Reviews (page 6 of 8)
Nothing special about this to me. I did feel like I was in a 90s movie walking down the street to some songs.
This is the perfect album to play at about 3 in the morning after a few pints, and not at 10 in the evening after listening to Motörhead. But that's my fault. It dragged on a bit too long for me.
There are quite a few 90s UK electronica albums in this list, this one has been one the best so far.
Somewhat interresting, a bit long but generally enjoyable. Good enough to get (just) 4 stars.
2.0
Fedt også med noget anderledes
Enjoyable electronic music from 1993 which I can only imagine was totally mind blowing at the time it came out. In 2024, some of it is borderline unremarkable even if other tracks are solidly timeless so far as electronic music goes. Overall, I looped it a few times and enjoyed it on each listen even if I checked out of the occasional song.
A relatively different genre, love it. From people's comments I think this one has no lyrics. Electronica seems fun, plus Spotify takes the music as trip hop and down tempo, which are really good to me. Just yesterday I was listening to aphex twin's one album on repeat while reading a book, basically the album is book's soundtrack and this album makes me feel like it could be some book's soundtrack too, just it's short, but in this case that's good, I don't like spending 2 hours rating each song. First song, it was quiet and when I started writing the beat came in and it sounds so good on laptop, it'd be so much better in headphones. Ouuuu the beat came in, love iiit already. Oh nevermind, this is the most listened track on the album, it'll get worse, I thought otherwise. It's progressing in the electronic sense. Oh someone's talking, one guy said it's his girlfriend. Just put my headphones on and it's SO MUCH BETTER. Nah the sound is so playful to my ears. This song isn't annoying that it's long. One of the best things is, he changes the vibe quickly while maintaining a same aura, cool as fuck. It's fading away like expected. Second song, amazing guitar start I'm hooooked. There's no lyrics in Spotify, but he talked a little. AAAAAAH THE BEAAAAT I LOVE THIS MAN. It's so dancey and gothy. This is what I mean by good down tempo and trip hop. Feels like Portishead plus there's this woman vocalising. THE BASSSS MY GOD. I want this on speakers immediatelyyy, someone said, did he made this album for someone to flex their speakers and now I totally get it. I feel digitalised with these new sounds. He worked with Madonna on MDNA, love that album, NO WAY RAY OF LIGHT TOO? THAT ALBUM HAS THIS ONE'S VIBE LITERALLY, I love this man too much now. Katie Melua, he produced her album, she's Georgian and IM FUCKING GEORGIAN WTF. He is connected to me like that and I just found out, this is more than a 5 star album already, I'm spiritually connected. Shit I was distracted to listen to the song with full attention, but I loooved it. Third song, a little piano I see, with electronic beats in the background. Ohh his voice for the first time. This one's more chill. It's kinda jazzy. What's wize tho? He has a good voice, addicting. He's not singing tho, just talking kinda fast. Forgot to say I looove the album art, it's different and caught my attention the first time I saw it, it's too unforgettable yk. The piano is the best part. Smn said they play this kinda songs during heist stealing, but in a bad way, and I see it, though it doesn't make it bad for me. Wish songs transitioned tho. 4th song, it's eerie already. Ooooo the bass came in. Kinda basic, nevermind the violins and piano made it better. This one's more romantic than dancey and cunty as before. Oh vibe fully changed, feels like a movie scene, too lazy to come up with one. Aaand it started all again. This was quite short, and loved it less, but still good. 5th song, a much better start than the last song, feels like a medical series start, in a good way. It's giving nightclub in its way now. Woman is talking, seductively I think. There is men screaming for one second and then vocalising for a little time on repeat. There was no sonical plot twist, NEVERMIND IT SLOWLY GOT SLOW. It's giving loftr somehow. 6th song, ambient start. Alien sounds. Piano is playing with pauses. I'm gonna continue this tomorrow, because it's night now and I have to charge my headphones, tomorrow tho I can have it on full volume to fully experience the songs. I'm back. Started this one again, and amazing beat drop like ma god. The vocals are quite good too. It's so repetitive, but somehow in the best way possible. Beat was gone was for some time and now it's back in business. Same happened and only piano is playing with ambient sounds in the background. It's guitar now and it's getting kinda louder, but also fading away. Loved this one too. 7th song, loud and noisy start. Ambient sound is over surfacing the noise. Weird instrument is playing and there's no beat that backs it up. Russian guy talking I think. Beat came, but kinda blandly. Russian woman talking now. Melting my brain with those alien sounds wtff, in a good way tho. It's rocky now with that electric guitar. The beat opened after guitar finished and that was too satisfying. Spanish woman now slayy, she's the best part of the song tbh, cunty and girlboss vibes she brought with that lyrical delivery. The overall vibe changes a lot in one song and I love that, like now it's slow and some kind of a piano is playing. Drums? Ohhh it's tropical now, water sounds and all too. It was afro beat for a second there I think. Shit now it's rock again‽ It's getting progressive and now faded away. Too much for one song if you ask me. 8th song, slow start, but clear sounds. It's kinda sad. Oooh definitely sad with that piano. This man can do production too well I'm afraid. Ohh the beat is unexpectedly fast and dancey, but also alien-like. Now it's Arabic with a glimpse of jazzyness. Ambientness came back. This is a whole adventure goddamn. It's giving mission impossible now. Different type of piano is playing. I'm transcending, this needs lyrics immediately, but also they would ruin the general goodness of all of this. From sad to dancey again, basically same genre bending happened now too, I expect Arabic now. It's afro beat drums rn. It's rare when I fully explain what happens in the song, but this is too fun not to do it. 9th song, quite a short song for him tbh. It's ambient with some snapping once in a while. Makes me feel like I'm in water. Idk why but this sounds makes me feel like some sword is shinning. Ooo the beat and Camelot woman is talking. It's giving Patti Smith in those experimental poetry sessions, Medea is one of the songs if I remember correctly. Arabic woman vocalising, at least that's how I hear it. Rather short, if there were more talking of that women I'd like the song more. 10th song, ambient start as expected. It's giving underground. Some experimental sounds randomly appearing. Omg I zoned out and this villainy sound started playing and It snapped me back, it feels like a monkey king is the final boss. There are African men saying something in the background and then women also saying smth after it, but they all sound weird. There was no beat drop here, unless when I zoned out it happened then. 11th song, fully different start, no ambient sound just some instrument. There are water sounds in the background, that's the one I can name others are random and weird in a good way. French talking I think I hear of a woman. There was a familiar instrument dunno the name in English tho. Without the beat it's so Aphex Twin, plus it's eerie. Bitch what what is retchie doing here someone said and then there was some exploding sounds, loved that, wondering where is it from. There's a weird beat in my right ear, makes me think of a tongue. Giving Sophie now, almost like ship sounds and it suddenly stopped. This was the weirdest one by far I think. 12th song, veeery short. It got a happy sound, movie is finishing. Dunno how he chose the names for the songs tho. It has piano in it, that's the one I can name lol. There are different sounds all at once if you pay attention. This one was also not as good as it should have been, the dancey beat is missing and it's making the vibe go bad. Overall it was a good finish up of the album tho I must say. I already said this is more than just a 5 star album because of the artist. Not gonna repeat all that tho. Each song was a new adventure and I expected so much less at first, but I was already happy it was electronica, trip hop and down tempo, and I've just gotten into ambient sounds, this might be my next book's soundtrack. Need more albums like this, but I need a little break from just instrumental sounds and need more lyrics.
William Orbit's music is an interesting compilation of styles. He makes dance music with ambient backgrounds, pushing towards genres that he helped develop, like trip hop and progressive house. Strange Cargo III is his fourth solo album, and the third in a series that experimented with ambient influences. Volume III is his most polished, and most successful of these albums. Orbit made fun, influential dance tracks created from the fusion of styles that Orbit made popular. .
nice sound tracks
83/100
Nice downtempo/electronica album from the first half of the 1990s, though it's not as memorable overall than his later work in the decade. Background music, but a pleasant one.
This is okay as background noise for other activities, so I guess 2 stars or D- would be a suitable rating.
Ambient electronica. Not distinct at all, bland and uninteresting. I couldn't finish the entire thing. It seems more like a game soundtrack than essential listening. A whole lot of nothing.
Good ambience music, the kind of chill-out bar vibes. I guess it's not really designed to pay a huge amount of attention to it so I just kind of left it as background noise and thought about my own stuff - once I did that I actually enjoyed it.
It's okay, it's ambient techno babble, think massive Attack with no personality...
Honestly thought this was going to be more Brit bias trash, but it was a fun enough listen.
Not bad background music
Could not wait for this to end.
I need lyrics!!! This was okay but this sounded like a score.
This is making it into my rotation, 100%. LOVED it.
Chill but not memorable
Mid mid-90s ambient techno. Even did some programming to this, but was still just okay. 3/5
Whats with all these so-called "super producers" making bland as fuck albums? Eno does it too... I can kinda hear the sounds Madonna must have heard when she wanted Orbit to do Ray Of Light with her, but on its own it just sounds so.... I hate to say bland again, but definitely dated
Entrancing
Pretty cool. Would like to revisit whilst stoned in the car.
Liked it! Kind of nondescript to the extent that I didn't realize it was over when my app started playing some other mellow electronic instrumentals.
I didn’t know what this was and I still don’t know what it is but I liked it
This wasn't bad, but it wasn't very novel or interesting. I'm not really sure why it is on this list. I did like some of the sound textures that were created on this album, but it did seem to be longer than necessary.
(Voiceover) Imagine a world where time drifts slowly. A world where music carries you away. Experience Pure Moods, the perfect soundtrack for your way of life. Direct from Europe, this multi-platinum collection has won the hearts of millions. Set adrift with the timeless pleasures of Water From a Vine Leaf. Or take a trip into the unknown with Deus Ex Machina. No other collection gives you the feeling of Pure Moods. (Lyrics) Hey yaiiiiy hiiiiiiii ohhhhhAAIIIIII HWAIIIAAY YA
oh god Even though this is electronica from 1993 I'm going to be a good sport and give it 3 tracks to win me over. The first track is 7 minutes long so don't act like I'm not a hero. Okay, no this is not for me. Thank you.
The background music one hears in particularly musty shops and cafés.
Great textures, mystic atmospheres. I do not know if there are strange cargo I and strange cargo II, but strange cargo III is a nice album. Something to play on to smooth the room.
Liikaa hurinaa hiljaisuudessa, en saa tällaisesta mitään irti. Tuntuu turhalta mystiikalta ja sen fiilistelyltä, vaikka tää selkeesti koettaa pitää jalat maassa.
Ex-pilvenpolttajan koti-ilta.
That's definitely a William Orbit album eh. Quite enjoyed it to work to.
I know of William Orbit from his work with Peter Gabriel on the US album and his track on the Plus From US album. I really like his sonic landscape and his ability to create an atmosphere with mostly electronic instruments. I liked this album!
'Hazy shade of random' sums up this album well. I didn’t really enjoy it, fine as background music but not very engaging or exciting
My 1993-self might have liked this but my 2024-self thinks it's too AI-ELEVATOR MUZAK sounding, 2 stars
Really liked the first two songs even tho electronic music usually isn't my thing but it rather dropped off after that. It all started to run together and sound the same to me
Je hebt van die electronische albums die 30 jaar oud zijn maar klinken alsof ze vorige week zijn uitgebracht. Dit album is daar geen voorbeeld van. De eerste 40 minuten zijn electronische, ja wat voor stijl is het eigenlijk, muziek. Lekker aan de pillen in de RoXY, Joost van Bellen die dit integraal aanzet. De laatste ongeveer 20 minuten zijn meer ambient, zweven in de ruimte. Dat vind ik vaak toch wel lekker ook. De stijlswitch is wel vreemd, want daardoor voelt dit album nog langer aan. Een iets gedateerd album van een uur. Voor mij heeft het album te weinig inhoud om het een uur te laten voortslepen. Aan de andere kant is het wel zo dat het me niet echt irriteert. Ik denk dat een 3 een fair cijfer is.
After the first couple of songs it reminded me of opening music from ER and then all I could think is 90's sitcom opening credits or 90-00's movie background music (Gone in 60 Seconds). Which at first made me think meh...but writing those few cords that stick with you and make a moment in a movie more memorable are amazing. So I will give it a 3 because there is something there but I think I have heard enough of it.
It's good electronic dance music. Pretty cool but not really my thing. Cool background music at a party.
I really dig the vibe of this. It’s ambient but funky. Great chill music. It’s something I would’ve listened to in college for sure. I’m surprised I didn’t know of this group then.
peaceful and dark at the same time. Nice
Another alright but uninspiring electronic album. Nice enough to listen to but not worth revisiting
What's this? An obscure 90s english electronica album that I actually liked? What universe is this? So yeah, I actually kind of enjoyed this one. I really thought that this would be another Haunted Dancehall situation. Fortunately, this was way better. This might actually be one of the best (mostly) instrumental albums I've gotten so far. It's not quite as good as something like Endtroducing, but it's sure as hell better than something like both of the Fatboy Slim albums I've gotten or the aforementioned Haunted Dancehall. I listened to this album while building a Lego set, so maybe the usage as background music made me enjoy it more than I would if I just listened to it on its own. The sound is just really engaging. That's what my praise really boils down to. I have problems, sure. Despite my focus on other things at the time, I can kind of tell that the album gets a bit worse as it nears its end. I liked the first few songs a lot more than the last few songs. The vocals don't really do it for me either. They're fine, but not that important to the overall package. I feel like this music would work really well in something like a video game documentary. Like if you've ever seen a Summoning Salt video, that's what I'm imagining. Overall, while this doesn't really need to be on the list, I feel like this album is somewhat of a hidden gem. It's a shame it's not available on Apple Music. It's almost a 4, but I don't know if I feel comfortable rating this on the same level as albums like The Downward Spiral or even the Marshall Mathers LP. High 3/5.
Nice background music but that’s about it for me.
It’s pretty chill electronic music. Not mindblowing; not awful either.
Did my best, ended up listening to Foo Fighters instead
Solid three stars. It's best consumed as an ambient album rather than giving it your full attention, allowing the sounds to drip into your ear rather like...water on a vine leaf.
Not bad but boring
This is straight up 90s vibes in a beautiful nutshell.
This sum FitnessGram PACER test type music. It was nice enough to listen to while I worked. That said, if I listened to this while I was driving, I’d fall asleep at the wheel.
One of the more unique ambient albums I’ve heard
Ambient throwaway garbage.
Ganz nett, aber nichts weltbewegendes.
So here we are, more '90s electronica, and you can almost hear the sigh. Orbit has some interesting moments, but the whole package feels a little too... meh to make any lasting impact. It’s just kinda there, drifting in the background with no real sense of urgency or excitement. A couple of decent tracks manage to stand out, but even those don’t spark any major revelations. Highlights? Sure, “Water from a Vine Leaf” gives us a pseudo-Brian Eno vibe that’s borderline funky—7 minutes of passive ambient grooving. Then there's “Harry Flowers,” where a mellow piano and synth play over a laid-back breakbeat, but even this feels like it's trying to be more profound than it really is. The rest? Whatever.
I just learned electronica sparks anxiety for me. Even when it’s mellow like this. Thought it would be a good album to listen to while doing some worK. Didn’t work out that way.
This project has conditioned me to expect the worst when I see an unfamiliar electronic album from the 80s or 90s. Not as terrible as some others, but definitely won't relisten.
Relaxing ambient music.
I must admit I thought this was Orbital at first. Same but different. Anyway, I totally got into this album, right up my alley. Faves: Water From A Vine Leaf, Into The Paradise, A Touch Of The Night
I do rather like downtempo electronica with a sprinkling of world music, and this is a competent (and pretty early!) example of the genre, but it's never really been one of my faves and I've never had that close of a relationship with it, so it's not gonna manage 5 stars. Now if we were talking about Banco de Gaia's "Igizeh", that'd be a different matter! Fave track - "The Story of Light" stood out to me, predominantly because of the non-English vocals. They seemed very familiar to me, and I was wondering if they'd been sampled in other songs, but after some googling I think it might be because that track was used in Chris Morris's surreal dark comedy series "Jam" 😆
Would be a great soundtrack to a 90’s movie or video game. Not transformative or super impressive but definitely leagues above other electronica on this list.
Was fun at first, but it really turned into a slog to get through in the middle section. Somewhat nice industrial and ominous tones throughout, but nothing that really justifies its length. Does have enough nice moments and a good enough album cover to save it from 1 star.
Groovy EDM! Favorite track: Into the paradise Other picks: water from a vine leaf, gringatcho demento, the story of light
Very relaxing. Some bleeps and bloops. Kind of faded into the background.
Favourites: water from a vine leaf, harry flowers, water babies. I thought I would like it more since the beginning was pretty good but it fell off. A bit too long and boring. 2/5
Can't really say I liked this that much. I always try to come back to this generator and catch up and I catch up on a few and then I'm hit with another instrumental heavy slightly odd or repetitive album over a minute long and then I listen to it halfway but don't love it and then I quit again. There were a few tracks that were decent but most of it was kind of abstract to me. Favourites were Water From A Vine Leaf, Harry Flowers (sounds like something that would play in the background of one of those narrator-less travel destination montages), and A Hazy Shade Of Random. Did I really have to hear this before I die? Don't know about that, but I know this is getting the first 2 in a while.
Ambient music, it’s a nice background listen for sure. Not super into it, but it’s a nice listen is all.
you know chill electronic music ain't it when it doesn't even hit when baked
Aight
This was some cool chill music. Great to listen to late at night as a wind down. First half was pretty strong. Second half faded a bit. Will recommend to those who dig chill electronica with the occasional pulsating beat.
This album starts out heavier to the trip hop side of things and it's pretty good. After about 4 songs, it strays heavier into the ambient/trance styles and kinda goes downhill for me... I'm not on enough Ecstasy to enjoy random noises. Favourite songs: Time to Get Wize, Into the Paradise, Water From a Vine Leaf Least favourite songs: "Best Friend, Paranoia" 2/5
I definitely heard this in the clubs during the 90s. Another album that I maybe don't have the context for why it is on the list, but it seems fine.
Very fun. I've never heard of this guy and each track is unique. I liked this album.
This was entirely fine, with moments of really good. On balance, it’s fine.
Most of this album sounds like the soundtrack for a 90s JRPG with a beat underneath. Nothing wrong with it, but not very interesting unless i'm min/maxing my emo loner teen protagonist at the same time.
Well, that wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t great. It was certainly music. That is all.
Rätt bra faktiskt!!
Coolt album men lite för mycket knas ibland Bästa låt: Water from a vine leaf
Electronic, world, house, ambient, trance, hip hop, dub. Bien.
Favorite Tracks: Water From A Vine Leaf Time To Get Wize
What is it with this list and endless terrible British electronica musicians. There are maybe 3 good British electro musicaians. The rest is utterly disappointing. I have no idea how it happened to be on this list. 1.5/5.
I wasn't really impressed by this - maybe I would have preferred more actual tunes.
The album has been in my collection for a long time. I haven't listened to it for a while. So it was good to find it again. I like William Orbit. I like his sound. Unfortunately, I'm a little disappointed with this album. He's done better work. 3/5
Для 1993 очень круто, где-то между 3 и 4 оценка, но скорее 4. Сделано интересно
приятная этно электроника (честно, не знаю как это назвать кроме как сборника невышедших фильмов) Очень разнообразно и интересно Алкоальбом: лонг айленд но очень ебанутый
Interesting sounds. I was able to focus on my work. No stand out songs though.
Really ethereal and mesmerising music
A weird little mix tape - reminds me literally of that, a mix tape from the 90s played out of the tape deck in Dads car. Very of the time. I could see it being a sci-fi film soundtrack. Lacks a really hook to have repeat listening.
It was definitely strange, but I didn't hate it.
Decent chill electronic
I will only ever willingly listen to this album once-unce-unce-unce.
Way too much dance, electronica, remix, etc on here.
Solid album
Off the self generic electronic music. Nothing too offensive but nothing that interesting either.
There are far better records of electronic ambient music than this. But this was fine to read a book to as it provided no distraction.
Started out as background noise and somehow got more boring from there.
Weird choice. Generic electronic music. Never reached for a skip button, but will never put it on again.
weird but groovy.
Very laid back electronica. Probably won't listen again as I don't find music like this enjoyable to just sit and listen as background music. Not because it's bad, but because I find it not engaging in the slightest. 3/5.
2.5 stars. This was decent electronic, ambient trance music. Nice to have on in the background while I'm working/focusing but not very memorable.
Meh
Liked this one more than I thought I would. I’ve been going through Blurs stuff nonstop so cool to see that he produced for them. Rating: 3.8
I woke up way too early and I’m away from my Soundsystem on vacation so I put this album on. I put it on low so it’s not to disturb the other guest. I found it to be very soothing and I fell right back asleep!
A cool chilled out electronic/ambient house album that was a nice ease into the day. There were some interesting textural layers to the sound that in headphones sounded pretty amazing. Best: Water From A Vine Leaf Worst: Water Babies
I didn’t get it. Boring and I I don’t see why it’s on the list.
Jesus Christ… that’s a Wish Jason Borne soundtrack. Still better than Nick Cave and Tom Waits.
This feels like background music for a '90s heist movie montage where the tech guy is sneaking into the mainframe to hack all the cameras as a setup to the final heist at the end of the movie.
This guy jams. No wonder Madonna and so many other artists tapped him. A real musician and a lot of groove. Some tracks get pretty esoteric; however, this is not out of his nature…his love of interpreting classics and more traditional music into an electronic realm. He certainly follows in the footsteps of electronic innovators like Wendy Carlos, Edgar Froese, Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian Eno, etc.
Electronic, world, house, ambient, trance, hip hop, dub. Bien.
Absolutely average album, good for a sleepy day, when you just need one more push to take a nap. Honestly, I have nothing to say about the record, it changed exactly nothing in my life, except for the perception of time.
Ambient electronic music just isn't it. Play the drums for real, at least. This does not age well. I love this list for the music it introduces but I hate it all the same for the time it wastes on shit like this.
La prima , la seconda e la quinta abbastanza insignificanti. La terza ,la quarta e la sesta sono già più carine
Perhaps quite something when released, but feels a bit flat listening to it now.
Most of the time I listened to this I felt like I should be hacking into the server of a bank or following an enemy spy or some other action/adventure montage. The rest of the time I was bored. I literally fell asleep sitting at a red light listening to this. Twice. I see no reason for this album to be required listening for anyone outside people making spy movies. It wasn’t entirely bad, just unnecessary.
I dig ambient music but this aint for me
A strange trip into ambient that mixes a variety of genres to soothe the soul
That record should have been included in any well considered time capsule from the 90s.
A bit low energy but I guess that's just how he does it.
some cool vibes!
Cool beans
Chill sämre boards of canada
Very moody almost brooding music. Driving and yet mellow. I like it for the most part but it gets a little long-winded about 1/2 way through. 3 stars
Some light block rockin' beats....listenable, but nothing I added to my 'Liked' playlist.
Solid instrumental grooves for 90s electronica, like being in a club in Matrix or Blade worlds
While this is cool, I much prefer the songs that do not have words.
Forgettable background muzak
Reading the reviews, I was expecting worth. Quite possible just not Topp, 1001.
How much synth can I possible listen to in a single list. I didn't even know there were these many electronic albums around.
I give this one a thumbs-up. I have to be in the right mood for something like this— late night, headphones, etc.
Not really any standout songs on this album for me.
2 albums in a row now that I had to go into the weeds to find & listen. Never heard of Orbit. Now I have…beep beep boop bleep. Catchy stuff.
This was kinda cool. Tempos were all similar which at first I thought was annoying but grew on me over time
Ok as a background to work on. Has not aged as well as some of the other records of this period. Electronic music really ages fast!
William Orbit is possibly best known for his contributions to Madonna's album Ray of Light, which is perhaps one of her best. Here, we get a taste for his solo downtempo material as listeners are immersed in his ambient dub-infused vibe. It's pretty straightforward and nothing stood out too much, but it was still enjoyable all the way through.
Not a bad album. Could have used a little bit of judicious editing. Most songs are too long, and the album overall goes on for too long. Hazards of the CD age I guess. Still the actual songs are decent, have actual melodies rather than just random electronic bleeps like some of the electronica here.
Fine in the background when I was working but wouldn’t listen again.
A good listen but has some dull moments
Really enjoyed this, probably about 20 minutes to long though
Nee, wirklich nicht....
Strange Cargo III I liked this, although I think there are possibly better versions of this type of album. The echoey drums and synth squelches and noises do sound very 90s. And you can see what he bought to the Ray of Light album, although less so of what he bought to 13. I liked the first track, had a nice sense of propulsion and I liked the piano holding the hook. Didn’t realise it was Beth Orton, didn’t sound like her. It made me want to listen to Trailer Park and Central Reservation again, as those are fantastic. Listening to it, I did wonder if he’s a better producer and arranger for other peoples songs rather than his own? Nothing stood out massively and there was a similarity in sounds and noises across each track. I can imagine putting this in to work to, but not really listening to it it properly. Not bad, but also not in the top tier of layered electronic instrumental music. Might try some of his other albums but more likely to forget to. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Venn diagram of spa and club, of downtempo and AI-generated. “Water from a Vine Leaf” (early Beth Orton!) and “The Story of Light” are cool and vibe-y. Much of the rest feels forgettable, even if it’s better than Strange Cargo II. That it sounds less dated than much other electronica/EDM/chill strikes one as pretty faint praise. As with much electronica, there’s a sense of randomness and limited connectivity or consistency across cuts – a “Hazy Shade of Random” indeed, to put it in the terms of a great song title here. Because one can gain no purchase on the structure or essence, one can only say the whole thing’s just okay. Maybe will be remembered for being ahead of it's time it's not.
By the time I got halfway through, I thought I was still on track 1. Techno ambience but in a desperately dull way.
I suppose I had some preconceived notions about this, but they were quickly dismantled. A pleasant mix of beats and more ambient textures. Like a dancey Eno, but doesn't go full Moby. Yeah, fun.
I liked the first half quite a lot. That had some good chill beats but they stayed interesting. The 2nd half seemed to get slower and weirder as it went on.
Ambient enough to use as background noise but interesting enough to pay attention to as a stand alone experience. Great working/study music
Interesting, but not something I would choose for myself.
Idk, like ok and? I am transported to a dentists office This feels like the soundtrack for the menu section of a DVD. One you’d wake up to blaring on repeat for the movie you’d fallen asleep to. That and/or bad hold music. No offense but why the fuck is this on here. The story of light was ok, I don’t mind water babies either. But the name makes me think this is what they want you to put on during a home water birth Did this dude wake up and think “how many I paint Hindu music white and tweak if for Berlin basements”
I have a separate collection of albums I've saved from this list just to get high to. This album is 100% making that list. At its best, this album can put out some incredible soundscapes with really rich instrumentation and is surprisingly funky. At its worst sounds more like his definition of ambient music is literally just soft noises to fill space. The change in effort from song to song is confusing to me. Still, I would say that the good outweighs the bad on this one.
I new of William Orbit as a producer for other artists' records, but I'd not listened to any of his own albums before. On my first play, I thought this was nice enough, but not particularly outstanding.
Muy buen disco. Una de las pocas músicas ambientales que escucharía genuinamente.
Very good. I spent too much time trying to figure out what's written on the cover. I think it says "ចៅខេមរភាសា", but "grandson, khmer language" sounds stupid and I can't find what other meaning ចៅ could have here. If it's just random words then I'm VERY trolled, pretend I rated it 1 star. The album worked great as background music to this process, it's very light. At times when my mind switched to listening to it, I was pleased with what I heard
it was alright, kinda liked it
Interesting electronic vibes to start the album off. Early 90s chill house-y type, and some of the electronic instrumentation sounds a little dated by now, but I'm enjoying it. The album actually finished before I realised it had started. Not bad, but not great either. Probably sounds better when you're smashed on MCAT or something.
Very heavy trance stuff. I like the rhythm lines most of all. Gets heavy into meditation-esque music at the end, causing me to lose focus pretty heavily. Still not into the 90s electronic music rapping, which gracefully only appears on one track. Favorite track: "The Monkey King"
Very hackers soundtrack esque, good listening
Ethereal background music. Listened while working and loved it.
Weird, not bad 3.5 stars
Vegan cafe muzak.
Very nearly a 5 for me. Maybe it will be soon, but after two listens the second half really does lose me a bit. I'd actually listened to William Orbit nearly ten years ago, saved a bunch of tracks to Spotify and then forgot all about it, really enjoyed coming back to it.
Toimii.. Ymmärrä välillä liekö äänet ääniä.. objekteja vai tunteita.. Järjetöntä.. Enemmän kuitenkin musiikin nauttimisalbumi.. kaiken tämän voin uskoa.. kaiken tämän voin nauttia.. ulkopuolelle ei jää saavuttamatonta ilmaisua jonka takia pitäisi kuunnella uudestaan..
This was not for me. I listened to at least part of each song but ended up skipping through quite a bit.
Was intrigued to listen to this because I recognized the artist as a big remix producer in the 90’s especially for Madonna’s Ray of Light album. I still have a couple of CD remix singles from that album, mostly because they don’t sell for diddly on Amazon or Discogs. Anyway, decent here and there, but nothing I ever need to hear again.
Too much of an ok thing
Classic 90’s dance/techno/electronics sound. At first I could picture 90’s Duran Duran playing over the music. The songs here don’t seem to separate themselves from the next one. The usual “dead air” occurs between the songs so you know a new song has come on but the tempo doesn’t change. This album could be used as music for when you are on the phone and are on hold.
2.5
This wasn't terrible, but I really wanted it to end. Every song felt the same as the last and makes me wonder why these artists get added to this list in the first place.
Unique and trippy listen. 4.5!
Thoroughly enjoyable and different. 3*
Not as good as leftfield but ok.
Expected to hate this one, but I didn't, quite chill.
Enjoyed it. Not as much as the other one but still found it nice to listen to. Some good tunes.
Good beats and fine electronica, but this is nothing more than forgettable, background music.
Ugh, the only thing worse than electronica is faux new age electronica. There were some cool guitar riffs in the first couple songs, and then I resigned myself to suffering through it as background music. But even that didn't lead to an enjoyable experience, because there was always some random sound or an odd voice to pull my focus back to it and interrupt what I was doing. Is the "Deux Ex Machina" track an actual excerpt from a video game vignette? Like, what on Earth am I listening to? No thank you. Do not want. 1 star
Bisschen zu abgespaced
Loved it
Not the worst electronics album I've listened to since starting this. But yeah, I'm getting pretty tired of all of the electronica albums on this list. It is one genre that really hasn't aged well. I get that some people like it, love it even... But it's really not for me. I almost want to rate this 1 star just because how fed up I am with all the electronica, but again, this is far from the worst one on the list so far. It at least did some things different. But still not good in my opinion.
Interesting background music but not what I was looking for.
2.9 -
Tempo driven, ambient, chillaxing
I like that as a side tone ...
This was an odd combo of electronic and jazz and I’m not quite sure what it’s supposed to be. It was okay, upbeat and funky but it didn’t offer much more than that. Seemed like it was trying to make jazz cool with modern sounds mixed in but all in all it was pretty meh. 4.7/10
Wow. All i could think about is how this would sound at Despacio tent
A lot better than I had expected it to be. Well worth another look
Excellent! Inspiring. Really loved this.
Decent chilled album
Not in Apple Music. Only listened to first song. Not my cup of tea.
a VERY interesting ambient electronic album with lots of the worldly influences with SUPER deep grooves. this is an album you listen to in the shower at 3am. this is an album that would serve as the soundtrack for a really unheard of exploration action game with tank controls for the ps1.
3.5
I have not listened to much electronica music but this was pretty good. I could listen to more. I give this 3.5 stars.
Love the variety of instrumentals
Takie se plumkanie. Nic szczególnego, ale nie przeszkadza. 2/5
Favorites: Water from a Vine Leaf, A Touch of the Night, Gringatcho Demento. Excellent mostly non-vocal trance.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with 3 or 4 stars for this one. Its a good background album for writing and reading, which are always great, but some of it was a bit boring. The first track was great though!
Not my style of music
I was glad I listened. I didn’t love all of it but it felt good to try new things. I had never heard of this band or album prior. It felt like each cut would open and draw me in but then I’d get lost in widening electronica.
This is what the future felt like in the 1990s. There would be two jobs: hacking and making techno to play at the permanent rave happening in the basement of an abandoned factory. This album serves both ends, mostly chill ambient stuff to put in your ears and hack into the mainframe with the odd harder edge dance track for the rave. It's decent at the latter and good at the former in a boring but pretty way. So it'll get put on a work playlist and listened to much more often than stuff I like more but is too engaging.
Mellow and easy-listening, but just not my cup of tea. I wouldn’t turn it off if it was playing, but I wouldn’t intentionally return. 2.5/5 ⭐️
Very lovely. Very soothing.
Some absolutely gorgeous synth sounds here. Very vibey.
Decent background music while getting work done.
Ok
Music I usually do not listen to, but goes well as background music when working. Will not be looking for more music from William Orbit, though.
4/10
When it’s good it’s ok, when it’s not it’s meh.
I continue to be surprised I like 80s/90s eurotrash electronics
Great album. Never heard him before but a good option for work music
Ambient. Good production. Love the use of classical instruments. Could have better use of song structure to add tension and release.
Interesting album!
Incredibly dull really
It was an interesting album, but not my favorite.
at first I wasn't into it but by Deus Ex Machina I was down.
Ok so having not listened to the Strange Cargo series for about 20 years I had no memory of it being a series For this exercise I listened to all them back to back and found volume 3 to captivate me the least. Still amazing but more like waking up from a post comedown sleep than the feeling of chemicals seeping away at 5am in a chillout room. Seriously worth exploring the three together as they are groundbreaking electronica
Best Song: Water From A Vine Leaf. a long and interesting song that goes many different directions, but all of them listenable. Worst Song: Deus Ex Machina. What the hell was this, a radio play? Overall: Pleasantly surprised, but not overwhelmed. Good background music that'll make you bob your head, but interspersed with too much non-musical junk so that you never sink fully into the chill vibe.
1993 Genre: Electronic, world, house, ambient, trance, hip hop, dub Don't know him, don't know any of the music. I've always liked electronic music. Most Well Known song: Water from a Vine Leaf (according to Google searches) 5:5: (None) 4/5: Water From a Vine Leaf, Into the Paradise, Best Friend Paranoia Not something I would have ever heard if it wasn't on the list. I can get into it. Definitely. Rating: 3.75
I wonder if Strange Cargo, will also be in must hear albums. So far its the most interesting one that I've heard and it's only been 1 min. So I finished the album, it was very soft and nice, I'd love to hear it with some weed. Oscar might like it, but his kind of music its more mind raping, that or the shromms had me to paranoic. 4/5
6 / 10 New Age - Electrónico. Tipo Mike Oldfield. Mucha instrumentación y pocas voces.
Very solid working music. Love that this kind of album made the cut- it sounds like the soundtrack to one of the 90s computer games that I would play in the background back in high school when doing homework (thank you Age of Empires II soundtrack for getting me through many difficult assignments).
Nice ambient music - but that's all. Great if you're stoned, otherwise, meh.
very trippi work/ background music. cool
Robot sounds and noises that you might hear during a spooky movie scene in like a forest (63 minutes). Favorite song: Water From A Vine Leaf 2/2/24
good background electronic music. like today's version of lo-fi hip hop stations on streaming
Nostalgic techno I have never heard before
Pretty good
Not my thing, but I didn’t hate it.
Did not like this.
It was very 90s. One of the tracks sounded exactly like the ‘welcome to windows 98’ song. It was pretty uneventful overall and I can’t really see why it’s on the list, maybe one of the authors used to smoke weed whilst listening to it at uni. Having said that the track water babies made me feel something, it was like well crafted hold music.
Cool music, found the voices/lyrics annoying since I didn't understand the language
Not a fan of this ambient kind of music. I suppose this having a classic 90s electronica flair helps it a little but meh. Also... how many of these are we going to have on this list? Like there is only so much pioneering you can do. In my opinion it would be much better to have actual dance music that was legitimately fun to listen to and less of this stuff that could be instead played at a clothing department store. 4/10.
Fine. Good study music. Nothing too special.
Less than essential. Probably was quite an early exponent of this rambling, expansive new ambient thing. I see this is a year before FSOLs Lifeforms came out. Not earth shattering but quietly influential and a stepping stone towards his later success as a producer.
I bumped my watch and my phone started playing this album without me realizing it. I thought it was someone’s ringtone going off….thats about all you need to know.
Some pretty solid ambient music. I'll have to add this to my favorites for work/focus music.
Solid electronica. Nothing too unique or revolutionary but enjoyable as background music.
Went into this blind and had no idea what to expect from the album cover. I loved when the drums came in on the first track. This record has a lot of ingredients of music that I like and particularly music that I have listening to lately. Electronic sounds with repetitive drum loops, synths, and some organic sounds scattered through. Unfortunately all of these combined don't necessarily make a good dish, you still need to prepare everything correctly. It just ended up being a little bit too straightforward for me.
I listened to the album, "The xx", by xx. I didn't like any of the songs, nor the voices of the singers.
01) Water from a Vine Leaf - 8,5 02) Into the Paradise - 8,5 03) Time to get Wize - 8,5 04) Harry Flowers - 8,0 05) A Touch of the Night - 8,5 06) The Story of Light - 8,5 07) Gringatcho Demento - 7,5 08) A Hazy Shade of Random - 8,0 09) Best Friend, Paranoia - 7,5 10) The Monkey King - 7,0 11) Deus Ex Machina - 7,0 12) Water Babies - 7,5 TOTAL: 7,92 (79/100) My first knowledge of William Orbit is that he produced Madonna's "Ray Of Light", I didn't know he released five albums before that. This is actually very cool listening. It reminds me of Moby's "Play", but it was released before that so... maybe "Play" was influenced by Orbit. Oh, and I always thought that William Orbit is a part of "Orbital". Seems I was wrong :-) One can learn a lot while listening to 1001 albums.
could i write poetry to this? n
Influential, but not essential. I would have preferred something by The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, The Orb, or even Moby.
Better than I thought it was going to be, but really only works as background music for me.
Not my jam.
ah, det er sgu for kedeligt i længden. endnu et "hvad laver den på listen"-album til bunken
Aldrig hørt om det her før (William Orbit er mest kendt for at producere Madonna plader, right?). Synes egentlig det var fed nok, men det måtte gerne have været enten mere club-agtigt eller mere rent ambient. For lang
Synes at den her plade lyder som et soundtrack til mange film i 90erne.
I just really never want to have to think about this album ever again. 2/5
the album could work better without the last two or three songs, but otherwise amazing trance
What is this? It reminds me of Ross playing random noises on the keyboard in Friends.
E kje så glad i sånn musikk
Another teaser album. Moments when my ears perked up and my booty got a little sway to it but nothing set it off. One sone almost made it yet, nope.
I’ve come to enjoy road trips more since undertaking this project because it gives me an excuse to deliberately listen to these albums without interruption. Unfortunately today’s road trip involved the entire family…who did not enjoy this record. I, however, firmly liked it as I have with any of the electronica that has appeared on this list. William Orbit is a top-tier name in electronic music and this album is a clear example of why.
Disappointing.
Not completely awful, I usually am the biggest hater of electronica music, but this I kind of enjoyed. It had many bits and pieces I liked, and was overall a surprisingly somewhat-pleasant listen.
Not nearly as bad as I expected, but this could have been made by anyone with some music software.
Nice throwback psych-electronica album. Like Orbital meets an Ayahuasca Shaman.
Blippy, trippy, innovative and stylistically diverse, easy on the ears. Fave Songs: Into the Paradise; Water from a Vine Leaf; A Hazy Shade of Random; Harry Flowers; Best Friend, Paranoia
Ambient atmospheric kinda forgot it was on. Blended into the background. Better than Mody though.
C- Water from a Vine Leaf 3 Into the Paradise 2 Time to get Wize 3 Harry Flowers 2 A Touch of the Night 2 The Story of Light 3 Gringatcho Demento 2 A Hazy Shade of Random 2 Best Friend, Paranoia 2 The Monkey King 1 Deus Ex Machina 1 Water Babies 1 When someone asks, "What would an album of random noise in a barren warehouse sound like?" you don't have to answer.
Listened Before? N After peeping some of the absolutely scathing reviews of this one here, I have to say - I disagree that it's trash. Despite it's lack of meaningful vocals and the length of the tracks, I really enjoyed it. Sure, it's just mood music, but it's pretty damn good mood music. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Water From A Vine Leaf
Wij horen dit misschien zelf niet, maar eigenlijk is dit een gigantisch tijdgebonden jaren negentig-plaat volgens mij. Die electronische ritmetjes, die quasi-religieuze interessantdoenerij, dat geluidje dat klinkt alsof er ergens verderop in de fabriekshal twee tegels vrij hardhandig op elkaar worden gestapeld. En voor de verandering een fietsbel en een piepje van de hartbewaking. Maar al met al luistert het wel aardig weg.
Klaar met luisteren en al bijna de drie sterren aangetikt. Maar werd mij net op tijd bewust dat de laatste twee nummers iets te sterk mijn oordeel bepaalde. We kunnen wel zonder dat onderwatergeluid. Die nummers lijken sterk op wat gepingel wat Moby soms deed. En nu ik toch die associatie heb. Die man had ook de andere nummers voor zijn rekening kunnen nemen. Zeker het eerste (en beste) nummer. Een harde 4 wordt het ook weer niet. Maar het verschil tussen een zachte en harde 4, zie je toch niet terug in de statistieken.
Rie-lekst! Na een paar wazige gitaarplaten weer eens een stukje elektronisch uit de 90s. Het is triphoppy en lounge-achtig voor mijn ongeoefende dance oor, het heeft zelfs vibes van Massive Attack (zoals nr 3 Time to get Wize, met Divine Bashim als een soort Tricky). Ik zou dit niet de hele dag willen draaien, maar elke keer als er een plaat als deze voorbij komt, luister ik het uur met ongelooflijk veel plezier. Lekker rustig en relaxed, uitstekende muziek om in de ochtend te draaien. Op het eind wordt het wel wat teveel ambient Brian Eno muziek voor op een vliegveld. Dat kost de plaat toch weer een puntje. Het begint dus 4+, vervolgens kabbelt het wat voort naar een 4- om daarna te verzanden in een 3-. Gemiddeld een 3,5.
Just wasn't my type of album
I secretly love synth music. I definitely prefer the more purely ambient stuff in this album, rather than the ones that include lyrics/talking, but nearly all of the songs made it on to my ambient-working-music playlist. A few drifted a little too far into discordance and eeriness for my taste, but on the whole, enjoyable. 3.5, let's say.
I would categorize this as ambient electronic music, you can't really dance to it. It's sit back and chill music, zone out, ignore everything else music. You could put it on in the background and go about your day. It doesn't stand out, it's just there. I didn't feel it was particularly groundbreaking, or revolutionary, just a continuation of ambient music made by previous artists like Brian Eno.
So very 90's
Lovely background electronica
nice sounds, doesn't really do anything or go anywhere.
You could say it orbits around what would be a good album, never quite being in range.
Water From A Vine Leaf - 8/10 Into The Paradise - 8/10 Time To Get Wize - 7.5/10 Harry Flowers - 7.5/10 A Touch Of The Night - 7.5/10 The Story Of Light - 8.5/10 Gringatcho Demento - 7.5/10 A Hazy Shade Of Random - 7.5/10 Best Friend, Paranoia - 7/10 The Monkey King - 7/10 Deus Ex Machina - 7.5/10 Water Babies - 7/10 TOTAL - 90.5/120
Atmospheric. Could see it influencing a lot of electronic and even house music. It grew on me, I liked it more than I thought I would!
Very laid back but lots of depth
I was enjoying it at the beginning, but then I ended up getting bored with it.
First 3/4 of this album is pretty sweet. Lots of nontraditional sound coming together into a satisfying groove. Sadly the last quarter resides in a melancholic purgatory that fails to arouse any of the excitement established in earlier tracks. Possible 5/5 without the last 4 songs
This is actually really nice. I like it a lot more than I thought I would. For me, this is about a 3.5.
It was okay
Bit boring
Actually didn’t hate it. Would probably put this on again. 3 stars.
Until now, the only William Orbit stuff I was familiar with was Ray of Light, Pieces in a Modern Style and some Blur remixes. As the album started the sounds took me back to the early 90s and I loved. You can tell that Orbit is a 'proper' musician and I like how his compositions on this album unfold. As it went on it became more ambient and my attention began to wander.
Ambient-with-a-beat electronica. It didn't draw me in and grab me, but it was enjoyable. Great music to work to.
I can’t see myself liking an ambiance album
heist and chill
Fine for background listening, but there's much more interesting Triphop out there
really enjoyed the whole album
I made it to the fifth track, and it is boring. I'm out.
Surprisingly good ambient.
Hmmm of its time. Not for me ta
It's pretty great. I liked Water from a Vine Leaf, Time to Get Wise, The Story of Light, and many others.
I like it alot
I played it.
Music for bougie day spas
More electronic stuff. Not too interested in this genre, but this album was acceptable as background noise while working. Meh.
It's all very nice but I doubt I'll listen to it again I find this genre a bit meaningless
A hazy shade of random is a good way to describe the entire album. Yoga background music. 🧘🧘
Instrumental electronic album, the kind I call video game music. Not bad, not great either. Stand-out: Water Babies
Soft 3
Kind of interesting. I liked it more than I usually like this kind of thing.
This wasn't bad, though it often kind of just faded into the background of whatever I was doing. Nothing wrong with that, just not enough to keep me actively engaged when listening.
Just ok. It's over-long and sorta boring for me. This style died out in the 90s for good reason, imo (or maybe it didn't, and I just don't know much about this style). Anyways, 2/5