Moloko
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| Moloko | |
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 Photo shoot in 2003. Left to right: Mark Brydon and Róisín Murphy
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Sheffield, England |
| Genres | Electronic dance Trip-hop Nu-Jazz |
| Years active | 1995—2006 |
| Labels | Echo Records Warner Bros. Records |
| Former members | |
| Róisín Murphy Mark Brydon |
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Moloko (pronounced /məˈloʊkoʊ/) were an Irish/English electronic/pop duo consisting of Róisín Murphy from Wicklow, Ireland and Mark Brydon, from Sunderland, England.
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[edit] Origin of band name
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), actually the name of a milk drink that Alex and his "droogs" consume mixed with "drencrom". (Fellow electronic Sheffield band Heaven 17 had also taken their name from the novella when they formed in 1980).
[edit] History of band
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 pop/house acts House Arrest 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.[1]
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.[2]
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 leftfield beats of the previous albums, and featured more organic instrumentation as well as musically more multifaceted arrangemets 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.[3]
For the time being, Róisín Murphy completed work on her second solo album, Overpowered, released in October 2007, while Mark Brydon is working on a number of smaller projects in his own studio.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
[edit] Remixes and compilations
[edit] Live albums
[edit] Singles
[edit] Awards and honors"Best International Live Act" - Belgian TMF Awards 2004 [edit] Moloko in other mediaMoloko'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 (TV series) television show. [edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links |
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