Late Night Tales: Groove Armada (Remastered)

Album Review

After their 2002 compilation, Another Late Night, became the biggest-selling of the critically acclaimed Late Night Tales series, progressive electro duo Groove Armada become the first act to be asked to raid their record collection for a second time in another attempt to revive the dying art of the mixtape. While its predecessor was a more obscure collection of undiscovered soul/dance gems, this 2008, 18-track set is a more familiar affair, with '80s synth classics from the Human League ("The Things That Dreams Are Made Of") and Depeche Mode ("Enjoy the Silence") sitting alongside soft rock standards by Ace ("How Long") and Chris Rea ("Josephine," featured here in an unrecognizable synth-led "La Version Francaise" mix), and Top 20 hits from the Cure ("Close to Me"), Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell ("You're All I Need to Get By"), and Finley Quaye ("Even After All"), the latter three of which may be an unlikely assortment of songs to appear on the same album, but whose respective indie, soul, and dub sensibilities are indicative of the pair's genre-hopping sound. Elsewhere, the lesser-known offerings, such as the vintage Gallic disco of Kitty Grant's "Glad to Know You" and the "Joakim Remix" of Max Berlin's "Elle et Moi"; the lush house of Liquid People's "Son of Dragon" and the African Dream's "Makin' a Living," and the chilled-out indie disco of the "Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve Remix" of Midlake's "Roscoe" and Peter Bjorn and John's "The Chills" provide an indication of the direction 2010's Black Light was taking, as does the inclusion of Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music's "Love Is the Drug") and Will Young's "Friday's Child," both of whom went on to provide vocals for the album. As always, the collection includes a brand new recording from the artist involved, in this case, a rather pedestrian nu-synth reworking of Tubeway Army's "Are Friends Electric," and a spoken word piece, which appears courtesy of satirical novelist Will Self on a rather monotonous reading of meandering short story "Happy Detective." But ignore the obligatory inclusions, and you're left with a consistently strong collection of songs, whose influence on Groove Armada is widely apparent, and one which suggests that Cato and Findlay should expect a third invitation from the series come 2014. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi