Moloko

All Music Guide:

The Sheffield-based dance-pop duo Moloko is the end result of Irish-born singer Roisin Murphy's attempt to pick up mixer/producer Mark Brydon at a 1994 party with the come-on, "Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body." Brydon saw musical potential in her attitude, and the two formed a creative and romantic partnership.

Murphy, who had never sung outside of the shower before, was a newcomer to the music business. However, Brydon had many years of experience with U.K. house music acts House Arrest and Cloud 9, helped found Sheffield's Fon studios, and remixed artists like Eric B & Rakim and Psychic TV. Soon after forming Moloko, they released their debut single, "Where Is the What If the What Is in the Why?," and signed to Echo Records.

The band's full-length debut, inevitably named Do You Like My Tight Sweater?, came out in 1995 and was an equal mix of Murphy's slinky attitude and Brydon's musical prowess. The album combined dance, funk, and trip-hop elements in an approach similar to Portishead or Massive Attack but with a sense of humor and sass unique to Moloko. Though the album's U.S. release occurred nearly a year later, the single "Fun for Me" was featured prominently on the Batman & Robin soundtrack and received some radio airplay.

Moloko toured with kindred musical spirits such as Pulp, built a home studio, and recorded the follow-up to Do You Like My Tight Sweater?, titled I Am Not a Doctor. Released in 1998 (and late 1999 in the U.S.), the album continued in Moloko's witty, funky tradition and featured their breakthrough single, "Sing It Back." The group's third album, Things to Make and Do, which included the hits "The Time Is Now," "Pure Pleasure Seeker," and "Indigo," was issued in the U.K. in the spring of 2000 and was released in the States later that year via Roadrunner. Brydon and Murphy's romantic relationship ended just before they began work on 2002's Statues; after finishing the tour supporting the album, Moloko disbanded.

Wikipedia:

Moloko (pron.: /əˈoʊoʊ/) were an Anglo-Irish electronic/trip-hop duo from Sheffield, England consisting of Róisín Murphy from Wicklow, Ireland and Mark Brydon, from Sunderland, England.

Origin of band name [edit]

The band's name originates from the Nadsat slang in the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, in which it means "milk" (from the Russian word for milk, молоко).

History of band [edit]

Murphy, born in Arklow, Ireland, had no prior professional experience as a singer when Moloko was formed. Brydon, on the other hand, already had an extensive curriculum vitae within the dance music community as a remixer and member of Chakk, Krush and Cloud 9. They met at a party in Sheffield, England, when Murphy approached Brydon using the chat-up line, "Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body!" This line would later become the title of their debut album, recorded while the pair were dating.

The first two albums Do You Like My Tight Sweater? and I Am Not a Doctor gained notice in the underground dance scene. The band broke into the mainstream when "Sing It Back", an album track from I Am Not A Doctor, was remixed by house music producer Boris Dlugosch. The track was a massive hit in Ibiza, and this remixed version broke into the top-five in both the Irish Singles Charts, and the UK singles chart in 1999, and also, helped by a psychedelic video featuring Murphy in a very short metallic "flapper" dress and cap. "Sing It Back" has featured on over 100 music compilations.

In January and February 1999, Moloko supported Garbage on their Version 2.0 tour. This was not a successful liaison, with the Garbage crowd particularly unwelcoming at the Wembley Arena date.

In 2000 Moloko started touring as a full band along with percussionist Paul Slowley, keyboardist Eddie Stevens, and guitarist Dave Cooke.

The band also had chart success with "The Time Is Now", the first single from the third album, Things to Make and Do. This album had relied less on the left field beats of the previous albums, and featured more organic instrumentation as well as musically more multifaceted arrangements by Eddie Stevens.

Murphy and Brydon ended their relationship in 2001. After their breakup, they recorded and released their fourth studio album, Statues. Statues continued a segue into more traditional instrumentation, along with electronica elements from their earlier releases. Statues incorporated the theme of the couple's split: all of the songs deal with a troubled and/or ending romance.

In 2004 Moloko released a live DVD, 11,000 Clicks, recorded on stage at the Brixton Academy, England. It contained many of their well known songs including "Indigo", "Sing It Back", and "The Time Is Now".

After concluding the tour supporting Statues, Moloko mutually parted ways, with Murphy launching a solo career. However, in 2006 Murphy and Brydon, along with long-time Moloko guitarist Cooke, played a select number of acoustic radio performances to promote the Moloko best of album Catalogue. While both currently pursue projects outside of Moloko and state that there are no plans for Moloko at the moment, Murphy has been keen to stress that the group are not necessarily defunct and that she has no interest in "burying" the project.

Róisín Murphy completed work on her second solo album Overpowered in 2007, released in October of the same year, while Mark Brydon is working on a number of smaller projects in his own studio.

Awards and honors [edit]

"Best International Live Act" - Belgian TMF Awards 2004

Moloko in other media [edit]

Moloko's music has appeared in several video games:

The song "The Time is Now" is also featured in the Ford Focus adverts for Sky Sports News in the UK as well as the channel's flagship live Premiership football programme Ford Super Sunday, since 2004. In 2009 it was used for the Australian advertisement for the updated BMW 3-Series range.

The song "The Time is Now" was performed by the Jabbawockeez and it was also imitated for their final performance "The Red Pill" on the show Americas Best Dance Crew.

The song "Fun for Me" was featured in the motion picture Batman & Robin, and is on the soundtrack to that film as well. It was also utilised in the advertisements for Dharma and Greg in syndication on American television featuring Jenna Elfman as Dharma, one of the main characters, dancing to the song.

The song "Day For Night" was a part of Chris Morris' BBC Blue Jam radio show and Jam television show.

The album version of "Sing It Back" was featured in the 2010 feature film Repo Men.

The songs "The Time Is Now" and "Sing It Back" were performed by Marta (Gabriela Barros) and Lourenço (David Carreira), the main characters of the Portuguese soap opera Morangos com Açúcar. The two songs are in the compilation album Morangos com Açúcar - Escola de Talentos Vol.3, tracks 2 and 17.