Customer Reviews

Machine Soul: An Odyssey Into Electronic Dance Music

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

That's right, it's the best modern electronic compilation atpresent - i only hope that the next one is a whole heck of a lotbetter. Reading the liner notes, Rhino intended for this to be a 4 CD set, but (for reasons unknown) it was whittled down to only two. The compilation is an average overview for the uninititaed, but if you're a long-time collector/listener, chances are you have the first CD's cuts already in your collection. The second disc is really spotty - why are Fluke/Uberzone/BT even included? At least one drum 'n' bass/acid/Madchester tune could have been included instead. Better choice of tunes should have been made for the Chemical Brothers/Orb/Underworld/KLF. Anyhoo, i'd use this in my "Electronic Music 101" class, but i wouldn't base the course solely on this. i also recommend checking out _Early Modulations: Vintage Volts_ - a decent intro comp to pre-pre-Kraftwerk electronic music. Hopefully some Moby/Keoki/Crystal Methods fans will give this a listen...

it is good that a compilation exists like this-finally. techno compilations can be so spotty, but this is one that finally delivers. it's best for the novice who wants to have a place to start with this underappreciated genre. true, most of us already have these, but it's good to listen to in context. there is quite a bunch of stuff missing ('papua new guinea' from future sound of london is one of the prettiest songs made in any genre), some stuff is tired ('little fluffy clouds' again?) and wrong cuts appear ('numbers' and 'pocket calculator', or all of 'autobahn'-22 minutes! would have been better), not to mention missing subgenres like garage, jungle/drum and bass, and acid house. all in all, a good starting point. good history represented with 'cars','blue monday', and 'i feel love'.

A surprisingly perceptive Amazon.com review gets it right: Andrew Weatherall's "Nine O'Clock Drop" is a far superior compilation of cutting edge late 70s/early 80s music. "Machine Soul" is a bunch of tracks, many individually good, with too many previously released on innumerable other compilations; as an "odyssey" it's a dud.

This compilation consists of the music that the kid in the back of the school bus played on his ghetto blaster. The songs were unintelligible, but catchy. These songs bridged the gap between "white" and "black" music. I remember the majority of these songs, but a few I am hearing for the first time. One of the latter is "Little Fluffy Clouds" by The Orb. When I got to this track, I hit the repeat button and listened to it for hours...now it feels as if I've known it all my life. I was happy to see "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode included as well as Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock," though I think the long instrumental version would have had a better fit here. Overall, this 2-CD set will serve me well on long trips and at parties. It was hard to find, but well worth the search. If as an 80's teenager/young adult your musical tastes were as eclectic as mine, you will thoroughly enjoy this offering.

This is a hit and miss compilation of music. My only complaint is that there are two very important electronica influences missing here: The Crystal Method and Devo.

It's difficult discerning just who this collection is aimed at. Covering 25 years, "Machine Soul" regurgitates a heap of old, vaguely electronica-related commercial tunes. Anyone with even a passing interest in the pop-electronica genre would have collected these tracks years ago. As for any others, there's nothing here that would remotely interest. It's a tragic title, too: there's no flow, nor relationship, between the tracks, suggesting Rhino thinks "Machine Soul" is some clanking, grinding monstrosity. With this release, they're right.