The Imperfect Sea
by Penguin Cafe
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Penguin Cafe bestography
The Imperfect Sea is ranked 5th best out of 15 albums by Penguin Cafe Orchestra on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Penguin Cafe Orchestra is Music From The Penguin Cafe which is ranked number 3515 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 428.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Imperfect Sea on YouTube
The Imperfect Sea track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Imperfect Sea rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 7 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | cicadelic | Aquarium Drunkard 2017 Year in Review | 53/100 | - |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 100 Music Albums of 2017 | 69/100 | 2 |
| 2024 |  Helios | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | 92/100 | 2 |
| 2024 | Helios | Top 100 Music Albums of 2017 | 5/100 | 5 |
| 2020 | panapsal | Top 100 Music Albums of 2017 | 48/100 | 3 |
| 2019 |  Tha1ChiefRocka | Top 100 Music Albums of 2017 | 29/100 | 4 |
| 2017 |  fractaljazz | Top 100 Music Albums of 2017 | 90/100 | 1 |
| 2017 | Drift | 2017 Records of the Year | 86/100 | 1 |
| 2017 | Imaybeparanoid | Top 100 Music Albums of 2017 | 64/100 | 2 |
| 2017 | Norman Records | Albums of the Year 2017 | 8/50 | 4 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 13 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 33 | |||
The Imperfect Sea collection
Showing all 2 members who have this album in their collection
The Imperfect Sea ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 15 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/02/2026 16:05 | pago82 | 3,236 | 71/100 |
| ! | 04/23/2025 14:41 | Robininthetree | 136 | 84/100 |
| ! | 06/16/2024 18:15 | Helios | 6,259 | 69/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 22% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.7/100, a mean average of 74.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.9.
The Imperfect Sea favourites
The Imperfect Sea forum mentions
Hayden 05/11/2017 17:21 in What album are you listening to right now?The Imperfect Sea comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
O.T. 07/09/2017 09:34 | #193970
Yes, it can't be perfect, as it's not the "Orchestra" anymore. But how close! "Ricercar" seems like a flashback to the 70s, when the Penguin Cafe Orchestra mwlted minimal music and folk to something unheard of before. The pale sun of the morning shines on this music, it's a warming sun and their Kraftwerk cover version dances mechanically without asking any computer for assistance, even the shellac sound effects were recreated with a strange creativity (shake some salt in a bowl and listen). On the other hand, in all it's beatuty it's nothing more than recreation.
This is a very low key entry into Arthur Jeffe’s series of albums. It is quite charming but n places. A couple of tracks are minimal reworkings of two of his father’s tunes. The strings are laid bare on this record and the highlights come from motifs provided from the accordion. A perfect album to go to sleep to. In a good way.
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