Things to Make and Do
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Things to Make and Do
| type = studio
| artist = Moloko
| cover = Moloko TTMAD cover.png
| alt =
| released = 10 April 2000"[http://discogs.com/Moloko-Things-To-Make-And-Do/release/100953 Discogs:Moloko:Editing Things to Make and Do:Echo:ECHLP 31] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116125827/http://www.discogs.com/Moloko-Things-To-Make-And-Do/release/100953 |date=16 January 2014 }}", Discogs, retrieved 19 August 2013
| recorded = 1999–2000
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 67:54
| producer = Moloko
| prev_title = I Am Not a Doctor
| prev_year = 1998
| next_title = All Back to the Mine
| next_year = 2001
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r508689}}
| rev2 = BBC
| rev2score = (favourable) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/704058.stm link]
| rev3 = NME
| rev3score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}[https://www.nme.com/reviews/2092 link]
}}
Things to Make and Do is the third album by the electronic/dance duo Moloko, released in the UK by Echo Records in 2000. It was a sonic departure for Moloko, with the tracks being less reliant on electronics and more on live musicians. In addition to the change in musical styles, the lead singer, Róisín Murphy, had changed her lyrical style. At time of release, Murphy summed up the previous style of her lyrics, saying, "I was nineteen when I made Tight Sweater, and I knew I was pretending, but if I tried not to, I'd still be pretending. Now, I know myself better," and her lyrics on this album are described as, "Roisin's most direct and emotionally honest lyrics [so far]."{{cite web |url=http://Echo.co.UK/moloko| title=Wayback:ECHO:Moloko| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129014852/http://www.echo.co.uk/moloko | archivedate=29 January 2008| url-status=dead}}{{efn|In fact, Murphy met collaborator Mark Brydon at a party in 1994 when she was 20 or 21, and Tight Sweater was recorded from 1994-1995.}}
After the release of Things to Make and Do, offers came in for Murphy to guest on others' records, most notably The Psychedelic Waltons, Boris D. and Handsome Boy Modelling School. The album held the record as Echo's fastest-selling UK platinum record, until beaten by Feeder's The Singles compilation six years later. The track "Indigo" was featured on the soundtrack to Mystery Men.
As of May 2015, the album has sold over 355,000 copies in the UK.{{cite news|url=http://www.musicweek.com/businessanalysis/read/official-charts-analysis-mumford-sons-wilder-mind-tops-album-chart-with-29-922-sales/061812|title=Official Charts Analysis: OMI's Cheerleader spends third week at No.1|last=Jones|first=Alan|date=18 May 2015|work=Music Week|accessdate=5 November 2015|archive-date=29 May 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150529024424/http://www.musicweek.com/businessanalysis/read/official-charts-analysis-mumford-sons-wilder-mind-tops-album-chart-with-29-922-sales/061812|url-status=live}} As of December 2000 it has sold more than 750,000 units worldwide.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDX_AgAAQBAJ&q=moloko+things+to+make+and+do+750%2C000&pg=PT399|title=One Way or Another: My Life in Music, Sport and Entertainment|publisher=Omnibus Press|first=Chris|last=Wright|date=14 October 2013|isbn=9781783230297|accessdate=28 December 2018|archive-date=26 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626070606/https://books.google.com/books?id=HDX_AgAAQBAJ&q=moloko+things+to+make+and+do+750%2C000&pg=PT399|url-status=live}}
Singles and bonus tracks
"The Time Is Now", the album's first single, became Moloko's biggest hit, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and prompted a number three UK album début for Things to Make and Do.{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/32539/moloko/ |title=Moloko {{!}} full Official Chart History |publisher=Official Charts Company |accessdate=15 July 2020 |archive-date=8 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508053318/https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/32539/moloko/ |url-status=live }}
Before the album's release, an unsolicited Boris Dlugosch "Sing It Back" remix became a club, then mainstream, hit (it was originally a drum and bass-ish track on I Am Not a Doctor, their previous album). After the remix became a significant hit in Ibiza and Miami, then achieved scores of dance mix compilation inclusions, it was added to Things to Make and Do as a bonus track.
Track listing
All tracks written by Mark Brydon and Róisín Murphy, except where noted. All music published by Chrysalis Music Publishing.
{{Track listing
| headline = Things to Make and Do track listing
| title1 = Radio Moscow
| writer1 = Eddie Stevens
| length1 = 0:25
| title2 = Pure Pleasure Seeker
| length2 = 6:31
| title3 = Absent Minded Friends
| length3 = 4:44
| title4 = Indigo
| length4 = 5:37
| title5 = Being Is Bewildering
| length5 = 4:06
| title6 = Remain the Same
| length6 = 3:40
| title7 = A Drop in the Ocean
| length7 = 1:58
| title8 = Dumb Inc.
| length8 = 4:27
| title9 = The Time Is Now
| length9 = 5:18
| title10 = Mother
| length10 = 4:45
| title11 = It's Your Problem
| writer11 = Brydon, Murphy, Stevens
| length11 = 1:07
| title12 = It's Nothing
| writer12 =
| length12 = 5:13
| title13 = Bingo Massacre
| writer13 = Brydon, Murphy, Stevens, Paul Slowley
| length13 = 0:25
| title14 = Somebody Somewhere
| writer14 = Brydon, Murphy, Ashton Thomas, Dave Cooke
| length14 = 5:42
| title15 = Just You and Me Dancing
| writer15 = Brydon, Murphy, Stevens, Slowley
| length15 = 1:17
| title16 = If You Have a Cross to Bear You May as Well Use It as a Crutch
| writer16 = Brydon, Murphy, Stevens, Slowley
| length16 = 3:24
| title17 = Keep Stepping
| writer17 = Brydon, Murphy, Stevens
| length17 = 0:21
| title18 = Sing It Back
| note18 = Boris Musical Mix
| length18 = 9:18
}}
Personnel
=Moloko=
- Róisín Murphy
- Mark Brydon
=Other Musicians=
- Eddie Stevens – hammond organ, piano, additional keyboards
- Paul Slowley – live drums
- Audrey Riley – string arrangements, cello on "The Time Is Now"
- Chris Tombling – violin on "The Time Is Now"
- Greg Warren-Wilson – violin on "The Time Is Now"
- Susan Dench – viola on "The Time Is Now"
- Nick Charles – contrabass saxophone on "Pure Pleasure Seeker"
- Rachel Syms – contrabassoon on "Pure Pleasure Seeker"
- Dave Cooke – vocals on "Somebody Somewhere"
Charts and certifications
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!Chart (2000) !Peak |
| {{album chart|Australia|38|artist=Moloko|album=Things to Make and Do|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Austria|21|artist=Moloko|album=Things to Make and Do|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Flanders|6|artist=Moloko|album=Things to Make and Do|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Finland|26|artist=Moloko|album=Things to Make and Do|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Germany4|14|id=3271|artist=Moloko|album=Things to Make and Do|rowheader=true|accessdate=15 July 2020}} |
| {{album chart|Netherlands|66|artist=Moloko|album=Things to Make and Do|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Norway|38|artist=Moloko|album=Things to Make and Do|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Scotland|3|date=20000416|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Switzerland|25|artist=Moloko|album=Things to Make and Do|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|UK2|3|date=20000416|rowheader=true}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
=Certifications=
Notes
{{notelist}}