Repetition is both the substance and the curse of pop music. It doesn't take much for even the most delicious hook to become a nagging bore once it's had a chance to pass a certain saturation point.
Take Moby's new album, "18," which uses the same melodic phrases he used on his last one, "Play," but minus the vintage blues samples that inspired them in the first place. Consequently, "18" sounds stale, a safe recapitulation of "Play."
On Cornershop's new album, "Handcream for a Generation," the recapitulation is both macro and micro. The entire CD not only reprises the mix of clubland collage and Punjabi garage rock that made 1997's "When I Was Born for the 7th Time" a left-field classic, but four cuts utilize the exact same melody that made "Brimful of Asha" a hit.