Music From The Penguin Cafe

It's not interessant for me, I didn't know this orchestra.

Love the album cover and the title plus the name of the band is sick, the album itself is pretty weird to say the least. Also felt repetitive at times. Quirky, but not interesting enough.

More of a soundscape, pretty experimental stuff - didn't really land for me

Their later stuff is more interesting. 5 star if you're the music supervisor for an early 2000's indie coming of age comedy. 2 star for everyone else.

This was a bit boring and twiddly… not my idea of good experimental!

Not as many whacky curios as the 1981 self-titled album, and noticeably more controlled than that one, which sawed and whirred and plonked and buzzed with an organic unpredictability. Pleasant but not thrilling.

Penguin Café Orchestra is another art project. It’s weird and textured. But surprisingly enjoyable and playful at times. I wasn’t expecting to be pulled into the flow of it as much nor annoyed at the interruption of sudden stark sounds (which was the point, I believe, on “The Sound of Someone…”). In the age of Spotify sleep or concentration playlists, this album would feel defiant. In amongst every day, it felt like I took my coffee break at a museum’s cafe. Not revolutionary but something to talk about when I get back to work

Odd, weird.

2/5 not at all...

Won't be rushing back

Please, please save me from SHACK.

Very light music. It may have been innovative when it came out but I have to admit it left me a bit cold.

so I found most of the album kinda pleasant, but it failed to really provoke any kind of emotional response from me, just kinda fell flat, album art is cool however, so bonus point for that

I have no idea what this is going to be but title and album art alone have me very excited to find out. A big let down based on naming convention to start. it's not bad, it's just kind of nothing, pleasant background at best. Track 4 had some very Chris Remo vibes running through it and made me want to listen to the Gone Home and Firewatch soundtracks instead. Nothing after there was really different. It tread a strange line between mostly being nice enough ambience before some violin kicked in and drew away from that. Very unsure why this has made it onto the list at all, even in albums so far I haven't liked personally I've been able to see why people might rate them highly, this I can't imagine anyone saying 'You MUST listen to this album', or even a single song off of it

the cover goes crazy but the music doesnt

Wat was dit nu ineens? Ik heb er niet erg lang naar kunnen luisteren.

Chilled hippy melodic stuff. Bit boring, not my bag. 2/5

meh

Avant Garde. Unusual mix of classical and modern instruments. Some pleasant gentle music and some discordant. Very interesting artwork.

What the hell was that? The 70s must have been fun. The hilarious conversations I've had about this album will not permit me to give it 1-star, so I'll give it 2.

Not sure why this album is on the list. It was better than others but not inspiring in any way.

Not for me...

weird

Brian eno’s shit music strikes again

Intressant och rätt fint album. Men inte riktigt min grej och kommer nog inte lyssna igen. 2,5/5

Too avant garde for my liking. Sound is all over the place.

The sound of someone you love I would add to a chill list. the rest is meh

provavelmente mais interessante quando saiu do que hoje em dia. sinto-me insuficientemente cultivado para apreciar seja la o que for que se passa aqui. se tivesse de descrever em 7 palavras era literalmente musica de ir ao cu a passarinhos.

joo men fan lyssna så lite,

Ganske kjedelig egentlig. Er bokstavelig talt restaurant musikk. Ikke helt flat nok til å være heismusikk, men ikke noe man headbanger til. Ville spurt om skip hvis vi spilte sammen og sanger fra dette albumet kom på.

Background sound.

Some of the tracks feel a little bit charming, but also completely baffling at the same time. So respect, definitely not my cup of tea but I can imagine this album being important to a lot of esoteric artists. 2.5/5

I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. It's a bit of a curio. A cool artefact of its time, but not necessarily something I'll come back to. I appreciate the intent to bridge folk, classical, and rock ideas, but I can't say that it spoke to me in a significant way after a few listens. Favourite track: From the Colonies Rating: 2.5/5

I enjoyed the first track and the dream one, but the Milk thing alone required one star to be subtracted. It was an eclectic mix of fun and strange.

This album made me uncomfortable. Very confident I will never listen to this one again.

It was OK. Certainly not the worst album we've been given, but not exactly special, either. The musicianship is certainly good, but the experimental nature was really self-indulgent and makes repeat listening unlikely.

It got better at the end. Not something I'll revisit. Experimental music to be appreciated as such- not as something you actually listen to

like it's all just instrumental but it's cool. not my cup of tea but i liked "the sound of someone you love who's going away but it doesn't matter"

“Whacky” orchestra tunes

avant-pop

It got better as I got used to it but I'll leave it for the biiiiiiirds

Under "meh" in the dictionary is a picture of this album

Too artsy for me

Hmmmmmm vähintäänkin outo levy...

Sounds surprisingly modern, but the older-style stuff isn't my jam.

There is certainly something to be said for the way that the strings, in particular, are recorded. From the first track the slight scratch which is nearly inevitable in a performance is evident. But despite Eno's producing efforts, neither the experimentation nor the songs reach the heights of his other work. There is much better chamber music out there, and some of it is even well-recorded. And there is also much better experimentation with chamber instruments, better arrangements, less repetition and repetition and repetition of chords.

Sounds a bit like a film score. Probably good for background music

jazzy...

Als der britische Komponist Simon Jeffes 1976 sein Debüt veröffentlichte, gab es die Band im eigentlichen Sinn noch gar nicht – eher zwei lose Besetzungen, das "Penguin Café Quartet" und das Ensemble "Zopf", irgendwo zwischen Kammermusik, Avantgarde und britischem Folk. Ein festes Studio lässt sich für die Aufnahmen zwischen 1974 und 1976 nicht nachweisen; im Booklet heißt es lediglich, man habe "on location" aufgenommen. Produziert haben Jeffes und Steve Nye, mit Brian Eno als Executive Producer – erschienen ist das Album auf dessen Label Obscure, jenem kurzlebigen Imprint, über das Eno Ende der Siebziger Musik abseits des Mainstreams unterbrachte. In "Penguin Cafe Single" oder "Giles Farnaby's Dream" höre ich eine Naivität, die nie ins Kindische kippt, sondern eher wie eine Weigerung wirkt, sich auf einen Stil festzulegen. Emily Youngs Gesang in "Coronation" hat etwas leicht Schräges, fast Nico-haftes. "Pigtail" dagegen wirkt mit seinem gezupften Rhythmus fast folkloristisch. Auf der zweiten Seite, etwa bei "The Sound Of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter", schlägt die Platte einen kühleren Ton an – ein Bruch, der das Album auseinanderzieht, aber auch zeigt, wie wenig Jeffes an Werktreue im klassischen Sinn interessiert war. Mich packt an dieser Platte genau diese Unentschlossenheit zwischen Klamauk und Ernst. Es klingt, als hätte hier niemand ein Genre bedienen wollen, sondern einfach aufgenommen, was gerade greifbar war. Kammermusik, Folk oder etwas dazwischen – eine eindeutige Schublade findet sich bis heute nicht.

Yeah this just sounds like a failed art project by a musical arts student. Not my thing. 1/5

Bloop meep blorp morp fart. Annoying.

Some people must like this? But then some people like masochism.

The actual fuck is this shite?? I’d rather have actual penguins peck fish out of my ears than sit through this again. It did make me wonder though does penguin taste like chicken??

You do wonder how some of these have got in.

What?

That's gonna be a no from me, dawg! Another album of just noises that I did not enjoy. I am currently reading Mr. Poppers Penguins so that is a nice little coincidence.

One of the things that I enjoy most about the 1001 is being introduced to music of different styles. This album makes me appreciate so many other artists, like yet another Elvis Castello album or maybe Nick Seed & the Bad Caves (read previous reviews). This album is the soundtrack for every liminal space …ever. Maybe I’m not smart enough to get it. Maybe my Irish-German-American upbringing made me cynical and emotionless but the only feeling I got from this was anxiety, acid reflux and an eye twitch. I found myself in a fetal position, stemming, fingers in ears and screaming to control the environment until someone turned it off. …but I appreciate so much more stuff now.

One of the most boring albums I’ve ever listened to

Best 1001 albums, hmm there has to be better albums

Not for me, 2 stars

Absoluter Mist!

Twee type of pseudo jazz orchestral album

I don’t even understand how this was ever recorded and then someone went back and “remastered” it?! Why? This is pointless music. Bored after 2 songs

0.7/5 Orchestral classical type of music just isn't my thing. Sure I could put this on in the background and it would be good background music but that's about it.

Intrigued by the artist name and album title. Sadly that was the high point for me.

The music from the end of Napoleon Dynamite, appropriately kooky for the film...asinine for this list. 50 minutes of light-hearted instrumentals better suited to being the score to a coming-of-age movie than a stand alone album. This was the working music for Dan in Real Life. They were on Brian Eno's label and opened for Kraftwerk...that's all I need to know. This is better than anything either of those bands ever did. Spacehog basically reworked Telephone and Rubber Band with In the Meantime. I like that better because the ringtone is annoying after a minute. Daniel Johnston loved this band. The cutesiness gets old after a while. This is too long for this kind of album. The cover of Walk Don't Run adds to the overwhelming whimsy. This is the musical equivalent to Wes Anderson.

bit ambient, bit odd, bit dull

Not my thing. At all. I gave it 7 tracks. So weird. And I prefer lyrics.

Weird, but not really in an enjoyable way. Though I did like the 7th track

Brauche ich nicht

Naja ganz nett aber iwie auch nichts besonderes und zwischendrin auf einmal bisschen weird

Can you imagine being born into an absurd world, with the capacity to do and create and be anything, and deciding you want to spend the relatively small amount of time you’re randomly allotted in this existence making music like this?

Better off watching Batman instead

I love penguins. They are funny little fellas. I feel like their lack of fingers means they can't play music that well. If I was ranking this against other penguin albums this would probably be higher. But life isn't fair, penguins. Blame the system.

trippy nånting?

Chamber folk and minimalist instrumental music built from acoustic strings, piano, harmonium, and delicate ensemble playing feels like spending an afternoon in a waiting room where the same pleasant conversation loops endlessly in the background—gentle, tasteful, and ultimately too subdued to sustain interest. The album favors nuance over momentum at every turn, but its relentless restraint often drains the music of urgency and excitement. What some might hear as charming, whimsical, and quietly transporting I only register as monotonous.

Not my thing

awful

Sounds like a 6th form music project. The new gold standard for 1*

Not for me

I can’t finish this I hate it

1.45

Disguised Brian Eno.

It’s good to experiment. Sometimes it helps us find what we don’t want.

The 2nd half is better than the 1st but that’s a low bar…… it’s still pish. 1.3

Not my bag. At all.

Odd.

So many 5’s! So many freaky humans! I hope they don’t breed.

The album starts quite interesting ("Penguin Cafe Single") and got pieces I enjoyed. Annoying pieces ("Milk", "Pigtail") cost it the two stars for me. 1,5

It was alirght

Sem graça

No

01) Penguin Cafe Single - 5,5 02) From the Colonies - 5,5 03) In a Sydney Motel - 5,0 04) Surface Tension (Where the Trees Meet the Sky) - 5,0 05) Milk - 4,5 06) Coronation - 4,0 07) Giles Farnaby's Dream - 4,5 08) Pigtail - 4,5 09) The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter - 3,0 10) Hugebaby - 4,5 11) Chartered Flight - 4,0 TOTAL: 4,55 (46/100) Current ranking: 799/830

Nope. This is exactly why we can't have penguins in bands.

Horrid, not listenable

Lets get weird

Funky but not my style

Bizarre

just no

def one of the more wierd albums ive been recommended on this app. Gile's Farnaby Dream was better than these other songs tho

Yea, not what I was expecting this morning

Seems like this album is trying to do a lot of innovation over classical melodies. Not something I will listen to again.

why ? It's awful

No idea why someone thought I need to listen to this mess.

Nah

I might have been able to listen to the music, but then droning singer who is no Peter Murphy started.

What the hell is even that

Uggh. Just, no.

Not really getting the idea that I "need" to hear this. Suivant/next!

The fuck is this lol

I don't know if I'm too smart or too dumb to enjoy this music. If you know the answer, please keep it to yourself.

Baffling that this is included on the 1000 albums list. Mostly just unmemorable instrumental muzak, though it has a very irritating middle section before the genuinely good Sound of Someone…

fucking brian eno mann. aso s isch cool ich ha gern rhodes. so d single. und d melodie isch super. aber mues alles wo de siech alangt uf die liste? from the colonies würkli?? aso de isch no cool gsi. uh sie singed! milk isch da woni mer erwartet han. sie brummled chli giles farnabys dream no cool???

Yawn. And sigh

The fuck?

Van een aantal nummers zoals Milk en Pigtail krijg ik echt de kriebels, een paar leuke instrumentale nummers maar over het algemeen vond ik het maar matig.

Not a massive fan of instrumental albums but there were some sweet melodies in this one Highlights: - Giles Farnaby’s Dream - Charted Flight - From The Colonies

Bad, just bad!

Best thing about this album was the cover art. Had a very hard time getting through it, had to skip some parts and got actively annoyed. Felt more like doing a bit than experimental at times

Jede Katzte wimmert musikalischer.

Shite

didn’t like it that much, so psychedelic for my taste

No no no

What the actual fuck.

this is sick

I sensed it early on in track 1, the stench of Eno. Track 2 confirmed it. I didn't get any further. There are very brief periods of real music, but the rest of the time it was horrific, like my ears were being raped!

What a snooze-fest. Boring.

Not for me 1/5

It was ok background music, but I didn't find anything that stuck out. Not really an album I'd go back to or recommend to anyone after hearing it.

Meh. Not my thing too soothing and relaxing. Not bad but not my type of music

I didn't like this album because there are barely words and I think it is very boring and all the songs sound the same to me I do not recommend this song because it is boring

Maybe if you have a master's in music or something, this is great to listen too. But since I'm a basic bitch when it comes to music, this was a good to get through.

God awful.

I don't mind the instrumental track here and there, but a whole album of it is going to be a bit much. Even if it were really good, I don't think I could rate a mostly instrumental album more than a 4, and this one isn't even that good. It's dull and weird. Just like ambient sounds with a little strangeness thrown in. A couple tracks have some good parts, but then go back to the weirdness. Best song: From The Colonies

Not an album I’ll ever go back to. I have some “challenging” music in my collection, but this was too much for me.

For a chunk of this album I was waiting for a delayed bus, and it made me feel like I was in the sad bit of a Richard Curtis movie. Fuck this album.

This was a tough listen, basically just music you'd expect to play in snippets in a lift. Either koffis finger slipped and he added this by accident, or koffi isn't anything to do with this and it's really the penguin cafe orchestra behind it all. I'm not sure which one of those 2 I'm least happy with.

I’d heard the first track previously and enjoyed it this time. The rest of it wasn’t my cup of tea. It went off piste far too often for it to be an enjoyable listen. Struggling to think of a situation where you’d want to listen to it.

Kun tämä alkoi, ajattelin: kuulostaa ihan "kivalta". Ja tällä tavalla piru houkuttelee syntisiä. Onneksi vajosin omiin ajatuksiini ja ihan vain unohdin houkutuksen - lukuun ottamatta paria hienoista mielenkiinnon/ärtymyksen hetkeä.

A friend who'd already had this on their list told me to listen to it again to give it a proper appraisal. So I did. And now that's 90 minutes of my life I'm not getting back.

# 348 : Boring as f@ck. When your only claim to fame is you are on this list, it is no surprise I haven't heard of these guys before.

Describing this as “music” feels generous. Imagine an entire album composed by a couple of penguins hitting random keys and you’re 90% there. Repetitive and directionless, listener satisfaction fell from 30% to 10% over the album’s duration.

Weird classical-ish album. I didn't get it.

This was a weird one. I don't know if I would ever listen to this again. Sorry guys but 1 star.

I'm guessing that the Penguin Cafe is not very busy? What a load of musical nonsense!

45mins of my life I won't get back

Interesting - but not my thing

I wanted to get past the weird before forming an opinion. But damn, it is weird. Not enjoying it at all, even in a curious way.

An album of all time

70’s

Boring. I gave up listening after 4 tracks. 1/5

is this some kind of high-art shit about subverting the expectations of a listener? i dont know if i just didnt get it, but it felt really boring and repetitive there are a definitely more significant albums than this NNN

not for me - 1.5

I would have preferred listing to an actual orchestra. I liked the last minute of "Zopf: Giles Farnaby's Dream". That's about it.

WUT

A bit dull

Stones. Beatles. Zeppelin. Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Not necessarily in that order

The 70's were wild, man.

I don't understand how some of these albums make it into the top 1001.

Interesting music, but just feels like ambiance. Not really for me

Dan laten ze iets op de toetsen vallen, dan vinden ze de meest neurotische manier om een ukelele te introduceren en dan laten ze horen dat je met snaarinstrumenten ook kan krassen. Alles ter onderscheid. Alsof Brian Eno zich ermee bemoeid heeft...O, wacht....

With a name like Penguin Cafe Orchestra and song titles like Hugebaby, I thought this would be some weird avant garde stuff. It wasn't. It was just boring. Unfortunately, there was really nothing here for me to enjoy.

Did I really have to listen to that before I die? It couldn’t have waited till after? Boring pretentious shite.

Strange, Brian Eno production, why is it on this list?

I hate this.

Weird and Strange, rather than good music

Background music at best. Heard it for the first time today but will not live long in the memory.

felt like a soundtrack to a period piece movie but there is no movie so I’m left confused

koja bomba od albuma zopf: milk il kak vec se zove pjesma - jako uznemirujuce

the fuck is this shit?

Just a bunch of dudes dicking around on instruments with no clear direction

I'm going to have to get back with the Pumpkins and knock some of these others out while out work. I did listen to this entire album. Just because I committed to giving every album a listen from beginning to end and I have to admit, I am blown away at what people put out there and make lists, like this one. I'm not sure what I just listened to today. I'll make it a point to go back and read some reviews. I'm sure there a few people who probably think this is great music. I guess more power to them. Love what you love, I suppose. I know I'm rambling here so I'll get to the point. Did not like. Won't revisit. But Power to Music! 1 Because I cannot give a zero

Everything about this could be a Wes Anderson movie soundtrack. It's quirky and fanciful and sometimes a little shocking. I was originally going to compare it to like, Blue's Clues' music but that felt harsh. Idk too much for elevator music but not enough to keep my attention. Sick Scooby Doo reference, Luke. 1

1.5 “Ok gang, let’s see who’s really under this penguin mask” *gasps* “Brian Eno???” “Grrr, and I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids” Look, I’m not going to deny Eno is a talented musician and producer - he was a major contributor to Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy after all - but man I don’t get this ambient stuff. I guess this was slightly less repetitive than his Airport album, but overall I still didn’t find it that enjoyable. It has moments where it feels like it’s about to hit a point of cozy background music, only to then be interrupted by some weird tangent or piercing violin. At one point I had to check Spotify to see how far I had made it and was pretty relieved to see I was eight songs in, only to then learn the last three songs are actually the longest and take up over half of the album’s runtime. I was pretty checked out from there. It’s a shame, because I feel like there are some decent moments as far as ambient music goes, but it’s almost always ruined by some bullshit. Don’t see myself re-visiting.

Dog shit.

Why why why?

Not my cup of tea.

Boring

Did not like this at all, was almost a mess of incoherent sounds. Perhaps this album did something revolutionary when it came out in the 70s but it just doesn't hold up.

I did not like this album. I can barely call some of the tracks on this album music, and those I do call music are weird and off putting. Definitely not my cup of tea. Favorite song: The sound of someone you love who's going away and it doesn't matter Worst song: Milk or Pigtail

A group of penguins on land is called a colony, a rookery, or a waddle. A group of penguins floating in the water is called a raft. As far as I can tell, there is nowhere in which a group of penguins is called an orchestra. Even ones whose anthropomorphized depiction includes pubic hair. For superior penguin music, check out the soundtracks of classic films "Happy Feet" and "Surf's Up." The penguins in those pieces of cinema history also haunt my dreams less than the ones on the cover of this album.

To have to hear this once in your life is plenty enough, maybe even to much. Whenever it started to sound decent it took some weird ass direction that made it sound like a cat stuck inside a washingmachine

20 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Don’t understand what’s groundbreaking about this one. Sounds like 60s hippie music with the occasional avant-garde noise track. I want music to take me in a journey, I just can’t figure out what direction this is going in.

Trying to figure out how this landed in the top 1001. Completely washed over me

More like avant- garde classical. Dislike.

instrumental, lent, pas super interresant

Hated it

Don’t get it at all

Grow up

Y 1001 albums faut bien qu'il y ait des merdes

I’m only Interested in songs about sausage rolls at this time of year. Who gives a shit about pingu these days anyway?

Blijkbaar is je leven niet compleet als je nooit een vage Pinguïn hebt beluisterd! Of je 't waardeert doet er weinig toe.

Ik heb het afgeluisterd omdat ik toch niets beters te doen had, maar wat een vage toestand is dit joh. Kan hier helemaal niets mee.

Really?

Kei gezellig, zo'n Pinguin cafe. Geen QR code en zo en alles gemoedelijk. De muziek is er een beetje neppig, alsof het goedkope covers zijn op een illegale CD. Daarnaast zijn de gebruikte instrumenten niet mijn favorieten. *

Did not listen. I have heard enough before to know I don’t want to. I don’t get the hype.

meh

1 1/2

Like bbc2 have used this for programs for years. Soundtracky, does nothing for me. A muso thing

Apparently I had to hear this album once before I die, so I did. That was plenty...1 🌟

Thats kinda odd.

weird

Some songs were okay, but the experimental numbers were awful. 5.9/10

This sounds like all the left overs from a recording session. Starts off very shit get marginally better.

Nothing much to this. Trying to be highbrow but ends up being dull. 1/5

Ummm... of course this would be in here. Why wouldn't it? Someone is trying to show how diverse their musical tastes are. Why wouldn't they?

meditativ - 1

not for me

Uh