Programmed to Love

Bent | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 23, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ministry of Sound Us
• ASIN: B00005QG9S
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,603 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #48 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Ambient Pop

Track Listings

1. Exercise 1

2. Private Road

3. Cyclons in Love

4. I Love My Man

5. I Remember Johnny

6. Swollen

7. Welly Top Mary

8. A Ribbon For My Hair

9. Invisible Pedestrian

10. A New Wig For Me

11. Always

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Chill Out CD of the Year, November 19, 2001

By 

David Rumsey (Minneapolis, MN 55405) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Programmed to Love (Audio CD)

This album was hailed as "the Best Chill Out CD of the Year" by New Music Review and Revolution. It is a perfect title. But that doesn't mean that some of the songs won't want to make you drive a little faster or tap your toes. It's more emotional than anything, using samples from Nana Mouskouri (remember her?) to bring out rapturous feelings of love and joy or sorrow. This is especially true of "Ribbon in her hair" and "I love my man" or "Swollen". "Cylons in love" is another create combination of the hard and soft with the cold "electronic" sound of the cylons (Battlestar Galactica)singing gently to each other. Each song is quite unique and stands alone, transporting you to a different place each time. There is definately no "formula" here, yet the songs still have a melodic underpinnings that prevent them from sounding like harsh, random electronic noises that can sometimes be found in other "experimental" electronic music. I like to think of it as a "soundtrack for my life". Each time I listen to it, the memories and emotions of when I first heard the album come welling back and highlight the time and place where I am now. "Chill out, forget the troublesome past, focus on the happy present."

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, but do yourself a favor and get the IMPORT version, April 6, 2002

By 

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Programmed to Love (Audio CD)

I was recently introduced into Bent by a friend at work who knows of my appreciation for material such as Everything But The Girl, Air, Zero 7, Tosca and Thievery Corporation. He wasn't wrong. This debut album by DJs Simon Mills and Nail Tolliday totally blew me off my feet! They make extensive use of loops and samples, as well as some robotic-sounding vocoders here and there, but still retain a very unique sound to them, thanks to the atmospheres they successfully create with the synthesizers in the backgound.

Most likely you have heard the two hits, "Swollen" and 19-minute-long "Always" with samples of Norrie Paramor in the first third of the song ("Always in my heart"). However the rest of the album is every bit as good. In particular the first half of it is my favorite: "Exercise 1," "Private Road," "Cylons in Love" (uhhh! Battlestar Gallactica times... they were, oh so good!) and "Chocolate Wings."

As a last comment, you might want to dig into the UK release from 2000, as it contains a couple of tracks not present on this, the US version, or the "combined" version which contains a total of 18 tracks, which attempts to sum up the US and UK versions. All in all, an excellent choice to drive, read, write or program to, or if nothing else, simply to chill out to.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Loungepop - If Bill & Rhys (Delerium) took happy pills,, January 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Programmed to Love (Audio CD)

If Bill Leeb & Rhys Fulber (Delerium) took happy pills, they might produce something like this...

Having only heard "Invisible Pedestrian", "Swollen", and "I Love My Man", I expected more sampling and Stereolab-ish compu-tweaking... So much for expectations. In this case, that's a good thing.

The samples here are interwoven close to seamlessly, and are well-chosen and integrated to fit the composition like hand in glove. It's almost as if the samples were originally written for these compositions... The tweaking is also subtle, except on "Swollen" - a terrific, moving and ambient track (and the strongest here, in my view).

The individual songs are a little repetitious at times, but not gratingly so... The rhythms and melodies are infectious, smooth, and even have a pinch of latin seasoning here and there. A couple of the songs offer quite a bit of 'disco remix' potential, probably already out there somewhere. The soundscapes are lush and involving - really, really nicely arranged.

If you're looking to sample songs, try "Private Road", "A Ribbon For My Hair", "Swollen", and "Always."

Though you might not be bowled over song-by-song, the CD as a whole is a well-assembled, fluid, interesting and very pleasant collection. If you're a fan of Thievery Corporation, Mandalay, newer Delerium, or even Pet Shop Boys, you'll likely find this CD a happy home in your collection.

Very accessible - highly recommended.