What's That Noise?

This is a cool album. Some songs don't really hit for me, but there's quite a bit that do. Sounds like a a great record to throw on at parties

The fact that as of July 2025 you struggle to find this album on any streaming platform speaks volumes. If you were able to listen from the misfortune of having bought the album and having it your collection then my sympathies go to you. YouTube snippets were the only way I could sample this album but that made the whole experience mercifully short. 1/5 30/7/25

Some good stuff there,

Alright. I'm not much a fan of electronica. This one was definitely more pleasant to me than most electronic music. But no idea why this one is supposed to be significant.

Better than I thought it would be but still you can hear it's a little outdated. Alright though.

Not my type of musi but i kinda enyojed it. 7/10

fun album!!!

much more my speed. great find solid 4.5

Outstanding. Funky and awesome, impeccably mixed. The remix of Paid in Full is burned into my mind. 4.65

Back in the day, when you thought "music" you thought guitar bands and maybe some synth-pop, but then Coldcut dropped What's That Noise? and it was a total mindbender. We had no idea what to make of it. It wasn't rock, it wasn't strictly hip-hop, and it sure as hell wasn't the top 40 drivel on the radio. It was a digital collage, a mixtape on steroids that grabbed sounds from everywhere: TV commercials, classic funk breaks, random dialogue. Stitch it all together with an attitude that said, "Yeah, we're making this on a newfangled computer, and we're not asking permission." Hearing "Doctorin' the House" on a late-night show felt like a transmission from the future, a sign that the old rules were gone. It was equal parts smart, chaotic, and completely irreverent, basically a perfect anthem for anyone who felt like they were just watching the world's most ironic, low-budget puppet show. A real wake-up call that proved you didn't need a band to make a masterpiece.

I really have a weak spot for these old electronic and dance albums from the late 80s and early 90s. This was a fun listen because it shows a different side of Coldcut compared to how they sounded in the late 90s and early 2000s when I was first listening to them. It really highlights how early they got involved in the scene and how innovative they were even back then. They make great use of synths and electronic gear, but what stands out most is how sample heavy this album is, because it almost feels like a precursor to artists like The Avalanches. The sound jumps all over the place, from UK acid house, dub, hip hop, trip-hop, and breakbeats.

It sucks that it wasn't on Spotify. Not a bad album, overall. Decent background music. I'd say solid 3.

If you tune in to Much Music on Friday nights, you can watch Electric Circus

Too long - some neat songs and lots of interesting samples - but wouldn't come back to it.

some highlights, but long boring stretches

Another album if its time, that maybe hasn't aged as well as it could have, due to music production catching up to a lot of what made this ahead of the curve in 1989. Some of this sounds a little bland now, notwithstanding the inclusion of Mark E. Smith. I did play this twice to make sure I wasn't missing anything, but I was expecting more from this than I got. Solid, if not groundbreaking late 80s UK dance .

A really interesting album. By no means a GREAT classic album, but then you don't want all your favourite records to have the smell of authenticity. This is really playful. Genuine fun. The songs are pure pop, yet still a little rough and cheeky. Any album with Mark E Smith offering a guest rant gets extra marks.

Fun

could not access

This was a tough listen.. I enjoyed the sounds but it blended together and I kept thinking I had already heard parts when they hadn’t looped back - maybe this was because YouTube kept interrupting my listen with ads, as well as I was working and distracted while listening. Unfortunately, the accessibility as well as the repetitive nature of the mix hurt the rating..

No.

Easy listening House album.

Not shocking

One star per decent song.

3/5

Mega 80's sound. Er noen kule partier, feit basslinje på Stop This Crazy thing. Ser for meg at dette albummet er samplet i hue og rævva

Couldn't really get into this

Eh. It's fine. Nothing I'll add to a playlist but it was a decent listen.

Interestingly produced album, just lacks variety at some points, still some pretty big bangers here like Fat

Para uma pessoa de mais de 65 anos de idade o tempo é algo precioso demais, para ser consumido ouvindo música de DJ. Mais um álbum na lista dos "1001 discos para morrer antes de ouvir". Dispensável e desnecessário.

Interseting listen (although I had to go to a Youtube rip of the album since it wasn't available on Apple Music).

This was the last one I couldn’t get on Spotify and this was a lot of fun. Not exactly my type of music but good variety and good beats.

My Telephone is such a weird song. What were they even doing with their phones back then, there was no chatgpt on them

Watched this on Youtube wherein a British man sitting in the background occasionally coughing was recording his record player. 10/10 experience, 5/10 music

Não há, não encontrei o album

Surprisingly listenable - good album!

What is this?

I remember this coming out and I still enjoyed listening to it.Lots and lots of sampling which did get slightly repetitive but never boring, dig!

I didn't really enjoy this, but I can appreciate that it's well-made. The production is very good, the music is just not my cup of tea. Two stars because I'm capable of understanding that something wasn't for me and moving on with my life, rather than giving it one star and complaining that it isn't real music, unlike a lot of users here.

I love Lisa Stansfield's voice. Love it. So that gets one star. The rest is not for me. Repetitive and patchy.

Groovy, delicious, fun. Wish this was still on Spotify so I could add it to the rotation!

The UK seems to have an inexhaustible supply of electronic duos. This ones fun though with actual songs with good lyrics and a silly sense of humor. Dreary ass dance groups that followed should have learned.

This shit groovy af. Just jam after jam after jam. On top of that this seems to be one of the earliest sample-based records, which opened a genre of electronic music that I am quite partial to. 9/10

First, trying to find where to listen to this was a challenge. I found it on Youtube (Not YTMusic). I normally like electronic music, but this was more of a repeated, disorganized cacophony. I'm not in the right headspace today for this type of music, perhaps I'll try it again

I would say The Wu-Tang Clan took sampling notes from these guys! This is some pretty solid house/trip hop. Not streaming anywhere that I could find, but thankfully YouTube had the full album. Favorite songs: Stop This Crazy Thing, No Connection, Smoke Dis One, My Telephone, Fat (Party and Bullshit), Not Paid Enough Least favorite songs: Theme from "Reportage" 4/5

Bitty. Annoying

Not available on Spotify. Listening to Philosophy. Stopped listening about halfway through.

The music was alright. I think this album since in an awkward no man’s land between the fun textures of something The Avalanches would make and the more dancy/ravey stuff that Orbital would go on to make. I’d rather hear something on this list with one of those two characteristics, instead of this. The intro track was pretty sticky and had me hopeful that I could get some memorable bops out of this album. The memorable bops were around, but rare. The biggest bop was easily "Stop This Crazy Thing" with that iconic In The Hall of the Mountain King melody reimagination - really really cool. "Smoke Dis One" was memorable if only for the reminder that Queen Latifa was really good back in her day on the mic - I learned that with one of her albums on this list earlier. A few fun sound sampling moments were the rest of what I took from "What's That Noise?", everything else felt like it couldn't make up its mind on what it wanted to achieve musically. Soft 3/5

Had to go YouTube to find this. First time I’ve not seen an album on one of the streaming services. Interesting album.

I’ve never heard of Coldcut or this album before, but I’ve seen the album cover on the visual list website, and it’s certainly eye-catching. I see that this album is electronica/house music, and as a lover of synths and keyboards, I feel that this is a genre that I should love. However, the electronic and house music albums that I’ve reviewed so far (especially ones from the late eighties and early nineties) have been pretty lackluster. Maybe Coldcut will be the first house music album to really win me over! (For the record, I listened to the US release of this album) Unfortunately, Coldcut did not win me over to Team House and Electronica. While there were some moments on this album that I enjoyed, overall, I found this album to be pretty tedious and boring to listen to, and it mostly sounded repetitive to my ears. On top of that, there were some samples and elements to some songs that I found pretty grating and annoying to listen to. The first track, “People Hold On,” was pretty decent. This song (as did most of the album) had a very late eighties/early nineties sound to it, but Lisa Stansfield’s vocals worked well with the sound. I liked the samples and synthesizers, but the bass really stood out to me the most. On “Fat,” the bass was still great, but I missed the live vocals, and I found the sampled vocals to skew more towards irritating. However, on “In Deep,” I really hated the live vocals, and I was craving the sampled vocals of the second track (I think Mark E. Smith is pretty talented, but this was a miss for him). “In Deep” was pretty bland musically too, and this is where I started to lose hope that I would enjoy this album. “My Telephone” was my favorite song on the album. I was glad to hear Lisa Stansfield again, and the combination of her singing with the spoken samples sounded great. The phone sounds that were utilized were really great, and I’m surprised I didn’t find them annoying. After “My Telephone” though, I thought this album was really boring and bland, and nothing else really stood out to me. I was intrigued by Queen Latifah’s vocals on “Smoke Dis One” though, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard her rapping before. Her voice had a power to it that I really liked, but unfortunately, the lyrics were pretty hokey, and the music was bland. Overall, this album was a dud. The tracks with Lisa Stansfield were the best part of this album, but it wasn’t enough to lift Coldcut out of the depths of one-star albums.

Итс окэй. Много филлера. Лучшая песня - Doctorin' The House (feat. Yazz) [Say R Mix].

2/5. Wasn't able to find the album as a whole but found most of the songs on a greatest hits album. And if these were the greatest hits, don't think I'd enjoy the other songs on the album. It's similar to electronic music, with simple and repetitive vocals, but the samples are not fun enough to be interesting. It's not necessarily bad but I don't think I'm going to listen to it again. Best Song: People Hold On, My Telephone, Doctorin' The House

Fun start probably 4 stars

Rating: 6/10 Actually pretty good electronic album, pretty diverse range of genres and styles.

Thankfully, that album isn't available on Deezer, so it won't mess up my algorithm. (Thanks to the old gods and the new.) It's the most boring kind of house music that made me loathe school disco parties in the '90s.

pretty chaotic but probably a monumental feat for cutting/editing music in the 80s/90s when that tech was really new. Not bad to listen to but just feels kinda dated. 2/5

Slightly dated, but found myself enjoying a lot of this. Some incentive sampling and production. Unfortunately I haven't found a good download of this yet, so had to listen on YouTube.

Inventive, pioneering, hip-hop, cut-up beats. Here’s Yazz. Here’s Lisa Stansfield. Here’s Mark E Smith providing vocals on one of the first indie dance crossovers.

it's okey if you like electronic music. totally get why people don't like this. Personally it's okey, nothing ground breaking for me. Heard better 90s Trip hop / House. Probably revolutionary for it's time but nothing special for me

I thought this record was awesome! Production and sampling is super cool and feels way ahead of its time. I like the album art too.

Some interesting arrangements

Litt for eksperimentelt for meg

Fun dance music! At times, cheesy as hell; at others supremely interesting. Mark E. Smith and Queen Latifa make appearances! The impression I get from What's That Noise, is that this is the closest to an honest live DJ set that has been recorded (experiments and all). Not everything works, but it feels sincere and off-the-cuff, and lots of the samples are super fun and of-the-era. Highlights: "(I'm) In Deep"; "Which Doctor"; "No Connection" A sample from "Fat (Party and Bullshit)" sums the album up succinctly: "Party, and Party, and Party, and bullshit"

Well looky what we have here. . . another shitty House record. It can’t be!?!?!?!?! I should have googled the editor of this list before I started - I would have avoided a lot of UK Shit.

The sort of proto-avalanche sound collages were better than the more straightforward beats. This was overall fine as background music but felt like a waste of time.

I was hoping this would be more of a sample heavy hip-hop record and less the dance record that it turned out to be.

What's That Noise? And Spotify replies: ! Couldn't find that album, search for something else? So, I throw on their Let Us Play from 1997 as I go hunt on the internet for that Noise. Still only knowing only that it's some early British DJ sample heavy album from a time when printed media was still bigger than the internet and landlines ruled our psyches in a phonescape for freaks. But now the internet has gotten bigger and faster. It takes maybe more time than Timber but less than Return to Margin to get on track with the intended album. What's That Noise is lively and danceable with its club-ready collages. I can see by the list of collaborators (and hear by a few of the samples I recognize and even more that I don't) why it was probably a rights nightmare to be up on Spotify. I like this early bleep-bloop DJ music with its playful, cut-and-paste production to be honest. I was charmed by That Noise enough to then hunt down a used copy of the CD.

First album. Nothing special about this one. Fairly decent house album. That's it. 5.5/10

A very long hour of repetitive 80s drum loops and goofy sound effects

First, since this isn’t streamable I had to hunt it down on YouTube. Second, once I started listening my mind drifted off to some generic 90’s dance dreamscape. The music was neither great nor terrible, but I did not engage. And I sort of listened to several YouTube ads thinking it was part of a song.

I’m not really into electronic music but I was really impressed by this album. There was a lot of popular samples that made it entertaining to listen to from start to finish.

This is the most fun I’ve ever had possibly

I am *definitely* the target audience for this. I love this stuff--crazy samples over a beat? Put it in my veins!

Starts off sounding like a none-more-eighties dance album - but don't hold that against it as it begins to get weirder as it goes on. When it's good, it's really good and looking to the future with its house beats and squelchy, almost IDM noises with great use of samples. Can start to veer into novelty but you can hear its influence on acts like DJ Yoda and The Avalanches. Well worth a punt. Best Tracks: Fat (Party & Bullshit); (I'm) In Deep; Not Paid Enough

Couldn’t find the album in full. What I heard was okay.

American infected Eurotrash.

Nah

I had to find it on YouTube, but it wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t listen to it regularly, but it was catchy and made for decent background music.

Took a while to find this thing, but pretty worth it to be honest.

Actually really cool! wish it was on spotify! could listen to it more! super good vibe i will ALSO listen to in England.

Absolute rubbish. I did like the Tarzan part, though. That was interesting. Otherwise, yeah, rubbish. 2/5

So, I have this backlog that's been building up since... June, I wanna say? And it's September 3rd as I'm writing this, so you know. I can't remember exactly what album started this, though I'll tell you one thing for sure: I sure thought this album would be the last one I'd cover. Now, it's not, for the record. As I'm writing this, I'll still have 15 left when I'm done. I just figured I'd get to it early because... I mean, I honestly had no hope for this thing. I'd never heard of Coldcut before in my life, and I doubted I'd recognize anything they'd done. Backed with the fact that this thing isn't on streaming... Which, of course, none of this really means it'll be a bad album. Just 'coz I haven't heard of an artist... And, hell, Funkadelic's ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE isn't on Spotify. But all the same: put it together with the album cover, and I wasn't getting a single good sign. And actually listening to the album itself... Well, it's not "worse case scenario bad," but I sure couldn't give too much of a shit about most of it. Like... There's a small handful of neat tracks here. The opener's fine, and "Stop This Crazy Thing" is fun with all of its samples (especially the manipulated Tarzan yell)... But so much of it just kind of slid off of me. It's like, if I were to imagine the generic sound of electronic dance music, this would probably be it. There are just way too many times where not too much interesting is going on. Especially in the moments where it drops down to just a percussion loop for, like, I'unno, 30 seconds? I guess I'm supposed to be too busy dancing to notice, or getting hyped for the drop back into the other elements returning... Or am I supposed to be engaged with the soundbites? And I do enjoy those; I love me a bit of spoken word samples in music. But for the love of goodness, if there weren't times I felt like I'd turn into Joel watching MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE and yell, "DO SOMETHING! Gaaahdd..." It was really for it to just kind of fade into the background — and I know, I'm not the kind of person who'll use "background music" as an insult. If it makes the walls more interesting, who should mind a bit of wallpaper? But there's a difference between wallpaper that really enhances the room, and the kind of wallpaper that just kind of fades into everything. Y'know? I'unno. I'm largely just kind of underwhelmed by it. I'm already not the biggest fan of this kind of electronic music, and this sure didn't have any convincing arguments why I should be. Or any arguments at all, for that matter. It just felt like it coulda been so much more, but it wasn't. Really, its biggest benefit is just that it faded into the background and didn't annoy me too much. So... What's that noise? Whatever it is, it sure is there. And I'm gonna move on from it quickly to the next thing on my backlog. Seriously, how did I let this happen? Goodness...

Simple house, done simply well. Solid 4 Stars.

I’m at a 3.5 that I’ll bump down to a 3. Not that much to say, honestly – since it’s not on streaming, it’s a little hard to give bigger analysis besides “it sounded good, but sometimes it didn’t”, which is especially true given that this is an electronic dance / house album, with a little bit of hip-hop infused. It came out swinging with an absolute banger in “People Hold On”, then held on pretty well until getting to the other major banger of “Stop This Crazy Thing”, and then gliding decently well through to “What’s That Noise?”, which is where I ended the album, since I have no idea if the remixes are part of the original track listing or not. This is getting bumped down to a 3 because there’s just a lot of stuff here that’s not that compelling – there’s extended portions where percussive beats last for like 30 or 40 seconds without anything else going on, there’s a few tracks that just feel extra long and could’ve easily been shaved down, and there’s a few tracks that just settle into a certain groove and then coast on that groove afterward. Don’t get me wrong, I liked a lot of this (around 8 of the 11 tracks I listened to), and it does scratch a little bit of an electronica groove that hasn’t been present from the randomizer lately, but it just feels underbaked & a little too long for its own good. I do wish I had more to say, but with albums like this, you’re either feeling the music or you’re not. I felt it, but not as consistently as I would’ve liked, and the moments where I wasn’t feeling it really stuck out at me. I’ll add whatever’s on Spotify that I liked, but as a whole album, it’s just a 3.

It was okay, would be decent background noise.

Starts really strong but tapers off - I didn't really care by the end

Time has not been gentle to this one. Still, bursting with interesting sounds and rhythms. Sometimes grating, sometimes groovy.

As far as very early 1980-90 dance entries on the list go, I thought this one held up remarkably well.

Found on Youtube instead of Spotify, but it was a cool background listen. A bit loopy of course, but they had a lot of fun with this.

Coldcut invents Spotify shuffle 20 years too early and every song is a skip.

It’s like listening to a radio station straight out of 1991, except this album came out in ‘89 so clearly it paved the way!

Good but in a weird way

My first feelings when listening to this album is that these songs definitely belong on one of the CDs my mom used to listen to in the kitchen. It’s a nice blend of house music and EDM that really embodies the 80s essence. As I got further into the album I did start to feel less that way and more feeling like this is a bit more unique and creative than other 80s house music. The adlibs (?) or background noises were surprising and kept you on your toes. I had to listen to this one on YouTube and everyone commenting that this album had a special place in their heart when they played it on vinyl on repeat almost made it more touching for me to listen as I felt it was like I was sharing an experience with strangers :) The song with the telephone went pretty crazy. I also picked up on some rifts and vocals that had been originated on this and used for samples in other music.

April 1989! No Coldcut… no Paul’s Boutique? Could that be a thing? 🤔 Start of a genre? Sampling Pioneers? 4.5

Pleasant

Really cool album, though it was hard to find a full listing through official videos. It blended a lot of samples into the house genre in a way that was likely novel for its 1989 release, where it doesn't feel as standard as most house music I have listened to. Loads of fun

A truly charming and experimental album. It’s clear that this is a pioneering record, full of playful exploration. Wildly funky and still catchy.

Gotta dig a bit if you wanna find this album anywhere. Anyway, never heard of this group before. The first track ("People Hold On") immediately sounds like something I would enjoy; an upbeat and rhythmic house jam with a strong female lead vocalist. From there, the album sort of settles into more pure electronica, as well as some hip-hop ("Smoke Dis One" features Queen Latifah) with varying degrees of quality. I personally think this started to drag a bit after the start, but there is some interesting sampling here and there. (Note: I'm now realizing this group created that one 7-minute remix of Eric. B & Rakim's "Paid in Full", which helped popularize the duo in Europe)

This is as much fun as is possible to cram into an electronica album

Couldn’t find it 3/5

This album's title makes me think of Hank Hill criticizing his son for listening to trash. In that scenario, I'm Hank Hill, and this shit is kind of insufferable. I'm not saying late 80's British House music is unimportant, but I am saying that although I know almost nothing about it, I can promise you there are better, more important examples of it than this.

Loops, grooves, and samples unite genre, melody, and style to create a beautiful, diversely danceable noise.

What a gem!

This was probably really cool and revolutionary at the time but now it just sounds like noise. 1.9/5

I’m CERTAIN that the first track influenced the Japanese soundtrack for Sonic CD, which is cool. The rest of the album is mid, and I really disliked that it was only on YouTube.

Not particularly notable but I enjoyed the listen.

appreciated hearing lisa stansfield and queen latifa’s start. I don’t think any album should be over 40 minutes tho

Has no business being on this list

I stayed up until 1 AM watching instagram reels last night Fav song: Not sure

An absolute banger of turntableism and electronic music. Wow!

Nope

Fun, groovy, a little dated. Streams only on YouTube so I will probably never listen to it again.

Not on Spotify

Generic house

Music for people who never grew out of the childhood phase where you walk around making random noises until the adults can no longer take it. I get how these techniques are applied to back a hip hop track, where typically the vocals are the meat and potatoes of the music, but when you use them just to back corny vocals that say nothing of value on songs like My Telephone they really are just a bunch of repetitive noises.

I admittedly am a sucker for mash-up stuff (i.e. Super Mash Bros, Girl Talk...yeah not my best quality). That's the sense I get from this group, especially on the Party & Bullshit song (shoutout Biggie). Stop This Crazy Thing is a fun, wild song. This whole album is pretty cheesy House/electro music with some decent mash-ups. I think it gets the lowest of 3s.

Really enjoy (I'm) In Deep. Simple enough song structure, but the weird compressed vocal track is interesting as are the shifting loops and sporadic elements. Also loving My Telephone -- has no right to be as good as it is given the subject matter of telephone addiction. Out of the gate I was suspect, but by Which Doctor! I am absolutely vibing with this record. Feels distinctly 80s, but with quality production. Just when I thought I couldn't enjoy this album more, that fucking sample of Tarzan on Stop This Crazy Thing haha. Wild and wonderful. Not Paid Enough is a nice extended cut that shuffles about over a hip-hop beat. Feels like a spiratual predecessor to the likes of Madlib and J-Dilla. I for one am glad that this was on the list because otherwise I would likely never have found it with it not being on Spotify. I'll say that I didn't love everything in here -- the first two tracks I could leave -- but the middle of the album gets much more experimental and interesting. While I get arguments of this feeling cluttered or random, I felt like all of the sounds and samples were well blended and worked towards a common cause. Worth another listen for sure. Low 4 for me.

Gotta give it to them on creativity and the mixing/production of this one. They did miss the mark on making good songs that I want to listen to though.

Pretty generic electronic with way too many random noises. Got really boring halfway through and an hour was too much of this. Would really like to see some more modern electronic on here rather than all 90s like we have been getting. Or where are the rest of the Daft Punk albums?

I guess you can call that music.

THIS ALBUM WAS HARD!!! I was totally expecting it to be complete trash. I’m shocked, I’m shook and I’m shaking ass!!

I feel like a lot of the albums that I have to retrieve on youtube already gives me suspicion, and this was confirmed a little for me. I tried reading some of the comments trying to understand what was good and I didn’t really get it..,

Dance music specifically made for ... dancing. Neither are really my thing. Early cut and paste music that has essentially no flow or purpose other than dancing. Which is totally fine, but I'm not sure why anyone would actually buy or play this at home. Only thing that saved me from punching in a very annoyed "1" for this is Queen Latifah. 3/10 2 stars.

It's okay.

This one hasn’t held up over time.

Tediously long. There are some fun tracks but it honestly gets tiresome to try to finish in one setting.

Another album you have to seek out as it's not on Spotify and, honestly, the payoff wasn't worth it. It’s an exhausting, messy wall of dated house beats and random samples. While there are decent moments with guest vocalists (shout out Lisa Stansfield, didn't expect to see you near this list, love), the record is overlong, cluttered with annoying sound effects, and cheap synths. It feels like an obnoxious, never-ending spin class, definitely a one-time listen.

This album is like that optical illusion with the rabbit and duck where you can see either one depending on your perception in the moment. And you can focus in on it and force yourself to see the other way. Similarly, this album either hits you like a brick wall of cacophonous noise or puts you in a strange psychedelic-like trance. If you concentrate, you can feel both at the same time

Pretty good. Difficult to find. Too long, like most electronic albums on here. 2/5 will forget again.

It’s indeed flawed, but I think that there’s enough interesting beats and ideas to make the runtime make sense. I was quite entertained - but I probably won’t revisit anytime soon; if ever.

Ok I guess, maar werd een beetje saai.

A time capsule that I am sure to never revisit in my life

simpatico

loved track 8. no connection. loved it on a whole, its so random and unique and helped me focus when studying (with a cheeky head bop here and there)

Too long but fun. I was grooving to a lot of this.

Best part was Queen Latifah

A more proper title would be This Is Noise.

Unavailable. Sad.

Not found on Spotify, but other albums are a no

It was an enjoyable listen but nothing outstanding. Also annoying it is not on apple music lol 2/5

Groupe inconnu. Aucun intérêt. Les morceaux sont répétitifs, sans aucune originalité et musicalement inintéressants. L'album est beaucoup trop long. Je ne suis pas allé au bout. =>1/5

You know, this was a groove. I enjoyed working to it. Fav: "Stop this Crazy Thing" both versions.

This is a checkbox one for me.

Oof

Chaotic. I concede that the YouTube ad breaks only worsened the overall effect.

I can’t find this album anywhere. I listened to a few tracks. Good DJ’ing. Good jams. Don’t know that I’d want to hear a whole album as a sitting experience l. But i give it a 3 — provisionally.

Sounds for 1980s DJs and producers. With a few songs mixed in that you would hear at the 7th grade dance or roller rink.

Pretty standard EDM album. Gets an extra star for being a bit off the wall and fun.

Yeah, this is not for me.

Not heard this Coldcut album before, really enjoyable listen, would definitely seek a physical copy, ⭐⭐⭐⭐, note only available currently to stream via YouTube https://youtu.be/tgYhZ5Ennig?si=Npzb0XtEM3Vi-LxK

Not on Spotify

Very good electronic album. Best song is People Hold On, but definitely has some other good tracks. Kinda reminds me of a combination of the Avalanche and Enigma.

How cold can coldcuts get? Pretty cold. Whats That Noise? is a sick album. It's a top shelf blend of acid house and DIY hiphop, cutting some unhinged samples (probably why it isn't on streaming) with dirty dance music and some really surprising vocals. Stop This Crazy Thing and Smoke Dis One are undoubtedly highlights, but there's fun to be had all through. It overstays its welcome just a little, and it's slightly of its time, but that doesnt matter: that time was evidently awesome and so is this.

There are all kinds of sounds in this world, but maybe it’s not a good idea to throw them all together at once in the pursuit of something interesting to try dance to. This was fucking diabolical. Not my jam at all. Completely untethered from anything approaching enjoyable listening. A disjointed, obnoxious mess of noise ⭐️

What is that noise? I didn't care for the one I heard that much or particularly want to hear it again, aside from the first track, which was a banger. It was a very long and boring noise as well, clocking in at 50 minutes or so

Echt veel leuker dan ik had verwacht. Begint met een beetje oude maar goede house, wat leuke hiphop stukjes ertussen. Not Paid Enough gebruikt zelfs een sample van Don't Look Any Further.

Unable to listen to album.

It's not available on Spotify.

I quite enjoyed this. It's very danceable, and varied enough to hold interest while being consistent enough to have an identifiable vibe that sticks around throughout. It seems not to exist on Deezer so I had to listen on YouTube, which means I'll almost certainly never listen to this again. Which is a shame, because as I said it's pretty good

LOVE!! Why isn't this on Spotify???

-the first half was promising. I had recently gotten interested in corny 80s - 90s acid house music so I figured this would be pretty fun once I heard what it is -it definitely falls off in the second half, like a lot. just becomes very repetitive and harder to keep attention -the first few songs were fun though so it’s saved from the 2.5 stars fate -Favorites are People Hold On, Fat (Party and Bullshit) and My Telephone

1989. Alternative Hip Hop. 6/10

Kind of an eclectic mix of sounds, familiar songs, chants, and such. Wasn't terrible. Kind of long and a bit much, especially with the Tarzan cry.

Cannot be bothered

Wish this one was on a streaming service so I could listen to it easier.

Very cool. People Hold On actually was the curveball as started to make me think I wouldn't like the record. However can see myself playing this again and again and now love the first track

This feels as though it was an album purely made to later on be a milestone in which we would look back on and go "Wow, electronica has come so far!" as this is extremely dated. There's good ideas, with some decent samples that generally felt tonally justified, they aren't just thrown in all willy nilly, but the actual turntable efforts are boring, and would make my eyes roll were they a part of a greater album, such as a hip-hop album from the same era. It isn't necessarily bad, but will I remember this tomorrow? No, probably not.

Well it wasn’t the nightmareish piano house album I initially feared - it’s a more eclectic mish-mash of beats and samples with an irreverent spirit, and surely an influence on The Avalanches. Stop This Crazy Thing is good fun. Once the novelty of those quirks wears off, though, you're still left with a slightly annoying, repetitive dance record.

Look at those dudes who hate this music. Got stink lines and everything. I love to read reviews on this website. It's really fun to get perspective on how other music fanatics think about music. I get a huge kick out of reading reviews that are just thought terminating cliches like "Ugh, this music is just shitty!" No thought put into why you feel that way, no reflection. Just Ew, yucky electronic music! >:( This is a fun album. Some really funky grooves and clever samples. Anyway, 3.5/5

I hated this from the first cheesy stupid note. An hour later it was still going. Nothing of value happened. And I am angry for having to listen to it. This is the in the bottom two or three records of the 1001 list for sure. FUCK. THIS. ALBUM.

Call me basic I guess because I liked most of this. Sort of diminishing returns as the album goes on but I enjoyed it overall 3/5

super cool, pity it's not on streaming

Hard to know. Album not available on Spotify

God no. Dance yuck.

This record was not essential listening when it came out, much less so now. People Hold On is, rightly, still remembered (and compiled) while the rest, forgettable then, is almost wholly forgotten now.

Day457 - not at all what i was expecting but ginger said give it four stars cause it brought back dancing days

3/10 - very strange and not fun to listen to. The first song I kind of enjoyed but it just got worse

I don't listen to much house music, but surely there's a more interesting house album that could've been picked for this list? Seeing as this is one of very few albums we've had so far that really fall into that genre, this was a lot blander than it should've been. Still not a bad listen

not on spotify and the only version on youtube is some middle aged with the thickest British accent known to man recording the vinyl record on his iphone 3 while yapping about the album throughout the entire 50 minutes (music was pretty bad anyways)

Honestly, pretty cool album. This is why I enjoy this list despite the excessive amount of mediocrity you occasionally find something like this that isn't being covered like everything else. Had to listen on Youtube since it's not on Spotify but I added a couple tracks to my Party Playlist on YT.

It's an alright album but a bit up and down. Lisa Stanfield's vocals are pretty rubbish. The Mark E Smith track (it is him right?) and theme from reportage were good. Better when it's more hiphop than dance in my view. Some good extra tracks on the extended version (like that great mix of paid in full) but i didn't count them as they weren't part of the original release.

I agree what is that noise and why is this on the list. It is way too long and there are plenty of better albums out there. It was no offensive, but also not something I’ll listen to again.

This wasn't wildly unpleasant to listen to but it was way too long, way to all over the place, and British.

overly sampled electronic music that goes on too long & too repetitive.

What's That Noise is the debut album from Coldcut, a British duo that pioneered sampling and looping in club music. Their first singles got some attention, and their debut full length album was a defining work for London's DJ club scene. This is a great collection of dance tracks that sounds surprising current for a thirty-five year old album.

The best tracks on this album are an incredible and interesting mix of Disco, Electronic, and Hip Hop (especially the ones featuring Lisa Stansfield). Unfortunately, many tracks just feel dull and like they’re trying too hard to be interesting. Favorite Track: Stop This Crazy Thing

The rhymic parts with less electronic parts are okay.

Some interesting and enjoyable stuff here but it’s a bit uneven for the length.

I like the album cover and the dumb earworm from 'Stop This Crazy Thing'. Didn't like the vacuous peace/love chatter. I can't remember much else about it now; I listened to this for like an hour, but it didn't stick with me.

Really like this style of music. Listened to the U.S. version as uploaded by a kind soul on YouTube. My favorite track was "Smoke Dis One" (hell yeah Queen Latifah!), but honestly the whole thing put me in a pretty good mood!

on the one hand, this is infinitely less annoying and repetitive than its ilk; on the other hand, we may be looking at patient zero for electro swing, which is basically unforgivable

Long, dumb, repetitive and just absolutely awful. Took me 2 attempts but I did make it through, not sure why.

Ok for 1989 I can understand why maybe this was new/different/interesting but come on, this is just too much.

maybe this was better at the time.

Generic beat based dance music. Repetitive to the point of nausea. Not for me. Also I'm knocking it down a star less than it probably deserves because it's too damn long.

Interesting album, better than fat boy slim, like the first song and "stop this crazy thing" but the rest was meh. also not even on spotify - 2/5.

One of the few albums on the list that wasn't available on Spotify. It's "cut-n-paste" electronic/dance music. It reminds me of The Avalanches, with the same kind of whimsy.

Might be perfectly fine late 80s/early 90s dance music, but I was just not in the mood.

This really hasn’t aged well. And yes it does go on for far too long. I don’t find it particularly joyous or uplifting either which is surely crucial for this genre. Loving a bit of unexpected Mark E Smith though

Tried to listen, not my jam, sorry kids

What's That Noise is pretty wild. Crazy use of space, weird sounds and cuts. I enjoy them pulling sounds that weren't just from soul/Funk but from dialogue also. It's kinda wild that these Brits were pulling samples that Prince Paul or Public Enemy or Tupac/Johnny J were pulling for their beats. Overall I enjoyed this a lot, the only knock I'd give this is over some of the old timey rap, but still mid to high 4's.

What’s That Noise? Good question. Super 80’s vibe with hints of Disco, Hip Hop, and Techno that ends up feeling a bit like an EDM Jam Band. Pretty sure I caught them sampling old cartoons on one of these tracks. I don’t see what the fuss is. If this is supposed to be the birth of EDM, then someone should go back in time and strangle Coldcut in its crib.

Can't believe a computer programmer and ex-art teacher from England made some shit like this in the 80's. The beats and samples are so good. The rapping sounds dated, but what do you expect from 1989. This is a great hidden gem - 4.5 stars

Album cover: (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿) Album contents: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Really cool example of likely underground house music. It is definitely dated, and not nearly as engaging and rhythmic as 90's and 2000's house music. But, it is a beautiful step into a historical portal. I live for this stuff in the 1001, historical examples of new popular genres. That being said its cheesey and quirky but, probably 3 stars at best. But as an example of how early this music goes back, its worth more. Very cool music exercise.

Bien

Couldn't listen

Probably revolutionary for its time. I don't hate it.

Why is the album cover so small on this website? That's weird. You know what else is weird? This album not being on Spotify. There's probably a reason for it though. It's a shame because Coldcut is actually decently influential as far as British electronic music goes. I'm generally not a fan of this style of music, but I can at least respect this album for pioneering music in a way. I mean, I can't even complain about this being 90s British electronica since it released in '89! As far as the album itself goes? It's fine. Again. This style of music isn't really my thing. However, the sampling (as dated as it is) was also kind of revolutionary for its time. The features are interesting. The album (the UK version at least) isn't too long. While I don't personally care about this album that much, I at least respect it enough to say that its inclusion on this list isn't totally unjustified. Low 3/5.

Couldn't listen

It was interesting to finally hear the legendary cold cut after never getting around to it. I prefer kid koala

Party Vibes!

crap 80's dance & hip hop

This album wasn’t available to listen to on Spotify so I listened to ‘Some Like It Cold’ (1989) I enjoyed that album

very strange, typical 80's sound overall. Probably won't listen to it again.

Note: This album isn't on Spotify. A vibe as soon as it starts. I'm not a person that usually wants to dance, but this is doing it for me.

Not the worst thing I’ve ever heard but just ok

Not my style.

There were some great parts, but most of the album was just basic house music unfortunately. I can see why someone would like it though!

Super cool! So many of these sounds were delightfully familiar. Honestly never heard of Coldcut, but they seem to have an impressive catalog.

A riot of sampling fun, early house and generally the sound of the future starting up. No surprise the rights prevent any Spotify.

Not available on Apple Music.

The kind of thing you'd probably like if you like that kind of thing.

Title kind of says it all. It's a bunch of samples.

Generic 90s dance music. - Yuk. 1.5/5

It’s not bad though it’s not something I would seek out. A bit too long.

Since this albums isn't on Spotify I listened to it on Youtube which had the full album available. Its a good album with nice electronic songs that has a different vibe to most of them yet the album still feels cohesive. I had a fun time listening through it but I don't think I will come back to it again. There is better music out there that I would pick before this to listen to.

Nice retro album who make me to be nostalgic about 90s. 3,5

3.5

I like this style of music for a bit. It's interesting how you can create complete new songs and meanings from cutting and pasting

I’d say this was about 75% to being pretty good.

Not my favorite! Not bad.

It is okay, but I don't consider this one of best albums of 1989, much less of all time. The most interesting version of this style of mixed media music, also from 1989, was Pop Will Eat Itself's THIS IS THE DAY... The samples in that album are far more geeky cool. There were far more interesting noteworthy albums from 1989 that are not on this list: Rush PRESTO Madonna LIKE A PRAYER Nine Inch Nails PRETTY HATE MACHINE Ministry THE MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO TASTE Billy Joel STORM FRONT Bobby Brown DON'T BE CRUEL

4/5

Listened Before? N Unavailable on Spotify. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: N/A

Tedious acid/trance type dance 'music'.As a listening only experience, it's utterly useless.

Not for me. Just noisy. In case anyone can not find it on Spotify, go to YouTube, the whole album is on there

Had a good start and thought some of the tracks are a bit before their time. It fell off for me towards the end. It's good background music for a chilled party though, other than that not too much to say.

Whoa!!! I'm glad we're back partying because jesus christ... I cannot believe this is here on 1001 albums in the sea of mediocre men with a guitar and a drama of destroying art and music!! From start to finish, this is genuinely a fun record with immaculate vibes. I also love the art cover that looks like it was made on Paint then important to Photoshop. Every instrumental on each song was wonderful, delicious and an ascension spiritually. I liked that it explored a night of partying, how we start with such an expensive eargasm, attractive and exciting and we descend through the night into a bit of filth, a bit of paint and colour and then a final ending that's just 🤘🏻🎀💖 Fave Songs: - People Hold On - In Deep (this was such a funny random sound but it ended so good) - Which! Doctor - No Connection (tune) - Smoke Dis One - Beats & Pieces - Stop This Crazy Thing (Headmaster Mix)

This is literally menu music for an early 90s skateboarding game

Great to listen to, but had to head to youtube as it wasn't on Spotify

This is like, 80’s techno dance? I don’t really know how to categorize this but I liked it.

Weird but enjoyable. Had to listen to on youtube

Honestly, I loved this. So damn fun! Always keeping you on your toes. Is it stealing to mash up others work? Who cares! Especially if you’re creating something that excites like this does. What a sound for 1989.

Hated this when I was young but can appreciate it some now in my 40s

Not on Spotify

Wasn’t on Apple Music.

What a treat! I can’t believe this came out in 1989. It is clearly highly influential on what would come in dance music - breakbeat, bigbeat, and samples that are legendary. Who knew “party and bullshit” goes back at least this far? Similar to the Avalanches’ later samplecore, but with a solid danceable throughline and much catchier treatment.

This was a great throwback to when I used to listen to DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist with Product Placement and Brain freeze. They were regularly spun on my CD player whilst doing my paper round. Arguably, those were better constructed than this. Finding a copy to listen to was also a challenge!!

Good question, what IS that noise? It turns out it was a truly unremarkable house music album.

Leur musique m'est tellement familière sans que je la connaisse du tout ; ils ont certainement influencé les débuts du hip hio, été des pionniers du genre. Leurs pièces sont entraînantes, pop et accessibles tout en étant très construites

I only listened to part of this because the album isn’t on Spotify and frankly the tracks I found there in the Best Of collection didn’t make me feel I needed to wade through YouTube’s cookie the same on the off chance of dragging it up to a 2. This is the kind of music (or lightly scrambled sound effects) that ensured I mostly ignored popular music for five years.

Cool find!

Just straight up great sampling and dance music that makes you wanna bust out some moves right then and there. It's a diverse array of songs too, which helps to give it some staying power. Genuinely enjoyed it.

The samples are bizarre and arranged in a chaotic manner that surprisingly works. It triggered a nostalgic reminder of that one simpsonwave song that made the rounds in the early 2000's but this is a lot more refined. Crazy, but good fun.

I couldn’t get this album on Spotify, so listened to some of their other work. Pleasant surprise - books and covers, I thought this would be Linkin Park-adjacent meathead rock, so didn’t expect to like it so much. Nice grooves and interesting collaborations.

Better than I expected. Sounds dated but brought me right back to the late 80s early 90s.

Not for me

A dance album made up of an uninteresting blend of sounds that seemingly were assembled at random.

Pompous. Artistic. Garbage. I get to listen to some random dude's idea of good music. It's not good music though. It's just mediocre.

eu seria mto baladeiro se tivesse vivido na mesma época dessa PEDRADA como que cê não dança com uma dessas papo reto

capa foda. achei bão. bem dançante e bem mixado, bem interessante pra época! me diverti bastante, ótima trilha sonora de fundo pra balançar a cabeça enquanto se estressa com outra coisa

yuh groovy

Sounds fun. Wish it was on spotify.

No está en stream legal en las plataformas que uso. Lo voy a escuchar por Youtube de aquella manera. Leyendo el resumen de la wikipedia veo que está lleno de colaboraciones y samples de los que no habrán conseguido los derechos para publicarlos en stream. Confirmo que los samples hacen esto imposible de poner en internet, o muy caro. Bastante divertido y marca una época de la música de baile y electrónica.

Tough to listen to as it's not on any streaming platform. I found a crappy copy on You Tube so probably didn't get the full effect.

2.4 Aged poorly. Very tiring towards the end, after over 7 minutes of trying to get through 'Not Paid Enough' I was knackered, Beats & Pieces the final straw. At first I thought it wasn't a bad time capsule into late 80s/early 90s sampling. But sadly it just dragged on and on, at which point it's outdated flaws become more and more obvious.

This was annoying.

This was probably a lot more interesting when it first came out. Now it sounds incredibly dated.

point2.

Interesting enough, funky and messy Dancetronica one can only listen to in youtube apparently.

Usually I am not a fan of primarily sample based albums and dance music in general but this is an aural delight, always new surprises coming at you. Another reviewer mentioned Paul’s Boutique and the Avalanches and I agree. An amazing array of disparate samples put together into a cohesive album.

Kind of a weird pull, but I'm glad I listened to it. Even it is a mostly mixed bag, there are enough bangers and cool ideas to make it worthwhile. 6/10

Skräyksen ja puhesämplejen ilo on löydetty eikä jarrutella. Parhaat melodiatkin oli lainattuja… Ihan iloinen paketti kuitenkin.

Levynä epätasainen (raitojen biisiysprosentti vaihtelee), mutta huomasin liikehtiväni mukana. Discot ja vika kappale hyviä.

90s house that was alright

What’s That Noise is about right. I found three tracks on YouTube as it’s not on Spotify, and that was enough. There’s a reason this isn’t widely available …

Fav: People Hold On Least Fav: Smoke Dis One There’s elements of some of the songs that suggest that they can cook, but it’s just ruined by repetition and some questionable sample choices. Quite frustrating, especially considering how good the first song is

Favorite Track: Stop This Crazy Thing

What's that noise? Turn it off.

I see how people like this but I sort of don’t and that’s okay too. 2.5 but rounded down to 2.

Intolerable

What a surprisingly great album. Golden age of hip hop. Fantastic production. A treat from start to finish. Will be adding this to my library for sure.

Boring.

I can't decide if I like this genre. There are some catchy tunes and I found myself bopping my head to several, but it starts to get tiresome after about 40 minutes. No album needs to be an hour+.

I've owned this album in the past. I was pretty surprised to see this album on the list. I've owned it and liked it, but I didn't think it was something that anyone still thought about. It's fun to listen to this 35 years on. The one song that I remembered well is "Stop this crazy thing". It still sounds great. The editing of that song is really great. The production doesn't just sample but splices the samples into a smooth-flowing tapestry of sound. I remember at the time thinking that cartoon culture was spreading into so many areas, in particular music, and this is a prime example. As it turns out it didn't last but we did see it bubble back up with the Gorillaz. Despite my fondness for it, not sure if it deserves to be on this list, but it was fun to listen to it again.

WHY is this not available to stream!? I had to go to YouTube to find it and thank god it was there! This album is a lot of fun. I'd like to listen to it in a restaurant or an indie coffee shop or something like that. It's not quite something I'd sit down and listen to on my own or blast in the car, but I did enjoy it. I do like that "Smoke Dis One" is still relevant today and this album came out in '89. Crazy that not much has changed.

Put this on then realised I’d already listened to it and forgot to rate it

p623. 1989. 2 stars. Average late 80s background student party music. Starts off with a classic and then descends into aimless sample noodling. Bonus point for "Not Paid Enough". Not on Spotify so thanks to 3dou for the YouTube link for the full album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgYhZ5Ennig

Considering I like some cold cut found this dated af 2.7

Probably very inspirational at the time.

I'm happy to report What's That Noise?, despite its cringe worthy album cover, was only a little repetitive to my ears. I was anticipating a lot more repetitive sounds in this electronic/house album, a la Daft Punk, but thank goodness there was different and creative beats. Coldcut combined electronic and hip hop, and I will stand by my opinion that disco was present here, too. The hip hop and disco combination was unusual--and very cool. I do think this album went on for a little too long, but I've heard worse.

Another early electronic album that just repeats and samples a bunch of sounds. There were moments here and there where I thought I might get into this album, but it pretty much turned out to be isolated incidents each and every time.

Horribly repetitive. Songwriting talent noticeably absent, just lots of bleep blop scratch.

Not an Apple Music, so I had to listen via YouTube. It was fun and upbeat, but nothing too special. First half was poppy electronica stuff, then we get hit with a Queen Latifah track and the rest was hip-hop? Anyway, there were a lot of samples of various media (Flintstones, Jetsons, Pump Up, the "journey into sound" guy, etc.) which may be why the album isn't on streaming. Yeah, it was fine, but with a dated sound.

This was a quality piece of music. Really clean sampling and beautifully mixed.

Prima voor op de achtergrond

Pretty fun album that I listened to on Youtube. Fun late 1980s samples

This was another pleasant surprise. Especially when listened to immediately after The Residents (yesterday's album). I can't go all the way to 4 stars on it, but it's a 3-and-change star album.

Only available on YouTube

Not on spotify, sometimes weird 3/5