Like the Deserts Miss the Rain

1	My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains 2:56
2	Rollercoaster 3:14
3	Corcovado 3:53
4	Each and Everyone 2:46
5	Before Today Chicane Remix 6:23
6	Mine 3:19
7	Protection / Massive Attack 7:48
8	Single Photek Remix 5:14
9	Tracey in My Room / Soul Vision Lazy Dog Bootleg Vocal Mix 5:42
10	Missing Todd Terry Remix 3:55
11	Almost Blue 3:16
12	No Difference 4:21
13	Cross My Heart 3:35
14	Mirrorball 3:25
15	A Piece of My Mind 3:26
16	Walking Wounded 6:07

Barnes & Noble

"If there was going to be a retrospective we wanted it to be a personal view," says Tracey Thorn -- half of the enduring alt-dance duo Everything But the Girl -- of this 16-track collection. So rather than catalogue her and partner Ben Watt's biggest hits or favorite album tracks, Like the Deserts Miss the Rain collects a bit of both and then some, tracing in roundabout fashion EBTG's forays into folk, jazz, and multifarious strains of dance music. Present and accounted for are their best-known tracks: the jazz-pop "Each and Every One"; the breakthrough single from '84 and the global house smash, "Missing"; and Massive Attack's trip-hop classic "Protection," featuring Thorn's sultry vocals and lyrics. But the treasure trove of rarities is equally revelatory. For starters, the disc opens with an acoustic cover of Captain Beefheart's warped soul nugget "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains" (you'd never know it wasn't a Thorn original). The gorgeous, piano-based ballad "A Piece of My Mind," a hard-to-find B-side, syncs up nicely with a version of Elvis Costello's jazzy ballad "Almost Blue," which flaunts Thorn's emotional range. Fanatics and casual fans alike will revel in the inclusion of "Tracey in My Room (Lazy Dog Bootleg Mix)," a mix of the hit "Wrong" by Watt's DJ tag-team Lazy Dog, previously available only as a white label 12", not to mention EBGT's drum-'n'-bass update of the Jobim bossa nova track "Corcovado" (yes, Thorn sings in Portuguese), which appeared on Red Hot + Rio. It's the breadth of Thorn and Watt's stylistic interest -- and the depth of soul with which they suffuse each track -- that makes Everything But the Girl, and this unique collection, something special, indeed. (The four-track bonus disc includes four more rarities: three B-side tracks and "Take Me (Clifton Mix)," previously available only as a white-label 12".) Lydia Vanderloo

All Music Guide

The first Everything but the Girl collection to effectively juggle the duo's largely acoustic early recordings and more electronic later work (or to even make the attempt), Like the Deserts Miss the Rain is the perfect place for fans of either period to investigate their full career. Since their musical aesthetic rarely diverted from spare, elegant, melancholy pop (whether the instrumentation was a small group with horn chart or keyboards with beat-heavy rhythms), the disc flows smoothly from their 1996 drum'n'bass version of the Brazilian standard "Corcovado" (from Red Hot + Rio) to 1984's acoustic bossa "Each and Every One" to a Chicane remix of "Before Today." Another nice touch is including Tracey Thorn's best outside appearance -- on Massive Attack's "Protection" -- and a pair of great songs from a 1993 single, including a startlingly effective version of Captain Beefheart's "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains." Similar to 2001's Home Movies collection, Like the Deserts Miss the Rain has a few surprising omissions (nothing from 1988's gorgeous Idlewild?) but does succeed in delivering great material from one of British pop's most talented artists. John Bush

All Music Guide

The first Everything but the Girl collection to effectively juggle the duo's largely acoustic early recordings and more electronic later work (or to even make the attempt), Like the Deserts Miss the Rain is the perfect place for fans of either period to investigate their full career. Since their musical aesthetic rarely diverted from spare, elegant, melancholy pop (whether the instrumentation was a small group with horn chart or keyboards with beat-heavy rhythms), the disc flows smoothly from their 1996 drum'n'bass version of the Brazilian standard "Corcovado" (from Red Hot + Rio) to 1984's acoustic bossa "Each and Every One" to a Chicane remix of "Before Today." Another nice touch is including Tracey Thorn's best outside appearance -- on Massive Attack's "Protection" -- and a pair of great songs from a 1993 single, including a startlingly effective version of Captain Beefheart's "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains." Similar to 2001's Home Movies collection, Like the Deserts Miss the Rain has a few surprising omissions (nothing from 1988's gorgeous Idlewild?) but does succeed in delivering great material from one of British pop's most talented artists. John Bush

Rolling Stone

Crying on the dance floor never sounded so good. Jon Caramanica