Seriously Underated (Best Of Strange Cargo - William Orbit)

Member Name: digit01

Product:	Best Of Strange Cargo - William Orbit
Date:	09/08/00 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: smooth mellow funk with an electronic undercurrent

Disadvantages: under-rated. Had to sell out and produce Madonna for big bucks

William Orbit is undoubtedly a victim of the state of the modern music industry. Listen to any of his seminal Strange Cargo or early Bassomatic/Hypnotone albums and you'll soon realise he's a bit of a genius. But typically for this day and age, he didn't gain much of a mainstream following (and hence much moulah) until he produced for a big name, in this case Madonna. He has always enjoyed a massive and incredibly devoted clut following, but it wasn't until he hooked up with someone like Madonna (who's brilliantly marketed) that he got any serious recognition. He pretty much single handedly created Madona's multi milion selling Ray Of light album (just listen to any of his previous stuff and compare the two). It just goes to show - talent means little in this day and age of multi conglomerate/corporate control of the music industry - what's more important is marketing dollars/image. Let's hope the interent/Napster and Mp3's can change that, eh?

Anyway, that's enough of a rant. If you like smooth, funky bass-heavy electronic music that's up-lifting, yet mellow, you'll love William Orbit's early work, particularly The Strange Cargos series. The Best Of... is an excellent introduction and will certainly make you want to check the rest out. (beware his 'Pieces In a Modern Style' album, it sucks.)

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