Disco de Bent: “Programmed To Love”

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."

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.

If the whole "Electronica" genre reminds you too much of meandering un-involving Chill-out music, then this demands closer investigation. Not strictly Dance music, but far removed from deary "Late night Chill out albums", endlessly inventive, gracefully melodic, and a real sense of diversity and musical soundscape creation.....It's hard to classify this album in any one particular genre, particularly because the music is incredibly textured & layered, and yet feels like these a bizarre underlying Coherence linking all the individual tracks, but if other artist comparisons had to be made...then filing this next to artists such as: "Plaid / Black Dog / Mouse on Mars" would be a fair approximation to make. But irrespective of lazy labelling, this is electronic music at it finest, and a relatively undiscovered album by most people, that forgoes "mainstream accessibility" of something far more worthwhile.

Don't judge an album by its cover. I played my Bent CD at my workplace, which allows music to be played for everyone else to listen, and the next thing I hear is "Who's this???"

I've heard the name Nana Mouskouri a hundred times, but never cared enough to listen to any of her songs. I'm mesmerized everytime I listen to Track #4 (I Love My Man) and Track #10 (A Ribbon for My Hair), since Bent uses samples of her music and lovely voice. Track #12 (Always) is the first song I fell in love on this CD. What an ingenious idea and a unique sounding to borrow a sample from an old, old, old song (you know, the kind of singing you hear on those early 1900 black n' white films)! Track #2 (Private Road) and Track #8 (Swollen) contain no samplings, but original singing by co-writer Zoe Johnston, another spellbinding voice on the CD.

The rest of the songs seem to have a sprinkle of "cuteness" and "humor" in them. Overall, this album is programmed to put listeners in a good mood. If only there was a way to listen to it while floating amongst the thick white clouds above blue sky.

This album is full of interesting, diverse soundscapes that never leave you bored! The mere range of material on this album is fascinating. Just when you've absorbed one melody, another one pops right out at you. Vocals occur as melodramatic synthesized robots on the bluesy track "Cylons of love", meshed with it's beautiful piano and acoustic guitar melodies. One of the albums highlight tracks, "Swollen", has Sade-like sultry vocals over mesmerizing music which make you feel like you're floating on a cloud, as the song suggests. "Welly Top Mary" sounds like something you'd hear while viewing French models sporting new designer fashions down the catwalk. This track cleverly begins as an answer to a telephone ring beat that has morphed from the previous track. The track "Irritating Noises" has a strong resemblence to Lou Reed with it's artsy metaphors to love-hate conflicts with lyrics like "I like the orange glow, but I hate the irritating noices." A comfortable track of knowingness with a few "irritating" knocks as if someone is knocking on a ceiling or wall beyond the listener's domain. The track "Always" is an ever changing surprise of operatic vocals to hip lounge beats which later morphs to a juvenile, innocent "London Bridge is falling down" spoof. The only track I find unappealing is "Chocolate Wings"; otherwise, this album is amazingly consistent. I would definitely shy away from comparing this album to any of the other electronic artists like Bjork, Groove Armada, Moby, etc., for this is uniquely "mental." One of the best albums I've bought since Macy Gray! This album is the future of music! A Must-Have!