[.ca] Programmed to Love

From Amazon.com:
Though they've been compared to everyone from Air to Radiohead, Nottingham, England's Bent are mostly defined by their determination to sound like everyone. With that goal in mind, they've stuffed Programmed to Love with an array of samples from vocalists and snippets from jazz, rock, hip-hop, and God knows what else. Stylistically they flirt with downtempo, but just as often the music winds up further afield, embracing trip-hop, ambient, and post-club anthems. "Private Road" mixes a chilly female vocal with cracked samples and a swaying rhythm, but later the album falls into sillier, Lemon Jelly-like territory with "I Remember Johnny." It all works, making for a record that stays fresh with repeated listenings. Besides, Bent have received the ultimate 21st-century compliment already, as the vaguely big-beat thump of "Invisible Pedestrian" has shown up in a car commercial. With that sort of cachet, can mainstream success be far behind? If not, so be it, as Love finds room for more imaginative fun while being more accessible than anything in recent memory. --Matthew Cooke

a real winner:
i had never heard of Bent before hearing this cd--guess they haven't quite broken the US mainstream yet. nonetheless, this disc is packed with lush, sometimes playful tunes that become more and more interesting with each listen. the vocals from nana mouskori are somewhat unusual but round out the songs nicely. a real pleasure, not a bad track on this cd

The Future:
Whenever I listen to this, I get the feeling that I am listening to the culmination of symphonic, operatic, popular, and electronic music all into one. The promo sticker on the outside that said "contains XXX from that Volkswagen commercial" almost turned me off--thank Gods I paid the 14.99 anyway. It took me a few listens. By Jove, the Future is now! Pop beats overlaced with soprano wailing; Jamaican-style loops with sampling; what an Old Country Buffet of sound! Why is all the good music coming from Europe? I'm reminded of the future-mix concerts in the movies "Starship Troopers" and "The Fifth Element". Get Bent.

Sublime Electronica Music.....with a humorous slant:
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.

Bent: programmed to love:
This CD was brutal to the extent that I can only consider it obscene. I can only help in aiding the people of the world by encouraging them to live their lives free of ever having to have suffered it.

Bent And Wigged:
Okay, so they're not terribly original. Okay, so listening to Bent can devolve into playing a game of Spot The Sample (they seem to like Nana Mouskouri a lot). They're no less enjoyable for all that, though; that they sound like a lot of other similarly-inclined outfits shouldn't stop anyone from checking them out (they seem to like Yello a lot). They have a knack for combining lovely musical passages with absurdist humor, and they don't sound like they are trying incredibly hard, which is good (they seem to like Telex a lot). My Major Gripe Department admonishes, however, that even the most absurd ideas are subject to overkill (they seem to like 'Gilligan's Island' a lot). Hence, as enjoyable as tracks like 'I Remember Johnny', 'Invisible Passenger', and especially 'New Wig For Me' are, they'd be twice as good at around half their length- -which is about where the songs' punchlines begin to lose their impact and the absurdity factor- -Bent's manifest raison d'etre- -becomes cloying (they seem to like Hawkwind a lot). But what the heck, a good joke is always worth hearing again. And check out that hidden track (they seem to like bathos a lot).

• Exercise 1
• Private Road
• Cyclons in Love
• I Love My Man
• I Remember Johnny
• Swollen
• Welly Top Mary
• A Ribbon For My Hair
• Invisible Pedestrian
• A New Wig For Me
• Always