Something that hardcore nostalgists occasionally lament is the disappearance of instrumentals from the pop charts. They have a point, in that it’s very rare for a bad instrumental to be remotely as bad as a bad song. To be honest though even among the classics I prefer “Dreams” to “Albatross”; I prefer the MGs as someone’s backing band and I even prefer “The Only Rhyme That Bites” to “Pacific State”.

Listening to “Moulin Rouge Theme” it’s hard to shake the impression that people knew how to bash out proper instrumentals back then: an easy swinging rhythm, a bit of obvious local colour (in this case an accordion), and the listener is whisked away to the gauloise-scented backstreets of some Paris of the mind. Oh I can mock but it works: I was mildly yet thoroughly entertained by “Moulin Rouge Theme” and even a little unhappy when it ended. Even more accordion and it would have been better yet.

Score: 5

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