Big Calm
| Big Calm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Big Calm cover | ||||
| Studio album by Morcheeba | ||||
| Released | 16 March 1998 | |||
| Genre | Trip hop, electronica, downtempo, alternative rock | |||
| Length | 50:23 | |||
| Label |
Indochina Sire/WEA Records | |||
| Producer | Morcheeba | |||
| Morcheeba chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone |  [2] |
| Pitchfork Media | (6.7/10) [3] |
Big Calm is the second album by Morcheeba released in March 1998 and reached the top 20 of the UK album chart.[4][5] The single "Part of the Process" charted in the UK singles top 40 in August of the same year.[5] "The Music That We Hear", included on special-edition versions of the album, is a reworking of "Moog Island" from Morcheeba's first album, Who Can You Trust?.
The recording of the album started on Christmas Day 1995, as the Godfrey brothers were waiting for the first record to be released. After the basic demo had been laid down at their home studio, the duo brought in Skye Edwards and a number of other guests to complete the record.[6] Steve Bentley-Klein provided a string-arrangement for "The Sea", while "Let Me See" featured Dom Pipkin on organ and Jimmy Hastings on flute. The song "Blindfold" had been written for the film She's So Lovely by Nick Cassavetes, but was not deemed ready for the feature. "Friction" featured Spikey T while the title track includes contributions from Jason Furlow and DJ Swamp.[6]
Track listing
- "The Sea" – 5:47
- "Shoulder Holster" – 4:04
- "Part of the Process" – 4:24
- "Blindfold" – 4:37
- "Let Me See" – 4:20
- "Bullet Proof" – 4:11
- "Over and Over" – 2:20
- "Friction" – 4:13
- "Diggin' a Watery Grave" – 1:34
- "Fear and Love" – 5:04
- "Big Calm" – 6:00
- "The Music That We Hear" – 3:49 (bonus track)
- Japanese bonus tracks
- "Shoulder Holster" (Radio Mix) – 4:14
- "Shoulder Holster" (Diabolical Brothers Mix) – 5:56
The album was also issued as a special edition in the UK including a bonus CD-ROM (Indochina ZEN017CDX).
Personnel
- Skye Edwards – vocals and reproduction
- Paul Godfrey – navigation, programming, scratching, live drums and lyrics
- Ross Godfrey – all guitars, sitar, pedal steel, lap steel, clavinet, Hammond, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer piano, drums, EMS synthesizer, MKS 80, and no factory presets
- Pete Norris – sound surgery, synthesizer programming and dropping science
Trivia
The album cover was inspired by that of the 1966 Ray Conniff compilation Hi Fi Companion.[7]
The song "The Sea" was used as the theme tune for the UK reality TV show Shipwrecked, in a set of advertisements for TDT TV, and in the Thomas Cook advertisements starring Jamie and Louise Redknapp. It was also used in a 1998 episode of the original Top Gear when James May was reviewing the Rover 75.
The song "Part of the Process" was used in the fourth season Daria episode "Fire!" as Daria looks over her shoulder at Jane and Tom leaving Jane's house.
"Blindfold" is similar to the song "Mind's Expressway" by Lost Souls.
References
- ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Big Calm - Morcheeba". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ↑ Manning, Kara (23 March 1998). "Morcheeba: Big Calm". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 August 2009.
- ↑ Wisdom, James P. (1 July 1998). "Morcheeba - Big Calm". pitchfork.com. Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 19 February 2003.
- ↑ "Morcheeba - Big Calm". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
- 1 2 "Morcheeba | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
- 1 2 "Classic album: Morcheeba on Big Calm". musicradar.com. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
- ↑ Conniff, Ray. "Hi-Fi Companion". 991.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
