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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Smokers Delight

Nightmares On Wax

1995

Buy At Rough Trade
Smokers Delight
Album Summary

Smokers Delight is the second studio album by Nightmares on Wax. It was released in 1995 on Warp in the United Kingdom, and on Wax Trax in the United States. It peaked at number 84 on the UK Albums Chart.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.94

Votes

11300

Genres

  • Electronica
  • Hip Hop

Reviews

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Jan 31 2022
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2

This is music your Nintendo Wii plays while it's loading the Weather Channel.

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Nov 24 2021
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4

This is really nice chill out or background music… something you would expect to hear in a trendy bar or hotel. Very nice to hang out with - I found it quite pleasant for background music while I worked. I can think of many occasions where this is the sort of music I would really want to play. This isn't the kind of album that will reach out and grab you, but instead the music sidles up and puts its arm around you. I didn't spend a lot of time distinguishing between the songs. Instead I just grooved along and let it flow around me. The album coheres very well while still having some clear individuality between the songs. The (Digital Deluxe) edition I listened to adds 4 extra tracks at the end. All four were worth hearing and didn’t detract from the flow of the original in any way I noticed. Good stuff!

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Nov 24 2021
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4

I dig the mood that this album evokes, but it not likely to be one that I would pick out on the regular. It is good background music for work or a hip cocktail party (at least I imagine it might be, as I don’t frequent hip cocktail parties). I will add this to my library in the hopes that someday I am hip enough to cocktail to these beats.

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Dec 06 2023
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1

Like being on hold to the bank's customer service helpline for an hour and a quarter. 1.5

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Jul 22 2021
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3

Smokers Delight is an inoffensive blend of reggae, hip hop, Latin, soul, and downtempo that glides through the neural pathways unimpeded by any novel or challenging sonic concepts. It's mellow restaurant or club music. That said, it's all very skillfully done. Every sample, the way it's mixed, the sequencing, etc, is all calculated to make you relax and just groove with the music in the background. I find it depressing though that this album is on the 1001 list. I have no reason to doubt that Smoker's Delight is influential...on other artists who make inconsequential aural wallpaper. It would seem more appropriate to review an album like this in an industry magazine, like Restaurants Today. How to rate? I'll give it three stars for the obvious skill with which was made, but to me this falls in the same basic category as nu-jazz. It's music for people who don't really like music, who just want something in the background while they study or vacuum or take a dump.

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Jul 21 2021
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5

Wow, I didn't know that I needed this, but now it's a keeper.

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Mar 11 2022
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2

On the plus side, Smokers Delight does have a nice chilled vibe that serves well as background music. But as an album to listen to attentively it is a bit boring and repetitive. Don't get me wrong, repetition can be used to good effect. Problem is there is no organic sounds; there is no real emotion. Like a lot of modern music it's loop based, sequenced, time stretched, processed etc (even the "solos"). There's no art to it - a computer could have been programmed to make it.

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Mar 24 2024
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2

2.6 - I hate two things about this record. First and foremost, it's boring. At best, this record feels appropriate as background music for a hotel lobby. Second, this record is 100% mis-packaged. Looking at the artist name, the album name and all the reggae colors and stoner-y fonts on the record cover, you expect some crunk-y intersection of Cypress Hill and 311, perhaps as interpreted by dreadlocked Euro-wankers. Instead, you get this linear, color-by-numbers, 1983-Casio-keyboard drivel. And, no, throwing in a few bongo beats, and including an echo-y vocal sample of your black friend saying "man" doesn't do enough to unite Kingston and Kinshasa with fucking Sheffield.

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Jul 02 2021
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5

7/2 Holy fire. Standout Tracks: Pipes Honour, Groove St., Bless My Soul, Rise, Gambia via Vagator Beach

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Jun 08 2021
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5

Yo, so this isn't NEARLY as Carboot Soul, but it's a great album. I am very mad it took so long for me to find Nightmares on Wax.

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Jan 14 2022
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5

Carboot Soul was the first NoW album I listened to, so it will always hold a special place, but this one is fantastic top to bottom. I was so glad to be reminded of it and it fit perfectly with the heads down work I needed to do that day.

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Jul 30 2021
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2

Première très bonne surprise au lancement de cet album : il ne s'agit pas de musique reggae. On enchaîne les premières pistes avec enthousiasme, tout se passe à merveille, jusqu'au moment où l'on se rend compte environ une heure après avoir lancé l'écoute que la troisième piste vient à peine de commencer. Rapidement, on en a marre. On a envie que ça s'arrête. On tombe alors sur le morceau Cruise (Don't stop) qui nous explique au sein de ses parenthèses que l'on y est encore pour quelques heures. Le DJ responsable de cette mascarade est un certain Nightmares On Wax. Son style de musique chill-out aurait merité d'être appelé repetitive-out, ou même not-interesting-out, ou carrément tchoupits-out. On emmerde l'artiste ainsi que ses proches même s'ils n'ont rien demandé.

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Oct 04 2023
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1

Awful and talentless. I just don’t understand who would buy this and for what occasion? I don’t see any talent in coming up with a 5 second long drum pattern and overlaying it with no more than 3 notes, then looping it endlessly until you lose the will to live. I always read the Wiki reviews on each album to get a deeper understanding of the artist & the album. Having read about this one, I’ve learnt nothing. I just wonder why this obscure artist and album made the 1,001 list. It wasn’t for commercial success (and neither should it just be about that), and it wasn’t for outstanding critical reviews. It doesn’t seem to have inspired other artists and doesn’t seem groundbreaking in any way. I guess the author of the list just likes it. Each to their own.

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Nov 23 2023
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1

Utter rubbish. I pride myself on listening to every style and genre I can, and appreciating the talent of the artists within it, even if I don't like it. No talent displayed here! I cannot imagine why this is in a 'must listen' list.

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Jan 21 2024
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1

Not my style. Tried to appreciate it, but I was extremely bored. This is background music for some place I don’t want to be at.

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Feb 27 2022
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5

"Nights Introlude", the first song on this album, is one of the greatest trip hop master pieces of all time. Overall, Nightmares on Wax's beats are very smooth, but not in a smooth jazz way, and more on the smoothness feel on the layers of his production. The early hip hop references are very well put in songs like "Dreddoverboard", just like the spy movie soundtrack vibes of "Mission Venice" are perfectly fit. "Stars", for instance, is almost a early chillwave track. It's a very creative album from start to finish.

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Nov 13 2022
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5

yyyyyeeeeaaaaaazzzzz 👍🏽👍🏽

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Dec 14 2022
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5

Absolutely golden. A brilliant album.

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Jun 18 2021
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4

needed a spliff to listen to it, good sound tho

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Aug 19 2021
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4

Gotta love some trip-hop. The beats and sounds on this thing are hazy and wacky, lots of cool noises that sound kind of underwater and industrial. Really creative, really interesting and really catchy

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Aug 24 2021
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4

The first song is great, jazzy, sophisticated sounding. Great first impression; expecting good things. Nest song a little funkier, more soulful...very nice. A couple more songs inn super smooth, organic...Trip Hop the way Trip Hop should be. Me likey. It does get a little long...a little samey for active listening , becomes more of a background listening experience but a really really good background listening experience. Put this on at a dinner party and I think you have the perfect backdrop. 4 stars

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Sep 22 2021
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4

Pretty interesting jam album. Some songs drag on a bit. But mostly nice melodies. Some people might get bored but I can get into it.

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Jan 03 2024
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3

It’s rare that I listen to a 90’s electronic album from this list and it doesn’t sound dated. Maybe it’s because digital recording was still in its infancy then and more limited than it is today, and as a result, listeners’ expectations were tempered to not expect much variety, but that doesn’t account for a record like DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing, which doesn’t feel dated or overly repetitive and mechanical like this one does. With that said, this is not an awful album, but I think it could use some judicious editing. If you were to Guided by Voices this thing - no songs over three minutes, blend the tracks together like a seamless mix tape - it could be a pretty awesome record.

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Jun 22 2023
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1

Christ on a stick, this is dull… Looking through the other reviews, I’m really surprised at the amount of 4s and 5s. I guess some people are easily pleased

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Mar 11 2022
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5

Man oh man what an album. This takes me right back. The pure laid back sounds and grooves. I've smoked a lot to this album over the years. But 20 years late and sober as a judge still sounds awesome. You do need the bass up mind.

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Apr 08 2022
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5

Очень хорошая фоновая музыка

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May 30 2022
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5

Such a chilled album, I love it. This is now one of my go to albums for those time when I want to unwind

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Jul 28 2022
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5

really nice album hard to think of any complaints other than it being a bit simplistic and repetitive at times still, I really enjoyed it - 9/10

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Sep 14 2022
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5

Loved it. Chill vibe more so than Gramatik

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Sep 16 2022
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5

This is just a perfect trip-hop album, I can't believe I had not heard it before. Loved every second of it.

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Oct 05 2022
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5

This was a great, mellow, listen. I was a bit surprised that this came out before Moby came along (unless there's a connection between the two). This album is going to get listened to a lot.

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Dec 14 2022
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5

Great chill ambient album. Perfect background music imo. Saved tracks: Pipes Honour, Groove St., (Man) Tha Journey, Cruise(Don't Stop)

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Feb 15 2023
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5

Fun! Really good instrumental album.

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Mar 03 2023
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5

Cracking album, super chilled, laid-back trip-hop. I know it's not to everyone's taste, but I just wanted to lay back, roll up a fat one, and get stoned

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Mar 15 2023
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5

Loved it. Very diverse sounds across the whole album, feels ahead of it's time. I'd love to hear modern remixes/sampling with most of the songs. I added 3 or 4 while listening and will definitely be back soon. I'd be interested to hear the live set from Freestyle '18 as well. Overall a great early entry in the field of downtempo. 8.5/10

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Mar 22 2023
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5

I didn't get all the way through this on my first round of listening but was very much enjoying the music as such that when I was making dinner I put Nightmares On Wax on and very much enjoyed some of their other tracks. Faves on this release would be Groove St., and Rise. Looking forward to spending more time with these guys.

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Jun 23 2023
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5

Some chill downtempo electronica. Nothing fast-paced or frantic, just an hour and fourteen minutes of smooth-as-butter trip-hop perfection. Beautiful music to just chill to on this hot summer's day. It's background music for sure but I'm totally okay with that. Maybe there would be some days where I wouldn't be so into something so slow and mellowed out, but this just works too perfectly today. Favourite: Dreddoverboard

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Jul 28 2023
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5

this is really cool. I would love to own this.

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Sep 21 2023
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5

This is a great record that I have no problem spinning again, and again, and again. It's complex enough that one can listen to it intently without getting bored, but given it's rhythmic and audibly balanced nature, it can also meld comfortably into the background and still shine. As a fan of music without words, this album has been a staple for many years.

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Dec 03 2023
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5

Bears, BEATS, Battle Star Galactica

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Dec 22 2023
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5

This album was amazing and not at all what i expected. Moving to the top of playlist

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Jan 02 2024
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5

Loved this one. Great chill beats and found a few favorites

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Jan 04 2024
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5

This album attaches itself to the mid-1990s like a limpet to a rock. That isn't a bad thing, by any stretch, because to go into a bar playing Nightmares on Wax during the 90s was about the coolest thing one could do. Sure, it isn't as good an album as Carboot Soul, but it is still really very good. If you imagine yourself chatting to a girl in a hip (probably underground) bar in Manchester, Glasgow, Bristol or London - you'd be talking to her about Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst, or maybe about how tiresome Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Tamara Beckwith were - and this is the soundtrack to that chat-up. You'd buy her a hilariously expensive cocktail and have a g&t for yourself, and you'd feel like you owned the world. Nightmares on Wax are the soundtrack for swish bars, funky hotels and relaxed ambiance. If your chat-up worked, though, when you got her back to yours and picked a CD to put into your B&O BeoSystem, it'd be Kruder & Dorfmeister that you put on while you went down on her. Sorry Nightmares, but you're cool music, not sexytime music.

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Feb 02 2024
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5

Never heard of the group. Liked this.

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Feb 25 2024
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5

what a great album. I'm putting this in the Zero7/Tame Impala section of the library

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Mar 04 2024
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5

Vibes on top of vibes Jazzy chill hip hop techno Windows down night drive

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Jun 12 2024
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5

Great relaxing electronic music!

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Jun 28 2024
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5

great chill music. Really enjoyed it.

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Aug 29 2024
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5

I violently came listening to this album

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May 18 2021
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4

Hooked me from that sample that Passin Me By uses. Chill beats to zone in with

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Apr 01 2021
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4

I was very pleasantly surlrised by this album. Looking at the cover and the name I was absolutely expecting reggae which was not the case. Instead I got cool trip hop I could chill to.

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Apr 18 2021
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4

Super long but ultimately pretty good background music. 7

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Apr 18 2021
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4

7. Good for what it was, didn't excite me

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Apr 18 2021
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4

Groovy beats, though a few songs were weaker than the rest. Solid 8

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Apr 18 2021
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4

I don’t really like this style of music for a whole album, but it’s good for what it was. 8

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Jul 21 2021
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4

Loved this and rabbit hole stuff for other things like it.

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May 07 2021
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4

I find this album really enjoyable and relaxing all the way through. No bad songs. I give it a 4/5, though my parents loved this album when I was growing up so some of the good review may be nostalgia for me.

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May 04 2021
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4

Early dub and reggae instrumental that paved the way for a ton of future stoner groups.

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Apr 09 2021
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4

Groovy but calm, good background music for working.

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May 08 2021
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4

Reminds me of theivery corporation, though I'm not sure which came first.

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Jun 14 2021
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4

This genre is quite relaxing. May listen again when feeling super stressed out.

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May 09 2021
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4

Really chill instrumental. Enjoyed very much

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Jun 24 2021
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4

oh boy. Lovin the triangle on this first track. Great background music and enjoy the range of it

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Jul 25 2021
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4

Clima muito bom com instrumental trip hop.

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Sep 01 2021
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4

So glad this wasn't a reggae album as I expected. Perfect example of airport music.

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Sep 10 2021
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4

Great for listening to on a holiday balcony. Probably wouldn’t have scored it so high otherwise.

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Sep 16 2021
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4

Kind a a theoretical 4. This is exactly the kind of stuff I was into 20 years ago, I bores me a little now and I’ve not got time for the full 70mins, but still a place in my heart for triphop.

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Oct 24 2021
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4

I got heavily into trip hop around the time this album came out. Problem is that I never heard this album until about a decade later so it is never going to be my go to of this genre. I do like the how its sounds are missing link between Acid Jazz and Trip Hop and beyond. This is a great album if nothing but for its legacy

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Nov 24 2021
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4

Didn't have the luxury of a nice, long focused listen today but this provided a groovy ambience to my dinner-making. Nothing was particularly standing out until Bless My Soul and its delightful boings. I loved that track and the next, Cruise (Don't Stop), and Rise and its repRise. It's nice. I'll keep it.

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Dec 02 2021
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4

Rätt episkt. Måste lyssna igen!

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Jan 21 2022
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4

Quite the song writer. I'm impressed. I really expected them to be a one hit wonder where everything else sucked. But these guys are good.

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Feb 06 2022
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4

Punk AF, fun AF as well. Love it.

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Feb 14 2022
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4

lie this a lot and will certainly revisit

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Feb 18 2022
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4

I bet this album is incredible when you're high.

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