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Suzuki

Tosca

2000

Suzuki

Album Summary

This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.

Suzuki is the second studio album by Austrian duo Tosca, released by Studio !K7 and G-Stone Recordings in 2000. Unlike many of Tosca's subsequent releases, Suzuki is essentially an instrumental album, with vocal samples integrated throughout, but in such a way that they "become a part of the instrumentation." The album is dedicated to the Zen master Shunryu Suzuki. The dedication can be found on the inside of the front cover. A dub remix album, Suzuki In Dub, was released in October of the same year, and the compilation of remixes of "Honey", Different Tastes of Honey, was released in 2002. The song "Doris Dub" is a remix of the song "To Ulrike M." by Doris Days, and appears as the second half of the original remix by the group in 1998. It was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.87

Votes

63

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Reviews

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Jul 07 2025
4

Really nice and relaxed electronica album with a bit of triphop. It uses also vocal samples as musical instruments and that sounds great.

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Jul 07 2025
4

Smooth, pretty groovy. Sounds like the lobby of the Cosmpolitan hotel I frequented in the early 2010s. Nice background listening.

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Jul 08 2025
4

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Suzuki, Annanas, Orozco, Ocean beat

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Jul 16 2025
4

Trip hop / Electronica that obviously sounds a bit dated today. But I guess that if you listened to it with an appropriate mindset, this supposed flaw actually adds to the trippy experience. Yeah, I know, I know... Boards Of Canada will always beat old electronic bands at this game. Retro-futuristic nostalgia was a pivotal element of their soundscapes from the get-go. Alas, we're not talking about the Scottish act now -- even if I hear them a little in the last two tracks of *Suzuki*: "Doris Dub" and outro "Pearl Off" I knew who one half of Tosca was (Dorfmeister, from that other Austrian electronic duo Kruder And Dorfmeister). But I had never heard about this project before. "Suzuki" is an extraordinary track. Its main hook is very memorable, and its zen-like flourishes as subtle and enticing as jasmine fragrance. The rest tags along nicely, with a lot of unobtrusive moody cuts and some subtle seventies-adjacent arrangements that are quite cool once in a while. As a smooth electronic album, *Suzuki* is not exactly groundbreaking or totally idiosyncratic, but it works exactly as it should. And the last leg of the LP is especially effective. "Ocean Boat"'s off-kilter use of vocal samples brings some extra edge to its smooth groove, and "The Key" is an awesome cut, with its melancholic piano clashing with a busy bassline that's not so far from the one Massive Attack sampled for their own "Safe From Harm". When the music's that good, it doesn't matter if it sounds a little old. Unsure whether this record deserves a slot in my ideal '1001 albums list', though--the middle of the LP might be a little 'meat-and-potatoes' for this genre on first listens... But I want to give it the benefit of the doubt and place it in my "high-rated list" anyway, so as to give me the chance to return to it later. Who knows, maybe some other cuts from this one will eventually grow on me? Zen bliss never surges right away, does it? Unless you work on it first... ---- 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5). Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 32 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 42 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 77 --- ร‰mile, il y a dรฉjร  une partie de mes rรฉponses au-dessus. Il y en aura d'autres en dessous..

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Jul 18 2025
4

Didnโ€™t expect to see this one here. A slick collection of grooves

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Jul 07 2025
3

Downtempo, electronica, trip hop, chill out, nu jazz. Ni fu ni fa.

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Jul 08 2025
3

Found this pretty dull. The vocalized parts mostly didn't do it for me - for once the language barrier didn't make me feel like I was missing much of substance. I didnt hate it or anything, it passed an hour amiably enough, but they was plenty.

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Jul 08 2025
3

Ok it's cruisy electronica type stuff that kinda rides the line between electronic and an actual band. I can't tell - it's the sort of thing that COULD be achieved by a band, even if it is mostly sampling. End of album: pretty uninteresting. The needle didn't move much. But it wasn't unpleasant, either. Just went for far too long. 3/5.

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Jul 09 2025
3

First time in a while on this project I can say I've listened to something strikingly new (to me). This LP definitely takes heed from the early days of electronica with some clear Aphex inspiration, but forges its own meandering path that's oddly hypnotic. You would think 6-minute tracks with minor progression would test one's patience, but there's a sly sense of worldbuilding in each song that keeps you hooked until the end. While the album does start to lose steam pretty severely in the last third, it still provides an unexpectedly entrancing listen which I genuinely enjoyed!

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Jul 09 2025
3

It's alright, but like most albums of this genre I find it sort of repetitive and just blends into the background. 3 stars.

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Jul 09 2025
3

At first, I thought this album would be rather dull. But a few tracks in, I started noticing and appreciating the subtle nuances. Still, itโ€™s not something Iโ€™d put on again anytime soon.

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Jul 13 2025
3

Cool chilled out vibes enjoyed this one.

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Jul 14 2025
3

Strange album. Sometimes I put it on and think itโ€™s boring or aimless, other times it clicks and feels smooth and atmospheric. It's firmly downtempo (not lounge), and while it doesnโ€™t always hit for me, Iโ€™ve heard much worse in the genre. Tracks like โ€œSuzuki,โ€ โ€œOrozco,โ€ and โ€œHoneyโ€ stand out, with some genuinely nice piano and string samples. Not essential, but when it works, it works.

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Jul 22 2025
3

Serviceable downtempo, unhateable, but also nothing special. Wonder what the backstory of this submission is. Not something you'd expect from a person that has Sepultura's Roots as their favorite from the original list.

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Jul 25 2025
3

It's chill music but that's it. This kinda stuff is a dime a dozen and this isn't any really different than the 1000 other versions of it that exist. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

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Jul 07 2025
2

A pretty chill lofi electronic album that combined classic simple beats with modern electronic sounds to create a soothing sound. Overall itโ€™s great as background music or something to get lost in but it lacks as an album that is something Iโ€™d want to revisit. 5.1/10

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Jul 08 2025
2

Sure is a whole lot of ambient stuff on the user list. How are you supposed to distinguish this?

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