Programmed to Love [Import]

1. Exercise 1

2. Private Road

3. Cylons In Love

4. I Love My Man

5. Invisible Pedestrian

6. Chocolate Wings

7. I Remember Johnny

8. Swollen

9. Welly Top Mary

10. A Ribbon For My Hair

11. Irritating Noises

12. Always

13. Exercise 2

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Simon Mills and Nail Tolliday, the Nottingham, UK Electronica Artists who Go by the Name Bent, Released this Compilation in 2001, Encompasing Previous EP Releases.features Different Cover Art from the USA Version, and Different Tracks.

Tracks:

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

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

Album Description

Now available in the U.S. from Ministry Of Sound USA. Bent garnered critical praise in almost all of the UK press. Fans of Air, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Dusted and the like are sure to love this album. 11 tracks total. 2002.

Customer Reviews:

Bent.......2006-03-15

Music has a great aftertaste. One of the few albums that i can listen to over and over.

Interesting.....yet different.......2005-05-12

I was looking through my local music store perusing through the B Section and came across Bent: Programmed To Love CD. I said, 'what the heck', and purchased this CD. Until today I have not had a chance to listen to this album and I am both surprised and intrigued by this group's form of music. What is most enticing is that Bent does not come under one genre or form of music but takes from the pop, new age, easy listening as well as trance fusion and brings it all together into one package.
What one must have when they listen to this type of music is patience and understanding...patience is needed because to fully understand and enjoy this CD one must listen to the whole album more than once. It grows on you, as it did me.
This is 'Bent's' first album and I will be endeavouring to get their others soon on order from Amazon. The picks from this CD for me was 'Chocolate Wings' and 'Invisible Pedestrian'.

Outstanding.......2004-09-28

After repeated listenings, I just don't tire of this album. There is always something new to discover.

Bent: programmed to love.......2004-05-07

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.......2004-02-18

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).

Average customer rating:

Excelent Album

Programmed to Love

Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

The Everlasting Blink
Ariels
Intercept!
Later: Compiled and Mixed by Bent
Programmed to Love

ASIN: B00005AS49
Release Date: 2001-11-16

Tracks:

Exercise 1
Private Road
Laughing Gear
I Love My Man
Butterfingers
Cylons In Love
Wrong Rock
A Ribbon For My Hair
Blue
I Remember Johnny
Swollen
B Bishop
Exercise 2
Invisible Pedestrian
Memories
Irritating Noises
Always
Beach Buggy

Album Description

Exclusive French pressing of their amazing debut album that garnered critical praise in almost all of the UK press. Fans of Air, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Dusted and the like are sure to love this album. This French pressing includes three full-length tracks

Customer Reviews:

Excelent Album.......2004-03-06

Good downbeats. Magic, fantasious & etheric ambient.
Without a doubt, my favorite disk.
I recommend it.

Average customer rating:

Bent to perfection
A touch of magic
Do not hesitate. Buy this now.
Get Bent!
Not Only Is This Album Great, But VW Used It InTheir Ads!

Programmed to Love
Bent
Manufacturer: Ministry of Sound/Sport
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Ambient Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Ariels

ASIN: B00005KFVX
Release Date: 2001-05-09

Tracks:

Excercise 1
Private Road [Laughing Gear]
Cylons in Love
Chocolate Wings [Wrong Rock]
Invisible Pedestrian [Blue]
I Remember Johnny
Swollen
Welly Top Mary [Memories]
Irritating Noises
Always [Toothless Gibbon]

Album Details

Simon Mills and Nail Tolliday, the Nottingham, UK Electronica Artists who Go by the Name Bent, Released this Compilation in 2001, Encompasing Previous EP Releases.features Different Cover Art from the USA Version, and Different Tracks.

Customer Reviews:

Bent to perfection.......2003-09-03

Bent are exactly as the name suggests,a little distorted,but always good fun."Programmed to love" is a masterpiece of musical brilliance,courtesy of the faultless standout tracks "swollen","private road" and "always".Band member Zoe Johnston's vocals melt straight into the music,and will leave you in chillout heaven.But dont expect all the album tracks to just blend into each other,because the other side of Bent comes to the party with some weird and quite humorous selections,"chocolate wings" being a perfect example.Check the credits on a couple of the sampled vocal tracks,you will be surprised what you will find.Bent?yes,brilliant?definitely.

A touch of magic.......2002-09-30

I heard Invisible pedestrian when I stepped into HMV at Oxford Street to buy the Verve's Urban Hymns.

Programmed to Love contains some of the most amazing music that I have ever heard

Do not hesitate. Buy this now........2002-09-10

Such a great CD to put in and just sit back and enjoy. Groovy tunes with great flow.

Get Bent!.......2001-11-10

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.

Not Only Is This Album Great, But VW Used It InTheir Ads!.......2001-08-05

Ok, I'll admit, I don't own this album. But I did listen to a few different songs on the CD, and it is good stuff. Not only is it some great music, but you can hear track 5 (Invisible Pedestrian) on the new Volkswagen ad for the VW Eurovan called "Roadtrip." You can watch it here: http://www.adcritic.com/content/vw-eurovan-roadtrip.html?amazon-review Enjoy!

Average customer rating:

Lovely, lovely...
Worth the money
the best chill-out on long time
Everything and the Kitchen Sink
*Brilliant Stuff*

Programmed to Love
Bent
Manufacturer: Import [Generic]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Ambient Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Everlasting Blink

ASIN: B00004U9XS
Release Date: 2000-09-26

Tracks:

Excercise 1
Private Road [Laughing Gear]
Cylons in Love
Chocolate Wings [Wrong Rock]
Invisible Pedestrian [Blue]
I Remember Johnny
Swollen
Welly Top Mary [Memories]
Irritating Noises
Always [Toothless Gibbon]
Always - Bent,

Album Description

Original UK full length release for this album issued back in 2000. Includes tracks that do not appear on the updated 2001 edition. Includes the singles, 'Swollen' & 'Always'.

Album Details

Bent's long awaited 10 track album contains kooky, ambient chilled out beats. Limited imports now available before its local release near the end of the year. The new wave of British chill out!

Customer Reviews:

Lovely, lovely..........2002-04-07

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 three versions available for this album: the US version which contains some tracks not originally present in the UK release from 2000, the UK version (which this review is about) and a "combined" version which contains a total of 18 tracks. All in all, an excellent choice to drive, read, write or program to, or if nothing else, simply to chill out to.

Worth the money.......2001-07-03

Typically, in my reviews, I shy away from encouraging people to buy imports. Unless, of course, the album is very, very good. With Bent's latest, it's a case in point. This is one of the most exploratory, every song is good, albums I've come across in a long time. The second song, private road, I've practically worn my cd player out listening to. Bent successfully does what so many other chill-out/potpourri of sound bands attempt to do. It's upbeat without be down right dancey, and downtempo without being comatose. I urge you to dive in.

the best chill-out on long time.......2001-05-12

This was moder and melodic. Bent has made an album that lives and breathe the whole way trough. Chill-out albums have never really intrested me but to much roumors made me pick this one up. you can also call this easy-listening if you want.. the album balance on those two genres. well it flows nice and are very complex and the soundscape stretches far. It has pianos, samplings and some very ice vocals. check out "invisible pedestrians" a great piece with rythm and excelent drum piece. "Always" is maybe the one that seperates from the rest and brings it closest to more house oriented style. best vocal piece is defiently "private road". but this album drives harmonic. that`s the best with this album.

Everything and the Kitchen Sink.......2001-01-13

Bent's Programmed to Love is a leisurely sound collage, equal parts Air, Roni Size / Reprazent, and any manic DJ/Remixer you care to mention. The duo of Simon Mills and Neil Tolliday are of the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink school, and for most of Programmed to Love, this works in their favor. The kitschy opening samba "Exercise" moves from its loungecore origins to the dreamy "Private Road Laughing Gear". "Cylons in Love" marries Kraftwerk to Dido. "Swollen" is Air fronted by the Cocteau Twins. Etc. The songs are all too long by minutes (what is it with these ambient dance bands?), but good company nonetheless. ...

*Brilliant Stuff*.......2001-01-11

The cream of the recent 'chill-out' tidal wave. On a par with Air's 'Moon Safari' and towering above Groove Armada and Kinobe. Read my track-by-track synopsis below to prove it's diversity in styles.

1. Exercise 1 Quirkily amusing Aphex Twin style outing that shares a similar tune to The Orb's 'Oxbow Lakes'. The intro is funny too.

2. Private Road Emotional synth sweeps over an Irish Beth Orton soundalike. *Very good*. Like much of the album, it has melodies that stick in your head and leave you humming them all week.

3. Cylons Of Love Very Air. Laid back track with Vocodered vocals and lush piano.

4. Chocloate Wings The album's low point. It just doesn't fit in that well with the other songs. Upbeat dance track with cheesy lyrics about wanting to look at some girls chocolate star (ooo-er).

5. Invisible Pedestrian More like it. Moody bassline with thumping drums over the top.

6. I Remember Johnny Tinkling pianos, breakbeats and a really, really smooth bassline.

7. Swollen The album's high point. Sorta like Air, it fits sultry, breathy lyrics over a hypnotic 'Bladerunner' type tune. I think this is being released as their next single.

8. Welly Top Mary Breezy Summer evenings wasted away drinking, smoking and making love to Welly Top Mary. Nice.

9. Irritating Noises I'm not so sure about the male vocal but it plods along nicely enough. What is he crooning about anyway?

10. Always (three parts) a)Always in my heart:

Club-style dance track with all the cliches: Operatic diva chanting over the top with a Euro type bassline. Saved by a truly mind-altering piano loop.

b)Toothless gibbon: Frenzied techno with a monkey screeching in the backround. Sorta amusing, but ultimately irritating.

c)To the bridge: Mellow hip-hop beats with children singing 'London Bridge is Falling Down' over the top. Nice album closer.

;)

Programmed to Love
Average customer rating:
Programmed to Love

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000A299FK
Release Date: 2001-02-25

Bent-Programmed to Love
Average customer rating:
Bent-Programmed to Love
Bent
Manufacturer: Musicrama/Koch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000DENQ7
Release Date: 2000-09-25