Aquarium For Your Ears
Victor Leclerc | Lewiston, Maine USA | 10/12/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"To speak about this extensive set of music allegorically, "Space 'n' Bass" is like an aquarium full of beautiful and varied tropical fish, each interesting in it's own way, whether breathtakingly colorful, exotically compelling or curiously fascinating. And by the very nature of the mediums, both the fish in the imaginary aquarium and the music in these CDs achieve relaxing and beautiful movement via endless repetition and effectively enjoyed for limited time periods only.This is not to say that "Space 'n' Bass" is boring; it boasts an impressive array of ambient electronica offering ample doses of acid jazz, jungle, world-beat and beat-box percussive underpinnings, a nice balance of analog, digital and sampled textures, a smattering of other instruments, infectious bass patterns and surprising aural constructions. From the armchair world mini-tours of Loop Guru to Dfuse's astral journeys to Chicane's smooth soundtrack jazz to the icy meditations of Crystal Moon, Optica and Transfinite to Quad's cinematic visions to Carl Cox's inimitable constructions to Astralasia's cavernous soundscapes to the controlled urban/electro chaos of Fluid, every sub-genre of mid-'90's ambient and electronic are represented without pandering to schmaltzy new age-y compositions. The final four CDs do tend to grate on the nerves with relentless early electronica dance affectations but they do have the right to be represented here and will get you moving if you are so inclined.Aficionados of this cross-genre of music will probably prefer to buy entire works by the artists they enjoy while listeners only marginally interested in ambient, electronica and chill-out music may find the sheer volume of this compilation, well in excess of 14 hours, to be simply too much to digest given any period of time. My argument is that, at approximately the price of three individual CDs, this 12-CD opus is worth picking up whether to peruse the work of non-mainstream ambient/electronic artists or to use as a soundtrack for your daily activities. Too bad it's a limited release. After all, isn't the function of a well-kept tropical aquarium to relax, dazzle and mystify while allowing itself to be completely ignored as well? "Space 'n' Bass" is just such an aquarium for your ears."
Wow!
wicket333 | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 07/12/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a great box set. Its 12 cds from the best ambient artists around. This box set more typical ambient music rather than the unique sounds of Richard D. James (Aphex Twin), Autechre, and many other ambient essentials left out of this set. This is great if you want to sample some great ambient artists. The best on this set is The Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds, Loop Guru's Skin Heaven, and Carl Cox's Tribal Jedi. And at this price, you can't go wrong."
Great music, lots of repeats!
jason2238 | petaluma, ca United States | 03/06/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Well, yeah, the music is pretty darn good. But some songs are repeated on multiple CD's! What's up with that?"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1