Haunted Dancehall

Okay

3/5. Very sparse, I want more beats in the beats

I appreciate this as being creative but I didn't connect with it. And it felt like it was a million years long.

Definitely some great tracks on here. My listening was a bit fragmented over the day which probably didn't help. I think there's probably a right frame of mind needed for experimental techno, or maybe not, perhaps that's the point. Wilmot is a brilliant track!

Nice background music.

Perfect background music to studying or working, gaming, cooking, walking, or even reading to. Sounds like a cool soundtrack to a dystopian sci-fi game or movie. At the same time, there's no memorable songs on it as it all kind of blends together. I also wouldn't listen to this much out of pure enjoyment like the 4s and 5s I've rated so far. A good album still though.

Honestly not horrible! I kinda enjoyed this cause it was super different

2nd half grew on me

Música electrónica. Empezó gustándome, pero terminó rayándome. Venga, un 3.

Electrónico hipnotizante, antiguo

wilmot is a very interesting song, funky house music, would likely be better to dance to than to just listen to. Shrooms would probably help too

Kind neat, but still more of background music.

It's fine, but mostly feels like background music to me. Much of it is extremely repetitive. 3 stars.

6/10

Well this was a long one, wasn't it? It certainly had a lot of electronic sounds, and not unpleasant ones. It took a long time to warm up and get going, though I imagine that this was by design. I was very happy to get to the middle section, with "Wilmot," "Tow Truck," and "Theme," where it went to interesting places beyond ambient for a while before heading back. I enjoyed those pieces. Some cool, interesting stuff.

As I started listening to the album, I thought "Cool, a new album to add to my list for listening while working!" Instrumental music with a lite dance beat can work well for me in that setting. As I continued to listen, I became more and more irritated (as did my dog) by metallic tinniness within many of the compositions that felt more like noise than an enhancement to the tune. By the end, I was at a "probably not" with regards to keeping it in my library.

A real surprise of an album, enjoyed this from start to finish and really superb in parts. Will definitely revisit

Meh

I enjoyed this. It's basically a lot of progressive and layered sounds/noises, so not the most compelling music in the world. But it's also pretty chill and enjoyable enough to listen to. It mostly works as background as I sit working, although sometimes the noise/dissonance gets distracting (i.e., "Flight Path Estate," "Jacob Street 7am"). I feel like it would have really benefited from a serious edit. They could have dropped several songs and had a much tighter, more cohesive album. Fave Songs: Wilmot, Ballad of Nicky McGuire, Tow Truck, Theme, Planet D

Reminds me a bit of Fluke. Less melodic than I usually like my electronica but still good.

This was an interesting electronic/dance album that delivered on the spookiness promised in the title. It strayed more to the side of "interesting" than to the side of "fun" or "enjoyable". It's not super relistenable, so it loses a star.

Had me up and dancing, enjoyed the liquid style.

Surprisingly good! Quite eerie but good background music for working to. Some catchy tracks

Álbum com boas opções de eletro que proporcionam um clima interessante, especialmente com o remix do Portishead

I would listen to some of these songs again.

Yeah, this was pretty good. Like a cross between holiday music and when you find a really cool bar at a festival.

This sort of music I can really enjoy but I don't know if I 'get it' like other people do because I can enjoy music of this kind that's considered to be bad as much as that thats considered to be good and I might not even be able to tell the difference. But like if I'm listening to it and really focussing I can kind of listen to it with my whole body and its sort of mesmirising and beautiful.

Pretty cool. Like early minimalist electronic, but cos of the era u can hear The Prodigy vibes, some similar tempos. Decent, easy to listen to. 3/5

A totally unusual and unique mindfuck. I think it was absolute genius but I think you gotta be out of it to appreciate it's finer details.

Portsihead song was the best out of the bunch. Decent background music.

Pretty solid techno.

At first I thought this album was a bit dull, but about halfway through I really enjoyed some of the songs. This is fairly minimalist music and I’m surprised it takes 3 people to create this

OMG a 90's album, I didn't think it was going to happen. I have never head this before.... not sure I need to again. Its more interesting than most of the stuff we have been feed so far. The only thing I think when I listen to this is... Beastie boys instrumentals do it better. meh out of 5

Ближе к 4

Chill dancehall/ early dub. Alot of the songs sounded like they were about to pick up, or about to end, but just kept going. Okay at best in my opinion.

I tried, really not my thing, plus I was falling way behind!

instrumental. a bit weird. I doubt ill listen again

Обычные, но все же приятные ритмы и необычные звуки, но больше ничего. Этот альбом был бы хорош как саундтрек к какому-нибудь платформеру, но в музыкальном плане эта работа не очень

some good tracks, but not didn't feel enough to go back to it...

Music for ghosts. It's crazy how thin the line is that separates great ambient electronic music and stuff that I really don't get...

The first few tracks on this album have a strong focus on textures, sounds, and atmosphere, which I did really like, but the novelty quickly wore off and I found myself getting bored about half way through the second track. There’s a bit of a stylistic shift at the song Wilmot. The tracks have less of the bubbly textures and take on a bit of a dub and rock feel, which I initially enjoyed, but the novelty once again quickly wore off by the repetitive nature of the tracks. That’s my main gripe about this album and about electronica in general; everything is too long and too repetitive. There were elements I liked, but more often than not, I started eyeing up the skip button before the end of a track.

This week has been soooooooo long - Guns n Roses, Fatboy Slim, and now this? Please, god, let it stop.

Yet another, and hopefully the final, instance of British electronic music from the 90s. I just categorically find it quite boring.

This wasn't available on spotify, so I just listened on youtube. Pretty boring. Sometimes Dimery's selections are just so strange.

again weird cult shit, but more bearable

?/10. No lo terminé de escuchar, es largo y no está en Spotify. Igualmente el sonido de los primeros temas fue bastante interesante (parezco Bullrich), sonido de electro mecánico bien punzante y casi disonante pero que te hace mover la cabeza. Le voy a dar otra oportunidad en el futuro.

It seems like just beats and different sounds, nothing really to hold onto. Maybe good for zoning out but I got quickly bored.

very mixed, some of it was cool, some sounded laughably amateurish

No surprise, a bit boring. Can’t see myself going round again.

I got excited when I saw “electronic concept album”. I don’t get it though.

I'm just not a fan of techno or house music. This album was at least easy to listen to though.

Similar vibes to something from SMT or a similarly gritty rpg

“techno’s first concept album”…..? what could the intended concept possibly be? What If You Were Trapped In A 90s Video Game Menu?

pa ono, ne mogu reći da je apsolutno smeće, al da je dobro, baš i nije. u nekoj najpozadnijoj pozadini čak i nije tolko nepodnošljivo. al sve skupa bezvezno

eh 2 not sure why I think of the group The Heliocentrics

Interesting but limited. I like the idea. But I don’t want to dance. That’s a problem with dance music.

Wasn’t feeling this one at all. Pretty boring electronic.

I really don't know how to review techno. It's not a particularly stimulating active listening experience. I probably need to take the right drugs and listen to this with dozens of other people on those same drugs, but I don't have the budget or inclination for that venture. I didn't hate this, which is the best that this kind of thing can do, I guess.

I found "Haunted Dancehall" on Youtube, pressed "Play" and started cleaning the bathroom. The album was good background music, but I don't hear anything that would distinguish this from many other (in my opinion better) electronic music albums. I'm probably missing the cultural importance of The Sabres of Paradise and I guess I should have been "there", but unfortunately my mother didn't let a 9 year old travel from Finland to England to listen some techno.

Haven't heard of them, I only recognize Andrew Weatherall in the credits. Oh those metallic sounds in the first two tracks are just headache inducing, not pleasant at all. It got better later but it still wasn't a great album 2/5

Sounds like something you would make in your first week of using FruityLoops, but it grows on you slightly.

Ok

Not on Apple Music apparently. And from the reviews it looks as though I really DON’T need to hear this before I die s I will give it the average review and get it off my list.

I’m no particular lover of electronica but I was pleasantly diverted by this.

Not my favorite by them but it does have “All Apologies”.

This almost doesn't sound like a serious album. Like, there was MUCH better techno/electronica music out there in 1994 and prior, right? I guess things got slightly tolerable in the middle, but still. Strange inclusion.

i guess I’m not Intelligent enough in Dance Music, but as much as i tried to artsy fartsy justify this, it really is a messy one, and hey, kudos if you like it.

Música electrónica sin más.

I JUST LISTENED TO SOME BULLLLLLSHITTT

I love techno and IDM, but this is really not even close to the best, even for at the time. Wouldn’t listen again.

Not what I expected based on the album title and cover. Its fine. Background noise for the most part.

I bet this is seminal but it is not my style

I do not believe in ghosts. But if I did, a haunted dance hall would be a place to avoid. And even though I don’t believe in ghosts, I think I will avoid listening to this album again. Just not a fan of the genre.

It's honestly not completely bad. Starts off a little rough but some of the later songs like Wilmot and Tow Truck have a little bit of sauce to them. Reminds me of a video game soundtrack, in that it feels designed to loop and provide a consistent background experience. No idea why this particular album is on the list however.

Its like calculators having sex. Couldnt make it past the second track

Not bad I guess if you are stuffed in the boot of a car being snuggled into Spain and this is the only album you have but other than that I could take or leave it. Minus one star because I had to listen to it on YouTube with ads.

The sort of sounds you could just ask AI to generate. There’s no reason to listen to this. I’d give it a 1 but worry about the scale with placing Throbbing Gristle.

This album was a chore to listen to. It started off with some promise, but got really repetitive, really fast.

Some nice DnB and electronic , too repetitive and computer produced should this be here ?

Ugh couldn't finish. Too much of the Electronica noises.

escuche la mitad pq me agote

I don't actively dislike it but I don't feel the need or want to ever listen to that again. I kept waiting for something to happen, then..... nothing happened.

Funkade bra att ha som bakgrundsmusik när jag jobbade, men kanske inte så intressant. Hade det varit kortare hade jag nog satt en trea, men nu höll det på lite väl länge. Stark tvåa, pga inte dåligt men lite långtråkigt.

Exakt såhär låter det att va i receptionen på ett musikbranschigt co-working-space i London. Fanns ändå vissa spår som jag kunde digga till men som helhetsalbum håller det inte alltså, en svag tvåa.

eeh det var lite för pundigt för min smak

Tänk att få stå bakom dj:n när han spelar detta.

I want to find this interesting but it just sounds like people farting about with electronic sounds to be honest. Some nice moments, but many of these tracks are far, far longer than they need to be. Listened on YouTube and the music from the ads in between was often more enjoyable.

I liked some of the sounds

Some interesting ideas but would have been better to make the point in half the time.

It is nice background music, but 77 minutes of this for this list, not a good fit.

Lotta 2's this week. This album is no exception. Some of it sounds cool and is kinda neat, but it's well over an hour long. That is simply too much repetitive electronica. Bleh.

Nope, nope, nope. Over an hour of bunch of repetitive loops. Sounds like a kid w Garage Band. Only reason it’s not a 1 is there are no lyrics to listen to-although that might have broken up the monotony

Not the best example of 90s Warp.

Needed to dig into YouTube to find the album. Some oddities in there but ok for the background. Nothing more than a 2.

There was a cozy ten minutes somewhere in this ENTIRELY too long record

Definitely feeling mixed on this one.. it's an interesting concept album to be sure. Very abstract and atmospheric at times. Admittedly, though, it does come off as a bit dated, and weirdly "PS1 game soundtrack"-esque. That's not to say it's bad by any means, just that it easily fell into the background (like a video game soundtrack would) and strayed a bit too far into experimental territory for my taste.

I kind of forgot to listen, such was it's impact. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ well, it played in my ears Revisit ❌️ ★★☆☆☆ (4/10) Total reviewed : 270 Already owned : 62 Purchased : 15 To buy : 1 Nope : 192

I was intrigued with this album first started. I was somewhat bored when it finished. First two tracks could’ve been called Sharpening Sabres, as that’s what they sound like. Best track is Return to Planet D (which I entitled Whipping Frogs and Bubbles) Because I had to listen on YouTube And the actual song titles were not available at the time. Musically, I’m sure this album was very difficult to put together, but it’s on the far end of electronica I enjoy. (1.65*s) I get it, different enough to make the 1001 Must Hesr List.

Early electronica is just a little too simple and empty. Compare this '94 release to stuff the Chemical Bros were doing only 1 year later and what a difference. Another perfect example is the CB remix of "Tow Truck"...waaaaay better. Now I'm glad groups like Coldcut and Sabres of Paradise got the genre attention and influenced others. Certainly no slouches on the early digital sound boards. Side B of Haunted Dancehall is better with a few stand out tracks: "Theme", "Return to Planet D" and "Ballad of Nicky McGuire." The title track is pretty good too. I would have opened with it though to set the mood. Slim some songs down and you got something more interesting here. 7+ minutes of the same loop gets a bit tiresome. Shout out to even earlier electro-pioneers like Kraftwerk and Gary Numan for sharpening the Sabres style. Not one I will likely throw on anytime soon but glad to have listened to an original techno album...2.43 stars.

POV: a boss fight in a fast fashion store

Some good stuff here

This album is super funky. It's a bunch of weird noises. Honestly not so bad for it being a bunch of noises. It's kinda catchy but not something I would own.

despite the fact that Haunted Dancehall dropped on Warp, one of my favorite labels for this sort of off-kilter, experimental 90s electronic music, I felt fairly underwhelmed by it. I'm kind of stunned that this is, as far as I can tell, the lone representative of that more avant-garde side of Warp's roster in 1001 Albums; the Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada selections that made the cut are very tonal and melodic, much more the kind of thing I would expect from a book of "Must Hear" albums put together mainly by rock critics. what I mean to say is, how did this make the cut, but not a single Autechre LP? the main word that comes to mind with the Sabres of Paradise is "squelchy"? possibly "wet". the bass tones all have that kind of wobbly, liquid sound that smacks of the 90s, and not in the most flattering way. the dub influences are especially prominent, especially in how murky and minimal it sounds; there's also an unobjectionable sense of ambience around the whole thing. I just struggle to remember much of it after it's over, or even while it's on. every song loops into oblivion, and the effect of listening to this sort of thing for nearly the length of a feature film is taxing on the mind. light 5/10.

This one was tough. A lot of one note ideas that drone on. I didn't find much to latch on here and it sounds so dated.

Meh? I don’t know this album didn’t really hit for me personally. It was very repetitive and sounded like a bunch of iPhone ringtones playing song after song. (I know that IPhones didn’t exist in the 90s lol) I do have to give this album credit because without it we probably wouldn’t have the techno and electronic music and artists that we have today. Overall, I liked this album fine but it’s not one I will be returning to in the future.

I feel like I am listening to a movie sound track.

toilet water music

Nur reingeskippt. Sehr warp. Sehr bleepy.

A thunderous cacaphony of beeps and boops. I didn't love it but surprisingly didn't mind it.

I think if I want random background music, I think I’m gonna go back to the shaft album, but there are some good gems in here not gonna lie so at a fairness of chef, I’m I’m going to rate it the same 2/5

Not available on any streaming platform available to me.

This album at times sounds like music a mushroom would make when connected to a synthesizer.

Don't think I will listen to it anymore, but was interesting nevertheless

Spotify didn't have it as of today, so YouTube the right thing?? Well it got better as it went on at least, though not sure what the concept album part was, dodgy plumbing through to 60s Sci fi spy soundtrack, by way of early video games. Google tells me a cinematic journey through a dark fictional underworld, no mention of dodgy plumbing but being dark plumbing is probably off. Guess it was listenable, though essential not so sure. Wiki doesn't give a lot away, not sure 2004 was a bumper year in music but apparently there were 46 better albums. Which over the 70 odd years the list covers would have over 3000 more potentially valid albums if taking the representive placing, but to be fair don't know the genre well, and this maybe the killer representation. Anyway heard it, moving on 2 Star

This album was not on Spotify but I listened to some of their music. All instrumental, some of it was cool!

I didn't hate it, and in some specific circumstances I think I would enjoy listening to it, but the album length combined with the repetitive tracks made it hard to listen to it all the way through.

Hard to find on Spotify. YouTube helped Going in, I had no idea what to expect from Haunted Dancehall, as I had never heard of Sabres of Paradise.To my surprise, Haunted Dancehall isn't bad at all. It’s a little far on the ambient side would prefer more techno or industrial

More music well suited to soundtracks, shops and elevators. No thanks.

they took all their music off spotify helpp

Some good songs but also a lot of filler I didn't like.

Yuck

Litt hummer og kanari. Høres egentlig mest ut som Moog-plater fra 60-tallet, hvor målet først og fremst er å vise hva som går an å få til av lyder. Enten det er måker ("Chapel Street Market 9am") eller sånn springfjær som er på arkitektlamper ("Bubble and Slide II", "Ballad of Nicky Mcguire" m. fl.) "Tow Truck" er vel egentlig høydepunktet, men savner vokal. Hele plata hadde godt av litt vokal, for det instrumentelle eller soundmessige er ikke sterkt nok til å stå alene. Og "Duke of Earlsfield" høres 100 prosent ut som de har spilt Crash Bandicoot mens de var ballefjerne og prøvde å gjenskape det innenfor sitt landskap. Litt kult, egentlig.

I feel like these sounds are slicing through my brain.

The first track started off really grating. I can’t really explain it, it sounded loud and jarring somehow. Then it delved into sounding like somebody demoing different features on a keyboard. The album picked up at the midpoint with “Wilmot” with its dancehall beats. It made me think of “Dengue Dengue Dengue!”. The rest felt a bit like the multiple soundtracks-to-fictional-movies-albums we’ve had here. Some nice tunes but it feels like it needs to be paired with some other media to make it interesting. This is doubly true for the aptly named “Theme” and “Theme 4”. It really didn’t need to be over 1 hour but I guess I enjoyed it in a way. Going for a strong 2.

Couldn't find this album on Spotify but listened to "The essential...". It sounded to me like a backing track for Miami Vice and a mix of electronic sounds. Not a fan.

I’m daunted by this recent stretch I’m on. 800 albums in and I’m hoping this is the darkness before dawn.

Hmmm, instrumental techno. Not sure I would listen to this just on its own. Portishead and Massive Attack set the tone, this seems like it is playing catch-up.

5 / 10

I don't really like the idea of this album and it certainly felt repetitive and boring at times, but I listened to it all the way through -- so that is something.

Some of this isn't horrible. Otherwise, I didn't like it very much, and I didn't think it was very good. 2.5

This is the type of music that you hear but don't hear during a movie. Not needed on this list.

It took three people to make this?

il n'y a plus rien de dispo sur Spotify on ronfle

This was super interesting! I wouldn't say I like it but they kept me on my toes throughout which i appreciated.

Glorping music

Hasn’t aged too well.

How much meh electronica really needs to be on this list?

Admittedly this is a genre that is a huge blind spot for me and I don't have a lot of nostalgia or connection with historically. I understand that this music is different and/or groundbreaking for house/electronica/trip hop, etc. but this type of music is not what I'm looking for when I put a song on.

Only listened to the first half since it was on youtube and it wasn't as bad as I expected given the reviews but ehh still not going to cut it.

This album reminds me of being in uni, piling into someone's bedroom at a house party because the wannabe DJ has brought his USB with the most despicable music you've ever heard. Everyone hoping he stops but nobody brave enough to tell him to. Every so often you walk back into the living room, trying to convince yourself it's getting good now but the rooms still empty. And the worst part of it all? Years later, that guy will be what you remember of the night

Fine as background music, didn't really grab my attention.

Not great but I have a new name for my hog - the sabre of paradise

Temu Daft Punk. What the hell did I just listen to?!

There was one cool song on here. No idea what it was because I had to listen on YouTube where it’s just the whole album as a video, not available on Spotify. It’s at about the 43 minute mark. The beginning of the album is so tinny, lots of high pitched sounds with little bass. Definitely not what I look for in electronic dance music. The second half was a bit better but still not very good.

That might be one of the worst band names I’ve ever heard. I also think these guys may be French and boy do I dislike the French. Well, French Canadians more. Even more specific, Quebec French Canadians. 6000 monthly listeners on Spotify and these guys deserve my time? Well, I’ve given them my time and I can’t think of a single nice thing to say about them. There’s structure to the songs. It’s not just noise. It’s too repetitive. Nothing grand to note. Mid to meh

Ya, not my bag at all.

Day 116 Not one is return to. Highlight Planet D

Sounded like a PS1 platformer

I initially hated it with a fiery passion. Then as it progressed it grew on me. But eventually I realized that there is no way in hell that I was going to listen to this any more than I had to and that I was just trying to cope.

Unsure why my review didn't save for this. Unfortunately it wasn't on spotify any more. Listening through youtube. But it was odd.

Not the worst album I have heard but don’t understand why it’s on this list.

“Duke of Earlsfield” sounds like a video game level set in a creepy crystal cave. Best track on the album - “Tow Truck” Overall, a lot of it sounded like an “experiment.”I’m glad to have been given the opportunity to give it a chance. Technology is amazing in that it gives us an opportunity to hear all this music. Still, not my jam, a lot of it sounds like clanging on pipes and “plumbing” noises. Based on other reviews on this project, Two out of five. A one out of five I deem basically unlistenable FYI.

Like it’s just bad but it’s also just kinda nothing

Much that I love many Jamaican music forms, this is not one. It doesn't create a groove for me, and while listening in my home is not the intention of the this music, and hearing it a club would give it a different vibe, I want more.

Sounds like trying to make industrial music on a keychain keyboard.

I'm not sure who is dancing to this. Sadly misleading album title. There were actually some moments that I vibed to, especially towards the end. But in general, I didn't feel like this album was particularly significant or enjoyable. Maybe unique? But not enough to give it bonus points.

It's a curious one... Not really my jam, but am compelled to listen, and get frustrated with it at the same time 🙈 it's early 90's techno/elec music. Sounds a bit cultish!

The record has some moments, but in general, it was not my preferred kind of music to listen to or enjoy.

Some pretty decent electronica here, but its inclusion on the 1001 list seems kind of random. There's a lot of good electronica out there, and I'm not sure this stands out enough to be singled out.

Minimalist rhythmic electronica. pretty dull 1.5/5

Hipster nightclub background music, Part IV. I would be very curious to hear The Author defend this selection.

For the entirety of this album, I didn’t realize it was even playing.

For a video game or movie soundtrack this would be fine.

11/5/25. Not my cup of tea. Chill, almost ambient electronic, and I enjoyed the first two tracks. Thought it would pick up but stays at a relaxed level. Works for a lot of people but not to my ear as much.

this album sounds like a demo from someone making their first tracks in their bedroom in fruity loops using the included loops, free vst plugins, and royalty-free samples they downloaded off a sketchy website. in other words, it kinda sucks. favorites: theme

sparks of a good time but nothing great

Repetitious

Interesting but not my thing

It was just kind of boring honestly

Number 90 in Scotland this time. Wow, what a chart performance.

"I like to create soundscapes. Imagine one instant of a song expanded to be the size of the universe. . .This one's called, 'Earth Rise On The Moon.'" -Gabe Lewis, The Office Well I did it. I finished this. It sounded like backing tracks for various 90s films. And honestly? It was more palatable than some other stuff I've had to listen to. I have no clue why this made the list, and it's way too long, but it didn't feel too punishing. Rounding it down to a 2/5 because of the length.

Deeply uninterested in this, sounds like something a producer would start out with messing around on Fruity Loops. Not boring, but not interesting.

4/10

Never heard of this, was excited to see there was a Portishead remix as I am a fan of them. But it was just boring background music. Not sure how this made it on here

Giving this album closer to a 1.75. While I didn’t hate it, I didn’t like it or love it either. This is the type of album where I’m sure they had fun creating and recording this album and bringing it all to life. But as a listener, hard to enjoy it just for enjoyment sake. This music has its place though. It’s like ambient electronic music. Could hear a lot of this at a coffee shop, or a certain type of restaurant and it might perk my ears up to be like, “what’s this?” But as a full album, not what I want to listen to on the regular.

I enjoyed this album, but I don't think it's really something that everyone needs to hear. It's good, don't get me wrong, but it certainly isn't life-changing or a major part of pop-culture history. And I really don't think it needs to be a whole CD - an LP would have been long enough for the album to get its point across.

neither the songs nor the album had any reason to be that long

whole album of ratchet and clank type beats. cool sound design i guess. just a very disinteresting album

Farty Animal Collective arpeggiated vomit music

not for me mate

Not really my style but it was interesting to listen.

I get that this is boundary-pushing and experimental. The stars are for the creativity. But, wow.... makes me feel like my brain is on a cheese grater.

Not my thing

I was going to write a review that rationalized this album's inclusion, talking about how, maybe it sounded progressive and exciting for '94, and that it only feels like the barest scaffolding of songs by today's standard... but then I realized that The Downward Spiral came out this same year and how -even if its technically a different genre- it beats it on every axis (better electronic-based music, more exciting songstructure and soundscape, and WAY scarier). So, in comparison, this just feels weak sauce, like a haunted dancehall where you realize the splattered blood is just ketchup.

You know that sound dudes make of snapping their cheek against their teeth in a weird sucking motion, usually brothers or cousins trying to annoy their siblings/family members? That's the opening song, set to music. The rest doesn't get much better.

Sounds more like a soundtrack than an album. Not a bad soundtrack by any means, but for me it didn't live up to listening to it in isolation.

Not a fan of electro music either.

not too sure about this one... coulda been an email!

I like abrasive music. I like wilfully obtuse music. I like ambient music. This is dull - well engineered, but never takes off into anything really engaging. After starting off boring but distinctive, it then becomes boring and derivative (big beats sorta stuff) for a while before going back to the ambience of the early tracks. The beginning and end are a listless representation of an interesting sound, brought down by an unremarkable run across the middle of the album - the weirdest bits are the best!

Long, and a lot of it can be annoying. There are some good songs; Tow Truck and Theme.

Another bizzarro pull. Went from thinking it should be a one to thinking it should be a four over the course of two songs. Let's be real. This is some weird shit. And most of it does not land. That being said, there are at least three tracks here that had me driving with one hand on the wheel feeling like a G. So. I give it a two. Fave songs: - Planet D (Portishead Remix) - Wilmot - Tow Truck - Theme

Kinda bleepy-bloopy no? Possibly the soundtrack to a film starring ......... Wesley Snipes maybe. Yeah, strange inclusion

Oh boy more experimental noise!

Cool band name and album title.

music that probably sounded right at a specific time and a specific place (some warehouse in the 90s). cool to imagine how they were able to put these effects together back then though. big DNF

ethereal. background. meh.

What a way to celebrate the halfway mark! Haunted Dancehall is kind of an appropriate title as it would be a fitting two word review of the album. I guess this music must speak to someone out there but I’m not that person.

1.9 It was fine, pretty chill. Some of the sound effects were pretty goofy. nothing to write home about though thats for sure

you guys need to stop being so mean to this album its not its fault it was put on the 1001 albums you need to hear before you die list this music is well made and well produced but it isnt the best to sit through but it achieves what it strives for if this was a video game soundtrack youd all be praising it

As a big fan of electronic music, I have to say, they created the synthesizer for a reason... so you don’t have to sample your dishwasher and broken plumbing!

Trippy soundscapes. Listened to it two times while working. It was ok, but I don't remember much.

Background music, an hour and 17 minutes that just disappeared in the background with the occasional "Is this still going? Am I done with it yet?" Not necessarily dislike but very much whatever. What could the book have said about this album in terms of needing to hear it before I die? This actively pushed another album out of the list somewhere. How?

Weird as hell. More than just beeps and boops and synth swoops, which is what I worry about with electronic music. Good beats, not a lot of melody. I will say that this, like most albums of electronic music for me, overstays its welcome by at least double. Six of fourteen tracks are over 6 1/2 minutes long and when most of them are the same eight-bar loops for the majority of their length, that's inexplicable to me. In a live setting, a good electronic musician can tailor their music to the energy in the crowd -- a real joy to witness, I might add -- but in recordings, The Sabres of Paradise have clearly struggled to decide when their compositions should peak and when they should end. Not bad music to work to, as you can forget that it's playing and focus. That's an indictment in terms of must-listen status, though. 2.5/5 but I'm rounding down to 2. I've spent too much time defending the validity of prog rock songs with multiple movements and rich with melodic ideas to put up with it in a genre that stretches two ideas over eight minutes.

Budget Chemical Brothers. Zzzzz

A little too much for me. I was lost in what the album was trying to do.

So it’s everyone’s least favourite British music time. And everyone’s least favourite electronica time. i dont like this. 2/5

BOOOORING. Who is this for?

Not good, but it could work as ambient if you're hardly listening

Felt pretty drawn out. I've heard better electronic music.

Einige schöne Ideen, aber unterm Strich: zu viele Klingeltöne, zu wenig Songs. Ganz weit am Herz vorbei.

Interesting songs, but it drags for waaaaaaay too long. Now I'm 100% sure that artificially increasing the album's duration is the capital sin of late 90s/early 00s records.

Haunted Dancehall This was decent to work to, and it definitely got better over the last half, but I struggled a bit to engage and find much that was particularly memorable. Compared to some of the 90s electronic music on here it felt like there were fewer interesting ideas, and I wasn’t keen on the production and overall sound. Orbital, Leftfield and something like Tricky give their music with a hypnotic sense, whereas this felt far more stolid, the dubby bits not really working in adding any atmosphere and the beats felt a bit tinny, with a slightly cold and removed sheen to it. As I say it did pick up in the 2nd half, with some slightly more interesting atmospherics and moods. I really liked Tow Truck though, with a bit of Portishead’s cinematic feel with the guitars, drums and reverb. Theme was also decent, the bass giving it a bit of warmth and life and I liked Chapel Street Market, a nice bit of Eno-esque spaciness and noises that reminded me of some of the Tomorrow Never Knows tape loops. Ultimately I think neither liked nor disliked it, there are a couple of songs for a playlist but I’m very unlikely to come back to it in full as I think there are other albums in this style I prefer, so I’ll go 2. 👻👻 Playlist submission: Tow Truck

The tribute to the second greatest British Gary - 'Wilmot' - is probably the highlight. A sultry bass that's helped along by a nice drumbeat and touches of piano, that all create a nice dub groove. Although they know they're on to a good thing which is why they drag it out for 7 minutes. What is rather telling us that the main guy Andrew Weatherall produced for Bjork, Beth Orton, the Orb, New Order - the list goes on. The man produced Screamadelica! His production skills were clearly magnificent, but without the creative melodic force to partner with, it all feels a little hollow. According to Wikipedia, "NME named Haunted Dancehall the 47th beat album of 1994" - that's probably about right.

What the actual fuck was that? And why was it actually kind of good at times? Idk if the album got better or I just got brainwashed by the music. Favourite Song: Tow Truck

Interesting for a couple of songs, but after that I felt like I was listening to the same song over and over again.

Listened to this while grading really disappointing essays from college freshmen and this was somehow so appropriate. It captured the despair I felt, I guess. (ntm.)

Not for me

Ciekawy m, elektroniczny bez słów ale nieporywając.

Every time one of these questionable albums pop up, I just know I’m listening to an English artist.

Electronic music. Sounded like an interesting soundtrack, but that’s about all.

This one's tough to rate. Theres moments of brilliance in there, especially the last few tracks. Also lots of tracks that drag Especially in the middle. Don't think I'll revisit the project as a whole but there are a few great tracks.

Not my cup of tea. Electrónico de esos que las canciones se sienten eternas, y cuando por fin termina una, la siguiente comienza y se escucha idéntica a la otra. La verdad me fastidió, pero supongo que no lo odié como me ha pasado con otros.

Sometimes it felt like this album was daring me to give it 1 star: the long, repetitive tracks that don’t go anywhere; the gruelling 80 minute runtime; the bits that barely qualify as music at all - just simple looping sounds. Yet, just enough of the time, a spooky little groove got under my skin and my feet started a-tappin’. I think many genres of music could be improved by being ‘haunted’, come to think of it. 1.5 / 2

didnt like it

This is ok. I have listened to more electronic music in the past years than I had ever listened to before but the majority of that music has been new so it sounds different than this and is more up tempo and/or interesting. I liked the song remixed by Portishead because it had more of a late 80s early 90s Hip Hop bass feel with bigger and older drums than the rest of the album. Towards the end there is a track that sounds a little like the Halloween theme but slightly sped up that is worthy of mentioning.

I put this on in the background and my daughter said it sounded like someone filling up milk bottles. It's an accurate description and usually I would be on board for something like that. Unfortunately, this lacks execution.

Sounded kind of French.

Zzzzzzz

So much mediocre 90's British techno on this list. It was 5 minutes into the album before I heard a sound that wasn't just a drum. Someone discovered the delay pedal and just went to town. The British obsession with reggae and dub.

I’m at a 2, possibly against my better judgement. I’m normally very gracious to techno / electronica stuff on the list, usually because it tends to evoke video game music, and I like video game music a lot. This was not that. This was a cacophony of synths & drums, with a myriad of aurally annoying effects thrown onto them, without any true sense of proper musical composition whatsoever. The repetition is bothersome, the zen state is basically impossible to get into, and worst of all, this isn’t even something you can move to at the club – maybe for like, 1 minute per song, at most. It is, by far, the least satisfying electronica album the list has given us so far. I take almost no joy in this album, though I honestly did kind of like 5 of the tracks here. The only reason it is getting a 2 is because it wasn’t so utterly incompetent as to deserve a 1, and there were a number of moments, however fleeting they were throughout the album, where my ears were grooving and my head was swaying. It’s also not as painfully boring as something like “Haute de gamme” was. It’s at least intriguing sometimes, even if that intrigue generally results in disdain and annoyance. This is not a horrible album, it’s just a bad one that could’ve been made much better by choosing more traditional techno instrumentation & shortening these tracks down by quite a bit. I kept taking notes throughout this thing as opposed to totally giving up, so that counts for something, right? In short, I feel like if I took enough lessons, I could probably make tracks that feel more satisfying and competently put together than this in FL Studio, of which I have very, very limited experience. If I ever feel that way about an album on the list, then you have not done a good job. This is not an album I needed to hear before I die, it did not deserve a spot on the list at all, and it barely saves itself from falling all the way down to a 1. Someone else can give it a 1 if they want, and I won’t blame them at all. Just disappointing for me. Anything above a 3 for this may require psychiatric evaluation (or at least a question about genuinely paying some level of attention to the album as opposed to just hearing it).

I really didn't mind the vibe of the album overall, but it was far too long and monotonous.

This is to stripped down for me. Fine as background music, but I honestly lost focus fairly quickly.

The 3-4 songs, where they actually tried to make music were pretty good...

Something I should like but consistently too grating to enjoy

It was fine but nothing special. It did nothing particularly of note. Inoffensive but I didn't need to listen to this. 2/5 stars.

There’s a thin line between ambient techno and a sound collage from your kitchen. This leans hard into the latter. A few interesting textures scattered here and there, but the whole thing feels like a practical joke. Spins: 2 Playlist Additions: - Wilmot

I've been yapping about the stunningly ignorant under- and misrepresentation of electronic music in this weird-ass book before so I'll spare you the rant. Sabres of Paradise' Andrew Weatherall was an important voice in 90s music at the intersection of alternative and dance/idm and could and probably should have been featured in here - the Sabres of Paradise remix of Red Snapper's "Hot Flush" is my maybe most had earworm within that ~genre - but this album? An aged like milk tedious borefest? When this could have been his Two Lone Swordsmen project? Bottom line: this inclusion, too, sucks.

OK, Haunted Dancehall. Until Rakim decides to drop some sick bars on top of you, I don’t want to hear from you again.

Well this is odd , but kinda interesting

Not for me.

Strange, no melody.

Not my vibe at all.

Yay, techno. As Eminem said succinctly, "It's over, nobody listens to techno." Every song is repetitive, and there's no shift from A to B or a bridge or ANYTHING. Look, here's an idea. We'll play it over and over for 6-8 minutes (why so long?), layering stuff over and over. Then we'll just end. That's our song. And 77 minutes? I know it's just so you don't have to shift discs, but few people listen to CDs anymore (except you know, old guys like me). At least EDM has a build. This I just found tedious. NEXT.

I don't get it. The album and it's selection on this list. I know there's a slant toward things only a British person could love, but this album never got higher than 57 on the UK charts. So not even British people loved it. It wasn't the worse electronica I ever heard, but it certainly helped that I was really focused on some other things while listening. So it came off as at least good background music. I don't really want to listen again, so I'm going to cap it at 2. If others think it's worth more, I won't completely object.

Boring bleeps and bloops, but harmless. Never heard it before and I'll never hear it again.

Ok as tinny ambient background music but not really my cup of tea

I mean not for me, didn’t like it. 2 stars.

I assumed these albums were on here because they are really good, not as in you have to hear this album because you're not going to believe this album full of noises is on here.

"Electronic. It has some ""tin"" like sounds almost like they were the beginnings of Dubstep. "

was interesting at times

Haunted, indeed.

thousands of years from now in a sci-fi space travel drama, this will be the background sound of my cryo-chamber as I am locked in for my two hundred year journey

Focus music, but I prefer when electronic/instrumental is a little less repetitive and more jazz influenced.

Quand j'ai lancé la première toune et j'ai entendu la loop d'une chiasse explosive passée au vocoder, j'ai su que l'écoute allait être longue. Puis, j'ai vu que c'était un album double, me causant un traumatisme crânien instantané.

There are a lot of sounds on this one. Boops, bleeps and other noises that seem to go almost nowhere. The good news is the album is 76 minutes long. Wait, that's not good news at all. Is this bad? No, it's not bad but it never rose above the level of background music for me. Bubble and Silde starts it off with what could conceivably sound like water going down a drain, which also happened to be where my hopes for a fun listen went upon hearing the song. The sequel is almost three times as long but 1/3 as enjoyable. I probably should like this but it's all pretty dull to me. I did like "Tow Truck" for some reason.

Soundtechnisch nicht schlecht, aber inhaltsleer und zu repetitiv.

It was good background music but not quite something i would listen to on a regular basis.

Honestly I had my mind prepared for another throbbing gristle like album (if that hasn’t generated for you yet then you’re in for a treat) so was pleasantly surprised by this one. I didn’t mind it but would probably never listen to it again.

Endless beats and sounds, no real fulfilling climaxes, no catchy highlights, meh

it kinda felt like the soundtrack to the tutorial stage of a video game: repetitive, no melody, and something you’re not supposed to listen to for more than 5 minutes. But it wasn’t offensive or grating, so i wasn’t in pain listening to this album like some of the others.

Baby's first electronic music. Why this made the list when there's so many better and more influential electronic albums is beyond me.

Every time I think I might enjoy one of these kinds of albums, it always degrades into the same repetitive blandness

I mean, sure. I think in terms of raw sound design we can consider this a pretty impressive achievement for its time. It's a very interesting experiment in that sense and in my opinion we have to appreciate it for that. I did enjoy Theme 4 and the final, self titled track, mainly because they stepped into a heavy contrast to the rest of the album which is where my personal resonance with this album ends. It's too repetitive, especially the percussion. I don't like that but that's okay. It's what the genre does and it shouldn't stop doing that at its core. It's mainly the genre that I'm not interested in. As for the album concept, I'm not too sure what to say. I'm not gonna go ahead and dispute that claim because if a concept was established by the artist then it is established, regardless of what the listener's opinion on that is. I will however say that the tracks seem to structurally noodle about a lot, adding or removing samples on a whim, let them play out for arbitrary durations and blur the passage of time in such a way that it makes it hard to recognize whether you just recognized a theme or whether your brain is gaslighting itself into believing that because an element has been beaten into it for the past 4 minutes without interruption. It's simply not intriguing to me but I believe if this was 'composed' a little bit more than 'produced' we could have gotten something seriously great here. 2 stars for the good outliers. 1 star otherwise

Rappers desperate to use these as samples, felt like a demo

Easy going electronic background music that combines chill beats to study to with heist movie soundtrack. Apt title - it's like a DJ booth came to life and needed to make music to calm itself down.

I didn’t enjoy this one.

Oh yay, another slab of mid-'90s electronica, deep from the warehouse rave hangover bin, engineered for people who think 8 minutes of the same groove is a virtue. Andrew Weatherall, whose production instincts usually lean weird in interesting ways, here lets the machines drone on like they’re waiting for a cutscene. Call it atmospheric if you're generous, or video game music if you're honest. Sure, "Duke of Earlsfield" tosses out a decent breakbeat, but it wears out its welcome around minute three—good luck, you're only halfway through. And while "Planet D – Portishead Remix" gestures vaguely toward trip-hop, it forgot to invite the seduction (and Beth Gibbons on vocals). 77 minutes of mood with no movie.

Boring Techno.

I think this would have been a potentially great album if there were lyrics to support the instruments.

Some of it was kinda cool Got boring

It's techno. Very repetitive.

I feel like you have to be off your face to enjoy this… but I am at work editing local govt documents so probably not the right environment. It took me at least 25 minutes to get into it. Wilmot was a good track and then I got right out of it again.

I kind of skimmed through this one yesterday, annoyed at having to deal with another electronic music album. This morning I thought I should give it a second chance, and it appealed to me more, but not enough. As someone who's a fan of dub but not electronic music, though I can't say why. Dub entrances. EM annoys the everloving shit out of me. Even a song like Wilmot, which is essentially a dub track, drove me batshit. I still don't know the answer. Also, how is there not a single dub album on this list?

Coming from someone who loves repetition and electronica...too much repetition and electronica

Hated this at the start, eventually enjoyed it a bit but I could’ve done without the last two songs. The album was starting to drag by that point.

instrumental album with some minor interesting moments, but mostly redundant and tedious as i usually find albums of this genre. this one was over 70 minutes, but it seemed like much longer.

Kinda boring 😐

I'm a little confused by this album. What does it exactly have going for it? It's not interesting, not exciting, and it stimulates me on neither an intellectual level nor an emotional one. However, it's also not calming or ambient and doesn't really work as background music. Favorite Track: Wilmot

Inconsistent and long A nice introduction to Weatherall

Interesting moments, but just not enough happening for me.

Early IDM is usually really weird because it's still kind of playing to techno and electro ideas while also trying to do something different. It's cool to hear in a sort of "oh this is where it started" way but when you get to it sometimes it just didn't make sense to make an hour and 10 minute album made up of really basic techno beats that were flirting with ambient textures or library music-esque compositions. Is it bad that albums like these existed? Oh, no obviously not, it is made for a club mix so you have a lot to pull from and work with but when you are like me, sitting down to listen to this it does make for a tedious experience where the music isn't in the right setting and beyond that the sort of simplicity of it doesn't really work for me beyond a few songs (Tow Truck and Ballad of Nicky McGuire). It sucks because sometimes I do want to get back into listening to electronic music of this era because there's so much underrated things, but lengths like these makes me wonder that perhaps it was best to stick to EPs or singles rather than albums.

Notes before listening: Kicking screaming crying I do not want to listen to another electronic album from the 90s that's over an hour long. No no no. You can't make me. I am stomping my feet. Notes after listening: It's fine and usually interesting and sometimes pretty fun, but god damn did it need to be over 70 minutes long? I'm sincerely happy for people who enjoy this; I wish I could join their ranks.

It’s ok music for the background, movies, video games, etc. - but not for intentional listening. It’s not awful and finds some good grooves occasionally, but nothing here is particularly compelling.

Kind of weird but not god awful. Def wouldn’t listen again.

Kraftworkian in nature but perhaps a bit too simple and repetitive. 3/10

had few cool tunes but few +6min songs rapidly felt draggin but i found some parts i could sample. I would go by an (2.5/5.0)

Some interesting sounds Some irritating sounds Mostly fine sounds 2

Elektronische Musik, eher ein Klangteppich

Eh it’s alright.

The 90s and the invent of the cd seems a real case of people trying to use the entire length of the cd, which can be a major negative This album could be 30 mins

My first impression was that this was going to be terribly unlistenable, but there were actually some decent tracks here. It was a little long.

Couldn’t get into this much at all

Some cool IDM sounds on here on the first handful of tracks before moving towards more traditional song structures. There’s a lot of interesting ideas and sound design, specifically the synths, that often make up catchy grooves and fun sections, though some people may find the sound design dated it didn’t stand out to me as a negative. However so much of this project feels unnecessarily bloated and many of the tracks are overly reliant on one instrumental run or line that is repeated ad nauseam. I think if the runtimes on the tracks were cut down or even a good portion of the tracks removed this could have been a more enjoyable listen. If the goal was ambience and atmosphere I can see the appeal, it certainly does well at creating atmospheres. However there’s no consistency to the type of atmosphere being created, flip flopping between dark and moody and futuristic and upbeat one track to the next, which unfortunately for me meant as soon as I was getting into each atmosphere it goes away completely. Alternatively this record feels like it could have been made with the purpose in mind of being sampled for future dance music. Almost laying out all of these ideas, not refining them into full tracks hoping that others will do it, or coming back to them later with remixes. There were a lot of times I really wanted to enjoy this album as a whole but it just doesn’t do enough to earn its runtime. 2.5/5

Electronica just doesn't do it for me

some songs sounded good but a lot of it had no progression and just repeated and i don’t really seem to enjoy stuff like that

Gear: Letshuoer S12 PRO Artwork: 🔪💈🩸 Production: 🧏‍♂️📏💩 Music: 💻🛠️🤔❓🤷‍♂️🤯 Rating: 👽👽/5

I think they recorded this in a toilet. Not a bathroom, a toilet

I know the name andy wetherall from somewhere idk where though anyway honestly with albums like this I just wish they had a singer or something, each song feels like a constant build up going to a dead end. 2/5 in the background it’s okay but still not for me

Some nice ambient tracks but nothing that really hit me

Another electronic album. Not very interesting and wouldn’t be fun at all party either. 1.5/5 Won’t listen again