Darkdancer

I've read that this album is a pretty significant influence on the the following decade - the term "ahead of its time" is used a lot. It's interesting to listen to from that perspective, but perhaps the magic has gone, or people have built better things on it's foundations since. Some of the synths are great, it's really well produced, but it's often dull and sometimes downright annoying

Ranged from fine to boring to irritating, but it never feels fully fair to review these kinds of albums based on my listening experience, since this wasn't meant to be listened to in the morning over muesli.

Les Rythmes Digitales’ Darkdancer is a largely forgettable and disjointed effort that often feels like an amateur bedroom producer first learning how to navigate FL Studio. While it kicks off with a few glimmers of hope—such as the catchy bassline of "Dreamin'," the hypnotic grower "Hypnotize," and the genuinely groovy, bongo-laced "Hey you what's that sound"—the album quickly descends into a swamp of uninspired samples and baffling tonal misfires like "Soft machine" and the painfully tedious "Jacques your body makes me sweat." Save for a few standout moments like "Sometimes," much of the tracklist lacks any clear artistic vision, resulting in a weak, overly padded record that ultimately earns a generous 2/5.

I mean it's listenable but not enjoyable

not good

This album is basically Daft Punk if they had 100% less skill.

It's not horrible, but it's not the best. I can see how this album influenced later EDM and club acts, and how it helped Stuart Price land work with bigger artists like Madonna. I wish the digital distributor hadn't mangled the Spotify release. The original album was a single disc, but this version is missing three tracks entirely, which hurts the listening experience. Even so, several tracks had me bopping along. My Rating: 3/5

I made the cardinal sin of reading the wiki page before starting my listening journey, and as a result my preconceptions were that I was unlikely to enjoy the album. It made me very happy that I was completely wrong. It's still not exactly my "thing" but, fuck me it was enjoyable. Very, very melodic. Had a hint of an 'edge' to it in most of the tracks. One of the main genres that is usually within the music I choose to listen to is funk, and this album was awash with funk threads. It wasn't quite a 5 star effort for me, but it was a solid 4 stars!

I was kind of enjoying the first couple of songs and then it all went downhill. 3/10 Top tracks: Dreamin’, Music makes you lose control, Hypnotise

This came out 3 years after Endtroducing… and sounds like it came out as an 808 tech demo in the 80s. Not a fan.

It's starting out pretty fun

I like this kind of new age sort of synth pop thing going on. I suppose I was enjoying it as I sometimes do, with a sort of split feeling. like I wanted it just to entice me a tiny bit more for a full four stars but it stayed around three point five. So I get a tad burned by the inability to do half stars, but still, I will reserve the right to change my mind later! For now, it is pretty good to almost pretty great, and thus I will keep an eye on this band more.

Some fun beats throughout but man, the vocals were annoying

Like a high school talent show honorable mention. Irritating and repetitive in parts.

I was bit surprised that i kinda enjoyed this as a soundtrack of my Monday morning. Maybe nothing revolutionary here, but catchy tunes with solid grooves are always a good combination.

#520 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ Revisit? ❌ I hate eurotechno and this sounds like precursor to that, even tho it's done later. Yes, I know it changes towards the end, but fuck this shit. Not my kind of music. 1/5

There are very few revelations that make me more sad than "today is EDM."

No mas rythmes digitales

Electronica/dance music =>1/5

No electronic music should be in any top anything list. Maybe the best 5 ever but they have in this list like 40.

Nicki Minaj.

I haven't liked hardly any of the techno stuff from the 90s that have been on here, but I actually really liked this one. The beats were really catchy as well as some of the lyrics. I think it helped that it was some samples from things you've heard before. It also kinda reminded me of some 90's video game songs and had some nostalgia to it.

Enjoyed it

7/10

O k

Not for me. Not sure who it’s for.

Why is this here? Still better than Robbie Williams.

Vaguely electronic beats

We now resume your regularly scheduled shit album of the day. 1.0

Belongs in a dumpster

i want to defend as much of the electronic music on this list as possible, but this one is tough. would be much easier if every song wasnt littered with irritating vocal samples, because the instrumentation is honestly often very good, but the samples are enough to completely ruin most of the tracks

Cohesion: 4/5 Theme & Narrative: 0.5/1 Sonic Identity: 1/1 Arrangement Synergy: 1/1 Genre Authenticity; 1/1 Transitions & Flow; 0.5/1 Production: 4.5/5 Clarity & Balance; 1/1 Vocal Delivery; 0.5/1 Sound Design; 1/1 Dynamic Depth; 1/1 Mastering; 1/1 Enjoyability: 2.5/5 Immediate Engagement; 0.5/1 Replay Value; 0.5/1 Emotional Resonance; 0/1 Playlist Potential; 0.5/1 Sticking Power; 0/1 Composition: 4/5 Melodic Development: 1/1 Harmonic Progression: 1/1 Structure & Contrast: 1/1 Motif / Theme Usage: 1/1 Emotional Storytelling: 0/1 Favourite Songs: 4/13 Final Thoughts: - Can clearly see where Frank Ocean may have taken inspiration from for second half of Futura Free - Identified some samples that are still used today - Has that 2000s vibe from the album cover to the sound - I’d say it kind of managed to grab my attention at times but overall was a bit boring - Experimental - Sometimes the song would just fade out and then there’d be an unexcpected silence for a few seconds and then a new song so transitions weren’t clean but gave that illusion - Vocals remained on the same tone throughout

Fun

They're calling it the least known artist pick on this list

Album #236: Les Rythmes Digitales – Darkdancer ⭐⭐⭐ A completely inconsequential album. Utterly meaningless. An album that will cause no one to have any thoughts whatsoever. But on the long, dark night of the soul, perhaps when something like a Leonard Cohen album might bring one too close to the brink, something like this might bring someone a little further away. Maybe there’s merit in the utter meaninglessness of it all. Maybe there’s merit in not thinking and just listening to essentially nothing. Three stars.

kind of cool! some vocals were repetitive but the beats were solid. i enjoyed this despite the poor reviews 😤

10/21 Banger of an album. Perfect for summer

It is disco but sounds like MC Hammer or The Prodigy without talent and creativity for me.

Why is this here? It’s awful.

I can't tell if this sounds basic due to the release date or being French, or both.... certainly other French producers at the time were creating less generic stuff.

Fine - not really a dance tunes fan, but a decent enough listen.

Good enough loo it was a dance album that wasn't terrible

I went into this with low expectations and I was wrong. Nothing truly outstanding but I did enjoy listening

liked it! heard few parts that got sampled and it really has its sample potential. As a album on his own its good but not great to me. (3.0/5.0)

solid 3 harmless, un-inspiring music

Ugh, who has time for this?

Dated. Unlike anyone who is really into it.

not for me

It's fairly standard late 90s euro dance. Quite repetetive, sometimes cool, but mostly background music.

Another discovery from the list. The production on this album is fantastic. Again, this makes sense as Stewart Price (AKA Les Rythmes Digitales) ultimately received most of his accolades producing music for some major artists, including Madonna’s Confessions on a dance Floor, for which he won a grammy. Overall, this was a fun album, but I think I like the 2000s EDM music that this album helped launch or even contemporaries like Daft Punk better. This makes sense as this album is clearly an homage to music of the past. My biggest complaint is that some of the longer songs feel repetitive. My son got me into EDM music, which I enjoy when I’m in a particular mood. I was not particularly in this mood today, so I’ll try to remember to revisit this the next time I am.

It was aight.

Can’t say I’ll be listening again but a pretty solid dance album, yet nothing in here that I think may grow on me Something about disco to disco made me want to tear my ears out, topped off by that WAAAA sound A bit from about funk had the literal melody of the autotune outro thing from California Gurls (“Caaaaaaalliiiiifoooorrnniiaaaaaa-aaaah” if you know what I mean)

Really not sure who this is for Kinda ass ngl 1.5

OK, started well, but then it just went on and on and on and on. Seriously I imagine one track from this on the dancefloor would be fantastic and the album seems like it would be a great element of a DJ's mix kit. Listening to it start to finish though is a waste of time. Filler I'm afraid. 2/5

Another 80s style synth-pop record, perhaps the first but I don't really care. They all sound remarkably similar and just don't do it for me.

music make you lose control triangle dancing guy. this wasn't good. 2.67/5

Similar to Daft Punk but slightly less repetitive. Decent for clubbing or exercising to but pretty shallow stuff. Another average album that shouldn't bee on this list.

It's ok. Probably won't listen again

# Album Name: Darkdancer # Artist: Les Rythmes Digitales # Rating: 5/5 # Comments: Genuinely shocked at how much i enjoyed this. At first, i thought this was going to be a dud. Great Synth record. # Top Tunes: Music makes you lose control / soft machine / Hypnotise / Whats that sound / take a little time / Jacques / Sometimes / Damaged People # Would I listen to it again? Yes

Overall Rating - 3.08/5 (6.15/10). Competent electronica. Not my preference, but not bad.

I want to make love to you in this club I don’t see what’s wrong with a little bump and grind

Good enough for what it is, but definitely not my preferred genre. Too repetitive, lacking in meaning, and obnoxious. However, I still found myself vibing at times. I even added a song to my liked list: Take a little time.

90er electro vomne französisch tönende artist? aha ersch engländer. aber erste track no fun? he ich finds no cool. uf sometimes isch de nick kershaw?? huere geil??

Cool beats, but insufferably repetitive.

It would be a much better album if it wasn't feature film lenght.

#112 - Darkdancer - Les Rythmes Digitales ⭐️ To be fair, it’s not called 1001 GOOD Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

*Not my favorite genre but the beats were varied and catchy.

truly, deeply shitty

This genre already comes with prepacked/produced sample and tracks. Midi replaces fingers and skills, Drums, premade. Tempo locked in. The artisty comes from the arrangements, blending and the abilidytty to stand out using basiclly the same tools as everyone else. EDM as a whole is cheesy, but great EDM artists make art that is soulful, thought provoking and pulls you in, lessen the cheese or knowing how to play off it. Darkdancer by Les Rythmes Digitales is cheesy, it surface level and sounds like a kid in. his bedroom slopping together default samples or even building songs from the demo songs that comes with their DAW and SYNTHS. I did not like this album..."I don’t know why I dislike this so much. It’s like a lot of things that I’d like being done not so well." - JOE

Always happy to be surprised with some late 90s French House, especially when it feels much more built off a love of 80s synth pop (as well as disco) instead of the usual 70s milieu. It doesn’t make the whole thing totally divergent, but where it does split, it’s very cool and makes it honestly feel well ahead of its time, like it predicted later turns in nostalgia with ease (and then the base of the thing is just really good anyway besides). Just some really strong clean dance tunes, ahead of the curve and all that.

really cool, it sounds like if Daft Punk had stayed a bit more conservative and disco-like in their sound design. I'd heard and liked Jacques Your Body before but never knew the artist. disc 2 has some great remixes!

1 terrible

I've come across quite a few albums that give me this reaction, why is it on this list? I mean, it's an okay album, I quite enjoyed it, dancing along, but it doesn't stand out from the pack at all. A lot of it is pure 80s electro nostalgia, that was done to more effect the first time around. This could have been one of any number of house albums from the time. It's okay. It'll tap your toes a bit, but I think I'd rather listen to an original than this rehash.

I really liked this. Pretty repetitive but the music was great.

There was so much better dance music in 1999 I have no idea why this is on the list

was not expecting to like this, especially after looking at some reviews, but i actually had a great time with this!!

Good grief, what absolute dross.

Not my vibe very repetitive songs

Sorry, maar dit is gewoon tering hard

Vet gezellige elektronica, wat een vibe. Deze gast heeft blijkbaar ook een mooi CV met productiewerk in deze stijl: Jessie Ware, Rina Sawayama, Dua Lipa. Cool om te horen waar dat vandaan komt.

I usually like IDM and EDM ; I can always enjoy some weird electronica, epic breakbeat or good old-fashioned techno. But this is just brainless dance-pop with inane lyrics for the terminally inebriated. There was already a ton of better stuff playing in clubs in 1999. Even the album cover looks like clearance-bin material. A couple of tracks have nice groovy beats, but it's not enough to save this dumpster fire. Hard pass. 2/10

En 3 mots : une sacrée daube, il y a des albums absents qui méritent d’être dans dans la liste, celui ci mérite d’être retiré de la liste Aucun plaisir, aucune créativité et aucune influence le strike de la pseudo electro pourrie Si vous n’avez pas compris, je n’ai pas aimé .

This album feels like a serious step backwards after the big beat and electro-rock scenes, which sound much deeper and more atmospheric to me. I’m no expert, but apparently the guy behind all this played a major role in the development of 2000s electropop… congratulations for that. Or not. The beats are particularly simplistic, this is basically dance/pop music most of the time. Tracks like Soft Machine or Hypnotize make it pretty easy to hear the connection with some more contemporary records. Interesting from that perspective, I guess, but overall this was a pretty painful listen for me. Too popish to me.

Pretty fun dance/DJ stuff. Cool to hear the Missy “music make you lose control” sample here as well. It kept things moving and wasn’t taking itself too seriously. Not a bad spin!

Surprisingly enjoyable to listen to given my issues with the prevalence of subpar albums of this type on this list. I found it to be original and interesting and it brought something new to a genre that has been frankly overdone.

Bien.

O ne. Naslovnica ni obetavna. Ooo neee. Začetek albuma ("Dreamin'") tud ne. O fak. Obžalujem, da sm prej en dim nardila. Fak, sm pomislila na Missy Elliott k sm vidla naslov komada ("Music Makes You Lose Control"). I guess so samplali isti komad? (Ja, "Body Work" od Hot Streak. Pa vidim, da me čaka še butchering Buffalo Springfield/Stephen Stills komada. Ugh.) To je muska za ljudi v srednji šoli, k nimajo nobenega zanimanja ali okusa za musko. Ker obnoxious komad ("From: Disco to: Disco"). Horrible repetitive drivel.

It’s pleasant to listen to, though it is a bit of an overload.

3.5

3.0

A bit too much cheese for me

It was not offensive, but nothing really special here and repetitive

A bit too long

It was probably for the best that on Spotify four of the songs were unavailable to play.

2.5 i only heard two songs nik kershaw and one other (others arent available in my country or something?)

no lo sé

This is good and deserves more props. It was created as a pastiche that bamboozled the music press trying to find 'the collective of reclusive continental producers behind it'. I'm all good that level of shithousery. It was in fact all one bloke who went off to produce pish like the Killers and latter day Madonna. Reminds me of Chromeo and Milo.

The wiki article is sparse which is why I was thinking why is this album revolutionary, the best example of its genre, justified on ending up in a greatest list compilation. I could not find the answer. It is b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-lowin in the digital ether. 2. Change my mind. Thank you for teaching me paulstretching fellow reviewer.

Exclusively background music. Didn’t finish obviously. High 2

Wasn't too bad actually. I dont normally listen to this type of music but some of the songs like Soft Machine and Whats That Sound? where defo bops.