It seems a little early for Doves to be releasing a Best Of compilation, although they’ve been around in various forms since the mid-90s when they had a hit as Sub Sub with the dance track Ain’t No Love (Ain’t No Use). In their indie rock incarnation as Doves they’ve released three albums plus a b-sides compilation, and the best of this is collected on The Places Between.
Although we’d much rather have seen a new Doves album than a compilation, there can be no grumbles about the quality of the material here. Starting with the triple-whammy of There Goes The Fear, Black and White Town and Snowdon, the first disc features 15 soaring tracks that are as good as anything produced by the much more appreciated Radiohead or Coldplay. Also included is cracking new single Andalucia. The second disc contains 19 album tracks, b-sides and a couple of session and demo tracks.
There’s an argument that Spotify makes best of compilations like The Place Between worthless. Why listen to it (or Pavement’s recent Quarantine The Past) rather than assembling your own playlist from tracks already in the catalogue? Certainly the existence of Lost Sides, Doves’ b-side compilation, makes The Place Between seem fairly pointless. But it does serve as an excellent reminder of how good Doves are, and makes an excellent introduction to the group for newcomers.
Help us make Spotiguide even better by contributing great posts and articles and we’ll give you free Spotify Premium! We’re currently recruiting a small group of contributors who can write informatively and entertainingly on all things Spotify.
Are you passionate about Spotify and its music catalogue? Can you write interesting music picks, news items, user tips, and technology reviews? Would you like to be part of Spotiguide and help users get more from Spotify?
If so, please get in touch, telling us why you think you should be a Spotiguide contributor, including a couple of relevant writing samples or blog links, and a couple of ideas for future Spotiguide posts. To apply, or for more information, just drop us an email using the contact details at the bottom of the page.
Mobile network 3 is offering its users free Spotify Premium access for a limited period.
All 3 users can try Spotify Premium for free for a month by texting ‘Spotify’ to 39000 from their 3 phone.
Additionally, those who are new to 3 can get two months free Spotify Premium with the Sony Ericsson Vivaz and X10 handsets, which are available for £35 a month.
If you’re already with 3 you can get a month of Spotify free when you subscribe to Spotify Premium.
3 also offers 24 months’ worth of Spotify Premium bundled with a selection of Nokia, Samsung and HTC handsets.
