or his first solo album after a number of releases with the art-pop group the Moles and his breakthrough collaboration with Eric Matthews under the name Cardinal, Sydney-to-New York transplant Richard Davies released THERE'S NEVER BEEN A CROWD LIKE THIS. Creating lush, ornate, orchestral arrangements for his bouncy pop tunes and then overlaying them with bizarre, disconnected lyrics delivered in his ingratiating voice, Davies came up with an album equally playful and gorgeous, not unlike the '70s British pastoral pop group Stackridge or the early solo career of Robert Wyatt. Highlights include the impressionistic New York travelogue "Sign Up Maybe for Being", the oddly jagged "Why Not Bomb the Movies?", and the silly faux-autobiography "Transcontinental". THERE'S NEVER BEEN A CROWD LIKE THIS is one of 1996's most delightful and criminally-overlooked records.|
Rovi