★★★☆☆
The Late Night Tales series regularly pays homage to the long forgotten, the previously thought lost, the criminally overlooked and most key to the concept, and what’s personal to the selector in charge. With Tom Findlay of Groove Armada seemingly suffering from a midlife crisis longing for ’70s/’80s standards in songwriting and campaigning for the bringing back of AM radio, this could make Father’s Day gift buying a piece of cake.
On Music for Pleasure, we’re not talking dust-crippled obscurities, mash-ups, B-sides or alternative takes. Just recognizable (some might say overplayed) blue-eyed, red-blooded pop-soul originals from Robert Palmer, Michael McDonald, 10CC and Gerry Rafferty, as Late Night Tales takes on the guise of a Desert Island Discs-style selection just as likely to be referenced in Family Guy as they are held dear. Fascinating as to the inner workings of a dance music producer’s mind (or should that be how bold they are as to owning up to dirty little secrets in their record collection, Findlay revisiting mixtape protocol that he probably hopes will get him laid), the franchise has either lost the plot or broadened its appeal as it aims for the open, middle of the road (you can tell there’s a bit of satire going on with its promises of “Yacht Rock!” on the sleeve). Joking aside, a neat compilation featuring big stars and a few names to do some research on.
File under: Hall & Oates, The Doobie Brothers, Steve Miller Band