JustOneCornetto Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Can's Tago Mago was my #1 and I must say that is a fantastic write up Colin. I was lucky enough to see them live back in the day and I think of all the German electronic bands they were top of the pile. The album was recorded in a castle which adds to the overall sound and Im glad Tago Mago has made the top 20. Really enjoying this thread and it's giving me some great ideas for albums to search out 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberman Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 21= Utah Saints Utah Saints (1993) Utah Saints! U-U-U-Utah Saints! To those of us who grew up in the early 90s, it's impossible to hear the name of Michael Stipe's favourite dance act (now there's an endorsement) without reacting in this manner. “The first stadium house band” according to Bill Drummond, the Saints were unashamedly pop and their music became briefly ubiquitous as a result. The big hits are all here – pilfering pop divas of the day to marvellous effect. Kate Bush and Annie Lennox are stuffed into the sampler and spat out alongside monster piano and rock riffs. Something Good, What Can You Do For Me and I Want You exploded onto the pop charts way back then, making everything else seem monochrome in comparison. The rest of the album is mostly more of the same, and that's no bad thing. New Gold Dream-81-82-83-84, Believe In Me, Too Much To Swallow... in fact damn near every track is full of the joy of pop. Soulution, States Of Mind and Trance Atlantic Glide are relatively sombre in comparison, and it's probably just as well given the energy and excitement on display elsewhere. Utah Saints should still serve as a reminder to many a po-faced purist how exciting pop music can be. I'm off to listen to Something Good again...... argh I forgot about this one, saw them live at either the Phoenix or Reading festival in the mid 90s, a magical chemically enhanced night! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Raccoon Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 I'm certainly going to invest in a few of these albums, excellent work Colin. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantene proV Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Superb write up Colin. This was my #1. Carl Craig - for me - is the most talented man in electronic music. It's labelled Detroit Techno but is so much more, dripping with soul, colour and character. PAPERCLIP PEOPLE'S Secret Tapes Of Dr Eich was soooo close to my top 10 but I must admit to not hearing much else by Carl Craig up to now. I will invest in this album! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jupiter Jazz Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 PAPERCLIP PEOPLE'S Secret Tapes Of Dr Eich was soooo close to my top 10 but I must admit to not hearing much else by Carl Craig up to now. I will invest in this album! Do it! Also get Landcruising, infact just get everything he's ever done! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mambostaggie Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I've always loved Detroit techno, but I've never really got into Carl Craig, I've always felt like I should like him but for some reason I just don't get it. I've got a massive vinyl collection full of drexcyia, UR, aux 88, Rolando etc, but Carl Craig just seemed to pass me by. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thanks for the feedback so far guys - I'm enjoying this immensely. We'll have a handful of albums to reveal tomorrow to get us back on track. The Animal Collective were magic, by the way 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 (edited) 18= The Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole (1997) I remember a description of an early release by the brothers Chemical (then still known as the Dust Brothers, conveniently ignoring the rights of the existing producers of the same name) painting their music as Marley Marl meets the Jesus and Mary Chain and being fascinated by the prospect. The Chemical Brothers are one of the key protagonists of a refreshing attitude that existed in the 1990s, recognizing the fragmented nature of scenes and shunning the snobbishness that surrounded them. As both artists and DJs they were happy to fit into numerous boxes and to just listen to and play whatever they loved - why shouldn't great music of all types sit together without any need for qualification? Never just about wilful eclecticism, it's an attitude towards music that is still sadly missing in too many people, but it's also a hard approach to apply to making music while managing to form a natural whole. The Chems' second album is a heavy trip which manages to do this and brings the various sonic inputs into sharp focus. The breaks, slap bass and Schooly D samples that form the basis of party anthem Block Rocking Beats are a thrilling intro before we're into the frenetic charge of the title track and Elektrobank. These are charging, visceral chunks of music, riffing like Motorhead over the deft programming of the beats. Setting Sun takes the blueprint of The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows and updates it into a clattering noisy unlikely number 1 single, and who better to join a Fab Four party than Noel Gallagher, set free on an imaginative excursion his own band would never be able to accomodate. As if wary of their reputation as "the dance band for rock fans", the middle section of the album sees a direction closer to pure techno tracks, the pumping beats of It Doesn't Matter and scorching acid of Don't Stop The Rock inching closer to more "conventional" club music, yet still as noisy and heavy as the earlier tracks. It might all be exhausting if it didn't sound so bloody marvellous. We're heading and climbing towards a stunning finale - the sparkling funk of Lost In The K Hole leads to the pretty guitar figure of the Beth Orton collaboration Where Do I Begin, which stutters and melts towards the end, forming an intro to the musical tour de force that closes the album - the sitar fuelled Private Psychedelic Reel that makes an exceptional climax to the record. It's a career high that lives up to its name and brings the curtain down on this brilliant brain melting collection. Edited November 9, 2012 by Colin M 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mambostaggie Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 (edited) Alright album, not as good as exit planet dust, wouldn't have been anywhere near my top twenty. I'll have to give it another listen. Lost I. The k hole and private psychedelic reel are belters though. Edited November 9, 2012 by Mambostaggie 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Alright album, not as good as exit planet dust, wouldn't have been anywhere near my top twenty. I'll have to give it another listen. Lost I. The k hole and private psychedelic reel are belters though. I'm of the same mind really - not a great personal favourite but the back end of the album is where it's really great. In going back to it it struck me how heavy the whole thing is, it's pretty suffocating at times. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 18= Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip Angles (2008) Coming straight outta Essex, the cult of Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip is an ever growing force, a word of mouth success that deserves a greater audience. Rapper/poet/singer Scroobius Pip delivers an ever fascinating and compelling flow of consciousness over the tapestry of beats, sounds and hooks provided by producer Dan Le Sac, and on this debut album it all comes together to form a hugely exciting and varied collection of tracks. For a nominal hip-hop band, the pair have struggled to make the breakthrough with the purist audience the genre often attracts. An MC named after an Edward Lear poem was perhaps never likely to appeal to those weaned on the hollow subject matter of much of modern rap, but that's their loss. Whether name-checking Herbie Hancock and rapping about the periodic table on Development, or offering up genuinely touching views on self-harm and suicide on The Magician's Assistant, Scroobius Pip is the perfect guide through the record. Dan Le Sac's productions share top billing throughout though, combining endless sounds and ideas that help make this a genre-hopping experience that still all sits neatly together. It combines electronic programming and live instrumentation, a mosaic of colourful shifting musical themes. The head nodding beats and stuttering breakdown of Rapper's Battle, pulsing synth of the title track, and chilling piano lines of stunning climax Waiting For The Beat To Kick In are just some of the highlights on an album that's packed full of them. Musically the whole album has an endearing anything goes attitude - Radiohead's Planet Telex is chopped to great effect alongside acidic bleeps on Letter From God To Man, and Dizzee Rascal's Fix Up Look Sharp is mangled and stretched beneath interchanging rock guitar and synth riffs on Fixed, while elsewhere there are seemingly inexhaustible twists and turns through a maze of colourful motifs. Angles is an exciting and always fresh sounding experience that deserves wider recognition - a great discovery sitting here among other more celebrated albums. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endieinreekie Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 This was one of my favourite albums when it first came out and it remains so to this day. The intro to Block Rocking Beats still gives me goosebumps. Colin's description of the album is certainly more eloquent than I could ever achieve and more than does it justice. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 (edited) 17 Kraftwerk Trans-Europe Express (1977) The reverence with which Kraftwerk are treated when discussing electronic music is as strong today as it ever has been - submissions for this poll have them "easily as influencial as the Beatles" (dundeebarry) and "the blueprint for most of what we have today" (pantene ProV). I wholeheartedly agree, but it's interesting that many of us still feel the need to qualify this reverence, and symptomatic of the attitude towards "electronic music" from many people who still see good old rock and roll as somehow more credible and able to be considered "classic" than the myriad of other genres out there. Kraftwerk are not only one of the most important musical acts of any kind because of their sonic influence, but their conceptual approach to all of their classic albums means their music stands as great art and in some cases implied political comment. This is never moreso than on 1977's Trans Europe Express. It's easy to hear much of the running of TEE as a soundtrack for a continent-wide train journey, and in many respects it works in that manner. The title track is one of their most celebrated and the relentless rhythmic base that carries through the suite of the second half of the album makes an explicit sonic and descriptive reference to travel through "Europe Endless", mimicking the repition of rail travel and retaining a kinetic energy that can only signify continual movement. It's all conceptually about European identity - not necessarily obvious from the music itself, which still sounds fresh today. Chunks of TEE became part of Afrika Baambaataa's Planet Rock, making it explicitly part of the DNA of hip-hop and electro. The earlier tracks on the album are thematically linked - Hall of Mirrors and Showroom Dummies introduce themes that Kraftwerk expanded upon later in their career about the links between man and object, reality and perception. They provide fabulous synth pop with striking deadpan vocals. It's always noticeable just how weird Kraftwerk still sound, even as they become ever more celebrated. From Autobahn onwards, Kraftwerk's music, image and presentation became focussed and managed in a way that has kept them unique as artists, even as all of those things continue to provide influence for countless others. Picking their best album is arguably to overlook and miss out on their output as a whole, but Trans Europe Express is a wonderful example of their work and comes highly recommended. Edited November 9, 2012 by Colin M 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 (edited) 16 Goldie Timeless (1995) James Bond movie henchman, Strictly Come Dancing loser, Eastenders bad man, reality show whore - in 1995 Goldie was none of these things. Back then he was just the "larger than life" former graffiti artist and underground music leading light, albeit with more gold in his gums than hangs around B.A. Baracus' neck. Goldie was the face and sparkling smile of jungle, a pioneer and ambassador for the scene. His Metalheadz label and legendary club night were at the forefront of this exciting and vital new music, and his debut album was the most awaited release in the genre for both the fanatics and the fascinated hipsters looking in. Timeless remains an astonishing achievement, a monument for the UK underground and a step up in production values to a level not previously seen in jungle. Goldie's mission here was clear - jungle was not just for the bedroom producers, but was to be a professionally, expertly presented sound that could hold it's own against all other fully developed musics - this was not just crazy kids messing on their Amigas and budget samplers, but could involve "real" musicians to produce a fuller sound than ever before. Ably assisted and facilitated by the steady hands of Rob Playford of Moving Shadow fame, Timeless is gigantic in scope. The 20 minutes of Timeless (Inner City Life) that opens proceedings is an exhausting epic in its own right. It sounds sculpted, the strings full and expansive, the galloping breakbeats propelling you forward at all times. Inner City Life along with Angel and You and Me are tracks that the phrase "urban hymns" seems made for - soul divas adding pretty toppings to the full bodied tracks beneath. The criticism always thrown at Timeless is that it was just too much, a bloated prog opus that like most double albums could benefit from some smart editing. There is perhaps some truth in that (and the more readily available version nowadays is indeed a 1 disc selection), but it's interesting to listen to it some 17 years later and realize that there's actually not that much filler on it, so much of it still sounds so vital. Sea Of Tears sails close to prog jazz fusion territory, but it's still another thrilling epic that holds your attention. For all the sophisticated musicianship and production values on this album, it kicks and swings with all the kinetic energy that made jungle so essential and made other music seem so inconsequential after you'd caught the bug. Saint Angel, Jah the Seventh Seal, A Sense of Rage (Sensual V.I.P mix), Kemistry all hold those captivating rolling beats that seem to create that higher state of conciousness of the best of underground hardcore music. Only the noodling of Adrift is an automatic skip, and we'll happily write that off as an error of judgement and assume that nobody was bold enough to challenge Goldie's ego (Or we would if we hadn't heard his hour long "classical" excursion all about his Mother that forms part of the turkey followup to this on Saturnz Return). Timeless was a massive achievement and a huge influence on UK dance music to come. Dubstep pioneer Loefah recently said about it: "Timeless didn't need jungle; if anything jungle needed Timeless." Those words sum it up perfectly - this was a huge and bold step away from the roots of the music to create something far more accomplished than it had seen before. It's one of the greatest albums of the 90s and one of the biggest musical statements ever to come from UK dance music. Edited November 9, 2012 by Colin M 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 I'm wary that that post is nearly as epic as the album itself 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundermonkey Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 In going back to it it struck me how heavy the whole thing is, it's pretty suffocating at times. Great summary. I stuck in on at a house party and that middle section killed the mood. Still love the album, although I think it cemented them as the 'dance act of guest vocalist choice' road they are only really recovering from now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 14= New Order Substance (1987) Nominally a compilation of all the tracks from their 12” singles up until its release, Substance has come to be regarded as an album in its own right, gathering most of New Order's greatest moments so far into a 2CD set. There's probably no greater place to start with their music than here, as track after track of brilliant synth-pop hits you in quick succession. It's also the sound of one of the key pop bands of the 1980s developing their own sound and identity after the crisis of losing their singer. The difference in overall style from the early oscillations of Everything's Gone Green to the more sophisticated likes of Thieves Like Us is remarkable, as the band embraced the emerging electro scene. Throughout the 1980s, New Order's place in the Manchester music scene and beyond was instrumental in the growth of dance music and clubbing in the UK. Parts of great tracks like Sub-culture and Shellshock sound like proto-house and are a world apart from Joy Division, albeit always retaining a post-punk spirit and sound that remind you that this is still a band in the great lineage of UK rock and pop - just one that were totally open to assimilating new sounds and influences naturally into their own sound. On these versions the band are happy to let the arrangements and grooves run out for several minutes before the "song" starts - these are versions easily suited to the dancefloor. The relationship with dance music was a two way street - NO's position in the development of electronic music throughout the 1980s can never be overstated. Blue Monday is present here in all its glory, one of the great touchstones of electronic music, dance music, and popular music in general. It's influence on the emerging House and Techno scenes in the USA are audibly clear. In comparison to some of the other great moments on this album though, it's notable its restraint, the almost robotic vocal at odds with the unbridled joy ol' Barney Summer displays on some of the other highlights. Never afraid to reach for the stars even when his limited voice might not want to go with him, his vocals arguably add a charm that is missing from more note perfect singers. The second disc gathers the b-sides from those 12” singles and is often as thrilling as the first – not least on the instrumental versions of some of those big singles, at times serving as a New Order in dub journey that is suitably weird enough to be more than just a curiosity. Listening to the album as a whole in one sitting is a huge undertaking, but it's a marvellous document of one of the key bands in the development of 1980s pop and electronic music, and one of the best bands this country has produced. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nizzy Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Hugely impressed with this undertaking, Colin. Your reviews completely piss on those I've read from people who're paid to do it for a living. Opening this thread matches the excitement of grabbing a parcel from the letterbox that you know contains a CD and rushing upstairs to throw it on the stereo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundermonkey Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Hugely impressed with this undertaking, Colin. Your reviews completely piss on those I've read from people who're paid to do it for a living. Opening this thread matches the excitement of grabbing a parcel from the letterbox that you know contains a CD and rushing upstairs to throw it on the stereo. What a creep. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin M Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Hugely impressed with this undertaking, Colin. Your reviews completely piss on those I've read from people who're paid to do it for a living. Opening this thread matches the excitement of grabbing a parcel from the letterbox that you know contains a CD and rushing upstairs to throw it on the stereo. Thanks - I'm really enjoying it, albeit it's a bigger task than I first anticipated! I'm due to fly to the States on Monday so depending on where we are by then there might be a hiatus for a week or so. Either that or I'll have to cut the word count dramatically 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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