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Saint Etienne, "Travel Edition 1990-2005"
This compilation is an excellent selection of highlights from the group's entire career to date. The previously unreleased instrumental, "Primrose Hill," is a perfect lead-off track, as it provides an introduction and sets the mood. Travel Edition shows that Saint Etienne has evolved from their dance music roots, as heard on their 1990 cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," into a group capable of featuring tracks with a live band feel, such as "Lose That Girl," alongside dance-floor friendly tracks, such as "Sylvie," on the same album (1998's Good Humor). A main strength is their ability to write catchy pop songs while retaining credibility in the techno world. Saint Etienne is one of the few groups besides New Order and The Pet Shop Boys that have successfully combined pop music and techno. US mainstream radio would benefit greatly by supporting them. While it is easy to dismiss pop music as trite, Travel Edition serves to remind us that music can be catchy and still have integrity.
This is a group whose music contains more variety than some may realize. Their influences have always been hinted at subtly, rather than directly copied. The backing vocals on "Avenue" recall the girl groups of the early 60's, while the track sounds undeniably modern. The flutes on "Nothing Can Stop Us" and "Hug My Soul" show an appreciation for Brian Wilson's arranging sensibility, while neither song sounds like one of hundreds of blatant Pet Sounds rip-offs. Travel Edition 1990-2005 is more successful than the UK-only Too Young To Die-Singles 1990-1995 because it contains some of the best album tracks as well as many excellent UK singles. "Mario's Cafe," a highlight from 1993's So Tough LP, is included here, while "You're in a Bad Way," a single from the same LP, has been left off. "Lose That Girl" and "Goodnight Jack," both from Good Humor, have been rightfullly chosen over the single "The Bad Photographer." This shows that some thought was put into selecting the tracks. By including album tracks that are as strong as singles, the compilers have shown that their discography is worth digging into. Although the one new track, "Fascination" is excellent, many fans may find little appeal to a collection of tracks that have mostly been readily available on albums and previous UK compilations. It might have been wise to include a few tracks from the scarce I Love To Paint album, which was only available through the band's fan club in 1995. It's a shame that Saint Etienne has never been given much recognition in the US as one of the truly great pop groups of the last two decades. Hopefully this first-time US "best-of" will help gain them some appreciation.
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