Strange Cargo III

This was enjoyable, but I didn't get much out of it. It's possible I don't have the ear for different genres within electronic music, but this just feels like that kind of lazy formulaic electronica where there is a slow build and a beat is put under some world music influences and mix in some spoken word here and there. It's not bad, just sounds cliche quite often, and doesn't veer from this formula much at all. At over an hour long, I found myself zoning it out and kind of relegating it to "background music".

Never heard of this guy * Water from a vine leaf - is this gonna be like chill electronica? Ok, some spoken word…interesting. * Into the Paradise - boring and repetitive. I’ve got a bad feeling about the rest of this album * Well, I will comment if a song actually catches my ear. * Just so boring. First album I have bailed on I think.

Not bad, needs further listens

Sure? File this under "Completely forgettable 3 stars"

One of those albums from the 90’s that seemed to be everywhere. Some nice bits of electronica and ambience, with the obligatory samples which were in vogue at the time

I've honestly already forgotten it.

Let’s get a few things straight. I owned a reasonable synthesizer and sequencer when I was in college. I made better music than this and I really had no clue what I was doing. Albums like this make me want to quit this entire project. WTF.

I found it a little boring and bland. Like buttered noodles, slightly over cooked.

Kinda fun psychedelic chill music

Really enjoyed the vibe and flow of this album. Had no idea what to expect but had fun

Can’t say i cared for this

This was an interesting listen. The first few tracks are the kind of thing you hear in the lobby of the Fountainebleu hotel in Miami or the restroom of a high end movie theater. The closing tracks feel like a spy movie montage. Overall a nice listen. 3/5

nice sounding album but vine leaf is a little fluffy cloud rip off and the rest of the album is the same. . I hope the orb and klf and early future sound of London got some royalties

A decent listen. Smooth, spacious, lovely tones and textures. Dreamy, futuristic, ambient trip hop. All that said I cant think of many occasions I would be popping this album on. Perhaps just not to my tastes. Incredibly well produced, and not uninteresting sonically, but I suppose there was nothing that made me sit back and say wow. One thing i can say is this album is certainly about 100 times better with headphones on. No one favourite track. 7/10

What was this? Whatever it was i don't like it.

Not really my taste

"Strange Cargo" is a good name for this. An odd collection of electronic soundscapes, with spoken word interludes, blippity blips and synth, that sometimes verges into hippy "tribal" music territory. At times I feel like I'm listening to music that you'd expect to find playing in a nightclub in The Matrix. People unashamedly wearing leather pants, dancing in show motion, probably in cages or something. Other times, it sounds like something you'd hear played in a backpacker river bar in Laos (full transparency: I stole that comparison from my girlfriend). And the rest feels like I'm listening to the score of a movie. Probably an early 90s Avant Garde movie that didn't do well commercially, but somehow launched the career of some now-big Hollywood name. With all of these comparisons, it sounds like I'm dissing this album, but the weird thing is that, despite all of this, I actually liked it. I mean, this guy produced 13 by Blur, one of my all-time favourite albums, so he's obviously got talent. I'm probably not going to hunt this out again, but I definitely enjoyed this strange cargo of electronica.

I really don't want to hear Strange Cargo I or II either

add it to the list

The songs can run a bit long and it can be a bit boring at times, but its pretty alright.

This album is the music they played in mall stores so you could vibe while buying clothes. It’s a very inoffensive atmosphere type music that is essential 90s.

This just seems like early electronic music. Not horrible, but also nothing special.

This is something Dylan would've liked, that ambient loving motherfucker.

I’ll have to listen to more of it but could deserve four stars. Sounds like massive attack instrumentals

I liked this in a very calm and non-threatening way. There are some nice sounds here. It

A bit too smooth and sounding like spa or ad music but overall quite enjoyable! 3.8

If this was 1993 I would think this was cool and a definite step up from C & C music factory. In 2025, it seems slightly pedestrian. Going for a 2

Feels very dated to the early 90s.

It was fun. Not safe for listening and driving. Will listen again.

Meh

Not a big fan of electronic music outside of a few artists. I wouldn’t be bothered if someone threw this on but would never put on myself

Two for creativity. Not my sound

Spa day?

Couldn’t pretend to care about William Orbit (as a musician).

It’s weird to have a twinge of nostalgia for an album I’ve never heard before.

water off a duck's back

Jäi igavaks

Si quieres entrar en trance o tu tdah no te deja concentrarte bien ponte este album. Despues de un rato, corroboro que funciona porque me he puesto con unta tarea y estaba muy enfocada, de repente he llegado a la cuarta cancion

Interesting ambient electronic music from the 90s. Like Aphex Twin, it feels like a distinct move to get away from the hardcore intense music that electronic was known for at that point. This list seems to love ambient electronic music clearly inspired by Eno, so I can see why this was included.

Excellent!

Electronica will probably never be my favorite but "Strange Cargo III" actually has some atmosphere, ambience and even dynamics that make it nice background music. Given the technical options of that time, William Orbit must have spent a significant amount of time in the studio carefully producing the patterns and arrangements. Not exactly for me but a very respectable work

Surprisingly engaging ambient electro! William Orbit's really something. Tracks to Track: Water from A Vine Leaf

I mean its good, i found it enjoyable while listening, but I dont really know when I would listen to this again, or feel like it. Maybe if i was someone studying computer science to feel really locked in, but alas i am not. I imagine this playing at zara or some pretentious speak easy. Forgot I was listening to it half the time. At some point it all starts to sound the same.

Meh. I wanted to like this album. I do like some electronica, but this just felt far too introspective to be interesting.

It feels like this list should be split up. One list could be the albums to listen to before you die. There are maybe 500 albums in that list. Then there are the 501 soundtracks to non-existent movies that were only popular in the UK that are fine, but you could live without hearing them. This album falls into the latter category.

Felt like I was stuck in a 2000s movie credits, like literally any movie with Frankie Muniz

I agree when people say it's the background for a 2000s heist film - but it does work as good background music.

Groovy downtempo EDM.

Not my thing but done really well.

Made fine background music, but nothing really stood out. This is either my 3rd or 4th UK Electronica album in the last 2 weeks. Why is this list the 1001 UK Electronica albums you need to hear before you die? Mid 3.

Meh

richtig cool! heute daher 2 tracks in meine playlist gelegt, Water From A Vine Leaf und Time To Get Wize. Der zweite Song erinnert ein wenig an Tricky, und wenn ich dann lese, dass William Orbit Ray Of Light von Madonna produziert hat, dann weiss ich, weshalb ich den Sound so mag!

Elektrische Musik, na und?

I honestly don’t know who this is aimed at? People who need music for 90s Amiga games?

Mid Buddha Bar music

Cool, vibey album. A little of its time, but honestly still sounds pretty great.

Interesting album, very much a staple of a certain sound, and overall I found the soundscape rich and diverse. A couple of things are holding it back in my opinion : it's too long, some songs deserve an edit, and I could cut one or two, that would make the project more concise and be more impactful. It's also very much rooted in the 90's and therefore sounds quite dated. That is not necessarily a problem, cause it's a good example of that type of music, but I always gravitate towards music that feels timeless, and in my opinion the greatest songs can manage that. i would argue Portishead for example, even though it's very much rooted in the 90's sound as well feels a bit more timeless and albums like Dummy will always get an edge. Dated album loose their avant garde edge or the experimentation to it comes at a wash in time. That doesn't mean it's not great, but that means that the surprise factor isn't there when I can really put music firmly in a certain decade. Here that is my impression, it's good, I understand why we should listen to it, but it feels a bit too exemplary and not sparkly on it's own to truly be a standout.

Soothing no? Will always have time for William Orbit.

Experimental

A bunch of dull beeps and boops

The perfect soundtrack to a dark, gritty video game.

nah

It all sounds like a soundtrack to a movie everyone else but me saw. It's pretty good ambient music.

I hate it when an album like this comes up. Not enjoyable at all.

Trippy. Fun. Repetitive

Another instrumental album that I just couldn’t connect with

I'm not sure I really "get" this album, but it sounds pretty good.

some interesting beats here, and it's certainly well produced, but an hour of this very much overstays its welcome. i'm not particularly fond of this brand of music, but it's fine in normal quantities. had this had... two? three? more tracks left on the cutting room floor, this might've been up a star for me.

1. uuater - 1 2. paradize -1.5 3. time - 1.5 4. Flowers - 1.5 5. Night -1 6. Light - 1 7. Demento - 2 8. Hazy - 1.5 9. Friend -1 10. Monkey - 1.5 11. Machina -1.5 12. Babies -1

New age-y type album. Not really much to say. It's mood music. Good for studying or something where you aren't really listening to it. But it doesn't really excite or do anything amazing or even distinguish the songs from one another. Completely toothless. 2/5.

Major flaw of this album is that I can't find any movement in it. It just goes on and goes on. If I want' ambient background I could make much better choices and if I want upbeat electronic I still could find better options. I don't know what purpose this album would serve on my music likings.

This was interesting. Very smooth and nice at least as a background music for working. I'm not sure will I ever return to this album, but for now, it was entertaining.

This was an album I've not heard before, I've heard of William Orbit tho. After just few minutes of listening it reminded me of an old favourite of mine: Children Of The Bong's "Sirius Sounds". This was however, a lot more laid back and chill in comparison, not a bad thing per se, but does mean it requires a specific mood for me to listen to. Quite enjoyable!

Background music, felt like a film soundtrack

Kinda just felt like slightly better elevator music

Na mog I goar ned

Sehr späte 90er irgendwie

Couldn't really get into it - sounded decent but not my taste

Album 900 of 1089 William Orbit - Strange Cargo III (1993) Rating : 2.5 / 5 Today’s album was Strange Cargo III by William Orbit. More of the electronica I don’t usually care for, but I was pleasantly surprised again. It wasn’t too grating on the nerves and actually served as some decent background music while I worked. Not the kind of thing I’d ever sit down to focus on, but I could see a place for this sort of sound when you just need something to carry the mood along. Another case where this genre proved me wrong, at least a little.

Ambient, fattar inte poängen

electro, trip, love it

Early 90's electronica post club come down music. There's many, many, many albums similar to this it all just depends if you're coming down to this one or the others like it. Best Tracks: Water From a Vine Leaf; Time To Get Wize; The Story of Light

This album is boring as fuck, dude.

очень лифтовая музыка. почти неотличимо от амбианса по жизни. намеренно я такое слушать не буду (зачем мне белый шум)

Nej, gud vad tråkigt. Som nån skrev, låter bitvis som musiken i en 90-talsfilm när de hackar sig in i en databas. Låter som demo-musik mest.

Stabil chill out som är trevlig att lyssna på men som ändå har lite begränsad verkshöjd.

53/1089 going from the very atmospheric start immediately into the arpeggiated synth was so jarring. i see the vision but it could’ve been done better A Hazy Shade of Random has some specific euphoric elements that stood out to me The Monkey King was a definite highlight for me, it felt like it had found a perfect balance of styles, and stood out from the rest for it This was a really fun time capsule for the 90s-00s electronic vibey style, it would fit in perfectly as part of the Tomb Raider soundtrack or any number of things from that era 3 stars or 64/100 faves: The Monkey King, Deus Ex Machina, A Hazy Shade of Random

MID

this was so bloody shit, minus 10 stars

We've got several albums like this near each other and it's putting me into a weird headspace. I got lost listening to it and hit the general vibe you'd expect, but it doesn't especially move or grab me.

This listen made me realize that the SNES Donkey Kong Country soundtrack should be on this list.

What is this groovy tune I am listening to? Not normally my jam but feel like I'm in a bunch of Ratchet and Clank (2002).

Shitty soft core pen tracks.

De belles ambiances, de la belle musique tranquille. Mais, je la trouve un peu sans réelle personnalité.

Gonna give this the benefit of the doubt and assume it hasn't aged well. This shuffly, triphoppy style has been utterly subsumed by hotel lobbies and holding tones and feels very dated - which is not it's fault! But after two listens, I'm failing to see the edge which separates this from the decades of musak it no doubt inspired.

Mid 3

A pleasant listen - some nice moments - nothing particularly standout but equally nothing ugly. It's kinda my jam but not sure what its doing on this list.

Early 90s ambient was my jam. William Orbit never did it for me then nor now. Decent enough, but if you're dipping into the genre, there are better examples to choose.

Sums up the flaws of the 90s

Interesting but not enough to add the album to my library

Des de el principio no me ha acabado de gustar, simplemente no es mi estilo, pero tampoco esta mal. 1/10

solid intro but got boring afterwards

It's mid electronica. Even with over 1,000 albums, I don't think you get past Chemical Brothers, Moby, and Daft Punk.

Not my jam

Had some promise but it died quickly

Another electronica. Strange cargo, indeed.

The amount of albums in this style and genre being included in the list is staggering. And it seems that the more that are added, the more my ability to discern differences between them decreases. Who’s to say this bleep is better than that bloop, or this ambient chill is better than that soundscapey feel? This album continues to tick all those boxes. Background music that in the end is…well…fine.

Sure. More background music. It’s fine but my review is the same for all music in this genre. I just don’t see much separation and as long as it’s listenable and I don’t pay too much attention, it’s fine. But the difference of this album vs something else. 🤷‍♂️ 1.5 but rounding up because it was fiiiiine.

Totally fine background music. Didn't love it or hate it, it was just...there. 1.75/5

spacey but good vibes. excellent background work music.

Mid asf

I’d heard of William Orbit before because he wrote/produced a ton of hit songs. He did not write himself any hits. This was terrible. So boring. It was mostly instrumental. I was tuning it out because it was so quiet and boring.

Kind of okay dance music, but repetitive. And kinda creepy.

coooooooool

I loved this one!! Would be great study music

spacey bro - chill vibez - 2 or 3 stars. could jam

I surprisingly really liked this. It goes on for way to long, but other than that it it vibes really well.

Twas a fair vibe. Didnt keep all that strong a flow towards the latter half and kind of started to drag. Good music to sleep to but maybe I was just tired. Like a solid 5/10 since I had no strong objections but nothing really stood out to me. 25/08/25

Helt ok

Boring

This is ok in a background-y ambient soundscape. I’m never going to actively listen to it again, but I’d happily have it on whilst pottering around the house.

It’s so hard to listen to this album with unbiased ears when you’ve been learning how deep of a subconscious impact growing up with ps1/ps2 games impacted your music taste. I’ve been digging into all things downtempo, dub, psy & early acid techno for most of this year, so this album is right up my alley. At its best, this album illuminates how well some of its genres can oscillate from dense moments drama to minutes of total catharsis, all in the span of a song or two. At its cheesiest, this album is basically a soundtrack to a late 90’s Miami crime thriller (said lovingly). At its lowest, this album plays it very safe for far too long and doesn’t set out to achieve much for frames of 10+ minutes, in bunches. “Water From A Vine Leaf” is a pretty, ethereal opener with a fantastic arpeggiator, serene piano, and good vocal samples floating over a typical 90’s breakbeat. “Harry Flowers” slows things down and finds itself in downtempo/dub territory with that sub bass anchoring the track. I’d grown a little irritable about how the record was seeming to get more & more complacent until the beginning of “Gringatcho Demento”, which is a big turning point in the track list to me. Super intriguing intro on this one, with a bit more teeth to it. Finally something a little suspenseful. The following “A Hazy Shade Of Random” is unabashedly new age bliss with a bit of ambient-era-Eno for good measure. The last leg of the album delves into sounds that are harder and harder to grasp onto - not in a bad way, just that it all focuses more on ambient noises than grooves and melody. “The Monkey King” is a good example of these choices. Hard to give this one a fair score. Yesterday, I punched my ticket on the “you all don’t understand” train, where I really wasn’t happy with the albums general warm reception. Today, I complete the round trip on that train, coming back today to say that I think this album (and other albums like it) get knocked around too much for being a product of it’s time. Too dinky, too gimmicky, an album only good for background listening at its best. Maybe those things are true at points, but I’d like to say that on the whole Strange Cargo 3 achieves its escapist, ethereal ambitions. The lightest, admittedly slightly biased 4/5 stars from me.

Для мене така музика - виключно фоновий прикол. Не можу сказати, що взагалі без цікавих шматків. Той сами дабовий вплив тут відувається достатньо. Але скоріше не моє

Така електроніка мені загалом подобається. Ставлю 3.5

Mace dinner to it. Relaxing, inspiring.

Lame soundtrack music that shouldn't be on the list why the fuck is this on the list

kolejne podejscie do tego dziwnego instrumentalnego albumiku, kolejne bo slucham go chyba trzeci raz i za kazdym razem jakos inaczej wchodzi, a to nic innego jak ambientowa elektronika, w niektorych momentach brzmi nawet jak muzyka ktora by mogla byc grana w windach, wiec nie wiem czy juz to juz oswojenie z dzwiekiem, ale sluchalo sie tego przyjemnie, na niektorych trakach wystepuja wokale, ale sa one raczej dodatkiem do elektronicznego dzwieku niz centralna czescia kompozycji, najdziwniejsze ze gdybym mial strzelac rocznik tego albumu z pewnoscia stawialbym na wczesne lata 2000, a tutaj zaskoczenie o 10 lat do tylu, bo krazek z 93, III w tytule wskazuje na jakas trylogie albumikowa, ale poprzednich nie sprawdzalem, ale mysle ze kiedys sie to jeszcze uda, jesli wprowadzaja w podobny nastroj, czuc w tym koncept ktory widac juz na okladce czy tytule, bo emanuje on jakas dziwnoscia, ktora w polaczeniu z downbeatowym brzmienie moze miec jakies wartosci relaksacyjne, o ile sie trafi na dobry mood na takie rzeczy, dzisiaj trafilem, wiec az tak odmnienne uczucia niz po poprzednich odsluchach, wiec ocenke dam w polowei skali, bo z skrajnosci w skrajnosc pomiedzy obiema sesjami wpadam, albo zmiany w guscie muzycznym az tak sie u mnie nasilily, ze taki dysonsans pomiedzy obecnym, a przeszlym odczuciem bedzie az tak mocny, na plejke z ele pikami dodam monkey kinga oraz the story of light

Not my thing

Cool eletronic music! Good vibes. I like it.

this fucks severely

... ... okay, this is serviceable and somewhat interesting in the way it sounds like music from someone who, years later, would produce Madonna's esteemed Ray of Light, but did I need to hear that person's early noodlings? Absolutely not. Jfc, if this book's editors treated rock music like they do electronica, we'd only have Boston, Aerosmith, Europe and the one album by the author's cousin's thrash metal combo. It's 1993, Albumoftheyear.org has a list of the 28 (on their site) most reviewed Electronic Album Releases from that year: sorted by ratings, "Strange Cargo" is at the bottom, #25. Where it belongs. Some of those albums above it, much more interesting and of much greater cultural significance, not in this stupid ass book: Plasticman - Sheet One Autechre - Incunabula µ Ziq ‎– Tango N' Vectif Seefeel - Quique Jeff Mills - Waveform Transmission Vol. 1 Polygon Window - Surfing on Sine Waves Go listen to those.

A few moments I wasn't a fan of ( a moment in Into The Paradise, rap on Time To Get Wize, talking on Gringatcho Demento) but most of it was perfectly fine. Best as background music I'd say, though.

Enjoyable and interesting album

Electronica almost always starts at the two-star level for me. The needle didn't move on this one at all.

Strange Cargo III? No, strange cargo vroom vroom you idiot.

This came after a string of albums I was very familiar with, so it was a nice change to be introduced to something new that I really enjoyed. You know it has made an impression when you restart it right away and then stream other stuff from the artist.

Feels like hanging out in a spa with crystals everywhere. There's music going, but it;s just at the edge of hearing and flits into the background

I was bored by this but didn't hate the sounds

I found it almost eye opening, was a strange album to listen to but I enjoyed it.

AI generated or not? That seems the relevant question. Maybe will be remembered for being ahead of it's time it's not. Overall, just okay, though too floaty to fully engage.

3.5/5

Boring low effort back ground music.

Loved the first track. Actually like the whole album as background music, or just for generating a specific vibe. Kind of old school techno feel, even bordering video game music, but in a good way.

I really liked this one, I’ve had electronica albums in the past where I’ve enjoyed the start but they’ve worn out their welcome by the end but this kept my attention all the way through. I’m gonna keep it saved and listen to it some night I’m off work. I think I will get even more out of it in a more relaxed environment.

Not for me.

Not available on Apple Music. Starts off strong …5 tracks in still digging it. Not bad. First time listening (that I know of). 4 stars

When it resembled a song it's ok. However, most of it does not resemble a song.

очень даже неплохой альбом, приятный чилловый, время с ним прошло незаметно

I like the new age genre. This was a really good find for me, the second this week! But... again, it is a genre I personally like. It may not work for a large swath of people, too boring or slow or IDK? But for me it is about the mood and the peace and the whole emotional way it plays out. I am not sure this album is the best or the worst of William Orbit, but I intend to find out!

Lyssnade inte färdigt, inte min grej. 1

3 sterne

Auf jeden Fall zurecht auf der Liste! Gut zum Arbeiten zu hören

Wenn man das experimentelle wegdenkt, ist es mir zu poppig. Teilweise songwriting mit Chancen und für mich falscher instrumentierung

What an unexpected gem! I'm so sad it isn't on Apple Music, but I was happy to find it on Spotify. Reminded me of Enigma from the 80s, but with a slightly more Eastern twist. Looking forward to listening to the rest of William Orbit's work.

Ok

Can't believe I'd never heard it before but feels like it was likely in a bunch of 90s soundtracks. Would listen again.

Incredibly hypnotizing. I just like it. It just flows from one track to the other. Can’t pick a favorite

Not bad, but not my bag of tea.

Perfectly cromulent 90s chill.

Decent background music, but not the best music to full-fledged listen to, about as down the middle you can get.

I don’t hear anything on this album that makes it stand apart from many other electronic albums. It was hard to stay awake for the whole thing as it felt very repetitive both within itself and within the genre.

Water From A Vine Leaf is a brilliant song. Rest doesn’t live up to this, but good all the same 3/5

This is definitely going to be a new study album. Based on the cover it is also not even slightly what I was expecting. Each song is filled with so much character, I love it. Anyone who listens to this should take the time to just sit and listen, let yourself absorb into the music. Water From a Vine Leaf - fantastic introduction leading into what's an even better album. Sounds like a videogame soundtrack that's exploring a ruined and overgrown city that was super high tech. The narration only serves to further this idea/feeling. Into Paradise - One of the weaker songs of the album but still very experimental and enjoyable to listen to. The blend of very natural, human-made sounds with very electronic ones brings such a dichotomy to the music which is very interesting to listen to. The Story of Light - Sounds so cool, I love the whale-like sounds in it. Deus ex Machina - Oddly haunting.

Ambient electronic, not very interesting

I keep on picking up this album, dropping it, then trying to listen to it again. With electronic music I guess I'm more into the more busy and high energy kind of music, so this isn't something that keeps my attention

Strange Cargo III – William Orbit (1993) | Ambient / Downtempo / Electronic | Avg: 6.1 | Favorite Song: “Water from a Vine Leaf”* Alright, so Strange Cargo III is a bit of a tale of two halves for me. The opening stretch is honestly stunning—“Water from a Vine Leaf” in particular feels like Orbit at his most cinematic and emotionally dialed-in. There’s a real elegance in how he blends ambient textures with subtle rhythmic motion, and for the first five tracks or so, I was completely locked in. It’s immersive, melodic, and easy to get lost in without feeling shapeless. If the album had kept that trajectory, we’d be talking about something much closer to essential. But the drop-off in the second half is pretty stark. Once you hit the midsection, it starts leaning hard into pure ambience, and not in a way that feels compelling. The last third especially feels like it’s coasting—barely-there ideas stretched into full tracks that don’t hold up to the standard set earlier. I’m all for mood-building, but those final pieces feel more like placeholders than finished thoughts. So while Strange Cargo III opens strong and shows Orbit’s skill as a soundscaper, it definitely ends on a whimper rather than a high note.

Música ambient de calidad, en la tercera entrega de un Orbit que ya había saboreado las mieles del éxito con Ray of light (o 13).

Good background music (sorry to say)

3.6

OK. 2/5

Some of the songs were cool - made me feel like I was in a bourne movie or something. But holy cow I can't listen to that much instrumental/electronic music. Falling asleep so quitting on the album.

This was so calm. I needed it so much.

I loved this. I listened to it all day

Boring, too long, thinks it’s a lot cleverer than it really is

It definitely was strange but not in a good way. Some of the tracks might work as backing music for budget sci-fi films, but not just to listen to on its own. 

I wish this didn’t exist. I don’t understand the appeal at all

Kind of cool futuristic background music

1.5/5

Didn't bother me, didn't move me, didn't compel me. Clearly this project is the result of experimentation and dedication to this genre, but it just doesn't do it for me. Fell completely to the background no matter how I managed my attention.

Super-dated 90s electronica

Soundtrack to a 00's Heist Movie that finds itself on the Nostromo. Decent Background Music.

Pleasant background music, but all the tracks sound the same.

Pre-trance vibes. My mum would love this (probably did).

I know William Orbit only from his work with **Madonna** on _Ray of Light_ and even then, only through the singles. there were a couple of decent moments, usually when the bass was prominent and there was a bit more groove to the trakcs. But much like **Aphex Twin**, this largely passed me by and probably demands a more focussed listen than I was able to give it. As such, it was little more than background music and not engaging enough for me to return to.

Pointlessly long and boring electronic music, my favourite of course.

Not my thing

Very meh

Kind of a nice vibe but I started getting bored halfway through

1/2

interesting electronic grooves

I enjoyed this one, better than many other electronica albums I've heard. It's a mood setter.

Good mood setter, this may be a new go-to when I'm doing heads down work where I'd get distracted by music with words.

Moments that I really enjoyed, but not enough of them. I could see this influencing Faithless and others, but that doesn't mean I necessarily need to have it on. Track 4 sounds like I'm walking around a village in Dragon Warrior IV or something.

big ups to rng for giving me a nice softball on my first day. i've already been feeling the more ambient side of dance music recently, ambient techno and chillout and stuff; i've always had a huge soft spot for this sound. i'd sort of assumed this would be a bit more new age-y, maybe take a bit more world music influence, just given the confounding and Mildly Intimidating orientalism on proud display as the front cover, but no, much of it is pretty standard kinda downtempo dance music. very british. Very 90s. i was reminded of, like, Irresistible Force and even Underworld, of all things, a couple of times. every once in a while this thing will slip into a beat that sounds like a Massive Attack instrumental, or something. very british. VERY 90s. ol' mate willy's biggest claim to fame—at least if you're a know-nothing pop dufus, like me—is his production work on Madonna's ray of light. now the title track on that record is like the greatest song of all time, or something. so this guy's some kind of heroic genius, right? we can all agree on that? i was pretty hype, then, to hear his solo work, especially because you just get a feel from the cover that this record is going to be very. very Produced. and that feeling is correct; it's an extremely Produced record. you will, in fact, get to hear production, from the guy that co-produced ray of light. one might argue over-production. if you're a Philistine. a true cur. but i don't believe in such a thing. my brain are huge. and you're are small... okay, well it actually is a little overproduced. Sometimes. so, on my initial listen through, i was extremely on board through the first two tracks. the opener, water from a vine leaf, seems to have been flagged as the standout on the record. it's got the most spotify plays by far, and the terrifying userbase of rym reviewers seem to agree that it's the best. even people that don't like the album agree that it's good. it's followed by into the paradise, which is this real edgy beat that actually evoked nine inch nails in my head, but don't tell anyone i said that or i'll lose my cred and you'll all gut me like the pig i am. i've Seen it. very strong tracks, those two. and then time to get wize comes around and, woof. look, if you're interested in 90s electronica—or man, a Lot of 90s music in general—you've just got to build a pretty high tolerance for its particular brand of cheese and corn. i Have a really high tolerance, but the spoken word bit on this track is... So much. i just had to kind of scoff and roll my eyes. i tried not to. it felt mean. it's not even that bad, i guess it just hit me like a truck for whatever reason. wasn't ready. it's so corny dude. oh god. i found the next track kind of so-so as well; i was, like, fully slipping out of the album at this point, but it does actually pick back up. in fact i really like the rest of the album! i'm particularly fond of all the atmospheric bits leading up to and away from the actual beats, it's a strong structure that's on full display with best friend, paranoia, one of my favorites. it starts out with this excellent, purely ambient synthwork that i so selfishly wish could just go on forever, and slides into a really nice beat and a far more evocative use of vocals than get wize. the last three tracks are also among my favorites, definitely the ones least beholden to a traditional dance structure. the most ambient and experimental the record gets, for sure. deus ex machina is very appealing to my aesthetic sensibilities; i actually really love that track. and water babies sounds like a track off the spyro the dragon (1998 psx) ost. so that's cool... man, my comparisons are fucking wack. anyway, yea! pretty good stuff! you can probably tell just from the Cover whether this is your kind of thing or not. it's definitely mine. i imagine i'll spin this quite a few times, and a lot of the tracks are definitely great for playlists and mixes. i'll have to look into more of this guy's stuff. Pieces in a Modern Style seems pretty intriguing, and i definitely need to hear his pop production work i haven't gotten around to yet. that all saints record looks pretty cool!

Not actually horrible, but waaay toooo loooong.

The sort of music a neo noir stealth game would have. Not bad, but nothing great either.

I don't know, maybe some other day I'd give it something better, but it's just not terrible background music...

Liked it.

nonplussed

Several Electronica/Ambient albums in this list didn't match my taste. This one is much more to my liking. Nothing excellent or outstanding, but nice and comfortable.

Good sound just not great

4/5

Just background music.

It's pleasant, great for background music during work, and honestly, I'll probably listen to this again. But it doesn't really stand out, and the second half of the album just fades into obscurity.

As background work music goes, this is pretty top notch.

2/5

Cool beats bro

decent electronic album with some interesting sounds

Reminded me of a lot of OST stuff I like, but as an album itself it isn't particularly anything special. Considering Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works dropped a year before this I don't think theres even an argument to be made for it being groundbreaking.

In agreement that this would have made a lovely ost for a cute sci-fantasy adventure game - otherwise pretty forgettable imo. Water From a Vine Leaf (7/10) Into the Paradise (3/10) Time to Get Wize (5/10) Harry Flowers (5/10) A Touch of the Night (5/10) A Story of Light (4/10) Gringatcho Demento (6/10) A Hazy Shade of Random (7/10) Best Friend, Paranoia (4/10) The Monkey King (4/10) Deus Ex Machina (5/10) Water Babies (5/10) 5/10

I've always quite enjoyed this era of 90s dance when it went full "Whale-Kissing Moon-Maiden"

This feels very much of its time, and the beats had me in mind of Enigma or even Deep Forest. I was heavily into that sort of thing at the time so I enjoyed this album, although not quite to the same degree. Rating: A low 4

Links not good, I deduct a point for having to search. Strange Cargo II is actually better

Weird

Generic electronica. Contains only the thinnest of ideas, all needlessly stretched into 5-7 minute tracks. Best thing that can be said of it that the production is pristine.

This is really not a genre for me. It’s not bad, but I would never put this on

"Water from a vine leaf" is my favorite on this one since it opened the album in such a cool way and I just absolutely loved it. My second fav is "time to get wise". This whole album is so unique to listen to, it's right up my alley. I love more musically complex albums that lean away from lyrics and show off their musical talent. This might be one of my favorite albums that I've heard on here so far, just since I love the sound of the music and how unique this is.

Fun, but boring at times.

I like this one, cool vibe, sounds fantastic. Not a sing along album, of course, and for me music in this genre tends to kind of blend into the background, which makes this one pretty good if that's what I'm looking for.

way better than some of the electronica albums this list has had

I may have appreciated this more on a different day in a different headspace, but I largely just found this boring. It wasn't bad, but it didn't do anything for me today. 2.3

Ambient twidley stuff. Nothing wrong with it, but probably woulnt buy it. Reasonably pleasant got to be worth a 3

Pleasant enough but I was pottering about whilst listening, and found it impossible to know if a new track had started whenever I came back into the room. Nice for background stuff, but not worthy of playing again when I could give it my full attention

I love William Orbit. The ambient scene of the early 90's was one of the many genres i got into, Bassomatic were excellent and then i came across his solo stuff and I bought this album when it came out. It would be a 5 star all day long if the album finished half way through. 'Water From A Vine Leaf' is such a laid back beautiful tune, like all of the first half. If you weren't going 'heeeyyy nowuwowa' through the story of light then their is something wrong with you, or maybe something wrong with me depending on your perspective. Then the second half of the album begins with 'Gringatcho Demento' and the whole vibe changes, whether its supposed to as some sort of theme for the album, I don't know but it jarrs with me. It finishes with the dreamy 'Water Babies' reprise and the chilled mood is back. So when I stick this on at least once or twice a year, I tend to listen to the first half. So if I'm going to rate this as a whole, its got to be a 4 star due to the reasons stated.

Great album that encapsulates the vibe and feeling of electronic music in 1993. Sounds like a mix of '90s spy movie soundtrack with a Southeast Asian backdrop. Pretty cool.

Boring

Ambient with beats

Seriously? This is on the list? WTF! 1,001 albums that are pure garbage. The author of the book must be doing some kind of psychological experiment to see how much crap we will put up with.

I almost fell asleep

Seems the UK bias is on display again. If someone told me this was royalty-free music, I'd believe them. I enjoy electronic music, but apart from 1 or 2 tracks, this did nothing for me.

Yeah, no.

This is a more engaging record than most ambient ones we've had. The spoken word on "Time To Get Wize" was unexpected, and I liked it. Everything about this song is good. "The Story of Light" may be my favorite one yet. There are some vocals in the middle that sound a little like Grimes in "California". This album rocked. I haven't been too positive about our other ambient albums, but this one had something more to it. The songs were great to have on in the background, but also would catch your attention here and there. Very enjoyable sound almost the entire way through. I didn't track the individual songs too well, but I didn't have any I wanted to skip past. An hour is usually far too long of a run-time for me, but it's OK and maybe even desirable for an ambient album that I can leave on harmlessly to background whatever I'm up. 9/10

not into it sorry

It was fine but not particularly memorable

Bit boring isn't it

Listened to this album while working. I often struggle with that - but this album snuck into that space in my brain where I could listen along without losing my focus on my task. Already adding this to a playlist. Going with 3.5 on this ine

A little more up tempo in places than I expected, though this definitely leans more towards a specific brand of 90s chill electronica. Definitely a pleasant listen, even if I think this style of electronic music has aged pretty poorly compared to others. Side note: The Story of Light's piano melody had me double checking it wasn't sampling Step On by The Happy Mondays.

Weird

diferente, mas bom

Começou bem e na verdade até o final tem elementos interessantes, mas acho que o tamanho do disco na ajuda muito na sua consistência enquanto obra. Gostei sobretudo da surpresa de haverem ótimas linhas de guitarra em um disco tão calcado em estilos de eletrônica predominantes em sua época.

Not bad for what it is, but I generally don't want to listen to an electronic album

This goes right into the memory banks for "albums I can write to," which sounds like a niche use case, but I write like 2000-3000 words a day for work, and sometimes albums with more traditional instrumentation or lyrics I can understand and think about end up feeling distracting. This is really good stuff to thwart that. Great for my ADHD.

Электронная музыка, не очень зацепила

Trip hop is cool. This is not that.

Before Fatboy Slim, before The Chemical Brothers, there was William Orbit. 9/10

Y'know, I believe I might be thinking too hard about this album. I've made two attempts so far to try and find a frame through which to discuss this album. FIrst, I tried discussing how this kind of ambient techno is one of those genres I consider generally difficult to talk about, alongside jazz, rap and singer-songwriter folk. Then, I tried making a case where ambient electronica exists in a weird middle pocket between the two halves of its name, where it's hard for it to get any respect as a result. In both cases, I was only able to get so far in (maybe a paragraph or two) before I quickly lost confidence in the direction I was taking and ran out of words. Each time, it was all because of the nagging voice in the back of my head wondering, "Does an album like this really **need** this level of thought?" That might seem like an insulting question on the surface: implying the music on the album is very surface level and doesn't warrant taking the time to consider any deeper thoughts. Y'know, that it'd be a waste of time to try and think of it as any more than what's plainly there to see. "What you see is what you get and all." And, true, there are aspects of this you could probably consider, mostly in regards to where its worldly influences stem from. But, you also have to keep in mind: this is an ambient record. A **very** ambient record. Not to the point where it's music for airports, but I think on some level, it's expected that you're not supposed to think about it that hard. You're supposed to kind of just... Zone out to it. To let it score whatever thoughts happen to drift into your head as you're listening to it. To induce some kind of zen state. And I get why, to a lot of people, that would automatically ding this as a bad record. It's like, as much as jazz, rap and singer-songwriter folk can all be hard to talk about, at least there's complexities inherent in their genres that make them worth thinking and talking about. Meanwhile, I imagine to a lot of people an album like this would either not ambient enough for their tastes, or not electronica enough: it's not danceable enough to be electronica, and there might be too much going on for it to be pure ambient. It seems like a contradiction. But is it? I've seen people compare the music on this album to film scores — mostly in a negative way, to say it sounds like it should be underscoring a scene from a bad 90's techno thriller. But... I don't think thinking of it as a score is inherently the wrong way to go about it? 'Coz if you tell me that this sounds like a film score, then I'm interested in letting the music paint a picture of what this film could possibly look like. Or, y'know, there's video game soundtracks: music meant to accentuate what you're doing, and does have its own unique stuff going on within it, but never means to fully distract you. And that honestly seems about what this album is aiming for. I mean, what's wrong with music that's just meant to make the air around you a little less empty? And, just as well, wants to have a little more going on than just a few tape loops? I am absolutely not the kind of person who's gonna hate on an album for being wallpaper, so... I mean, maybe that's not a convincing argument. And maybe it's too ramble-y to be convincing anyway — I'unno. But it's like, taking a step back and looking at this album from afar, that's honestly what I see. If nothing else, it's music to make your life a little less quiet. And I dig it, honestly — I think it's a good sound, and it makes me curious to hear how this style was applied to pop music over on Madonna's RAY OF LIGHT album. It's chill, it's zen... I don't think I could ask any more of this thing. And certainly, it made the dusting I did while I was listening to it less boring. So, y'know what: it gets a pass from me. It's good. It's not absolutely astounding; I know several other records I'd probably reach for as sound filler before this one. But it'd be a very worthwhile pick if I **did** choose it. And that ain't cargo too strange, I don't think.

I may just be a sucker for the more ambient side of electronic music, but I dug this one a good amount. 4.5 bumped down to 4.

I’m… at a 5, I think? This is gonna be a weird one, because I’m still not ultimately sure. Let’s just say I had a unique experience with this album. Normally, I try to listen when my brain is fully attentive, fully awake, and not prone to any kind of “sleepiness” factor. So, for whatever reason, I decided to listen to this one slightly attentive, slightly awake, and decently prone to a “sleepiness” factor. The results are… kind of incredible, really. Years ago, I read that Salvador Dali would sometimes sleep with a key in his hand, his head laid back, and whenever he did fall asleep, he would drop the key onto a metal plate, making a sound loud enough to wake him up pretty much instantly, and spark his creativity with whatever image his brain had conjured up in those fleeting moments. I’ve always thought the story was fair, but a bit exaggerated; surely, you can’t have the brain produce that sort of thing in fleeting moments of lucid awareness, right? This album did that. It did that in a way that I’m not sure I fully comprehend, and I feel like I didn’t experience the album the “correct” way because of it. I’m also not sure that matters. I found myself closing my eyes to try and just feel the vibe of each track, for a lot of the early tracks. I do it decently often; there are portions of entire albums I’ve listened to with my eyes closed just to really enhance the emotions & the atmosphere. For this album, for whatever reason, instead of drifting into my focused zen state, I found myself melting into something decently close to sleep, especially starting around the end of Track 5 leading into Track 6, and from that point onward, I think I felt that sort of Dali effect click for me. This album’s sound design works in such a way where if you do try to find that zen state, and get sort of lost in it like I did, there’s always something around the corner to sort of shake you out of it, whether it’s sound effects, vocal moments, percussive drops, extra instrumentation coming in hot to change the vibe of the track, and more. Those moments were my equivalent to Dali dropping his key and “waking up”, and my brain was conjuring up weird, weird images of things that didn’t exist, yet felt like they could exist in reality. My brain is more attuned to these sorts of soundscapes as video game music, so naturally, I was thinking of stuff like indie puzzle games, weird horror stuff, vague RPG overtones – realistically, a lot of this is because I played part of Chapter 3 of Deltarune earlier today, so my subconscious was working overtime, I think. Beyond that though, there were pixel explosions of stars, sudden jumpscares, perspective shifts… lots of stuff that feels distantly lost, but stuff that I wouldn’t have really thought up without this album’s soundscape as the backdrop to inspire it. Of course, I never actually fell asleep. If I had fallen asleep, I wouldn’t have been writing notes about each track while listening, including bits & pieces of other stuff my brain came up with. Never revealing those, though. It’s the closest I’ve come to experiencing something like lucid dreaming, and while I’m not sure that’s the vibe this album was going for… it might be one hell of a tool for that sort of thing. So, yes, I suppose my recommendation for this album is to use it as a soundscape to dream to, once it gets into its more ambient stuff over the course of the last 36-ish minutes of the album. How about those first 27, though? I liked it; less easy to zone out to, but they’re all pretty good, especially with “Water From a Vine Leaf” as an opener. Genuinely, I need to relisten to this when I’m not on the verge of falling asleep – realistically, though, I could’ve stopped at any time on this initial half-asleep listen, because I was very actively aware of it. I chose to stay in it, because I was enjoying it, perhaps a bit too much. There is a non-zero chance this album was designed for this sort of thing, and if so… good on you, William Orbit. I’m gonna give this a 5, as crazy as it feels. I do think I would’ve given it at least a 4 regardless, just because it kept me oddly captivated in a way similar to “Playing With Fire”, but in a more potent & truly ambient way. All I know is, I really liked listening to this one, via whatever strange reasons emerged. P.S.: I promise I wasn’t on drugs. If anything, I think I probably just experienced what it’s like to be high for the first time, somehow via a potent tiredness, a strong imagination, & ambient music. Maybe that’s all it takes.

What the fuck? Why is this so good? BECAUSE IT IS. THAT'S WHY!!!

Electronica that could be the music bed for Moby or Ray of Light era Madonna. Some good art studio ambiance.

Slightly higher grade muzak

Smooth, good music.

I am such a sucker for this video game / DVD screen / on hold / ambient stuff.

Listened at work. Honestly pretty enjoyable. It's electronic so it all kinda blended together for me. But nice music to work to. Not as good as Air.

This was a nice surprise. Very chill with some interesting flourishes

Nice focus music. Love this style for working or studying. Quite enjoyed the composition.

Good ambient music. Wouldn't mind listening to it again. If I heard it again, would I know that I was listening to William Orbit? Not a chance.

Fairly tricky one, this. If someone were to describe this album to me, I would probably say it's something I'd quite enjoy. Weird, noodly noises, ambient, a little atmospheric, chilled out. It's all those things but it's also a bit boring. There's some good stuff every so often, but it's few and far between. The big problem that this album has is that it could have been halved. Seriously, all 12 tracks could have been cut to half the run time and get it down to a lovely album in a nice 35 minute package. But they go on FAR too long with not a lot of variance. Any cool beat is killed with repetition by the end of the song. I get the point of this type of music, but theres no pay off. The best tracks are the ones that are a little less dub/trip hop, and a little more ambient and pretty sounding. Opener 'Water From A Vine Leaf' is cool and almost psychedelic. 'Time To Get Wize' has a trance-like piano. 'Deus Ex Machina' is creepy. Closer 'Water Babies' is a really nice track that does bring your imagination to the miracle of birth and is probably the best of the bunch. It's bright, uplifting, euphoric, and a really lovely tune. This album is SO close to being good. It's difficult to write about because although I did enjoy it, I was also fairly bored. Potentially would click with more listens, or maybe listening to more of William Orbit's work wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.

There is nothing wrong with this, it's just background boring music. Pretty meh. I'm sure people like it, but man it's bland and doesn't even register. Really do not understand how this is essential.

Plus j'écoute de l'électro pré-Daft-Punk ou The Prodigy, plus je comprends pourquoi ces groupes ont marqué l'histoire : les trucs d'avant étaient giga nuls.

Not my thing. It wasn't terrible and it was certainly eclectic, but I couldn't get into it. Sorry, I tried.

Meh

Decent enough, though didn't really pull our focus at all and we probably won't listen again.

hummmm it's a long groove, and it is just SO BORING

Sort of "not quite out there" EDM. Not bad, but not good either.

This was difficult to finish as a casual listener. But, there were a few things I respect here and kind of have this nostalgia for, even though I was too young to register much in 1993: 1) playing around with trance music and sounds, though they don't seem super polished - but I think it was on its way there. 2) how this album is so 90s and so of its time. there's like this leather-jacket club (with no phones) sexiness and simplicity to it. just like kraftwerk's synths were just so cool back in the 70s, the industrial sounds in this album kind of harken to a nihilism about society and work in the 90s.

I don't know about this one

As electronics goes this is fine. Hard for me to see anything special in it. And voiceovers really detract. The most interesting stuff feels pretty unoriginal tbh. But I maintain that it’s broadly fine electronic music. 2.5 rounding down.

It does some cool stuff making electro and world mash-ups that I can recognize, but it is a slog of an album to get through it all.

this album makes me feel like the main character of the eponymous TV show Veronica Mars, who is Veronica Mars

More than just noise, but there isn't enough there for me to be interested in it any further.

Zzzzz😴 WTF is this? Mall or elevator music.

Mildly interesting elevator music. 2.4.

This was pretty boring. Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this list: 1/5

3.5

I really enjoyed this album. I am tempted to give it a 4, but I need more time with it.

Well that was an hour and three minutes I’ll never get back. This is why this list is a challenge. It exposes you to albums you wouldn’t be caught dead listening to. While I am no stranger to some well known electronica and ambient music, this album is nothing but boring to sit through. Some songs do make small impressions (the opener was promising) but today was not the day for this downtempo slug. Here’s to better music tomorrow. 2/10 (now a 3/10, but still 1/5 on this scale)

It was... different.

Bij het eerste nummer dacht ik: cool, klinkt best vet door mijn koptelefoon. Maar na vier nummers had ik het precies toch wel gehad. Zou wel echt sicke liftmuziek zijn. Ik zie opportuniteiten. 1.4

3.2 2x

okay it deleted my notes but the moral of the story is that it's boring as fuck

A bit long-winded but I didnt end up hating it. Very 90s.

Bland and boring tbh. Spa music maybe? I prefer something a bit more interesting like Leftfield or Massive Attack. 2.5

Somehow both boring and enjoyable. I guess sometimes, it's nice to be bored, right? Nice to just sit around, doing nothing and listening to...basically nothing?

OK I suppose, but not as easy to listen to as some of his other stuff

Wasn't sure what to expect based on some of the reviews I saw before listening. But so far one song in pretty solid. Upon further listening, I don't think I enjoyed the rest as much as that first track, but still overall a good listen.

This album may have been interesting at the time but it now songs dated

instrumental npc beats

Electronic shite

Solid background vibe, I would play this again if it was on Apple

I think this list is pretty clueless on electronic music. This is dreary.

I don’t love this album by any means, but I don’t mind the slightly chilled out nature of it. It allows some of the more melodic moments to shine through a bit. It’s still not ultimately my thing, but I’m not offended by it. 2.5/5

Had no clue what to expect coming in to this one but really dug it. Wild blends of percussion and electronic effects, and vocals used sparingly, but effectively. Wild and weird stuff. Listened to: at metrotech. Favorite tracks: Water From A Vine Leaf, Gringatcho Demento

90s muzak

Didn’t get into this at all. Bang average electronic twiddling.

First side is ok, b sucks. evening album, etherial digital club funk

Interesting (and early) electronica. Great for dancing, good for the gym. Not really sitting-around-listening-to kinda music. Three.

If any album summed up the late 80's/early 90s in the UK this would be it. Love the production on this, and while it is typical of the time, it somehow manages not to sound dated. A great follow-on from William Orbit's more commercial Bassomatic stuff. Definitely a 5 from me.

This is some 90s hookah lounge shit. Doesn’t stand up very well, but one good song.

Techno background music. Totally neutral on this one.