Strange Cargo III
William Orbit
1993
Album Summary
Strange Cargo III is the fourth album by electronic instrumentalist William Orbit. It is the third in a series of similarly titled albums: Strange Cargo, Strange Cargo II and Strange Cargo Hinterland. The album was performed, produced and mixed by William Orbit at Guerilla Studios, London. Mark Rutherford and Sugar J co-performed "Deus Ex Machina" with William Orbit, with Rutherford also co-writing the song. Rico Conning contributed flexible bleeps and roadhouse piano on "Time to get Wize", spiky piano and strings on "The Story of Light" and additional programming on "A Touch of the Night".The album was featured in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
WikipediaI often wonder whether albums like this are made for people to actually enjoy....or whether they're made for hi-fi nerds to boast about how great the plinky-plonks sound through their speakers (they sounded awesome through mine)
So then, mood music. Not often my thing, especially this version, which dumbly apes what they think 'peaceful' sounds like without realising that isn't enough to make people feel at peace. Broad brush approaches only creates greater distance from the listener. As with lyrics, specificity is what allows them to grab hold of the song, clamber in and find their own way to those feelings. These sounds are so washed out with generalisations that there's no chance of that.
It was a trip listen to it with my eyes closed on my way home back from work. Great tracks overall
Das pendelt erstmal so rum zwischen ganz interessant (hätte ich damals noch besser gefunden als z.B. Orbital) und zeitlos schlimmer Esoterik. Findet sich dann, nachdem man sich hörbar deutlich bei Andrew Weatherall und The Orb bedient hat aber letztlich in so Ralf Hildenbeutel/Sven Väthschem Ibizasphärengedudel, das damals sicher nicht weh tat, anschließend aber auch nicht gut gealtert ist. Und dann hört man auch schon raus, was er 6 Jahre später auf z.B. Madonnas Ray of Light perfektioniert hat. Naja. So wegweisend finde ich dieses Album jedenfalls nicht. 2,7 reichen völlig aus.
Excelente disco! El primer 5!! Aca esta la base del lo que fue ese tremendo disco de Madonna, Ray of Ligth.
I am here for William and his Strange melodies. Brian Eno-esque in all the right ways, with a little bit of world music vocals and groovy Thievery Corporation beats.
I was not prepared for how much I would love this album. Like, I thought "oh hahah college raves and video games soundtracks." Then it played and I can't describe how immediately I loved it. Track after track, too. Listened to it twice because I didn't want it to end. So, I guess I should listen to William Orbit more and just let go of the electronica stigma.
Really good but he absolutely blue balled me with those first two songs, my expectations were set at Groove Armada style bang fest but it was more of a freaky experimental electronic exploration - not saying I didn't enjoy the journey but I think the first couple of songs would've been better placed dispersed throughout rather than as false expectation setters at the start. GIVE ME MORE BANGERS, WILLIAM
I love some of the tribalbeat sounds in this, and found it to be a pleasant surprise on what I expected to be a bland work.
Perfectly decent, spacey 90s electronica with dance, dub, trip-hop, world and new-age influences. Its sound and mood is such that it still holds up quite well almost 30 years after it was released. This one really grew on me.
awesome psychedelic record with liquid rhythms, expressive synths, and groovy bass lines. love hearing the predecessors to some of my favorite modern psychedelic artists.
Not my usual kind of music, but I really enjoyed it. Also very good for concentrating at work.
Great electronic stuff here. Bonus points for the vocals. Favorites: Water From A Vine Leaf, Harry Flowers, The Story Of Light
Enjoyed this immensely remembered some of the tunes on here from amvient mixes back in the day. Took me back and to far of chilledness.
Pretty good listening, some of the tracks definitely would've been better without vocals tho. Favorite track is probably A Touch of the Night.
Ugh, this album isn’t on Apple Music. Damn them for not having obscure, non-charted electronic music. They have a bunch of his other albums…wtf? So I have to listen on YouTube, which is painful. First world problems. I like the bass heavy beats throughout the album. This is the first album that got my house rattling with the surround sound system I got a couple months back. The accompanying videos on YouTube are a trip. There are a lot of nature scenes. Also quite a bit of shaky camera work. I can’t tell if the videos add or detract from the music. I’m not a fan of the Nine-Inch-Nails-esque electronic drum on Into the Paradise and A Hazy Shade of Random, but that’s not going to bring this album down. There’s a lot of good shit here. An interesting find for sure. I’m starting to conclude that I’m into ambient music. Not all of it, no way (looking at you Brian Eno). But there is a subset that gets me going.
Okay, I like this. It's chill and electronic and perfect music to use as background noise while writing.
Inventive, original and very interesting. I was pretty familiar with this already but it's - despite its listenability and general awesomeness - not an album that finds its way onto the regular playlists round these parts. I am thinking I should probably endeavour to rectify that.
De hoes van dit album gaf me het idee dat we klassieke muziek voorgeschoteld gingen krijgen. Heel interessant, maar deze "ambient" muziek vind ik vele malen leuker. Heerlijk album! ****
In the early 90s I was a DJ at this local, publicly-funded, alternative radio station. Certain songs were in rotation and we had to play those at certain times so that they got played a specific number of times per day. If there was time left before the next required song we could pick out a song of our choice that wasn't in rotation as long as it fit in with the format. Because of this I hated having to play long songs, I wanted the world (or at least the part of Western New York State that was in our small listening area) to hear what amazing taste I had. "Water From a Vine Leaf" the seven minute leadoff track from this album was my bete noire. Now when I listen to it and the rest of "Strange Cargo III," especially on some good headphones I really appreciate it.
I quite liked this one. The ambient stuff has a good groove and when they kick it up a notch it really moves. Good to see Beth Orton singing on this album. She has had special guest appearances on a number of the albums on the 1001.
Kind of weird and ambient, but in a way I kinda liked. It reminded me of video game music for some reason.
8/10. I liked this. Not the most exciting to get for my 500th album, but a solid inclusion.
25/08/2022 William Orbit – Strange Cargo III 4/5 Electronica has become one of my favourite genres together with folk, indie and pop, and it’s great to listen to the seed of what that style is today. Strange Cargo III is a very early 90’s electronica album, with all that that implies. It is enjoyable, at least for me, but knowing how the genre have evolved with time and technological progress, it sounds a bit simple and not fully developed sometimes. However, it is very chill and well built on its context, and it doesn’t have a low point across the whole album. Water From A Vine Leaf – 4.5/5 Surprisingly good for its length: 7 minutes that doesn’t become a tedious listen. Its first half develops a good beat, and the second evolves a bit with variation and the inclusion of a singer. Very enjoyable. Into The Paradise – 4.5/5 This album is quite interesting. Some songs are built similar to modern electronic music, like they are intended to sound in a club (mostly because their structure and duration). But they aren’t that danceable and are rather slow, at least to current standards (It is probably my age thinking). This is one of the cases, and I quite like it. It becomes a fairly “sexy” song thanks to the voice and the beat. Time To Get Wize – 3/5 more of a “generic song”, still good. Harry Flowers – 4/5 This is a song that breaks the consistency of the album so far, sounding more like the soundtrack of a movie or a videogame, and leaning more into the ambient/relaxing music. A Touch Of The Night – 4/5 Very intriguing melody, and great bass/drums combination. It almost sounds like club music from outer space. The Story Of Light – 4 /5 Good build-up, to become a great hit to dance to (slowly?). Interesting sounds, and the included singer gives it a good touch. Gringatcho Demento – 4/5 Another song that builds-up to a good beat and instrumentation. This one has a surprising guitar solo in the middle. A Hazy Shade Of Random – 4.5/5 Mostly slow songs that evolves into a impressive beat. My favourite song of the album. Best Friend, Paranoia – 2.5/5 It follows a similar structure and composition, but it gets stuck in the middle between a high energy and low energy song. The Monkey King – 2/5 Probably the weakest song of the album. Another one that breaks the general pattern, becoming an ambient track. It doesn’t generates a good enough atmosphere for me. Deus Ex Machina – 2/5 Similar to the previous one, it doesn’t make it for me. Water Babies – 3.5/5 This one follow similarly to the 2 before, but it builds up a cute melody that becomes more and more complex until it fades our. A good way to close the album.
Never would have connected with this at the time but I've really come to enjoy this sort of ambient electronic trippy music. The only critique - and it's not much of one - is that it's much more of a mood/feel than a collection of what we traditionally think of as "songs" - so I don't necessarily have a favourite but this has been great to loop and work all day to. I'll listen to this again in the right atmosphere for sure. So it's tough to "rank" this and though I'd never make this anything close to a favourite album or genre, I'm giving this 4 stars for hitting the exact buttons it means to. 7/10 4 stars.
I listened to this while working, and I have to say, it's great for that purpose. Honestly a really enjoyable album for me, but I love the atmospheric instrumental stuff. Solid 4/5.
Not bad. Held my attention. Can only give it 3.5 because it's not something I really see myself going back to.
cool instrumental electronic music. some songs are vibey and some have techno or grungey sounds. i like Water From a Vine Leaf
Seems like there would’ve been no stranger cog turning in the early 90s music machine. Pretty cool background music
Die Sounds kommen zwar leicht datiert durch die Geräte, aber der Kern eines dubbigen Rave/Waves bleibt dennoch klar transportiert. Bisweilen etwas kitschig in seiner Anmutung von Arzt-Serien Score. Macht aber mehr richtig als falsch und bleibt doch etwas schwach auf der Brust. Irgendwie gute 2.8
I think is not my type of beat but is quiet relaxing the first 4 tracks. Would be a good album after smoking a joint.
Electronic music is definitely not my wheelhouse, but I like this album. William Orbit constructs his songs as experiences and tones that portray the context of the titles, and it feels like you are creating scenes in your head as you listen. It's not generic bass drops or fuzzy dubbings that overwhelm you in static sounds. That said, I don't really find myself intensely listening to every song and just leave it on as background music. But it's good. Favorite Song: The Story of the Light Least Favorite: Harry Flowers
Zweverig album, met wat samples die wel overeenkomen met de albumhoes. Was goed voor op de achtergrond maar weinig speciaal
its an ambient album, which barely any vocals but somehow it manages to keep your attention
Cannot lie - really got into it - great instrumentalist, but by the end was desperate for it to finish
Pretty enjoyable album. I'm not super into electronic music but I liked the melodies here. Reminded me of Spyro the Dragon.
I don't know how this counts as one of the 1001 albums I need to hear before I die. It's pleasant enough but entirely unmemorable. I don't even know if it's one of the best 1001 ambient albums ever produced. Inoffensive and worthy of playing in the background when you have work to do but it'll never feel groundbreaking.
Lo-fi electronic album, this was some solid background music to listen to while I worked. The album playlists on Youtube were all either incomplete or way out of order, so I had to search each song individually to listen to it which was frustrating but that has nothing to do with the music itself. Enjoyed it for what it was, not my usual thing but wouldn't complain if someone put this on.
so-so. Very much of its time. (cf. Fascinating Rhythm, which is much more adventurous.)
Cargo cults may seem strange to us modern first-worlders, but in understanding their culture we can understand much of our obsession with advancement and progression. A cargo cult is "an indigenist millenarian belief system in which adherents perform rituals which they believe will cause a more technologically advanced society to deliver goods." Such groups have been found in Pacific island nations that had fleeting contact with Allied soldiers and air drops of supplies during WWII. After the war ended, the cults arose to try to mimic the behavior and culture they encountered and lure back these peoples and their advanced technology. The indigenous people encountered strange cargo from a civilization they didn't understand, and then longed to replicate it or bring it back. Maybe William Orbit brought us strange cargo of his own, at the leading edge of the electronic music revolution in the 80s and 90s. He never left, but we've been trying to copy and mimic his seemingly futuristic and advanced aural aesthetic ever since. Unlike the cargo cults, who's benefactors and inspirations seemingly disappeared for a time, Orbit continued to be an active part of the cultural exchange, evolving with those he influenced. And at some point during that journey, he air dropped a third load of "Strange Cargo." However, I found myself not mythologizing, venerating, or deifying Orbit, but rather being thankful that his influence fueled a continuous evolution through artists whose work I find better.
If you google 'Strange Cargo' it takes you pages of results for a movie staring Clark Gable from 1940. This alone may give you some insight into how awesome this album is. Despite that, this was far better than I thought it would be, and much better than the album art is. It's important to note that there are at least three Strange Cargo albums, the second I started listening to by mistake and it was a mistake. I should've eaten a sprig of Parsley after listening to SC2, or at least dusted my ears with it. I honestly didn't mind spending time with this. Though since 1993, the robots have taken over the world and today, this music is ubiquitous. It's absolutely something my daughter would splice into her YouTube videos. I blame the machines. At one point SC3 was avant garde and exciting, but time moves on...
Un disco bastante complicado. Por un lado es interesante y entretenido si se escucha como el soundtrack de una película. Los cambios de escena, los diferentes moods y géneros podrían ir construyendo una historia vaga en nuestras mentes. Por otro lado, tiene momentos sin sentido, pesados y que crean un ambiente no tan agradable además de ser bastante extenso y piezas de larga duración.
1h03, c'est le chiffre a retenir puisqu'il s'agit de la duréee de cet album. De très longues 1h03, qui m'ont bien mis en rogne en cet après-midi ensoleillé. J'aurai bien preferé profiter de ledit soleil plutôt que de la musique sans intérêt du pitre Orbit, que j'espère ne jamais recroiser sur mon chemin. C'est pour toutes ces raisons que j'ai accordé à l'album la note de 3/5.
Pendant une heure, William sera en orbite autour de la planète Bonne Musique sans jamais réussir à s'y poser.
All very pleasing and transcendental, but is it an album or a stream of consciousness?
A very pleasant ambient album. I don't know much about the state of electronic music in 1993, but maybe this was quite different back then. Sounds like a movie score and is very easy on the ears. 5/10
It's very ambient and moody. I can see what role this played in the evolution of techno in the 90s, and indeed how it influenced pop. I don't think I appreciated this album enough to want to listen again though.
It's funny that he's worked with so many famous musicians and I've never heard of him. It's also funny that I listened to this album, liked it, and the next day couldn't even really remember what it was. It's remarkably forgettable.
I remember listening to the first song a lot when it came out. It was a staple of the chill/downtempo/electronica movement. The second song has some spirit. Story of Light is good too. The rest is nice enough, at times the dub bass lines and drums kick in a bit too predictably. It’s very soothing, good for a hot yoga class, or good to listen to if you have insomnia. Having learned that he produced and co-wrote Madonna’s Ray of Light, I went back and listened to that album and his influence is left, front and center. But it's a more caffeinated William Orbit.
Via Caliente was a jam. Out of the Ice has a great bassline. Overall, this album is great as background, or even as a movie soundtrack. I don't think I'd put it on as something I'd actively listen to. It's definitely not my cup of tea.
Today I learned that I'm not super into 90s electronica. I don't think I'd mind a song here and there but I couldn't do the whole album at once.
The beats are chill I guess but it doesn't do anything interesting. It's decent. I think the ambient parts are better than the more downtempo ones, like on The Monkey King.
I like his music, but it's fundamentally not much more than good background/mood music.
I think I like this better than Massive Attack. Easy listening, nothing annoying. It really is arranged quite well. But it's all sort of the same to me. Thought about a 4 for a moment but not sure that's what you give an album that is mostly great background music.
I liked the first half of this album quite a bit. But then it kind of fizzled out for me. I think that MP3 player have ruined my patience for things like this. I can imagine listening to a track or two of this on shuffle with everything else and enjoying it, but listening to the whole album my attention really wandered. It just did not hold my interest.
Well this album starts off fucking awesome. First three songs...or at least two of the first three songs are excellent and the album is pretty damn good. Great dance rhythms, interesting melodies, appropriate vocals. It's still a dance/electronic/ambient album which for me makes it too long and tough to listen to from beginning to end. If someone made an album this good and made it 40 minutes long instead of over an hour it would be knocking on the door of a 5, but it seems that don't exist. Too bad. 3.5 🌟
Perfectly fine music to study by that sounds exactly like all the other perfectly fine music to study by that I've ever listened to.
A lot of this was just ambient stuff. Otherwise it was electronica. Descended into SCUNGY UK TECHNO at times, because of fucking course it does. No real feelings either way. 3/5.
Time and a place for this kind of thing. 20 years ago - 04:00 in the morning surething. Not so relevant to me now.
I can't say that this album made much of an impression on me either way. It was fine, but it was hard to understand why its significant. I don't know that the music is particularly advanced for 1993, though it definitely doesn't sound dated for the time either. The Indian influence on the album is cool. Overall there's not a lot that I can say. It works fine as background music, but there isn't a lot else to recommend it, and the Wikipedia page was not particularly enlightening either 3/5
Solid background music with interesting blends of sounds, but when I try to focus on it... it just feels like all style over substance.
3/5. It had a great first half with enjoyable listens however it dragged on at the end. If this album was only 40 minutes long it would be perfect.
Lol. Trip hop/ambient nonsense.. idk I’m in a crappy mood because I’ve been sitting at the dealership all morning. Also straight up skipped the Motörhead live album from yesterday.
I wasn't sure whether to rate this 2 or 3 stars. It wasn't too bad to listen to but I gave it 2 stars in the end because I know it is music that I will not return to.
Random hodgepodge of electronica. Some decent stuff but too noodley. Makes The Orb sound structured
not my style, an album that I think you need to be in a specific mode to enjoy, most of the music was relaxing and good to work with but the last couple of songs were scary.
Definitely can sense the influence on vaporwave and minimal electronic music. Some songs reminded me of dvd main menu music for a sci Fi flick
Come on 1001 album random generator, give me something GOOD! This album suffers a little bit from being the latest in a line of albums that range from terrible to just meh. There is just nothing to get excited about here.
El tipo que compuso los discos modernos de Madonna… Ya con eso. Y luego también de Blur, U2, Britney y hasta No Doubt. Difícil imaginar para donde va su estilo. Pero este disco en particular me sonó como a epítome de los 90, con algo de pretensión de música mundial, pero con mame de cafetería y beats. No me funciona. El disco se pasó rápido. Tres veces. De eso que no notas que hay música sonando porque igual se va tan al fondo que quizá mi cabeza estaba cantando otra cosa.
2.5 | No tengo mucho que decir sobre este álbum aparte de que es agradable. En realidad, es una música agradable con la que trabajar sin ser brillante. Creo que también he tenido esa experiencia con otra música ambiental en la lista lo cual comienza a quitarle puntos por el desgaste. La mitad de los discos instrumentales en la lista siento proponen cosas interesantes y la otra mitad son como este... "agradables". Quizá el único punto donde este es diferente es que los ritmos son un poco más estimulantes, poquito menos repetitivos y con cierta fluidez en cambios que otra música ambiental. Mi cabeza me dice que es un disco que no tiene que hacer en la lista aunque pudiera quizá ver la influencia que tendría en la música electrónica a medida que avanzaban los 90. No estoy seguro de que tanta influencia tuvo realmente pero posiblemente eso lo justificaría.
didn't seem to hold up to modern listening in the electronic music category, but wasn't too painful
Why do all these groups doing this electro/ trance / ambient dreck all have similar names and sound the same, William Orbit, The Orb, Orbital? Not very original IMO. Its also hard to distinguish them from each other because not only do they have similar names but they all seem to play the same cheezy dated electro music that you typically hear at a posh hotel bar or poolside.
This was ridiculously boring, too incessant to be truly ambient but never fully transports you anywhere as it doesn't have anywhere to go. Feels like being stuck in a 90s dance bar for eternity.
It works well as ambient. The second side gets progressively quieter and emptier. It all sounded a bit generic, but I did enjoy the constant change in styles. Tracks blend in well. Somewhat sounds like a PS2 scifi soundtrack. Best track is "Water from a Vine Leaf" which sets an expectation for what the rest of the album should live up to. I wouldn't listen to any of the tracks against besides the first, and I don't see myself replaying unless I want to visit a familiar house ambient record.
The songs were monotonous-- one or two notes with an electronic beat. Some of echoey vocals were kind of cool, but that's about all I liked about it.
Strange something. It's just ok for me. Kind of flat and boring, but in a nice way - I guess. It isn't horrible, just don't really see why it is a "must listen".
More than adequate as background music I'm sure, but I listened as foreground music and found myself checking how long was left to go from very early on...
this was a stranger album? i didn’t hate it… it was weird and i honestly don’t know what to rate it. i feel like i am so unfamiliar with this type of sound and i usually have a negative point of view towards it so it doesn’t help but i was open to listening to it again.
Nice enough without being very interesting. Listened a few times but didn't really click for me
2.6 - Pretty unremarkable - the kind of background music you’d hear on a quiet weekday afternoon at an Amsterdam coffee shop. Your primary goal is to cop a gram of that White Widow so the music is whatever. Robert Dimery needs to seriously reevaluate his esteem for these electro-lounge entries (see also Leftfield).
The video version of this promises to be relatively interesting. It almost fell apart in a compelling way, but finished off with inoffensive-enough material to make the record a pretty simple mood piece. I enjoyed the experience, but I'm puzzled about the three-ness, the long-ness, the list-ness.
Strange Cargo indeed in a very 90s rave culturally appropriating way… it shows signs of interesting beers but it feels very dated and it’s not remarkable enough to ignore that fact.
I'm not sure why this album is on this listen. This album mixed a lot of different sounds together.
Sinceramente, no me ha interesado nada. Música electrónica cercana a la pista de baile pero que al final no es ni una cosa ni la otra. Ha envejecido mal para mi gusto totalmente prescindible.
Ho he intentat però no he aconseguit entrar-hi. Aquest rollo ambient-electrònic no em fa el pes.
This was very much a product of it's time. A lot of albums on this list sound timeless, but this sounds like someone in 1993 making an album of what it's like to make an album in 1993. It might have been revolutionary or mind blowing at the time, but now it sounds VERY dated.
I suspect this album will not be included in future editions of this list. Super-bland 90s background music. Reverb-drenched synth pads, dub bass lines, people mumbling about stuff. Instantly forgettable. This is the soundtrack to the part of the film where the protagonist and the love interest go to a house party, accidently get high and sit on the roof talking about their feelings.
This didn't do much for me. Not bad as background music, but not really memorable either.