''Throbbing Pouch'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

musician

Luke Vibert Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...

. His second studio album under the alias Wagon Christ, it was released on 20 March 1995 by

Rising High Records Rising High Records was a leading British record label, established in 1991, specializing in rave, techno and ambient chillout music. Founded by Caspar Pound, who had chart success with A Homeboy, a Hippie and a Funki Dredd, the label went on to ...

Musical style

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Sean Cooper described ''Throbbing Pouch'' as an album of "eazy-listening instrumental hip-hop" music "scattered with dime-store samples and goofy melodies".

Release

''Throbbing Pouch'' was released on 20 March 1995 by

. The artwork for the album was designed by Jon Black.

Critical reception

Reviewing ''Throbbing Pouch'' for '' Select'', Gareth Grundy described the album as a "missing link" between

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...

and

Mo' Wax Mo' Wax was a British record label founded by James Lavelle in 1992. The label was not co-founded by Tim Goldsworthy, as is often reported. Steve Finan became co-owner shortly after. Mo' Wax came to recognition for being at the forefront of t ...

. He stated that "Vibert creates beautiful, evocative slivers of contemporary electro that manage to be both soothing and engaging." At the end of 1995, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' listed it as the year's 26th best album. For AllMusic, Sean Cooper said that on ''Throbbing Pouch'', "Luke Vibert's arranging skills are in rare form, reordering elements and dropping tracks in and out with liquid, barely noticeable aplomb." Cooper noted that the album "has long been regarded as one of

trip-hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tempos ...

's most influential releases."

Kembrew McLeod Kembrew McLeod is an American artist, activist, and professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. He is best known as a performance artist or "media prankster" who filed an application in 1997 to register the phrase "Freedom of ...

cited it as "a classic of the trip-hop canon" in ''

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (2004), and it was included at number 37 in ''

Fact A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...

''s 2015 list of the best trip hop albums of all time. Turk Dietrich of the American

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

duo

Belong Belong may refer to: Music * Belong (band), an American experimental music duo Albums * ''Belong'' (Kevin Walker album) or the title song, 2013 * ''Belong'' (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart album) or the title song, 2011 * ''Belong'', by Sa ...

wrote that ''Throbbing Pouch'' "may be the only LP that rivals"

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996. Biography Early years (1989–1995) DJ Sha ...

's 1996 release '' Endtroducing.....'' "in the genre of

sampledelia Sampledelia (also called sampledelica) is sample-based music that uses samplers or similar technology to expand upon the recording methods of 1960s psychedelia. Sampledelia features "disorienting, perception-warping" manipulations of audio sampl ...

." Similarly, critic

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...

stated in ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' that ''Throbbing Pouch'' "easily rivals" ''Endtroducing'' "as a masterpiece of emotive,

down-tempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

sampladelia."

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1995 albums Luke Vibert albums Trip hop albums by English artists Instrumental hip hop albums Sampledelia albums Downtempo albums Electro albums by English artists