To celebrate the label’s 10 year anniversary, Moshi Moshi have released this collection, which features all of the A sides from the first 14 releases from their Singles Club, from the last 18 months. And quite a collection it is too. If there is a common thread, it can perhaps be found in the determinedly eclectic, hard-to-pigeonhole sound that a lot of the bands herein put across, but you certainly couldn’t distill this into anything like an approved “Moshi Moshi sound”, nor would one want to. This is a great purchase to make if you are looking to discover some new bands to form an attachment to: it is reasonably likely that there is going to be something here that will make most listeners want to explore further.Rather than talk in generalities, however, I’ve taken a more practical approach, and offer a short one- or two-line review of each track here. I’ve given them all marks (or half marks) out of ten, and the overall rating for the CD is the average of all of those scores.Danananakroyd - Totally Bone Ace crashing jerky part-shouty kick-off to the album. Like a more verbose and articulate iForward, Russia! ”“ littering the track with uncommon multi-syllabled words like “emasculated” “dismember” “accolades” “plumage”. 7/10Matt & Kim - Silver Tiles A real highlight. A spiky electro track that builds in intensity and excitement as it goes on. 8.5/10Rat: Att: Arg - Can We Fix It The odd crooner vocal (which reminded me a bit of Alex Kapranos) is at odds with the busy backing, including some great wonky brass sounds. Lively, but uncategorisable. 6/10Kate Nash - Caroline’s a Victim Execrable. 0/10 Breakbot - Happy Rabbit Starts out like a Spector outtake, then comes over all funk- and vocoder-ridden. 6/10Slow Club - Because We’re Dead Frisky alt.country boy/girl romp, like a less world-weary Broken Family Band (on a sugar rush). Lovely ”“ another highlight, for me. 9/10Pacific - Break Your Social System A bit like Hot Chip at their most woozy and drowse-inducing. A little tame. 5/10Late of the Pier - Bathroom Gurgle There’s almost too much, stylistically, thrown in here to the one track. This could be filed under “Overegged Retro”, along with MGMT’s weaker album moments, if such a genre existed outside of my own mind. 6/10Wave Pictures - We Dress Up Like Snowmen Another absolute corker from this most engaging of bands. A charming vignette, well told. Sample lyric: “You laid down your innocence / Though it is just half dead”. Brilliant old-style indie wordsmithery. 9/10Elle S’Appelle - Little Flame Continuing the “old-fashioned indie” segment of the compilation, this made me think of 80s female fronted bands like The Waitresses or even Altered Images, but in a good way. 8/10Friendly Fires - Paris Starts out like a nu-rave classic in the making, before developing into an uplifting ode to escapism: “One day we’re gonna live in Paris / I promise, I’m on it”. Not quite the best thing ever, as I was partially expecting from some of the press they’ve been getting, but exhilarating none the less. 7/10Lykke Li - Little Bit I’m afraid her breathy “ingenue” vocal does nothing for me. This track is mostly inoffensive, a little repetitive, but not one to love. 5/10The Dells - Lazy A grime rant, that rings true, about laziness vs ambition. The engaging and honest words (“time is here / be the best / now prove it”) work well with the chosen beats, samples and cowbells (always good) that help convey the sense of urgency. 7/10Team Waterpolo - Letting Go This is a great album closer, despite borrowing heavily from Franz Ferdinand’s “Do You Want To” (which it betters). It may not be big or outlandishly clever, but it’s an infectious electro-pop gem, nonetheless. 8/1065%Links Moshi Moshi [official site] [myspace]