, it is still anchored by plenty of the larger-than- life-baritone melodrama so distinctive of David Gahan's vocals. The most experimental track is "Pimpf"--a song that heave-hoes along with the synthesised emulation of a Russian men's choir. Although nowhere near fast enough to be danceable, the commanding "Never Let Me Down" ranks as the best single on the album, with the most hummable "Strangelove" coming in a close second. Each song is a praiseworthy accomplishment, but the singles here set off the experimental tracks, making the album seem thematically schizophrenic. --Beth Bessmer
£8.99
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EMI/Virgin, nowcd38, Jewel Case 40 Track 1997
£2.19
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Is it a two-CD set with a particularly thick booklet, or a 562-page book with a compilation album attached? Whichever, the unpretentious text by Keith Anderson offers a basic introduction to the lives and works of dozens of composers, together with recommended recordings from the Naxos and Marco Polo catalogues. Anderson also includes a useful 59-page glossary of musical terms and an extensive listing of which classical pieces have been employed in which films. The odd thing about the 36 extracts and complete pieces on the CDs is that they do not form an A-Z at all, but are arranged chronologically, from 1,000-year-old Gregorian chant to the opening movement of contemporary composer Philip Glass's Violin Concerto. Between these two points is the early music of Palestrina and Byrd, the baroque glories of Vivaldi and Bach, the 19th-century romantic masters from Beethoven to Tchaikovsky, and such 20th-century greats as Rachmaninov and Stravinsky. Opera, song and chamber music are barely represented, but there is only so much that can fit into 151 minutes. Essentially a deluxe sampler for the vast Naxos catalogue, the discs offer a good introduction to some of the most famous and melodic music ever composed, while the book will be very useful to the newcomer to the potentially confusing world of classical music. --Gary S Dalkin
£7.83
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