1. LFO “Nurture” Warp Records 1991
Essential band in my electronic culture, it changed my life! Remember bought this release in London Sister Ray Soho iconic record shop early 90’s.
2. B12 “Basic Emotion” Warp records 1993
Michael Golding and Steve Rutter have provided the UK’s intelligent techno and early electronica scene with both original material. A must hav !
3. Jeff Mills “Gamma player” Axis records 1997
“Gamma Player” still sound futuristic, a true masterpiece in a discography littered with similarly exceptional gems.
4. Carl Craig “Televised Green Smoke” Planet E 1997
Carl Craig’s music has a very bluesy feel to it. It shows mechanical coldness whilst maintaining soul and humanity within. Key player in Detroit techno’s second wave, I remember digging his EPs, LPs at legendary Submerge headquarter.
5. The Orb “A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld” WAU! Mr. Modo Recordings 1989
Long-running UK electronic group, originally formed by Jimmy Cauty (of The KLF) and Alex Paterson in 1988, that grew out of a love of ambient music and dub, soundscapes and science fiction. The title is copied from “The Core, A Huge Evergrowing Pulsating Brain Which Rules From The Centre Of Ultraworld” which was written by Elizabeth Parker of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop for the UK sci-fi TV show Blake’s 7.
6. Plaid “Undoneson” Warp records 1997
Straight forward has never been a term that you could level at Plaid or their spawning unit The Black Dog. However, they have been responsible for some beautiful music and this three-track EP is full of the above. Play it at 45, play it at 33, just play it and languish in its strangely cadenced breaks, warm atmospherics.
7. Lone “From a past life” – Ambivert Tools Volume One R&S 2017
UK producer Lone produced his Ambivert Tools EP series on R&S Records, he has been quoted as saying that the greatest influences on his music are artists such as Boards of Canada and Madlib.
8. The Other People Place “Lifestyles Of The Laptop Café” LP Warp records 2001
Produced by James Stinson, a truck driver with seven children and a hand in a string of seminal electro and techno releases as one half of Drexciya, Lifestyles Of The Laptop Café was as accessible as electro came. On other records, Stinson and fellow Drexciya member Gerald Donald explored the powerful fantasy of Afrofuturism. Lifestyles Of The Laptop Café was everyday life
9. Boards Of Canada “1969” Geogaddi LP Warp records 2002
In mid-February of 2002, Boards of Canada geared up for the release of their highly anticipated and faux controversial sophomore release, Geogaddi. “1969” is one of the most phenomenal tracks on the record and has since become a fan favorite. It carries a summer vibe, with bright synth pads, beautiful atmospherics and a strong percussion presence.
10. Brian Eno ”Ambient 1 (Music For Airports)” LP Polydor 1978
Ambient 1: Music for Airports is the sixth studio album by Brian Eno. It was released by Polydor Records in 1978. The album consists of four compositions created by layering tape loops of differing lengths. It was the first of four albums released in Eno’s “Ambient” series, a term which he coined to differentiate his experimental and minimalistic approach to composition from “the products of the various purveyors of canned music”.
![Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports [Full Album]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vNwYtllyt3Q/0.jpg)
Ben Men – Black Light (BTRAX Records)
Ben Men founded and managed key French record stores Statik and Basement Trax from 1996 to 2002, has hosted his own parties at the famous Rex and been a resident at plenty of cult parties both at home but also at D Edge in Brazil. His wide involvement in dance music has brought him a wealth of influences and inspirations to draw on and here he channels them into a classy new house single with a real US edge. The timeless ‘Black Light’ is dedicated to the Motor City, with references to early Detroit culture and a warm, wandering bassline. Stabbing synths and plenty of retro soul light up the grooves as you surge on a wave of rich house nostalgia.
Scan 7 is a mysterious techno collective from Detroit who have featured on Derrick May’s Transmat, here they deliver a fresh remix that perfectly captures the bounce of house and techno. In what is bound to be a dance floor classic, wild keys and synths brim with both energy and jazz looseness and cannot fail to blow up the club. Terrence Parker is an enduring Detroit mainstay with a rich catalogue of cuts mostly on his own essential Intangible Records & Soundworks. He offers a powerful remix here with raw drums and busy melodies, a typical trademark of this noted producer, with a knotted baseline powering it all along and taking you
ever higher.
