Beyond Skin

point5.

Weird R&B

I would never put this on a list like this unless it’s what you should not do.

Album #14 0 1/5 Not for me. Seems like there is a great message / theme to the album (lyrics) but the music/sound just isn't for me.

The album cover is actually me having to listen to this nonsense. 2/10.

I'd rather be nuked than listen to Homelands again.

This is real weird and bad.

de opener isch etz nöd so i mim gschmack sehr dissonant mit langsamem electrobeat. find etz de zweit letting go au ultra seicht und langwilig. homelands het chli spannenderi perkussion aber macht etz au nüüüt mit mir. alles sehr melancholisch und depri. pilgrim findi au meega scheisse sorry wiso ischs so gloomy? immigrant isch de erst song woni no easy schö find. schöni melodie cooli chords. würkli recht schön. serpents isch defür wieder e rechti tortur gnüssi etz nuuuuuull. abthem without nation isch au wieder cooli perkussivi sache im hindergrund das wüschende findi cool aber es isch so laaahm fuuuck. wenns harmonisch uflöst isch no schön. ich check scho dass mega lang söll riibig sii und denn isch d uflösig no befriedigender aber bruudi. the conference goht blöööd

Shitty indian music infused with jungle. Near the end they go Deng de Deng de Deng deng deng for 2 minutes. It felt like an eternity. Horrible.

it insists upon itself...

This is #day86 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... how about music to take a dump to? Long story short, this is not an album you must hear before you die. It's a 1 out of 5, of course. Looking forward to #day87.

Parts Portishead-Massive Attack trip hopness, Parts nice jazzy/classical/electronica/world music. I feel like I should hate this but it's kind of nice. Okay Pilgrim just came on pretty lame. Some interesting mixes of world vocals and breakbeats but I'd say the project is overall uneven with some some weird bobby mcferin meets a 90's club experiments like serpents or how lame pilgrim is but with some okay tracks like homelands, nadia, tides, letting go and anthem without nation

The album cover is terrible. The music is incredibly bland. Some of it sounds like it's trying to be Massive Attack, but nowhere near successfully. Also pretentious.

? My 1000 album

This is really hard to listen to

fuckin fuck

Just awful. Has the potential to be a fantastic and compelling trip hop album. Instead it's a cheesy soundtrack to a 90s British Airways commercial. At best, dentist office music.

Can Downtempo make you angry? Turn this on and find out!

First 3 songs are pretty good everything else was garbage

Beyond Skin is an album from Nitin Sawhney, a British musician that has won a number of awards. This is an odd collection of songs, with downtempo electronic backgrounds, and elements of Indian influence throughout the work. There are odd ballads, "Anthem without Nation," poorly executed rap, "Pilgrim," rhythmic exercises, "The Conference," and even near-pop songs, "Nostalgia." Some of the tracks are interesting, but the scattered collection is enough to dampen any interest.

Bit all over the place, parts were okay but other tracks I really disliked

Beyond excruciating

Released in 1999, the album aims to explore identity and culture through a blend of Eastern and Western music. Unfortunately, the album falls short, resulting in a disjointed and unsatisfying experience. The fusion of classical Indian instruments with electronic beats often feels forced and jarring, lacking cohesion. Vocally, the album is inconsistent, with guest performances varying in quality. The spoken word segments, like in "Broken Skin," come across as pretentious rather than profound. The lyrical content strives for depth but ends up heavy-handed and unsubtle. Production is another weak point, with traditional instruments undermined by synthetic electronic elements, resulting in a sterile sound. Few tracks leave a lasting impression, and the ambitious soundscapes meander without direction. Overall, Beyond Skin is a well-intentioned but flawed endeavor, failing to deliver a memorable or cohesive musical experience.

How can you even call this art

Definitely not my music - sorry!

Not for me

Wtf

This has to be near the bottom of albums on this list, like 998.

who listens to this Like sure, some of the jazzier stuff is fine, but tell me anyone’s favorite song is ‘Nadia’ or ‘Serpents’. None of this is artistically bankrupt or anything, but it seems like the artist put no effort into actually making this something people want to listen to. This made me feel nothing, and unlike other albums I could say that to, I really see no appeal to this. Probably the 1 star album I have the least hatred of, but who is this for?

Was this list required to provide a westernized Indian album because if this was the best possible option then I guess there is still more learning that needs to be done. The first song was kind of okay. Then emit just went to shit and everything else was pretty much a mess. There were two songs I had to skip, which I usually don’t do. This could’ve been a two star album if it stayed like the first song. 2.0/10

Beyond Dull. A late-to-the-game take on mid-90’s international flavored groove like Moodswings and Transglobal Underground. Nothing to really stand out.

The deeper you get into the list the more you realized how UK-skewed it is. Also the commitment to a diverse array of music can be great but also a big negative at points. I think I need to start viewing this list as just "1001 random albums" and not the best 1001 of all time. "Pilgrim" was brutal to get through with its weak spoken-word. I feel like I've heard most of these songs in a wannabe trendy hotel lobby before. This album is all over the place, and not in a good way, with no cohesiveness from song to song. 3/10 (1.5/5)

Nope

Ugh. This is standard turn of the century stuff that had some guardian reviewer named Tim, or Ben or Miles getting semi hard for on its way to the Mercury Prize and hipster end of year polls. The music drifts between acoustic down tempo pop, Bhangra beats and female vocals that could’ve been Morcheeba, Sneaker Pimps or countless others. Unremarkable

Didn't listen.

uhhhh really not for me. giving kratom bar vibes. LEAST favorite songs Pilgrim - this is what it feels like when ur on a first date and the dude asks to freestyle for you Did not end up finishing this album

Ok so I don't know how this album has made this list. Frequently bored out of my mind listening to it. GREAT background music but feels like I'm in a white washed movie about colonialism ? Like it's a attempt at fusing electronica-east asian just settles itself in the pit between where it sucks all around// The concept behind this album is supposed to be a time-line running from the India-Pakistan nuclear situation to Oppie quoting "I am become death... yada yada" Cool fucking idea. So so poorly executed. Yeah samples are taken but again just make this sound lazy and as many have said...BORING. Wieners: Homeland...I guess? It is the most popular and the only song I could get through without grimacing Losers: All.

I really wanted to like this, but, I found it waaaaay too arty for me. It went on a journey but I was not pleased to be on it.

Extremely dull. I have zero desire to ever listen to this album again.

I would never listen to this ever. I don’t like these weird albums. If you make an album it’s a project and often a description of that artists life. But at the end of the day it’s still suppose to be music. And this is not my kind

Them: Here's 1001 Albums you should listen to before you die. Me: (praying for death so I don't have to listen to another electronic British album)

Shits ass 3/10

Wank

Not for me

Did not listen. Album cover turned me off immediately! 0⭐

Boring. Not influential. Lyrics have a superiority complex.

Did not like it 25 years ago and one cannot argue it is not well made, but it still has that typical muzak feeling.

Zzzzzzzz

Virkelig prætentiøst og en træls blanding af mange genrer...

As Homer Simpson would say “boring”

If it's not being cringe world music, it's just generic late 90's pop. This is lame, do better.

What was that ?

Brutal.

Definitely not my preferred style of music at all.

Utter crap. How is this shite getting thru my filters?

Can't say I enjoyed this

Broken Skin - 4.5/5 Honestly a great groove. Honestly did not think this style of music I'd fuck with so much. Letting Go - 4/5 THE HARMONY. A bit more of a reserved song compared to the previous but still a chill vibe. Sampling a bit strange. Homelands - 2.5/5 Supermajority of the song is in Hindi, last minute is Portuguese. A bit of a strange start, but towards the halfway mark it really picks up and hits a stride. Pilgrim - 1/5 I don't enjoy the strings throughout this song or the rapping. Very generic compared to the rest of the album so far. The entire song is super repetitive. I don't care that life is like a puzzle not pieced yet. Tides - 3/5 PIANO! Nadia - 1/5 Sounds like the intro to the powerpuff girls. Entirely in Hindi. I did not enjoy the singing. Immigrant - 2.5/5 Kinda gives Disney princess music vibes lmfao. Very pleasant. Male singer detracts in the latter half, but the lead singer did an absolutely great and beautiful performance. Serpents - 0/5 This song is simply not good. It is repetitive and the instrumentation is bad. Entirely in Hindi. I thought Nadia was bad, this is worse. Anthem Without Nation - 1/5 Does not go anywhere. Sounds like its going to be promising and build to something but does not and stays relatively somber throughout. Nostalgia - 3/5 A rebound after these last few songs. I swear its not because its sung in English (the singing is just okay anyways)-- it actually has a vibe and a groove. Still probably wouldn't listen to it outside of this experience. The Conference - 0/5 oh boy. just skip it. honestly bordering on so bad its good, but still overwhelming bad. Beyond Skin - 1/5 Doesn't become a song until 90 seconds in, but what follows isn't worth the wait. Oppenheimer referenced. Overall Thoughts: Lots of Hindi which takes a lot to get used to to be honest (I am not even sure I ever did). Honestly fell off so hard after the first few songs. I will admit I am almost certainly not the target audience for the vast majority of these songs, and the language gap almost certainly contributed to that, but that didn't stop the first few songs from slapping. Feels like a majority of the songs try to be "artsy" over being an enjoyable experience; no consistency or musical through-line. Would almost certainly not have listened to it without this site, and I don't entirely think that's a positive this time around.

Broken Skin - 4.5/5 persona ahh soundtrack song Letting Go - 4.6/5 holy Homelands - 2.2/5 ??? some of the greatest and worst parts of the album Pilgrim - 0.7/5 absolutely nothing good about this track Tides - 2.5/5 bro found 3 samples and smashed them together, good for a lofi sound i guess. completely neutral Nadia - 0/5 extremely annoying, i was getting angry listening to this Immigrant - 1.4/5 disney's aladdin knockoff soundtrack song Serpents - 0 I'm going to go insane if I have to keep listening to this shit album Anthem Without Nation - 0.8/5 aimless, meaningless, singing is on a significantly different time signature then the background ambience Nostalgia - 3.4/5 - HOLY SHIT!!! MUSIC!!! why did they cut the strings though? why so repetitive still? The Conference - 0.4 ???????? it was kinda funny ig Beyond Skin - 0.3/5 there is literally not music for half of it, but instead Oppenheimer I've gone through every stage of grief listening to this. Get this toddler away from his DAW. I have heard real toddlers beating on drums completely randomly that can classify more as music then most of this garbage. 2.8/5 as an existentialism art piece, 1.2/5 as an album.

Nothing of particular interest musically, main intention seems to be commenting on Indian politics

Now I am become elevator music, the destroyer of interesting concept, lush hindi/qawwali interpolations, coffee-table trip-hop, and dated drum'n'bass patterns. Love the "Indian" vocals and orchestrations. Hate most of the English vocal parts. 1/5 for the purposes of this list, translating to a 6/10 grade for more general purposes (5+1). Number of albums left to review: 446 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 257 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 132 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 168 (including this one)

What? How’d this get here?

"Tides" was a nice, chill tune. The rest of it, however, was a rambling mess of musical styles, and cultures, that never should have been combined. I'm not sure how this made it onto this list.

Hmm, I have no recollection of this existence at all. Someone mentioned the Mercury Prize and that's a good shout. I do remember the Talvin Singh one though, this, nothing. Most of this screams Morcheeba to me though, coffee shop grooves but with some eastern rhythms and overtones. Also overproduced in such a way as to turn you right off. I'd much rather listen to the real deal. There was loads of it about around this time. Offensively inoffensive. Blame Moby if you want. The rap one with some dude trying to do Q-Tip badly was hard to sit through. Oh god, Immigrant was painful. What the fuck is this. Utter schlock. The Conference is the one track worth listening to, and it jumps out, so incongruous is it to everything else here. The longer this goes on, the harder it is to avoid reaching the inevitable conclusion that it is fucking terrible. Or at least terrible in places, boring in others.

No thank you. At all. Meh and argh.

the cover art is me when i go waaaaaah weeeeee

It was okay not good tho. This shit was PlayStation 1 background music which honestly would’ve been much cooler. It was music that sounded like it was trying hard to be fine art. 1.75

Säkert skickligt, men ack så tråkigt - musik att somna till

Brutal.

this is pretty terrible, boring Casio keyboard drum'n'bass with rote Indian thematic touches and a dash of pretentious samples thrown in for bad measure. down with the worst of pseudo-trendy UK music ca. 2000, dull dull dull

Heavy subject matter about nuclear war made fairly bland from that mid-late 90's trip hop production and breathy vocals. Once you've heard the first track, you've heard all the tracks. The model on the front of the album probably wanted the connotation of screaming - instead after listening to this it just looks like someone yawning. Best Tracks: Broken Skin; Pilgrim; Tides

Struggled to find any joy with this one.

Shit was wack

What?

06/02/2022 PLEASE make it stop.

no

nope

Couldn't make myself care about this album.

Nah

Nee, dat was 't dan niet voor mij.

Culerísimo.

Don't like it. Bailed halfway through as I heard nothing redeeming with it.

Ужасающие восточные мотивы. Отборное дерьмицо для извращенцев.

MEEH

neeeeope

Ethnic Music that I don't relate to.

fy fan vilken tråkig skit