Another list
Putting together this week’s four-hour electronica playlist (yes, I’ve listened to the whole thing straight through) has convinced me that I could do an electronica list of ten.
Like the grunge list, this one has limits: I’m most familiar with the ambient/dub/techno/house scene that hit the mainstream briefly during the mid 90s, with a handful of gold and platinum albums by Moby, the Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers (remember that tiny little blip?). So this list won’t cover Detroit techno/electro (which would be a great list on its own), pure drum-and-bass, jungle, turntablist stuff like DJ Shadow, live DJ stuff like Paul Oakenfold or abstract techno like Aphex Twin. And I’ll avoid the pop and trip-hop bands with electronic influences (Massive Attack, Bjork, Portishead, Air, Garbage, Nine Inch Nails, etc.), otherwise I’d need waaay more spots than 10. Not to mention 80s New Wave and all the other early movements.
Here goes.
- Underworld, dubnobasswithmyheadman(1994). More people would call Underworld the best electronic band than anyone else, but their acid house sound and art-school lyrics make them a little less than accessible if you’re used to standard dance music. But they deserve to be discovered, and their first major album is the easiest way in. The songs sound like songs, and you can almost figure out what deadpan vocalist Karl Hyde is talking about… especially on tracks like “Dirty Epic,” which sounds like Depeche Mode might if they were a little more needy and a little less bored.
- Leftfield, Rhythm and Stealth (1999). Ever feel sorry for an album? Maybe not… but I have. I feel sorry for R&S because it was only moderately successful. Leftfield’s audience wanted a bold, danceable follow-up to their debut, and what they got was dark, downtempo hip-hop that sounds like it was written by robots. Those who got over the shock realized it was a superior album.
- Leftfield, Leftism (1995). But barely superior. Leftism was voted by several publications as the “best dance album of all time.” They’re not wrong. Unlike most house-influenced albums, this one is generous in its instrumentation. You feel like you’re bobbing your head along to something.