Reviews (page 6 of 8)
it was early to work with and along side but it just isn’t something i would voluntarily listen to. it isn’t bad, no complaints other than it’s just not fun?
For the most part this was a good album to listen to at work, although not all tracks were instrumental, but enough were that it helped with focus. The only song I had to skip was green calx - not sure what it was but the sounds just sounded like a wet mouth and it freaked me out. I feel like the more we go through this process, the more I say “I’m not the target audience for this but….”
You really need to be in the right mindset to enjoy an Aphex Twin album, but thankfully I was! Started strong with "Xtal" and I was vibing to the rest of the album. Was very surprised when "Ageispolis" came on. I knew he was involved in the creation of "Ugly Boy" by Die Antwoord but I didn't realize it was just a straight up sample of his song!
Very ambient?
Classic but a little boring. Not as dynamic production as some other Aphex
Ambient electronic music. It's alright as background music for studying or work.
3/5
Relaxing, calming, energetic beats. I'm not a huge electronic music fan but this is something that I can enjoy.
Ambient techno type music. Nice vibe. Nice background music.
Good background music
Generic background music. Nothing memorable about it, but fine to put on and forget about.
3.0
Might be the best electronic album of all time, but it still isn't for me. Maybe my musical ear isn't sophisticated enough to tell the difference between good electronica and bad, but I just don't get that much out of it. It can just scrape a three based on its wider contribution and because it's perfectly fine to have on in the background whilst I work, but I can't justify giving it anything more than that.
Good. It took me some time
Kraftwerk if they were from Detroit.
Enjoyed Xtal and the rest was good background noise
Definitely ambient. Not something overly exciting for me, though.
Used to really like this.
not bad
That's... incredibly boring. It's just boots and cats all the way down. Good for what it is, I suppose, but there's no real point to it, is there?
Truly ambient. Sounds fine. Well produced. 6/10
Meh, interesting but not super engaging
There are times while working I like to put on ambient music, it's typically a playlist but at other times I choose this album. It's not that I love the album per se but it's just sounds good in the background.
it's good background. can't say much more about it.
Some great moments, but really not my thing.
Enjoyed the start. Some great electronic music. Got old after awhile.
I was introduced to Aphex Twin back in the 90s through Videoflicks...always a good background soundtrack while working. I think it was all just a mish mash of tracks via the music drive we listened to as I can't recall every hearing a single album in its entirety.
I like how they warnend about the genre in advance. Really clunky. (5/10) FT: Xtal, Ageispolis
Very solid album but it's a little too techno for an album that calls itself ambient. This is basically my only gripe with this album as most of it is really good, especially from the technical point of view.
This was an enjoyable listen. It's the kind of music you can exist with while doing other things, but it also has a lot of nuances you can discover if you pay attention. As a collection of songs written over an extended period of time, obviously the album lacks a certain cohesiveness or point of view. It also could stand to be a few songs shorter. Not a bad song on here though. Fave Songs: Heliosphan, Tha, Delphium, Actium, Green Calx, Xtal
Poslušo sam ovaj album kad sam jednom nakon posla u HTu na Draški čeko 🚊. Nosio sam The Cure majicu, sjećam se jer je lik kreno pričat samnom ko da je Robert Smitha upozno, a ne jadnog mene u majici, i rekao mi za Aphex Twin da obvezno moram poslušat i tad jesam ovo prvo i jedino od aphexa možda čak. Taj lik je odrastao i postao Obama. Šalim se, al fr on je na 101 vodio rock antropologiju, kul tip, mislim da bi se razočaro u ocjenu.
I would rather the Come to Daddy EP or Drucqs - but I haven't listened to this for 20 or so years, so maybe I'm ready to 'get' this album now. Nope. It's still an interesting album, but it lacks the propulsive lunatic energy of Come to Daddy, the squelchy funk of Cheetah or the mind melting beauty of Avril 14th. It's still years ahead of its time (if you changed the dates to 1997-2004 it would make more sense!) But is more of a document of his earlier compositions than a work of genius as happened later.
Not my kind of thing, but good background music and very chilled out. Sounds like the work of one man with a clear idea of what he wants to do
Interesting and the name definitely fits. I can see how this is experimental and could inspire other ideas.
Like a soundtrack to nothingness
Música electrónica relajante. Buena para tener de fondo
Música ambiental electrónica. Agradable, pero ni fu ni fa.
Cest ambient comme le titre le dit. 1h15 de musique d’ambiance… top 1001 ok peut etre pour ce style. Potentiel de reecoute tres grand dans un loundge ? 3.25
Ambient, electrónico o algo así. Estuvo bien, disco largo con diferentes.... sonidos? Y para ser electrónica no fue desagradable terminarlo. 2.5 que subo a 3 porque sí hubo partes que me gustaron, más allá de no estorbar.
De lo que ha tocado de electrónica, lo más digerible y utilizable para mí. No se pone pretencioso, no es taaaaaaan repetitivo y no tiene cantos encima. Por otro lado, hora y cuarto de esto, tampoco me dio ganas de darle otra vuelta.
Great in the background, but lackluster in the foreground more times than not. So it goes with ambient, I suppose.
Ambient? Yes, please. I've never listened to an AT record all the way through. While the title suggests this is a compilation, it's actually a debut record. That's clever. I would say I enjoyed this record at face value. It sounds dated, but a lot of stuff on this list does - that's the nature of this list, right? Great music from all eras? Also, given the impact this record (and subsequent AT releases) had on bands that I love like Radiohead, Kent, Wilco, etc., I'm even more into it.
ambient, background, fine but not music I'm seeking out
Had me dancing a bit on my own in my room.
Nice background noise for working.
The background music of the old mobile game "Smash Hit", where you destroy triangle shaped crystals with metal balls. That bland music that is played in a seminar venue when the seminar has not yet started. A background music for exhibition arts, or a smartphone screensaver. You know, the type of show that only consists of lines and shapes. Elevator music but for airports. This is apparently ambient techno. IDM (EDM but with I for "intelligent", perhaps because it makes you feel smarter, or whatever. Fun Fact: Aphex Twin himself hates that term). It's a decent background music when working or doing homeworks. That's what this 70 minute whopper is. An interesting background music. Nothing more, nothing less.
Me gusta Aphex Twin lo he escuchado bastante. Y aunque este no es su mejor disco tiene algunos temas buenos. Es más o menos tranquilo así que no puedes equivocarte si quieres algo de electrónica suave.
Interesting background music - which I guess is all you can ask from Ambient music
3. pleasant background ambient music. Not as good as what I'd usually put on, but still good.
Much less melodically driven than other AT works, dwells more in ethereal soundscapes and ideas than grounded song structures. This works intermittently throughout the album - the highs are enjoyable, but other tracks tend to fade into the background due to repetition or lack of meaningful melodic content.
Very ambient. So ambient, I forgot I was listening to it. While not my style, good album. 3/5.
A decent album to work to, but can’t imagine when else I’d put it on
Ronseal. Ambient techno. Pleasant background music. Not something that demands attention, but a good album to review documents to and certainly a success under its own terms. Green Calx is a bit Pigeon Street. 3.5/5.
Solid casual beats, but I’m too angry to listen to this. Great for work.
Low-fi hip hop beats to chill and study to
I enjoyed this more than I thought j would, as it's not a genre I naturally gravitate to. However, it's perfect music to have playing in the background whilst cracking on with some work. I tuned in an out, which would normally be a bad thing. But it seems like an acceptable response to this album. You don't need to be paying attention. Just subconsciously groove along
Didn't hate this as much as I thought I would, ha. It wouldn't be on regular rotation but I may go back to it at some point.
Never heard of them before. Not bad. Interesting catchy tunes. Some are a bit too weird. Middle of the road electronic sounds.
I couldn't really get into the ambiance of it all.
good but not my thing
As Aphex Twin, Richard D. James lives on a diet of electronic pulses and seeds of inspiration. "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" is an odyssey of experiments in sound, some immediately lush and beautiful, others subtle and vague- all fully realised. It's hard to believe some of these tracks were first sketched out as early as 1985, when ambient music had barely taken off from the airport with Brian Eno. By the time "SAW" was released in 1992, electronic dance music had exploded onto the scene, in a kaleidoscope of rave, house and techno. In the meantime, James had built up a cohesive catalogue of work to cherry-pick from, and still ended up with a 74 minute album of very long tracks. A bit of self-editing here might have been to the album's benefit and made it more accessible still, but defining a whole sub-genre isn't bad going. In "Selected Ambient Works", Aphex Twin offers a more mellow side of electronic dance music, blending steely processed drum sounds with washes of synth to give voice to an emergent sub-genre of "ambient techno." The term seems much more apt than "intelligent dance music", an elitist label that James was right to reject. Instead, the "I" might be replaced with "introspective": this album is subtle, shape-shifting, moving through its tracks almost unnoticed. It's been on while I've been writing this and I've got completely lost in it. The more beat-driven material appeals to me a lot, even if the sounds are minimal and low-key. "Xtal" is a strong opening to set up stall, with a propulsive hi-hat cutting through calming washes of pads, with some gorgeous wordless vocals hovering faintly in the background. It's soothing, calming, yet restless and urgent. "Pulsewidth", "Ptolemy" and "Heliosphan" are similar, allowing the percussion to give a sense of dynamism and occasionally letting it cut out completely, for everything else to wash over. It's difficult to go much more in depth with the other individual tracks as I was very happy to surrender to them and let them soundtrack my day, giving a stronger aesthetic to work, relaxation and walking. It's easy to imagine how the album might have seeped into its fans' daily lives in the same way, becoming part of their landscape. It makes the early 90s seem like a utopia of listeners, riding the wave of fancy new portable music players and headphones, allowing James' "Ambient Works" to soundtrack their travels, their towns and cities, their late nights alone.
A bit of a monoculture, and pretty quickly I couldn’t stand the artificial drums, but overall - not too bad, even if Aphex Twin has better stuff out there.
One of Richard D James's more melodic affairs. Like it a lot...
I mean, it's pretty chill, but also nothing really stood out to me. Might be good to play during focused work tasks?
This record is as overdressed as a bacon sandwich on a surfboard.
RIP Paul Walker
This is fine. I think that the prevalence of loop software has made things like this seem much, much less special than they actually are. Kind of like how TikTok can make me look exactly like an old man but they couldn't erase Superman's mustache in that one movie.
Solid 3
Name def suits the music. Even though it was better than expected and likely influencial-ish, it still sounds just kinda like background music on a loading screen or something
Above average electronica = electronica = 2.5 = rounding up to be polite.
Ambient
Definately ambient. Some really good tracks balanced by some indifferent one. It was OK.
Fail so see what is “must hear”.
Good, but not my thing
I've listened to this album before, but not very closely. I played the album to provide some background music at work. During this second listen, I had to work at paying attention to each track, and appreciate what the music offers. I think I like the music, but based on my rating of the individual tracks this only gets 3 stars ("Green Calx" had some repeating sound effects that were too distracting). Even with only getting 3 stars, there is a chance I'll put this album on again.
Not my kind of thing, but good background music and very chilled out. Sounds like the work of one man with a clear idea of what he wants to do
I had higher expectations for this album. I really thought I'd love Aphex Twin, because I know some of his songs like; of course Alberto Balsalm, and I really love the vibe it gives me. This album not so much. Oh wait, does it pick up after Heliosphan? No... I find it too silly most times, and not as dark og abnormal as I would've hoped 3
meh
This is your fault, Brian Eno!! I saw it was Aphex Twin, and thought “oh didn’t they have that one really weird music video? I’ve heard of them.” Then I saw the title. More ambient music 😖 A lot of these ambient works sound like great background music for haunted houses and video games where you are figuring out creepy puzzles (Myst!) or getting lost in dungeons with who-knows-what lurking around the corner. And for those purposes, this would be really fitting. But to just sit and listen, for 2 hours and 36 minutes!? No thanks. There is definitely instrumental stuff that is good for background while you work or whatever. This isn't it. (The music video was for "Come to Daddy." It was messed up. That song sounds way more like Prodigy-type late 90s semi-popular drum and bass. But it's not good.) ------------------------- Ok, so all of the above nonsense was written while I was mistakenly listening to the wrong album. Some of it still applies. But not the haunted house/dungeon thing. This album of selected ambient works sounds totally different than Aphex Twin's other selected ambient works. This one has a beat. This is closer to dance music, while the other one is background music. There's some decent stuff here, but a couple that I didn't like. But it's really amazing how different this is from their other ambient album.
September 2, 2021 Actually pretty good for working/studying. Don't think I'd listen otherwise.
This was decent. I wasn't fully in the mood for ambient music today so I didn't finish the entire album but what I heard sounded good. Definitely intend to keep this in mind for when the mood is right.
Very back of background music
Interessant disc de techno ambiental, que transcendeix el génere de l'electrònica i pot agradar a qualsevol amb interés i ment oberta
Ihan lepposaa menoa. Levyn ehdoton helmi on Agrispolis joka on tullut tutuksi aivan toisen bändin toimesta.
Ihan makeeta kamaa läpi levyn. Hauska detalji ku huomasin, että yhestä biisistä oli Die Antwoord lainannu samplen.
This isn't even interesting enough for background music.
Pretty good songs, I liked Xtal, We Are The Music Makers and SchottKey 7th Path the most.
Fine ambient dance music. No way should this be on a list like this. A producer could recreate most of this in a few days on Logic Pro.
I could not get into this album. Background drone and quiet sounds but nothing that engaged me.
not for me
흠... 내 스타일은 아니었다. 듣기 힘들진 않았지만 그렇다고 또 듣고 싶지는 않았다. Hmm... it wasn't really my style. It wasn't hard to listen to, but I didn't feel like listening to it again, either.
Call waiting music.
this didn’t do anything for me tbh
Ok sure it's ambient, but why does it have to be so monotonous and boring. The songs very quickly become very repetitive and lack any distinguishing features to differentiate one track from another. I like a purely instrumental album, but here i just find no joy in this and didn't really like this as background music either. Fav Track: Pulsewidth
More fucking club music.
2/5
I know this is like one of the summer albums of the'90s I really don't enjoy it
I try so hard to like Aphex Twin, especially this album, and it never clicks. You know what does click? Windowlicker, Come to Daddy, and all of Drukqs. Literally all of those 3 EP/Albums, but not this. I owned the Drukqs vinyl box set, and sold it because of that awkward box size never fitting anywhere, but thats how much I liked it, and yet I cannot ever get myself to enjoy this. 2.
Half the album was the background music to a A24 wannabe film student’s personal project about life’s meaning. The other half was just meh and not that interesting.
My response to Aphex Twin is remarkably consistent yet often disappointing, which is simply: okay. I guess that ultimately his brand of electronic music, while important and good enough to stand on its own, just doesn't fulfill whatever I'm often looking for from music. Great background sounds, but if that's the ambition or the ceiling for greatness, I'm left wanting.
Lofi beats to explore a cyberpunk underground to
Just not my thing
This was like the soundtrack for a monotonous video game
This is the music that plays in the background while a music critic explains to you why Neil Young is the greatest artist of all time.
Mitä helvettiä
Really not for me. Feels like the background music they always have in the gym, good music for blocking out distractions I guess.
man really wish I could have heard works 78-84 instead. this was ignorable so I guess not bad.
Ohan taustamusaa, ei paskaa, mutta ei tästä kyllä mitään jäänyt mieleenkään joskaan ei ärsyttänytkään. 2/5
I honestly expected better. One good song and the others sound like the background music for an art display.
I wonder if anyone ever does Sunday brunch making brunch for the friends to come over on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and they put on the Apex twin to enjoy with their brunch I don’t think so who listens to this music? Is it still relevant? Does it make any sense? I don’t think anyone’s gonna be listening to this 100 years. It’s kind of boring. It served its purpose.
Assez répétitif et chiant que ce soit au long d’un même son ou même de l’album entier. La deuxième moitié de l’album est mieux.
Dance music in the 80s was shit. Like, embarrassingly shit. Then the 90s came and it got worse. And yet, unlike the previous decade there was a miniscule handful of artists making notable music in the genre. Aphex Twin was one. The outcast of the bunch. This is impressive given both the age he was when he made it and the technology he made it with. But there's nothing here I'd ever want to hear again. It's music that does absolutely nothing for me, either warbling along, or bleeping and blooping. One of his albums deserves a spot. Is it this one? Why not? But whatever it is you are supposed to feel when listening to this, I lack the capacity for.
I like aphex twin but is the odds and sods from his time in the bedroom when he was 15 must listen? It’s an act that would be much better served by a compilation. really. Stupid limitations. The one where he constructs the spectrograph reading so it looks like him is incredible stuff. This album though is kind of interesting. Not must listen.
A soundtrack to something i wouldnt want to watch.
good for aesthetic videos on tiktok but I can’t say I would just listen to it. Maybw while doing something monotonous it would be good, but I prefer songs with lyrics
Avril 14th is one of the most beautiful pieces ever composed, when you can do that why the fuck are you making this. Extra point for inventiveness
goeie studeermuziek ma BORINGGG
chepa ni mijn ding
I don't mind Aphex Twin but overall, this was pretty uneventful
It's fine for background music, but I doubt I'll be back to listen to this again. Easily forgotten for me. Call it 1.5
didn't really listen to it. What I did listen too sounded like Aphex Twin
Kind of can’t get through it, gotta be a right place right time album for sure
Im not a big fan of music with just beats and every song being around 4 minutes, with the same beat repeating again and again in the song just not something i can rate high. But I mean the beats are fire thats the least I can say.
I was kind of grooving on the ambient stuff after Sigur ros but I did not really care for this one. Seemed a bit too mellow. It was ok, I would listen to it again but would not try to find it and certainly would not buy it
música electrónica ambiental. personalmente no es un género que disfrute, si está muy bueno no lo sé reconocer. no se me ocurre cuando decidiría ponerme a escucharlo.
I can't really consider an occasion or activity where I would listen to this. This type of music is kind of farcical to me.
Uninteresting electronic sounds.
Ruined this album for myself by picturing Ross from Friends playing keyboard and it fits far too well. 1. Start drum track 2. Play a modulated keyboard with 1 finger 3. ??? 4. Profit Totally understand that this might have inspired a bunch of other electronic artists, and I appreciate "Aphex Twin" has gone on to win a load of awards etc. for his work, but this album contains work from when he was 13/14 years old, and funnily enough it _sounds_ like a 13/14 year old messing about with a synthesizer.
I think this album could have been a lot better if each song was half the length. There were some interesting stuff but it got repetitive in 5-7 minute long songs. I don't really think this should be on the list because it's just a bunch of sample tracks they were messing around with before their debut album... High 2
vibin @ the discotheque
It’s perfectly fine playing in the background, but I have no idea why you’d include it in a list like this.
29/03/2026 Even though I was willing to give it a chance, I found it quite long and boring. Spotify listeners: 3.5 million
This made me feel like I was in a nightclub I couldn’t escape from. It actually made me a bit twitchy and anxious after a while. Yet, somehow, it’s still not the worst thing I’ve heard on this generator. If I could give it 1.5* I would, but alas…
Zal wel weer aan mij liggen, maar ik vind dit echt ongelooflijk saai. Jammer dat elk elektronische album zoals dit klinkt, want nu lijkt het alsof ik elektronische muziek haat, terwijl dat 1 van m'n favoriete genres is. Maar niet als het klinkt als slaapmuziek of als heel erg rare muziek. Jammer. DNF
Weird, Schottkey 7th path has some Subtronics feel that he might have sampled from. But... forgettable and also background music.
Good background music while I was assembling some robot figurines for myself and a friend. Once the robots were complete I focused and discovered how this album should not be in the foreground. Not Kid Rock levels of bad.
Not for me
En oikein löytänyt tästä mitään tarttumapintaa, enkä kyllä keksi tilannetta jossa tähän levyyn enää koskaan palaisin. Posia täytyy antaa siitä, että jotenkin tosi ajattoman kuuloista. En olisi ikinä osannut arvata että tässä on kasarin-ysärin taitteen kamaa.
Meh
Silly. Not awful. Just silly noise.
90s clams casino
Not my taste
Fine as background noise, but didn't click.
I feel like I'm missing some context, because listening with today's ears this feels not so impressive. Nothing particularly wrong, just nothing of particular note. I guess if I'm looking for ambient music for something this would be a good choice, but I am rarely looking for ambient music. This one was not for me.
Ambient techno. This is the shit you put on when you're in the middle of doing something and you want to put on some music to fill the silence, but it has to be generic enough to not break your concentration.
Can't say I'll ever listen to this again
Really? I get to the end of the list and it’s more Aphex Twin? Well at least this one was just sort of forgettable instead of annoying
I don't really get the hype, though maybe if I listen to it some more I will
But like....where's the drop!? It definitely feels ahead of its time, and I don't doubt it has been immensely influential, but man is it hard to listen to! It's not chill enough to be actually ambient and background noise but it's way too boring and bland to be fun and dancy.
Fine enough for background music while you work
Its fine. Most memorable thing about it was the artwork
Not annoying but not necessary either.
Combination of varying speed aromatherapy massage music. But not unpleasant.
Very samey, not bad for a couple songs. Elevator music
Total background music — didn’t irritate me at all, but I don’t remember anything about the album either.
Quite pleasant sounding, but as far as music goes it doesn't do it for me. I like some bite to my repetition, some punch and this type of ambient "kraut" doesn't do it for me.
Mainly inoffensive but completely underwhelming. The clue is in the title.
This has potential, but the beats are too robotic and there are some bizarrely mixed tracks.
Just did very little for me. Nothing offensively bad about it, but nothing more than background music to my mind. I’d have a hard time remembering any distinctive songs from this album.
This kind of repetitive electronic music is one of those genres that I just don’t get. I can appreciate its significance as an early and therefore influential album, but sound-wise I simply can’t tell what distinguishes this as a great electronic album compared to anything else. I listened pretty attentively from start to finish, but only a few hours later I already can’t recall a single moment from it. It gets 2 stars because I’m assured of its significance, and because it was perfectly pleasant as background music, but I can’t see myself ever putting it on out of choice.
Can’t get into it. I thought the first half was interesting, the variation and mutation in the ambient sounds made for some nice background music. Then it became EDM that isn’t really in my taste wheelhouse.
Once again, I find myself desperately trying to figure out how the hell to rate ambient music. It completely lives in the background, which sucks, but is good? It's far from distinct and impossible to recall, which is depressing, but also the point? What the fuck do I know. There were some grooves. Fave tracks: - Green Calx - We Are the Music Makers - Ptolemy - Hedphelym
3/10
Following up a divisive country album with this feels like some sort of universal karma. Yes, there's still no accounting for taste, but the best thing I can say about this album is that it was inoffensive. It's probably doing exactly what it wants to, but I don't want it to do anything, especially for another hour and fourteen minutes. Just unimpactful music for me, personally.
I felt dizzy listening to this album.
I normally like ambient electronic, but this one felt kind of forgettable.
With titles like these I feel like I should get lab credits. Problem with this exercise is only rating after one listen maybe two. An album like this would need to be played a lot in order to may be liked. And that’s never going to happen.
I can appreciate that this music was made while the artist was quite young and that it was influential for its time, but it's just not exciting to listen to now. Too much similar music exists out there for this to really stand out in any way. Favorite Song: Xtal
Fine for background music at a store that I wouldn’t shop at
Slow not even scary edm
Not good
I don’t hate electronic music but I like to sing more
- kind of boring honestly, je comprends que ça a influencé la musique électronique mais il y a plusieurs longueurs sur l’album… - les beats sont catchy au début mais beaucoup trop répétitif, ça me rejoint pas trop
This was...okay. It was ambient, per the label, but some of the sounds were not pleasant.
From the relaxing to the unsettling. Mostly unsettling. I'm baffled by the reviews that describe this as elevator music or similar, it's much too jarring for that. I'm convinced some people have a very different subjective experience of music than I do.
Improper context to have listened to this album… I was stuck in traffic and it was really rainy and windy so this made me anxious
Not that impressed with this album , sounds like two fourteen year old kids playing their computer in the bedroom
Too slow and repetitive
Sure! This is the first time I’ve listened to Aphex Twin. I don’t really get it. Music dorks love this guy, and I thought it was fine.
Coming on the heals of a jazz album, I don't think so. Albums like this are a very occasional digression from the music genres I prefer. Sorry, can't stack this on top of a jazz album.
This is not my favorite genre but I think this is executed fairly well.
The album is beeing consisted to be a masterpiece of elektronic music.
didn’t listen to the whole thing, wasn’t my vibe
Actually kind of nice ambient noise for reading through specs at work, but will never listen again.
Ambient repetitive sounds that I don't care for
Pretty standard electronic music... Maybe ahead of it's time, but not very exciting.
Bored and annoyed by it. 4 minutes of music cut-and-pasted to 1h14m. When the song is the same 18 second loop how do you decide if it should be 4 minutes or 7?
It has some good parts, but they are few and far between. Most of the album is just repetitive and boring.
It’s not like this is terrible, but who sits around listening to this stuff? It’s like a cracker. In order to really enjoy it, you need to add some cheese or salami. Maybe the extra for Aphex Twin is a dime bag.
I understand why this is important and I understand why someone who likes this kind of music would like this a lot but by the time the next note or the next beat is audible I've already forgotten the previous one. It's not tedious to listen to, it's tedious to remember.
Felt like I was getting a massage in a rave
music for boring dentists' waiting rooms
Not kidding about the 'ambient'. This very long album slid through my brain and didn't even slow down long enough for me to remember it was happening.
Good music, but not anything special about it. picks: xtal, heliosphan
Non è il tipo di musica che fa per me
It felt like I was somewhere buying clothes for 1 hour and 14 minutes. Its not bad and I didnt mind it, but it just felt like it went on forever.
Ambient has come a long way. Kinda sounds like it was made on a calculator watch or a Speak and Spell.
Adequate
Willy Wonka jumpscare
Not my thing
It's nice enough, it's just really hard to listen to for this long. I just don't get ambient instrumental electronic music.
Not my thing
Ugly Boy is easily the best song from this album If there's no YTPMV of Ptolemy x Gabe the Dog, I'm gonna be a sad dog for the rest of this sentence Σ:< Honestly, if there were no percussion, I might have liked it
I'm guessing this was important but not for me in 2025 2
I literally started nodding off ... But I like naps!
put asap rocky on the 1st tune. why do 90s electronic artists put random sample bullshit on in the background? random goofy sound to kill the vibe in every song They need to make abridged versions of their albums for when you're not inebriated.
Background music. I listened to it and remember nothing. At least it wasn't too offensive
I acknowledge that it can be a bit unfair to rate an ambient album when it's up against the other genres in this list. I don't think it's necessarily a bad album and it probably has its place in the ambient music genre. That said, I didn't really care about it.
Ambient music is great for TV shows and movies and for elevator rides. But to sit down and listen to an album of it is too much.
Ok background music.. doesn’t do much for me though. A bit too long too. Can’t really focus too well when it’s on either… so a two for me.
Would be decent background music but otherwise I didn’t really see the hype. Pretty generic electronic music.
Unfortunately I just don't get this type of music at all. I respect the artistic value of it all, but it sounds so monotonous to me—though maybe that's point? I don't know. Either way, it wasn't unpleasant, but I wouldn't put this album on again, not even as background music. 2 stars
Pretty cool. Would never listen again
Okay enough techno album that feels just as generic as every other techno album on this list. At least there are some bop-py songs on this album, but when every sing is the same tempo it starts to get so boring. Cool moments, but those moments are fleeting. Top tracks: Ageispolis, Green Calx
Some good music here but so long it inevitably became background music
Appreciate some songs and the importance of the album but really have to be in the right mood for this.
Helt greit det.
I respect it, but just not my thing at all.
I didn’t actively dislike this or anything but it’s just not my favorite genre. 2.5 rounded down.
I had a couple of remix singles from this artist that I liked, so was excited for this. It started out OK but went downhill from there. Way too long.
It's quite literally just ambient sounds. Not white noise, or scenic river scene noises. Just randomly patterned tunes with some weird clips in it. I guess if you need noise?
Música ambiental sin más.
Boring ambient music. Fine as a background to some other, more interesting, activity.
I didn’t love this album. I know aphex twin hits, but over all this ambient album sounded more like background music instead of songs. There also wasn’t a theme that tied this album together. I honestly wouldn’t recommend this album to anyone.
Beep boop. Video game music. Maybe if I had a gummie.
It's just background music. Fine as background music, but there's only so engaging beats and the odd chord progression with no melody can be. I can't say whether this is a particularly good example of this genre because it sounds like all other background music. How it made this list I'll never know. Nobody's missing out by not hearing this
Nicht so schlimm, wie ich erwartet habe. An Stellen echt nicht schlecht, auf Dauer dann doch etwas nervig.
great background music for when you want something other than silence, but nothing memorable because it's truly in the background. The kinda stuff you'd hear at a poorly lit, try hard clothing brand store in a mall with more employees standing around than customers shopping.
The album is ok. It's simply nothing special. It sounds like somebody playing around. Not for me.
A mixed bag for me. Some nice background soundscapes at times but mostly tiresome. I'd imagine this is the sort of album an AI would pick.
No siento nada con lla electronica, no tomo drogas
This is exactly as advertised. Fine for background noise while studying or working, but little else. When this a um ended and Spotify began playing similar artists, it was a while before I realized. I would put this on again, but only when I specifically did not want to listen to music. So I rank it high on utility, but low as music. Since this is about music, it’s rounding down.
Ambient electronica is not my jam.
Boring background trance.
Interesting background music.
The issue with ambient music like this is it's not really the sort of stuff to sit back and engage with; it works much better in the background, whilst...ambient. we enjoyed it well enough but it wasn't particularly standout.
Not as enjoyable as the more famous aphex twins music. Not in the mood for ambient.
It’s like a movie score playing on the background as you go about living. And as such it’s a much about being white noise rather than music, w its emotion and story and melody.
Is it my kind of my music? - No, not really. Did I listened to it entirely? - Yes... but I had to listen to something else on the halfway of the album [oops]. ______________________________________ Overall, it wasn't that bad at the start, but then I just wanted it to end. I won't say it was bad but it wasn't absolutely divine either (at least for me, I'm nobody to judge anyone music tastes). It's just not my type of music and I accept it. Some songs are really not that bad actually! But for others, I just wanted them to end quickly but they felt so looong. And at some points, all the songs sounded similar to me, or almost. So, I must apologize. This is probably a biased review since it's not my thing. The truth is, I thought at first I could like it (I know some songs of Aphex Twin already - I was expecting songs similar to 'April 14th') but I guess not! ~~~ Random idea: making a cyberpunk movie with those songs. or a sci-fi movie. I can picture that (hey, i'm trying my best to say something nice about this album!).
I was actually disappointed by this, thinking the title would be tongue-in-cheek, based on what I do know of AT which are the much more aggressive and subversive, _Come to Daddy_ and _Windowlicker_. Truth is that this is exactly what it claims to be, and that's fine. If you're a huge fan of ambient music then maybe what I'm saying is sacrilegious, but for my personal tastes, this is background music. It's a good example of it, but it's not blowing me away and I feel this album is quite overrated. If someone puts it on, I'm fine with it, but not something I'd revisit.
You know those amateur travel videos on YouTube? This is the background tracking music for the action shots - some 23 year old Katie showing us how her boyfriend kiteboards in the Caribbean. Or music played by the hotel DJ while people find their seats and mingle ahead of the plenary session start at some accounting conference. Did everyone have a good time at the bar last night? I can see some merit in music like this but putting it on and listening to it as an album? Boring. 2/5
I remember nearly nothing about it, it was just background noise...
This sucked. I’m going to be fully straight on this one, it sucked. I am yet to genuinely understand the appeal of electronic music like it’s so boring, it goes on forever the sounds are so uninteresting. I genuinely don’t understand how anyone can sit down say “I’m gonna listen to music” and play instrumental electronic music! Now, is this actually terrible? No. Is it even the worst electronic album I’ve gotten? No, MJ Cole is in the corner of my eye. But it’s so uninteresting like every other one I’ve gotten and I’m only giving it a 2 because I save a 1 for an album that truly made me hate it, and as is I find this far to boring to truly hate, it’s around a 1.5/5 that got rounded up.
Lovely ambient background music. But it really is background music. Nice to work to, but does that alone allow this to have a high score? Today, I think not.
Genetic background music vibes
“Selected”…. Selected for what? Quick nap or full coma?
Not my thing.I barely feel qualified to review it
Listened to a couple of other ambient albums lately (Brian enzo- apollo, airport music; oval-94diskont). This one is definitely the weakest of them all-> did not enjoy
I don't think this is my thing
I like some ambient music (Brian Eno, GSYBE, Explosions in the Sky). This is fine, but not my jam.
Not a fan of electronic music, but this was very chill and easy listening. 2.5/5.
Ooh I love my ugly boy So rough and tough Don't care about anything but me Yes I just love him cause he's so crazy Just crazy about me! Otherwise this is repetitive trash.
I like Pop music. And Choruses. This was inoffensive electronic music to my ears. 2 Stars.
eh
My life is not a movie. I have no need for a soundtrack.
I have it in me to enjoy Aphex Twin at its weirdest, but I didn’t much care for this one.
Sounds like the preprogrammed beats on my childhood Casio keyboard
It was a vibe
- war irgendwie eine Mischung zwischen geiler Experience und nervtötend - teilweise coole Tracks dabei, die mich in einen Tunnel geholt haben, aber eben auf der anderen Seite auch Tracks, die mich genervt haben und mich voll rausgeholt haben - irgendwo zwischen 2-3
Ambient noise. Exactly what is says/
Exactly what I expected from ambient electronic music: boring, repetitive, and long.
Never really listened to this band before, and this was not really what I expected them to sound like. Very boring.
Not for me.
Ambient, indeed. Like a video game soundtrack.
Had a few interesting segments, but otherwise just sounded like someone messing around on a Casio keyboard in the late 80’s
This album was ok, definitely a "Background" listening album.
Almost feels like content. I hoped for better because his electronic is so cool.
Reminded me of the xx albums, just ambient type music. Not much going on.
I don’t even dislike it. It’s just 2X longer than I have the patience for. Maybe that says more about me than the album itself.
Certainly ambient. Didn't even notice when it ended. Perhaps a bit too dull for my tastes. 2.5/5
.-.
For the credit these guys get for being masters of ambient, for how much I enjoy ambient music across the board, one would think that I'd rave about these guys. But I don't. There are just a few elements in almost anything I've heard them do that feels loose or sloppy or less human than I find enjoyable. So yeh, 2 stars for effort
Why does the names of half the tracks sound like third rate crypto currencies? Xtal, Heliosphan, Delphium and Actium sound like shit coins some low rent crypto-bro would try to sell me. Come to think of it, he probably listens to Aphex twin. Not actively bad bud a lot like beige wallpaper. Or a gilet vest from Patagonia.
Some very strange noises. I added the first song though
It's really crazy to listen to something for over an hour, but it also is absolutely nothing, like this album. It is minimalistic, it leaves nothing, it barely has an origin. Listening to this is like eating those chips, Bugles. It's kinda nice while it's happening, and it has a cute, niche idea, but it has absolutely no impact whatsoever, and only makes you want something heartier or more filling.
naja, ist halt elektronisch
Like when you're tired and think a sleep playlist on Spotify might work. Very mild. Too long of an album to actually commit to sitting through it.
above average electronic, but still electronic
It's OK, and I can see why it stands out in its field. But that is about all. I know the album is called ambient sounds, but this is about as beige as you can get. I need a bit of oomph. It's a 2
Very ambient as it says on the tin. I did prefer the previous album 'Digeridoo'. By thr time this album came out I had moved on to Mahler I think. Great as background noise.
its an ok listen, def ambient. Maybe for the time it was revolutionary and forward thinking but in 2025 this sound like stuff we may confuse with AI generated music. its supposedly moody and it does set a mood but the layering is just not that impressive and it doesnt have the nostalgic soul samples or rock samples some other works do. I feel i would have been perfectly ok not having heard this before i die It is a nice change of pace form the barrage of new 70s rock which I’ve gotten recently
(Sigh) Yet ANOTHER electronica album. When that soulless, fake drum beat drops you'd better like it because it's going to bore its way into your brain like some kind of sonic Chinese water torture. The repetition is grating. This one barely earns a 2 by virtue of me not hating it so much that it made me angry.
could i write poetry to these? n
I do like it few Aphex Twin songs, but none of these.
I listened to a decent chunk of this. Perhaps it was formative at its time, but we have such a rich variety of ambient music now that it's hard to appreciate it.
2.5 Not the worst ambient music I’ve heard for this project (lol), but I definitely prefer my Aphex Twin spooky
I agree with Mike -I can appreciate how influential this was at the time and its influence can be heard everywhere now. But I appreciate this more as a historical document rather than as a an album.
I usually like Electronica and ambient music. Aphex Twin and this album just don't meet my expectations. It's shallow and boring.
This album could have been 20 minutes long and even then it would have been just okay. 1.5
Thin line between ambient and boring. There were some Interesting things musically but I couldn’t really get into it.
This isnt really my kind of music, but as far as this type of music goes this was one of the more palatable ones. Didnt annoy me as quickly as most of these do
Study music. I like lyrics
Not my style
I'm really only going 2 here as Aphex' story is really cool and this is pretty groundbreaking, but I still don't care for hold music.
Sure would be a shame if we missed any of these 90s electronica albums, I guess.
Perfect muzak to block out the sounds of a loud office. Ambient electronica is quite useful, even pleasant, but could you really distinguish this album from countless others? I couldn't.
background club music. its fine, just not my taste
Xtal is a pretty cool song. Ageispolis has an interesting bass line. Overall chill background noise but yet another electronic album that has no business on this list.
Not bad background music. Standout song Green calx
well this is different ... I'm not concerned about missing anything while I type my responses! Is it anything else but background music? Interesting but nothing to sit down and listen carefully to, almost an intellectual exercise in trying to figure out where the subtle changes come in but ultimately the music never goes anywhere but on ... and on ... and on. The best you can say about this is its pleasant enough to have playing in the background as you get on with your life. Nothing musically interesting or challenging, typically 90's music or is that just letting my prejudices show!