I Am Not a Doctor

After the success of their 1996 debut Do You Like My Tight Sweater, this follow-up from Sheffield-based duo Moloko received rather a muted response--a shame, as it consolidated the principles they'd already established the first time round. That is, until the summer-1999 dance-remix release of "Sing it Back", which proved to be a huge hit, both in the Ibiza clubs and at home in the UK (unfortunately, that mix is not to be found on this CD). Existentially quirky and shiftless, it was another reproach to the increasingly homogenous mass of electro-pop out there, snagging on the cardigan of chart conformity. Mark Brydon's angular collage of samples, squelching Moog synthesisers, and lopsided rhythms tangled up perfectly with singer Roisin Murphy's schizoid vocals and spontaneous wordplay, particularly on the Pere Ubu-influenced "The Flipside." However, Murphy's bizarre, robotic onstage antics and vocal mannerisms annoyed some, while others lazily marked Moloko down as a novelty trip-hop band. Consequently, I Am Not A Doctor never received the fair hearing it deserved. The last track reads almost like an appropriate epitaph: "Should've Been, Could've Been". --David Stubbs

Label: Unknown
Studio: Echo
Released: 2001-02-26
Format: Audio CD