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Music from The O.C. Mix 5(Warner Bros.) First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2005, Volume 12, #11 Written by T.J. Simon
Over the course of the past few years, aggregations of music from the teen television drama The O.C. have become a terrific way of sampling what’s happening (or quite often, what’s going to happen) in modern alternative rock. The compilers seem to be good judges of the state of cutting-edge music, and Warner Bros., the record label fronting the collection, has succeeded in resisting the temptation to overload the sets with its own artists. The fifth installment in the series, which has been dubbed Music from The O.C., showcases a dozen tracks that span the gamut of the modern rock universe. Music from The O.C. Mix 5 begins with The Subways’ Rock & Roll Queen and Kasabian’s Reason Is Treason — both of which are good numbers on the harder edge of the alt-rock spectrum. Sweden’s Shout Out Louds delivers a melodic and pleasant excursion on Wish I Was Dead, Pt. 2, and dance rock is fairly represented by LCD Soundsystem’s Daft Punk Is Playing at My House. The cover of Alphaville’s Forever Young performed by Youth Group is decent but pales in comparison to the original, and Phantom Planet’s cover of their own irresistible hit California (re-titled California 2005) is just awful. Ditto for the lackluster Kids with Guns from the overrated Gorillaz. The best moments on Music from The O.C. Mix 5 come from the more
obscure acts. Of Montreal shines brightly on Requiem for O.M.M., a cool
retro-rock piece with distinctive ska elements. Stars’ Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
is a symphonic pop gem that pairs boy-and-girl vocals with pleasing results. The
Kaiser Chiefs brings some real energy to the album with Na Na Na Na Naa,
and Imogen Heap’s captivating Hide and Seek is a futuristic a cappella
number that is sung by the alluring songstress through a vocal harmonizer.
Although Music from The O.C. Mix 5 is far from the perfect compilation,
it, in the end, provides a nice variety of tunes from some edgy musical artists
whose material is worthy of further attention. Music from The O.C. Mix 5 is available For Canadian orders, please Click Here! For UK orders, please Click Here!
Ratings 1 Star: Pitiful
Copyright © 2005 The Music Box
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