Reviews (page 5 of 7)
ok, fairly forgettable
It wasn't bad, but pretty sleepy and uneventful. I liked the james bond remix, and Don't Die Just yet was good too. Skits were fun
5
David Holmes album was a pleasant surprise. For something listed under the “Electronic” genre it wasn’t what I expected. Coming out the same year as “Homewark” by Daft Punk I wasn’t sure what to expect. I hadn’t really heard of Holmes either. The album gives off a soundtrack vibe that sticks you into New York. The only vocals are that of New Yorkers in conversation that had been recorded by Holmes on a trip in the late 80’s. The music and style puts you there, some of the bass lines and drum beats are very late 80’s but can also have a 90’s flare. It is not in any way French house, nor is it meant to be. “Radio 7”” is the only song that I felt was a little cheeky. Essentially it is a remix of the classic James Bond film theme, it is well done. Overall I’d give this a 7.5 out of 10.
Un bon album electro pour travailler, c’est parfait 3.5
This was some pretty hiphop type music
The interviews sprinkled into the mix add a sense of time and place. The music itself can be a bit forgettable at times, though.
I don’t get the appeal. It’s okay. But it’s not fatboy slim or the propellers or chemical brothers. It’s not that interesting.
trippy, atmosphere noises. lots of f-bombs
3 stars
Made me feel like I was in a Mr Robot montage where I was probably hacking something in a garage while someone else was spray painting in a dark alley. Definitely got Tetris 64 vibes from a lot of the tracks. Not really my bag this, but not awful!
It was something
Techno-style house music, very 90s but i dig it
Taustamusaa
Whatever
Unmemorable
I was having a terrible day. This....did not help.
Felt very y2k movie soundtrack interspersed with some monologuing
Mostly unremarkable lounge music. It's competent enough to create a nice atmosphere for drinking and hanging out, but not much more ; I found it dated and unexciting. The James Bond remix was tepid at best (if I want to hear film scores revisited with a twist, I'd rather listen to The Big Gundown by John Zorn - a radical rework of Ennio Morricone's work, acclaimed by Morricone himself). I did enjoy the cinematic vibe of the first couple of tracks, but I got bored pretty quickly after that. Pretty sure I'll have forgotten everything by tomorrow. A very debatable pick for this list IMHO. 4/10
That constant feeling of déjà vu, and the impression that every song could be playing in the background of the same beach bar. So polished and formulaic that it never feels like it has a real soul.
Electronica, but make it smooth jazz.
Weird
Wikipedia says, "Let's Get Killed" is a trip-hop album. If that's the case, then it's the worst album trip-hop has to offer. "Let's Get Killed" also fails in the other subgenres it dabbles in. Despite this, some of the tracks on it do sound nice, like "My Mate Paul". I hope I get a better album next time. 2 stars for "Let's Get Killed".
this was weird, kinda a vibe, was good for making bracelets and helped my headache
I dunno, I can see where this could be enjoyed, just not by me.
Jazzy, heady and electronic trip hop. Pretty good, but lackluster in end result. Probably influential though so i gotta give it its roses. The genre grew quite a bit since 97.
Album 230. Let's Get Killed (https://open.spotify.com/album/0HEoXFTgPHGvczXdz9Ty5S?si=iX0uEZJHSEu7f6ecwr4v5A)— David Holmes (1997) It's questionable to put this album on the list. Quite average electronic album, some James Bond or spy movies vibes. A lot of repetitive beats, samples. 2/5 Liked: — Caddell Returns
Boring
It's hard for me to understand how people just listen to this. It's more like background noise, so I guess I don't see the point.
I liked when there was JUST music. The talking gave me angry rap/hip hop vibes.
its ok. not really anything very exciting here just another background music album that is for some reason on this list 5/10 Favourite: Rodney Yates Least Favourite: Radio 7
I think I might have enjoyed this more in '97, but in 2026 it seems pretty dull.
Not my thing at all - don't really know how to vote for it? I was pretty bored.
I had never heard of David Holmes and was not familiar with any of the songs on the album (other than the fact that "Radio 7" is a re-working of the James Bond movie theme). I don't mind EDM, but it's not a genre I actively seek out to listen to. In this case, the music seemed more repetitive than usual and didn't have much creativity to it. After doing some research on Holmes, it seems he's made quite a career of doing movie soundtracks after gaining fame as a DJ, which I can totally see after listening to this album. It definitely felt like a movie soundtrack rather than an album of dance music I'd want to hear at a club. This is one of those albums that I question why it's on the list. Outside of the fact that it used a few clips that he recorded in NYC which was maybe a bit unique (which also let to the title of the album if you read about the making of the record), I didn't find anything memorable or groundbreaking about this album.
Yeah just not my kinda “music” As far as sample heavy electronica goes, I definitely liked this more than the DJ Shadow album since this one at least has a stronger sense of direction. I thought the snippets of conversations and whatnot were actually pretty cool and add a lot to the ambiance. I just don’t respect this one much from a musical standpoint; too repetitive, not a whole lot going on in the instrumental department, and just a bit too weird. I hate how the overall energy of each song basically remains flat the entire time, where there’s not really peaks and valleys but rather 5 minutes of the same loop playing over and over with some minor variations Starting to realize I really just don’t like this genre, and although I’d rather listen to this 1000 times over the people next to us at the Indy 500 blasting shitty dubstep for 24 hours straight, it’s just not something I’d ever consciously want to listen to. It’s not that painful so I don’t think I can give this a 1 but there’s were some segments that really tested my patience
Incredibly boring. The fact that the best sounding song on this album was James Bond is enough to tell you how I feel about this album.
This genre is very much not my cup of tea, so I went into this expecting not to like it and I heard nothing that would change my opinion on the genre. Both uninteresting and repetitive, there's a spy motif throughout the album that's not handled particularly well. It reminds me of the music that you find in a PlayStation 1 game rather than a snazzy spy flick. The album was most enjoyable when more famous works were sampled. The James Bond theme is sampled on “Radio 7” and some Serge Gainsbourg tracks are sampled on “Don't Die Just Yet”. I'm not an expert on electronic music, but I know that this is not as cutting edge as his contemporaries. It all feels very nineties and not in a good way.
With strange, unimportant albums like this one, this list will affirm the bias of anyone who thinks electronic music is uninteresting and repetitive. Every song sounds like an interlude! The beginning of the title track is something right off DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing… . It evolves into a very peculiar spacey, breakbeat thing that I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything else sound like before. That might be the only truly unique song you’ll hear. Hmmm. I’m gonna try to keep the practice of suggesting an electronic album I think deserves to be on here. Let’s do “Monomara” by Isabel’s Dream. This is a flat 2/5
Sounds like a soundtrack to a movie, which it looks like Dave-o got into later in his career. The “man on the street” type clips from. New Yorkers were the best parts of the album, the music was ok but pretty repetitive for an instrumental. I’d often fast forward 3 mins in the song and you couldn’t tell the difference. Needed some New York rapper over a few songs. 2.3
1.6 For all of you who are new to the generator, let this album be the reason you sign up for weekend albums. You dont want to get this on a Friday, and then every time you open up the app for the next couple of days, this album pops up.
Between the I-♥-James-Bond track, the snippets of people talking and some of the other tracks' names, I'm wondering if this is a sort-of concept album about flicking through television channels? I think he nailed it, even down to the little details like being interested for five seconds then flipping to the next (but for album purposes, these five seconds of intrigue are stretched to six minutes each) as well as the experience of passing out by the end I think there's two major positives to the album; one, it sounds pretty cool, the tracks *are* interesting and strange for those few seconds until they feel like the world's most interesting endlessly-perpetuating background music... and two, after you fall asleep through like, track 10, you can dream that you're listening to Ziggy Stardust or something instead
i respect this but man repetitive techno beats that build up to nothing are not for me. i'll revisit if i need background instrumentals while working.
Dull and boring.
Brutal “soundtrack” it just stunk
I hope James Bond beat this man to a pulp for completely stealing his theme song in the most lazy and uninspired manner I have ever heard an EDM “artist” attempt. This whole “album” was just boring repetitive beat after boring repetitive beat. The tracks are too long, it’s mostly just random crap and there’s zero plot to the album besides some New Yorkers spasming out on some tracks. Cool man. I’m sure your mom is proud of you.
yes, sounds like it belongs on a heist movie soundtrack until you get to the Bond cover.....and that was just a bad cover. after that I was just annoyed.
Every time i get some 🎵🎶 BULLSHIT 🎵🎶 like Let’s Get Killed, I remember that some poor soul got THIS as their first album, a true introduction to the future this generator holds for them. Why does Robert Dimery love electronica so much?
Kind of just electronic nonsense. It is OK as background music, but nothing I where I would grab a vinyl off the shelf and sit down to enjoy it.
I didn't hate it, but also, the more the album was going, the more I was wishing for it to be over. It's somehow a mix of beats I like but way longer than it should.
Nah, not for me.
Yeah makes sense this guy became a film score guy and Soderbergh's go to guy. This sounds like a soundtrack in search of a movie. It's fine but hardly memorable, and I got the idea about 3 tracks in.
Trip Hop can easily feel like background music if done wrong... and that's just what Holmes did, go Listen to Fat Boy Slim instead. It really has no interesting points or samplings. I wouldn't mind hearing this in a bar in the background but this is nothing that grabs your attention either for being good or bad. I don't know if it's worse to be unnoticeable than stand out as shockingly bad
Por momentos, o más bien algunas canciones, los salvaban, ej. Don't Die Just Yet. Fuera de esas pocas canciones pues…
It's like having a good background.
There were some moments on this that were interesting to me and I really liked. But on the whole it bored me to death. Glorified elevator music.
It doesn’t offend nor does it particularly interest me. But there are some good beats. 2.5
Sometimes hotel lounge music and sometimes movie soundtrack. Mostly someone left a microphone on in a taxi.
Not really my style
Not the most interesting, but not the worst.
I'm not super into techno, but I live in Detroit, so I'm surrounded by it. This is exceptionally mid techno. It's not bad per se, it's just not exciting, good, different, or any other positive adjective. It just sort of is. No idea why anyone would think it has to be listened to before one dies. Influence 1. Hits 1. Quality 3. Intangibles 1. Meh 2.
Not a huge fan. Weaker opening but album more listenable as it goes on. Like... ambient beat tapes. Some tracks sound like they're off a PS1 JRPG or one of the lesser tracks off a Lumines game. It's okay.
Someone in the reviews labelled this as a "Soundtrack to a bad 90's movie about hacking" and, in all honesty, that sounds about right. By the time the fuzzy reverbed bass beats of "Let's Get Killed" kicked in, I couldn't have agreed more. That being said, I am at odds with this music. The me of the 90s (soon coming out of my single digit age) loved movies about hacking and would have absolutely loved this album too. However, the me and my music taste of today though has largely left this genre to die by the side of the road. Imagining scenes of hackers and prowlers in sunglasses and '90s cool' leather outfits managed to elevate my opinion of this (so for that, I enjoyed "Let's get Killed" and "Caddell Returns"), but similarly, I couldn't wait for the album to be over. It doesn't have quite the same quality as DJ Shadow's Endtroducing and almost feels like an include by the author in an attempt to represent the genre more, rather than a genuine include.
Vamos a morir perdiendo una hora de nuestro tiempo habiendo escuchado este album sin ningún interés especial.Una hora desperdiciada, eso sí, no es insoportable.
Nah….
Are we kidding? 59 minutes? I can just about stomach listening to this for 10 or 15, where it's kind of fun and evocative of having a good time. Then it's kind of not fun and extremely evocative of listening to total garbage for 45 minutes. Also, there's the song with the Bond theme, which is conflicting, because it's quite nice to have something you recognise, but equally James Bond is among the stupidest concepts in history.
Nah
Solid selection of drum breaks (the main redeeming quality) paired with melodically simple basslines and other instrumental flourishes in repetitive, casual grooves. But that can only be sustained well for so long - the songs don’t really have enough movement, changes, or variation to maintain interest. Fine for some background music, but not something I really need to focus on or listen to repeatedly. Mostly forgettable
Boring
This ain't it, I'm afraid. I would not recommend listening to this album.
1001 albums on this list and 998 of them are 90s british electronic music
Not really my thing - the bond theme was cool though
Listenable, nothing egregious. The street sounds and recordings gave it a feel evocative of the movie Heavy Traffic. Maybe an issue of hearing it backwards through time, but it just wasn't extremely engaging as other DJ producer albums like Endtroducing.
I was listening to this and a song started playing that sounded really cool. Turns out the album had finished and Spotify autoplayed The Chemical Brothers. This was meh to me. Not really my style and it just felt really long. It was thoroughly suspenseful and sounded like a film soundtrack so I will give it some credit.
Just like… not very good Background Noise 2/5 Favorite: title track I guess
Trip-hop tourism for people who think overheard cab chatter is profound. Holmes builds a whole record out of grooves that circle the block and never park, then litters them with random New York street-scene voice clips as if atmosphere were the same thing as songs. Maybe it’s a concept album about how boring concepts can be. “Gritty Shaker” nearly escapes on a tasty retro groove before a pointless intro and six-minute sprawl sink it. “Slashers Revenge” at least manages a little menace. Otherwise: background music for a fake Scorsese movie.
Ok, kinda repetetive.
dull
Very dull
interesting album. i enjoy david holmes' film scores for the ocean movies. he's got a cool sound. this album itself is fine. some standouts like gritty shaker and rodney yates, but other than that its a bit of a repetative project. the recordings of people on the street are cool mixed in with his beats but after a while i got annoyed with it. 5/10
Ok 2/5
Not my thing
I know this project aims to be (and ought to be) eclectic in its genres, and I can respect electronica and DJ-type stuff, but sometimes going from jazz crooners to classic rockers to something like this in the same week can be like eating at a tacky Chinese buffet. (Pass the cheeseburger to go along with the lo mein?)
Maso
snoooooooze
Inoffensive but I’m pretty bored. RYM: N Saved a song: N
pra falar bem a verdade achei nada demais, so uma ou outra msc me chamou atenção
I could dig this as a movie score, but as a stand-alone album I didn’t really connect with it.
This was too much. Nothing really happened for almost an hour. What was David Holmes thinking?
This isn't anything
This genre is very much not my cup of tea, so I went into this expecting not to like it and I heard nothing that would change my opinion on the genre. Both uninteresting and repetitive, there's a spy motif throughout the album that's not handled particularly well. It reminds me of the music that you find in a PlayStation 1 game rather than a snazzy spy flick. The album was most enjoyable when more famous works were sampled. The James Bond theme is sampled on 'Radio 7' and some Serge Gainsbourg tracks are sampled on 'Don't Die Just Yet'. I'm not an expert on electronic music, but I know sure as hell that this is not as cutting edge as Aphex Twin. It all feels very nineties and not in a good way.
Liked this back in the day, but found this a bit dull - plenty of big beat better than this out there.
Some sick beats in there for sure but I think it's longer then I'd prefer. 2/5
There's been better electronic from this list, I just didn't vibe with it.
I was excited to listen to this today, I have no real relationship with electronic music, so i'm coming in with an eager and open mind. This seems like it could be good background music, so maybe it's what I'm doing in the foreground (working) that is the issue? Drugs would help this, but alas... Songs mostly start out promising, some interesting conversation samples that blend into some cool beats that then just repeat, over and over(and over).... it's a little too long and - as I'm finding is my biggest complaint about the albums I don't like that much - boring.
Is it a rule that electronica albums have to be an hour long or more? Because I can only take about 20-30 minutes at a time on a good day.
This was probably impressive and remarkable in 1998, but is rather uninspiring today when anyone can do this. It was at least interesting to find out that Holmes has scored lots of Soderbergh films, and you can definitely hear similarities to the music from the Oceans movies in some tracks.
Boring and generic.
This is for people who like Tim Westwood.
Not really noteworthy and a bit dull at times. I enjoyed the Bond track I guess, but it doesn't grab me
Not a huge fan of electronic
"Let's Get Killed" plays like a jumble of unfinished film scores hoping to attract the attention of some greenhorn movie producer. (It must have worked , as I recognized "Rodney Yates" from the Ocean's Eleven soundtrack.) Some songs are well crafted -- "Don't Die Just Yet", for example -- and work fine as individual tracks. But the sum is somewhat less than its parts: the songs seem random and disparate, as if Holmes gave no real thought to how they might fit together. And I would have left out the James Bond retread.
I don't get this genre of music
Again, probably deserves a higher rating but I am over all these albums with no lyrics! Not my cup of tea and it seems to be all this random generator is serving.
Full on coffee shop background music.
Was considering being killed halfway through this.
An album with electro sounds that fits the late 90s. The samples are unique and convey the vibe well. But didn’t knock my socks off overall. Decent though. 2.6/5.0
Es klingt wie ein unfertiges Experiment, das sich für viel cooler hält, als es ist. Die Tracks plätschern belanglos dahin, die Field Recordings wirken eher wie Lückenfüller, und echte Spannung kommt nie auf. Am Ende bleibt ein Album, das mehr Attitüde als Substanz hat.
The definition of muzak, I can't think of a context when this would be played and recieved well, it certainly isn't something I'd choose to sit and listen to, and it couldn't be played in a club, its hardly even interesting background music, there's so much better. In short I found this boring, too boring to be atrocious, but without enough substance to gain any enjoyment, it didn't help that it was pretty long, I spent my whole walk home waiting to finish it so I could play something else. This does sound quite negative, and I suppose it is, but as said its less negative and more just nothing at all. The songs felt more or less samey, the talking sections serving as a, sometimes vaguely interesting, change of tone, but other than that there was little difference between songs for me. The highlights of the album (though highlight is a word I use tenuously) were perhaps 'Radio 7' though that's more out of fondness of Monty Norman's music than anything in this album, and 'Don't die yet' which was a pleasant change at the end in that it was mildly okay. If I wanted background instrumentals I'd rather have Jazz or Classical any day, heck even the Virgin Suicides soundtrack. Getting Killed is a much better album with a similar name. 36/100
Bad
Not for me. 2.
Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this list: 3/5
Good for background music.
Video game background music lowkey. Still a vibe though.
Aged terribly.
Really dislike this but it has some ok moments, like some of the jazzy instrumentation but it's honestly really quite boring. Very low 2 for me
Didn't get my attention at all
This never-ending album seemed like something a 14-yr-old would make on a new iOS app before abandoning the app forever.
Probably would serve its purpose well as background cafe music, but the high-points just felt like theft of classics without adding much to them
Bem música de fundo de filme de espião/hacker anos 2000
This isn’t offensive to listen to but it also isn’t at interesting
Por la mitad. No estaba muy en el miod
Not really much going on to make me want to come back!
More robot music from the bowels of the UK (I love Belfast btw). However, I don't love this stuff but I can see the appeal.
Good for a 'Ocean's 11' soundtrack, not so much for an album. Top tracks: "My Mate Paul," "Radio 7"
Half decent background house
Good to have some electronic music on here, didn't really like it though (Apart from Radio 7 maybe).
Huh?
hm i feel like im on hard drugs
Insignificante e dispensável. Traz somente uma faixa bacana: Don't Die Just Yet.
An hour of monotony from a 90's electronica DJ? No thank you. The skits don't help, either. Shouldnt be anywhere near this list. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ 50% Revisit ❌️ ★☆☆☆☆ (2/10) Total reviewed : 193 Already owned : 44 Purchased : 8 To buy list : 4 Nope : 137
another man. snooze
😐
Really not great. Cant really believe this is in the best 1001 albums ever made!
Difficult one to score because at times it felt like good background music, but ultimately it was very dull and formulaic. Vocal sample, music sample, simple beat, repeat. Possibly the nearest thing to music that AI could simply replicate? Shame as there was potential there, just needed some oomph!
I was hoping that the overwhelmingly lukewarm/borderline negative reviews on here were a misrepresentation. I would say that I wasn’t miserable while listening, but I also wasn’t moved very much by this record. The trip hop style tracks paired with the fast paced drum patterns were pretty great. Otherwise, the vast majority of the record lacked cohesion.
dont think i've ever hearda this guy. top track 200k plays on youtubemusic. interested. no longer interested. i made it three tracks. boring
Where will this album take me? Ooh fun, so bouncy...AGGGHH ANXIETYYYY 😥
don’t know if this is controversial but it kinda sounded like he was reheating DJ Shadow’s nachos. It was okay but not my favorite. I saw someone say that it was like background music for a bad 90s movie and i would agree. Higher than just a 2 though so I’m giving it 2.5 stars.
boring....
Just a nothing album really.
Very Christmas music :-) no, seriously, why is it on the list?
On song 3 and so far to my ears, this is background noise, not music. To be fair, I will try to listen to the whole album. But if song 3 was his first hit, I'm not optimistic. The song Rodney Yates was the easiest to listen to, but not enough to call this album music.
It just keeps going and going and going.
Hmmmmmmm no
Decent electronic album. Don't really care for the spoken word interludes.
★★½
A little dull TBH, but not bad. The penultimate track was cool, and I enjoyed the sampling a lot. I wish there was more of it. 2/5 stars.
Really confused as to why this is considered a must-listen album. Besides the interludes it sounds like video game backing tracks.
Ugghhhh borinnnggggg!
Interesting
It’s fine.
the production is nice enough and it's not a bad sounding album, but i found myself quite bored listening to this one. felt like i got the picture in the first track. not my thing.
Not my type, not bad
Shitty industrial electronica. Sounds like of Trent Reznor had a massive stroke and forgot how to make good music. 2/5
а где здесь работать музыканта? типа накидал драмки на тему из бондианы и теперь ты король? пиздец епт ) балл накину только за концепцию
I agree, NY is known for a lot of things. But I guess that doesn't include electronic music.
4/10
1. lizten - 0 2. paul - 1 3. killed - 1.5 4. gritty -0 5. ruzh - 1 6. yatez - 1 7. radio - 1.5 8. zhouu - 0 9. revenge - 1.5 10. Freak - 1.5 11. Returns - 1.5 12. Die - 2 13. You -0
dnf, made it to about halfway. 90s instrumental techno isn't really my thing lol. enjoyed some of the soundbites though, especially track 4 "gritty shaker"
1.5
Decidedly average. 'Propellerheads' - 'on her majesty's secret service' did it better.
In theory I should enjoy this. A film composer makes a jazzy trip-hop and breakbeat record. But it honestly bored me. Maybe it was the non-existent songwriting that made everything mood pieces, or maybe I just wanted something with more film music influence. Either way, big disappointment. As far as 90's film composers making trip-hop go, I will always have the great Craig Armstrong.
This is #day459 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… are these my electronica days or what? Yesterday it was Underworld, and today it's David Holmes, whom I'd actually never heard of before. Turns out it's late-'90s NYC-inspired trip-hop/breakbeat, which I don't mind, but don't feel like turning back to soon, if ever. This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day460.
Music from a 2000s era "cult classic" film that was never released. Gets fairly boring 2*
Well, this is very bad as it is written in most of the reviews. I listen to this album while running and running went well. I don’t think I will ever come back to listening to this album because electronic music is not really my type.
So boring
God what is it with electronic albums from the 90s being hour long slogs to get through?
geese hend albumtitel klaut?? ich mach triphop soundästhetik sehr, sehr warm. my mate paul isch chli sehr stotterbeat findi. aber warm und no cool. de titletrack het de funny delay uf allem irgendwie. sehr fun. au dark as hell und etz nöd meega catchy? he es isch sehr viel s gliich. afoch en passable loop. und denn chli bleep bloop. rodney yates hani etz gad nüt degege aber s sgeht gad chli lang us wnl. es isch lang gsi huii james bond theme isch halt geil. bruchts en break beat drunder? donno. slashers revenge au fett ass. aso beats warm und so. ok. caddell returns schööni stricher. ischs es sample?
ja das bruchemer definitiv uf dere liste nei jz nach 3 lieder findis na kinda fun? wobii, so 80% isch ah mier verbii hahaha gritty shaker langwilig wow s kohärentiste lied isch bis jz de 007-remix oder was das au immer sötti sii slashers revenge isch insane scheisse, wiso würd ich so öppis welle lose monsieur holmes, ich beweget sich langsam uf 1er-terrain freaknik isch na lustig mitem örgelizüg, und drums gönd dumm, chani schätze caddell returns isch v.a. weg de giti cool aber chamme mache don't die just yet isch im ahsatz na cool mite striicher und de gitarre aber es gaht EEEEWIIIIG hey das isch echt hstrengend gsi. glaub vom konzept findis ok, hii und daa hets augeblick gha woni no cool gfunde han aber OEFF überlegmer na öb 1 oder 2
Feels like a third of this list is electronica. This album is okay, but quite boring. Also feels like a scam to sample entire songs. One song sampled Cargo Culte by Serge Gainsbourg and the song sounded great... because Cargo Culte is great. Not very original. .
Oh, I remember David Holmes. He was really big and "edgy". I forget why.
Really below average electronic music, not what I expected given the amount of damn solid electronica music on the list thus far. It has the problem of not having much of an atmosphere, and just not being memorable in general.
Late 1990s British electronica/alternative dance. It started off really badly and I thought I'd give it 1 star, then it got significantly better as the album progressed. Though the songs are either hit or miss and the album itself overstayed its welcome by around 15 minutes, I like the cinematic sound of many songs and it's quite quirky and interesting here and there. It's good background music. I was considering to give it 3 stars overall but I'll round it down to 2 stars as overall it's too long, and after all not very memorable/there are better electronica albums that aren't included. It's a strong 2 stars, though.
4.5
This was a slog and a half. One famous song does not a 1001 album make.
Overall, it overstays its welcome. I might be able to dance to it. I might be able to use snatches of it as a soundtrack. I might find some of it timeless. I might find some of it to be wholly of its time. But one thing I'm not doing — I'm not taking direction from this record. It's only my 777th after all.
Beeps and boops
I liked the funkier electronic dance tracks but hated all the violence inherent in some of the darker stuff
The list's enthusiast for drum and bass is baffling. The James bond cover was okay, but all the gritty NYC street samples were tiresome.
Fine. Not my favourite genre of music but I liked the James bond reference I suppose
This started out really fun but then around the 007/Bond song I started to get bored. I'm not sure if I personally lost steam or the album lost steam but I just don't think it was fun enough to sit and listen to as a whole album.
lol ok
Each song felt like a knock-off video game soundtrack looping every 30 seconds.
I could have seen enjoying this but it didn't quite do it for me. It was too long and didn't have enough variety to my ears.
Outside of Moby, I've never really gotten the DJ thing, at least not as an album that would be the center of attention. I thought I could get into this at first, but about 1/3 of the way thru it was losing me.
I liked this well enough in the late 90s/early 00s when it would get mixed in with likeminded (and better) stuff from Ninja Tune and Mo Wax, and I'm not shocked that this is on a British-leaning list. But it's just okay. I do appreciate Holmes's many contributions to Steven Soderbergh movies, and he's an object of James Murphy's scorn in Meet Me in the Bathroom, which is fun to have in the back of your head as you listen to this. But there's just so many better versions of this. These songs all have solid funky heist film hooks, but they just don't go anywhere. Which means they work perfectly fine as a jolt of energy in an Oceans Eleven scene. But there's nothing to sustain attentive listening. If you like this, pull up Propellerheads or DJ Shadow or The Herbalist or DJ Krush or Kid Koala or Prefuse 73 or anyone on Xen Cuts or three dozen other likeminded artists. Almost none of those guys are going to pop up on this list, but they all deserve far more attention than David Holmes (especially Prefuse 73. He made some crazy stuff for a minute there.)
Pretty dull throughout, lacks energy and just comes across as a bit stale.
If this was all instrumental I'd quite like it. The format with recorded clips of people in NY soon becomes boring.
I don't know why I, or anyone else, would have to listen to this before they die. Not awful...not anything really, felt like I was just waiting for it to be over.
The fucking french pedophile Serge Gainsbourg strikes again! For real though, I feel like the bot is fucking with me, I hope I never have to think of this fucker again. You know what was terrible? I saw that one video of him a few years ago and I thought it was hilarious, the one where a chorus of like 50 kids comes out on stage dressed as him to sing one of his songs? Without context that video is AWESOME, but with context of who this guy was it's insane. Like "hey guys remember that fucking incestuous pedophile we love for some reason? Let's surprise him with a bunch of kids singing to him!" Like LOL. Who thought this was a good idea? French people are fucking weird man, I don't know Oh yeah the David Holmes record sucked.
#711. These repetitive club dj albums are simply not great to listen to in their entirety out of the context of a club 2/5: meh
Some decent dance grooves but nothing that really stood out to me. Not much to say here haha
Not a huge fan of this generation of DJs. I understand the impact for later generations of electronic music, but this never really lands with me. I do think there were some cool elements to each song. I really like the Radio 7 and the 007 mix up. I also really enjoyed Gritty Shaker. But.. most songs went on a bit long for me.
Seems like the kind of music I'd make if I was trying to figure out how to use the drum machine.
Each track contains at most one interesting and/or unique concept (beat, sample, rhythm, etc.) and repeats it ad nauseum. The songs are too long and repetitive. Another feature on the list that makes for "decent background music" but isn't worth listening to. In this case, the artist is a professional soundtrack artist, probably adding another collection to their portfolio, but the author of this book mistook it for exceptional music on its own.
Not impressive.
unimpressive, run of the mill electronic.
Meh.
This type of music makes me feel nothing.
Как фон изредка пойдёт. 4 из 10.
An album by a UK-based techno artist, a shitty over-hyped late-90’s Madonna album, then another album by a UK-based techno artist. Is this a joke? Is this a reboot of Punk’d? Where’s Ashton? Or wait, no. I’ve died and this is hell. Worse than I imagined it’d be, if I’m being honest.
Starts off great, but then turns into somewhat of a mid background music for a cyberpunk/hacker video game
90s. Kind of fun for one listen.
Too out there for me
There were a few songs that were pretty decent, but generally this is not my style. 2.5
Meh - sounded like a movie of a 90’s lounge. Like a scene on sex and the city or something.
A couple very OK songs but most is bad beats and boring.
Wanted to like this one but it’s pretty irrelevant
This was a cool album, conceptually. It just doesn't do anything for me personally. That electronic DJ music is not my style.
Some of the beats are really cool, but the spoken word and sound effects were just too annoying and distracting.
Wild listen in a high stress state.
Another album and artist that completely passed me by. I've listened to it twice now, the first time ...nothing stuck in my brain from it. No emotion, no high points, no low points just bland generic electronic nothingness. The second time was to see if was as bland as I (sort of ) remembered. Yes. it's just featureless.
For what it is, I guess it’s good.
1.72
Hmmm, I guess it's ok. Nice groove but nothing stands out.
Muy monótono. Buena fusión de trip-house con algo de jazz. Pero cansa.
Fav song: Don't Die Just Yet
5/10
Ok
2.5
This is very dull and dated. A chore to get through.
Not my thing
Not that bad, but too repetitive and kinda boring.
I don't mind the beats, they are coherent and somewhat build. But they also stay pretty mellow, feels like the soundtrack for the store Express. I think where it really falls apart for me are the weird stories at the beginning. I thought wow this guy is from the streets in Brooklyn and sampling life in a different way. No! He is a white guy from Belfast. Nothing against white guys from Belfast, but for me it just really feels off that you are creating these really stereotypical exaggerated stories of a world you are not a part of. So for me it falls short
2 star, decent but I only liked the intros tbh
75/1001. This I think I have, but I don't know why. The name keeps popping up and the sounds remind of an era but nothing seems to stand out. After half a day of listening I can't recall anything that was in it and don't want or need to go back.
la de hablar no se la saben
Boring and uninspired. Terrible samples and awful loops. The “skits” are the diarrhea icing on top of this shit cake.
Feels like it would be better as a movie or a video game soundtrack than as an album. 5/10
I dig the kind of dark and stormy vibe he creates in many of the songs. The street busker/ crate drumming sample on Head Rush on Lafayette was a nice change of pace. I quite like the take on the 007 theme track. Most of the songs feel like they could be the music for levels in a retro spy game. Some of the songs feel like they should have an MC tapping over them. Almost like he made beats without finding anyone to use them.
A few songs in I started to think "I'd rather listen to an Ocean's movie soundtrack" and then Rodney Yates came on. This is a pretty bleak album. All of these songs sound like the good foundations of songs but they never really go anywhere. It's just endless drum loops with an occasional subpar "rap." Oh and the James Bond song. This is right on the cusp of 1 star for me. 3/10 (1.5/5)
Look, I'm already pot committed to completing this project, but goodness, some of the curation is absolutely baffling.
Too long for what it gave 🥴 it's giving budget, 80s spy movie and I got bored. Nothing really stood out either.
Not worth a listen
I was so bored for so long listening to this. But I persevered as I was driving for ages so thought ‘why not’. Was it me, or did it get better in the 2nd half of the record? After the James Bondy one things seemed more interesting and listenable. But nothing outstanding.
Sounds like something Apple would have used in an iPod ad, or, PlayStation demo disc menu music. Fine, but not for me.
It sounds more like the soundtrack to a film than something that stands on its own, and it's ultimately a boring listen. There are just way more interesting things happening in this genre of music at this time.
Why? The UK bias on this list is actually wild. It's not that it's bad. In fact, I'd rather listen to something bad/different. It's just that it's a pretty mediocre example of the genre.
I liked a few of the more experimental moments but generally this fell mostly flat for me. The vocal snippets were hit or miss. 2/5
- 2.5, rounding down. -
It was fine background music. But nothing interesting. Standout song: Gritty Shaker
Kind of mid but some cool stuff. I liked hearing the Ocean's 11 song out of nowhere. Was an easy listen but not required listening
Meh... one decent track.
Giving lcd sound systems vibes
Very much of its time. On a bad say, this would trend towards 1/5 for me, but it's been an okay day, so... 2/5.
Album 814 of 1089 David Holmes - Let's Get Killed (1997) Rating : 1.5 / 5 Irish electronica just didn't do it for me.
Overall: 3/10 Not the most abysmal electronica I've heard so far but still not great. I've realized that it's not necessarily the repetitiveness of the genre I don't like (I listen to lots of punk after all), but it's that what's being repeated just isn't all that interesting to me. Something nice to dance to in a party setting but not enjoyable otherwise. Fav Song: Let's Get Killed Least Fav Song: Head Rush on Lafayette
Eh. Has it's moments at times
Ok
Både monotont og masete. Høres ut som jeg er på Suburban-sjappa i GTAV.
This was the musical equivalent of a toothy blowjob
DNF
Fanns någon enstaka låt som hade något. Resten var inte så kul.
Not for me.
Never-ending monotonous beats
Electronica...
REALLY starting to wonder about this list. There seems to be so much throwaway electronic dance music from the UK on here. There is nothing timeless or special about any of it. This is a perfect example here. It's not terrible, but it's just boring. It's background music for when you don't want to be distracted by anything challenging. Impossible to get excited about any of it because it's like window dressing. The more of this I hear the more I hate the entire style. For fuck's sake, please team up with someone who can write rhymes and has some flow and just be a hip-hop project instead of this monotonous drivel.
This did not land for me. Just felt like it went nowhere and took forever to get there. Really repetitive. James Bond song was kinda cool
generic dance music
Fine but I’m not sure about essential.
i kind of got bored #sorry
The "James Bond" release saved this from one-star territory.
Just like Fatboy Slim. It's not terrible...just...dull
I've never heard of David Holmes or this album before, and I'm not terribly familiar with a lot of electronica music. Before starting this project, I would have thought that I would love a lot of the electronica albums on this list. I love synthesizers, keyboards, and drum machines, so I thought this genre would be right up my alley, but that hasn't really been the case unfortunately. Maybe this album will be the first electronica album to blow me away! Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this album very much. The overall sound was fine, but I found it to be pretty boring overall. Most of the songs didn't really go anywhere interesting, and there weren't many hooks, riffs, or melodies that caught my ear and made me want to hear more. Oddly enough, two of the songs that I enjoyed, "Radio 7," and "Don't Die Just Yet," happened to use samples of songs that I already knew (the James Bond theme and Serge Gainsbourg's "Historie de Melody Nelson"). Both of those songs feel very rooted in the time that they were recorded, but David Holmes managed to use them in a way that felt right at home in nineties electronica. I enjoyed "Caddell Returns" as well; I liked the slower pace of the song, and electronic sounds created a really cool atmosphere. Other than those songs though, this album really fell flat with me, with the songs about New York feeling especially out of place. If the overall theme of this album was about New York, or about urban life, I could see these songs fitting in better. This album wasn't unlistenable, but it certainly wasn't for me.
Background music but no more.
Not the worst techno of the 90s I’ve had to endure on this journey. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. Probably would not revisit.
Fun little album here with some cool beats. Nothing too exciting though.
At my gym they loop repetitive, boring, annoying junk like this. I just put music on my headphones and drown it out.
And just like the intro... New York is the s*^t! File this under New York.
It's very hard to listen to songs that do not change meaningfully over a 6-8 minute period. If you're building a track over a bass line, great! At least make some variation in the bones, for me at least. The throughline of conversations with New Yorkers was interesting and cool. I enjoyed the new rendition of the Bond theme too. Overall though, this was background music to me.
It's fine but not awesome or anything not really list worthy
Nothing special or memorable
Repetitive. Unoriginal. Not horrible but not for me.
I had never heard of this and was a bit excited when it came up on the car stereo as "Electronica". That said, I found it pretty boring. I was expecting Aphex Twin or something ambient. I didn't find the beats all that imaginative, and the samples and whatnot seemed to just be trying to tell us over and over that the sample is from New York. I have a hard time giving it a two, but it barely deserves better. Ah, I just read the Wikipedia summary, and it's all clear now. Another relatively lame UK entry in the 1001 because the author is from the UK. Particularly obvious when the entry is from the 1990s.
Too slow for clubbing, too fast for studying. Not a fan of this kind of electronica. The integration of the streetscapes was cool though.
Mixed opinion on this. Not sure if it's ok or just rubbish.
27/1001 Being in my prime (ha!) in the late 90s, I am aware of the name David Holmes but only vaguely know what he is all about - DJ, producer, film scores, remixer etc from the more alternative end of the dance spectrum - and have not listened to this album until now. Entirely instrumental, the music here is very much of its time, referencing a fairly eclectic spectrum of late-90s electronica but with a less chart-friendly vibe than your Fatboy Slims and Basement Jaxxes. Not necessarily my bag, this is inoffensive background music lacking any massive hooks (or any vocals to speak of at all) that manages to be interesting and a bit dull at the same time. If I were a DJ, I can imagine slipping some of these tracks into a 90s indie set to add a bit of variety, perhaps. The street chatter which punctuates the album (*checks notes* recorded by Holmes on a trip to New York 10 years earlier) doesn't really add much in my opinion, although some tracks do incorporate the recordings more creatively. It's all right, and does what it says on the tin, but I'm not sure it warrants being on this list and I'm not sure I'd return to it for my own listening pleasure too soon.
Umm, yeah, that's an electronica album. Didn't mind this as much as the Goldie album, but several of the songs still overstay their welcome. Which I guess is the thing, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. But hey, they're not all 10+ minutes long, which I do appreciate. The interludes or skits or whatever were interesting though, and it at least gets points for doing something different with the Bond theme. Overall I thought it was fine for what it is and certainly could've been worse. Not sure it belongs here, but then I'm generally not a fan of the genre.
This kind of electronica is pretty shit. It's really minimalist. It's not something you can dance to or even nod your head along to, it's just kind of there. The only good bit in the whole thing was the rip off of Melody Nelson, but then all they really did there was put a rubbish drum beat on top of it.
Good background music but not for me
Not for me. I could enjoy some of the grooves, but then all good will was repeatedly lost at the spoken dislogue segments.
More or less... 2 points
Underwhelming but not offensive. I quite like the James Bond theme remix.
This gets a big "who gives a fuck?"
This is like trip hop/house music, but super low energy. Dude establishes a beat, then leaves for 5-6 minutes and calls it a song. Not the worst electronica I've heard, but definately not my cup of tea. There are no real lyrics, dude just samples some people talking which is kinda lame. Favorite songs: Radio 7, Don't Die Just Yet, My Mate Paul Least favorite songs: Listen, The Parcus & Madder Show, For You (fuck skits), Caddell Returns 2/5
"It's like hip-hop without any rapping. And good riddance" -me Let's Get Killed, though a bit underwhelming, is one of the better albums from contemporary R&B – if you can really call it part of the genre. Some white Irishman putting together miscellaneous hip-hop beats with various disconnected interludes doesn't sound, on paper, like your typical 90s R&B. But without most of the lyrics and rapping, both the musician's and listener's attention is pulled to the instrumental. And I'll be honest: it's pretty darn good. A little repetitive and uninteresting at times, sure, but not having to actively tune out some generic, unmelodic, loudly-mixed shouting is a relief. The song Don't Die Just Yet is a really nifty soundscape of shifting guitars, bass, contrabass, mellotron, and a constant hip-hop-produced drum beat. It's far and away the best track on the album. Radio 7 is obviously a derivative track by design, but it has its own merits. Allusions to Black and Hispanic culture at the beginning give the track a lot more meaning than it would've had otherwise. Rodney Yates and Gritty Shaker are two other highlights for their well-selected hooks. But there are also some particularly weak tracks, including Freaknik and Caddell Returns, that really put the latter half of the album into "flop" territory. And of course, interludes are (nearly always) unnecessary. Cut them out and we'll have ourselves a deal. 2/5 Key tracks: Gritty Shaker, Rodney Yates, Don't Die Just Yet
A largely boring album, the beats are simple and it sounds like a movie soundtrack. This lines up, as Holmes' discography includes many film albums like the Oceans' films. It is easy listening and really inoffensive, and I did like the groove in Don't Die Just Yet, which is easily the best song here. But overall, it's not super interesting.
Interesting….didn’t completely hate this. Again quite good train vibes. Got boring after a while, wanted to listen to something else.
Pointless voice samples begin every track. Then bass/drum rythmn starys, and that's about it. Dance music only.
Sounds like a movie soundtrack. Okay for driving.
Generic 90’s pop dance. Nothing more to report sadly.
Dug the guitar in Don't Die Just Yet, but otherwise didn't care for it
What a slog. Felt like it would never end
2/5
287/1001 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Fine Unremarkable
I don't understand the importance of this record. It sounds very middle of the road. It came after DJ Shadow and Goldie and stuff. It didn't bring anything new to the table. There's not much EDM on the list if you consider how popular it is, but Most EDM albums are as boring as this one. Not enough variation. The loops are too short and repeated too often. However, it's not annoying. It is good background music. Favorite song: This music goes in one ear and out the other, so I don't care.
En fond musical, j’imagine que ça le fait. C‘est pas forcément irritant, c’est juste pas grand chose.
Incredibly slow and dull album at the start. Quite a boring listen and found it really hard to get through. The tempo changes hardly existed in a lot of songs and they went on for way longer than they needed to. By the end there were some more interesting elements though. The James Bond song was pretty decent, if largely reliant on the original sample. The Serge Gainsbourg song was also great and saved this album from a 1 for me.
Sod off sherlock