January 31, 2012 5:10AM ET

A Collection

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Michaelangelo Matos's Most Recent Stories

Book Review: ‘Fault Lines’ is an Excellent History of U.S. Political Dysfunction
Shoom: An Oral History of the London Club That Kicked Off Rave Culture
How M/A/R/R/S’ ‘Pump Up the Volume’ Became Dance Music’s First Pop Hit

A single CD of short edits is an odd thing for a prog-techno act who specialize in spacious songs that often run for more than 10 minutes. The live "Cowgirl" is nothing and the dubstep moves are clumsy. No matter: Motormouth vocalist Karl Hyde and music man Rick Smith (plus, in the Nineties, Darren Emerson) headline festivals because they craft hooks, however abstruse at times. An R&B star should sample the surging synths of "Two Months Off" and "Dark and Long." The creeping menace of "Rez" hasn't abated a bit. And "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" is one of the strangest generation-defining anthems ever recorded.