The Great British Ten Who Changed My Electronic Life
Submitted by sljiva on Tue, 05/09/2006 - 05:47
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- The Prodigy
- They were my first trip into electronic music. I started to listen to them 10 years ago when I was 4th grade in my elementary school, and I still listen to them alot. After Breathe single, which was actual at the time, I managed to obtain their new album The Fat Of The Land', which just blew me away. Later, when I got their other two albums, I realized that they slightly moved away from the underground and became more and more mainstream. However, that didn't bother me until 2002. when they released miserable single Baby's Got A Temper. Thank god, new album didn't come out, and disaster was stopped. Unfortunately Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned was released in 2004. and it picked up bad reviews everywhere. I must admit that even i disliked it at first, but later i found couple of really cool songs, like Hotride, Girls and Spitfire. I hope that Liam won't produce albums like AONO anymore, and that his further albums will be more original and innovative. However, The Prodigy will always remain in my heart as the first band that pushed me through the doors of electronic music.
- Underworld
- I was first introduced to this band through Trainspotting movie in 1996, like many of us. Although I liked Born Slippy right away, I didn't start to listen to them more seriously until 2003, when I accidentally heard Two Months Off. The song immediately stucked in my head, and I was humming it throughtout the whole month. I couldn't wait to come home from school to play it very, very loud. Of course, I started to explore their past, and I found out that they were doing some pretty cool things even before Born Slippy. Dark & Long, Thing In A Book, Cowgirl and Rez are probably my favourite songs from that era. I bought their Greatest Hits album from 2003, and I have to say that this album is one of the best greatest hits albums ever, comparable even with The Beatles' Red and Blue Album that I stole from my dad cuople of years ago.
- The Future Sound Of London
- These two guys are simply amazing. Brian Dougans (who also created one of the most famous acid house tracks in history (Stakker Humanoid) under his Humanoid guise) and Garry Cobain are geniuses who are responsible for timeless monster that practically changed EDM forever. Name of that monster was Papua New Guinea, and they released it in 1991. Accelerator, album full of danceable ambient music followed, and Cascade, another hit single that was featured on Sasha & Digweed's Northern Exposure was released in 1993. At that point, FSOL were the biggest players in EDM industry. They were appearing on every dance chart and even on some commercial music charts. On Lifeforms album, they pretty much abandoned dance music and focused solely on downtempo/ambient and even some IDM/experimental music. On their next albums (ISDN, Dead Cities) they were exploring industrial and dark ambient music. Their last album release was The Isness, album full of rock and ambient music, probably inspired by Pink Floyd or some other progressive and psychadelic rock bands.
- Orbital
- Orbital are two Hartnoll brothers, Paul and Phil. Their long lasting career dates back to 1989, when they released their first single called Chime, techno track with recognizable acid lines and beautiful melody. Since then, they are probably the most famous British techno duo. Their two eponymous albums (Green and Brown) established them as front leaders of UK techno movement, with such hits as above mentioned Chime, Satan, Halcyon, Midnight and Belfast. But two of my favourite Orbital songs would be Halcyon + On + On (slightly remade Halcyon song that i first heard back in 1995 in the Hackers movie), and One Perfect Sunrise, wonderful progressive breaks/ambient trance song from their 2004 Blue Album. Sadly, they broke up and that Blue Album was their last relese as Orbital. Such a shame.
- The Orb
- Orb. Such a small name, but such a huge band. It all began with Dr. Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty (from The KLF) back in 1989 when they produced their first record. It was Kiss EP, and it didn't sound very good. But their next record sounded great, and it had a great name too. A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Center Of The Ultraworld. Wow. With their next song, Little Fluffy Clouds, they kickstarted ambient house genre. But they really reached the stars with debut album The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld. It's my favourite ambient/downtempo album ever. Ten amazing tracks filled with washing synths, beautiful melodies and lovely trancey atmosphere. I also have to mention their album Cydonia, and its lead single Once More, which is my favourite song by this fantastic band. Dr. Alex released latest The Orb album on Kompakt, and he even appeared on Speicher 33, with God Less America/Gorgeous, surprisingly good (minimal) techno-ish tune. So if you ever get tired of trance, techno, house and breaks, this band is a great solution.
- Faithless
- Wow, this should be hard. Faithless are really great band, and their commercial side doesn't bother me at all. And they are really cheesy and commercial from time to time. Thanks to their biggest hit Insomnia, they sell far more than any other artist on this list. And even if you forget about Insomnia for a moment, they still got incredible number of hit singles under their belt. Let's mention a couple of them (also a couple of my favourites): Salva Mea, God Is A DJ, Why Go, We Come 1, and some other lesser known but very good songs like Take A Long Way Home, Don't Leave and Reverence. But when you look at their line-up it all somehow makes sense: Sister Bliss is one of the best female producers and DJs around, Rollo (Dido's brother) was famous even before Faithless with his remixes and project Felix, and Maxi Jazz's rapping is so cool, funny and serious that you must love him. Also, thier new album To All New Arrivals is pure brilliance with so many styles involved.
- The KLF
- You can't talk about geniuses without mentioning these two guys. Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty are responsible for many things inside and outside music business at the end of the eighties. First, let's talk about music. Their first releases as The KLF (they also released under maybe even more famous Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu guise) were 3 Pure Trance records (What Time Is Love, 3 A.M. Eternal and Last Train To Trancentral) and Chill Out (album that started ambient house genre). Some people say that What Time Is Love is the first trance record ever, but it's in fact acid house (even ambient because there is no kick in the whole song). They commercially failed with that triology, but then they've put out The White Room, album full of catchy melodies, silly raps and stadium house (genre they invented) hooks. Instantly they became the best selling act of 1991, with few singles on UK chart. Their behaviour, like their music, was also quite unique. The burned a million pounds, fired machine gun into the Brits audience, tried to stole audio equipment from the club they were playing and much more. They abandoned The KLF project in 1992 and left music business in 1997.
- Leftfield
- Another inventors. These two guys invented progressive house subgenre in the early 90-ies. Their album Leftism is probably the best progressive house album ever, and two songs from it, Song Of Life and Open Up are practically definition of progressive house. They've also done a lot of downtempo and ambient stuff, and one subgenre of downtempo music is named leftfield, after them. On their later album Rhythm And Stealth they pretty much abandoned progressive house, and moved to experimental, reggae, dub and chill out music. But they will always be remembered as pioneers of one of my dearest genres - progressive house.
- The Chemical Brothers
- These guys also invented one subgenre, like most of the bands from this list. So called big beat was created when The Dust Brothers (their early name) released Song To The Siren. They became so popular with that song that they had to change their name because original Dust Brothers threated with legal action if they don't. So in 1995 they changed their name to The Chemical Brothers, and they released legendary album Exit Planet Dust. The press praised their style and they instantly became the hottest sensation in electronic industry. Even more succesful was their second album Dig Your Own Hole with such hits as Block Rockin' Beats, Elektrobank and Don't Stop The Rock. It's one of my favourite breakbeat albums, even better than Fatboy Slim's everlasting masterpiece You've Come A Long Way, Baby. Let's also say that their style inspired various UK acts like above mentioned Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy and Propellerheads. Without Chems, their music wouldn't sound that good as it sounds.
- Sasha & Digweed
- Yeah I know that they aren't band, but it would be stupid to have Top-9 list or something like that. I decided to list them because their influence on electronic music is huge. They are trendsetters that always first adopt and first abandon certain genre (when it becomes too commercial). They did that with progressive house, ambient (breaks), trance, electro house, and minimal. But I'll always remember them as duo that made Renaissance - The Mix Collection (fantastic early prog. house compilation), Northern Exposure 1 & 2 (I don't know which one is better) and Communicate (tech-house/prog. house masterpiece). I also own their Delty Heavy dvd, which shows that they are also great entertainers that do great live shows.
Hi nice list, i didn't previously know about The Future Sound OF London so thanks for the recommendation
Really cool list friend. The Prodigy were the band that got me into electronic music too. All of these artists are amazing. If you'd like, check out my list of the 100 greatest artists of electronica. All ten of these are on it.
My obsession started with Underworld, but not that NUXX song. I heard it nearly 10 years ago and thought it was cool but also kind of campy (it just keeps going thud thud thud thud thud!) I remembered the band in '01 or '02 and bought "Everything, Everything", and was just completely blown away by, well, every song on there. It even made me masterbate more so I wouldn't blow a wad at unexpected times when "Rez/Cowgirl" came on. I have all their CDs now and am flabberabgasted at how many great non-album tracks they have...their albums are great, but "Rez", "Dark Train", "Oich Oich", "Thing in a Book", "Born Slippy (original and NUXX)", "Tin There", "8 Ball", "Spikee", all never released? Can't wait for their next album...oh in true Underworld spirit, they've written two really killer tunes that you can hear on live performances or live shows ("You Do Scribble" and "Silver Boots") and they won't be on the album! (at least under those titles!)
Orbital was next for me. I think that Snivilisation and In Sides are genius. Then I got into Aphex Twin and all his followers, and last year the Orb, who I listen to an awful lot. "Once More"...weird choice for a favorite song, but I do agree that track was really underrated among those who thought the Orb shouldn't have vocalists. "Centuries" is better, IMO (I have an Orb page up if you wanna look at it).
Underworld's new album has just been relesed today. But I don't expect too much from it since their stuff without Emerson is not as good as their earlier stuff with him (IMO).
And big kudos for your The Orb list. It's great
I agree AHDO wasn't as good as their previous three, but they've put out lots of good material without Emerson. Half of the tracks on AHDO were good, I like a lot of the RiverRun stuff, and some of the new material they've been playing live is great...
Was the album seriously released today?? Where can I get it?
Actually no. I misunderstood something... They'll release a new album Oblivion With Bells on October 3rd, and the single Crocodile on September 12th. You can hear a preview of that beautiful tune here: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/44711-underworld-crocodile-s...
Thanks >:( You got me all excited at work. Indeed, I really like the "Crocodile" tune, they've played it live before as "All These Things". I wonder how many other of the new live tracks were retitled?
Wow, this is really odd - my list would look almost exactly the same. It was these artists/bands that got me out of cheesy epic/anthem trance and into real electronic. Only 3 would be different if I made this list: The Prodigy would be Aphex Twin, The Chemical Brothers would be "Michael Mayer" (You know him if you know Kompakt - he's just about singlehandedly responsible for making minimal interesting and not simply geeks twiddling their clicky knobs), and Faithless would be Biosphere.
I suppose it's because most of these artists sit right between the mainstream cheese and the real underground music, in that they are easy to find, widely known, and accessible - like the mainstream, but unlike the mainstream, their music is actually creative and interesting, leading us to seek out more real artists.