In June 1998, dance music was huge in the UK. From high street clubs to the local school disco, the decade’s early anti-establishment rave dreams...
Solid Gold
Released on 21st June 1999, The Chemical Brothers’ third album harnessed the enormity of trance, the ecstasy of acid house, and the vibrancy of psychedelia to become their boldest statement, and a mirror to the hedonistic mood of the UK at that time. Here, with the help of the duo’s Tom Rowlands, Ben Cardew reflects on its legacy
The release of Beastie Boys’ fourth album on 31st May 1994 signalled a new era not just for the New York trio, but for music at large. Fusing sampladelic hip-hop, punk and unruly rap rock with brazen stylistic experiments, it set a refreshingly eclectic tone after a decade of genre tribalism, and altered perceptions of the group on both sides of the Atlantic. Here, Ben Cardew learns how
Released on 25th May 1984, ‘Smalltown Boy’ launched the gay synth-pop band Bronski Beat into the charts and onto dancefloors with its glorious synths, hi-NRG production and Jimmy Somerville’s soaring falsetto, which sang a story of rejection, pain and escape. Here, with the help of musicians, its iconic video's director and others, Bailey Slater explores how, four decades on, it remains an unflinching anthem of queer liberation
Released on 1st January 1994, Robert Hood’s ‘Minimal Nation’ saw the pioneering Detroit producer distil techno’s futuristic intent, creating a stripped back, raw and percussive record that became a defining work of the minimal techno sound. 30 years later, and with minimal more prominent than ever, Ben Cardew speaks to Hood about the album’s enduring influence
Released 40 years ago, Talking Heads’ fifth album was a firm fixture in Larry Levan’s tastemaking Paradise Garage record bag. A stone-cold new wave disco classic filled with now-iconic hits, it spread through New York’s clubs like wildfire. Here, Ben Cardew learns how ‘Speaking In Tongues’ enshrined one of the era’s least classifiable bands on dancefloors forever
A masterclass in sampling, Fatboy Slim's second album remains the best example of Norman Cook’s unmistakable sound: a tightly-knit yet light-wearing blend of rock & roll instrumentation and energy with the hedonistic spirit of late ‘90s British dance music. It went to No.1 in the charts, made a star of its creator, and is ubiquitous to this day. 25 years since its release, Ben Cardew explores its legacy
Released 25 years ago, Massive Attack’s third album, ‘Mezzanine’, signalled the closing of a chapter for the influential Bristol electronic group, and the beginning of a new one for British music as a whole. Spliced with jagged post-punk guitars, their final album as a trio predicted an end-of-century turn for the dark and brooding at the twilight of the rave era
Neneh Cherry’s 1989 debut LP, featuring beloved tracks like ‘Buffalo Stance’ and ‘Manchild’, was the product of both a bohemian free thinker and a groundbreaking musical collective. Here, Ben Cardew explores how Cherry's introduction to the world told an an inspiring tale of collaborative creative freedom, and blazed a trail for the influential Bristol sound of the '90s
Brimming with intricate synth patterns and serpentine drums, ‘The Art Of Music’ is perhaps K-Hand's most straightforwardly beautiful and coherent recording. Its 10 tracks are minimal in their way, with little more to them than a handful of elements, but each layer is its own miniature work of art, honed to perfection. As part of our Solid Gold series, Ben Cardew remembers a standout album from Kelli Hand, a fiercely independent artist named the First Lady of Detroit by the city’s council
After six years of standalone productions and remixes, Ali “Dubfire” Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi’s 1998 debut LP as Deep Dish marked a transition for the duo, crafting a rock / house fusion that shouldn’t work — but, 25 years on, somehow does
Released in 1997, Drexciya's double-vinyl compilation 'The Quest' marked the duo's breakthrough onto a larger public stage, as well as their first, temporary, retirement. With liner notes that sharpened their Afrofuturist mythology into focus , it is also the record that cemented many fans' sonic liaison with the Detroit duo, following a series of 12" releases that perfected their musical ideas. Here, Ben Cardew reflects on a record that most perfectly encapsulates the style, grace, and range of James Stinson and Gerald Donald's project
Urban Tribe, aka Sherard Ingram (DJ Stingray 313), released 'The Collapse Of Modern Culture' in 1998. Enlisting a host of Motor City legends and stepping outside the restraints of tempo and genre, Ingram created a slice of future-proof ambience. Here, Jack Anderson explores the largely under-the-radar LP
Released in early 1998, Versailles duo Air’s debut album ‘Moon Safari’ was a gentle antidote to the wave of French Touch at the time. With an emphasis on melody and mood, it became a ubiquitous soundtrack to the end of the 20th century, and still sounds inspired today. Here, Ben Cardew explores its legacy
Mixing elements of jazz and ambient with drum & bass, LTJ Bukem’s now-classic 1996 release via Good Looking Records was a statement of intent, and remains one of the genre's most fulfilling and impactful releases to this day
33 years after its release in 1989, Larry Heard’s debut album as Mr. Fingers is a profoundly moving document of timeless electronic music, brimming with tracks of unrivaled beauty from the then-young world of house
Manchester's Happy Mondays drew influence from funk, house, and psychedelia to pioneer the Madchester sound. Here, Ben Cardew explores the lasting legacy of their 1990 album, ‘Pills ’N’ Thrills And Bellyaches’, which dropped in the midst of the Baggy takeover, and defined an era
In 2002, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ Viktor Duplaix debuted his entry for K7! Records DJ-Kicks series, blending some of the best broken beat of the era. Here, Ben Cardew explores the compilation's lasting legacy
Brooding and austere, Richie Hawtin’s third album under the Plastikman alias is a minimalist masterwork
Detroit saxophonist, producer, and vocalist Norma Jean Bell is responsible for some of house music’s most glorious moments, and has worked alongside the likes of Moodymann, K-Hand, Ron Trent and George Clinton. Her full-length opus, 'Come Into My Room', released in 2001, proved that she really is “the baddest bitch in this room”
Released on Tresor in 1992, Jeff Mills' debut LP ‘Waveform Transmission Vol. 1’ is a record that stands for repetition and filth, forged from wrought steel and imbued with scuffed-up funk. Here, 30 years after its release, Ben Cardew takes a deep dive into the sound, origins and legacy of an album that birthed a new breed of techno