In no particular order...
1. "Quoth EP" Polygon Window
along with Spastik, and Dusk by Aquarius
Project, one of the seminal all-percussion tracks.
2. "On Remixes" Aphex Twin
Lovely stuff, including Muziq mix that was among his first appearances
on record...
3. "Tango n Vectif" Muziq
No one realizes any more how completely fresh this sounded when it first
came out. Still one of the best ways to spend an hour with the headphones.
4. "Bluff Limbo" Muziq
Victim of one of the most screwy marketing schemes ever (drop 100 test presses
and then wait 3 years to release) extends and deepens what he started on
Tango n Vectif.
5. "A Collection of Short Stories" Reload
This may well be one of the most elaborately produced records of it's
time. It included a booklet containing stories to accompany the music,
that may best be ignored. But the music is occasionally sublime,
especially "le soleil et la mere"
6. "76:14" Global Communications
An extension of the Reload record, with the spooky ambient bits less in
evidence.
7. "Spanners" Black Dog.
A load of really off kilter and endearing tracks, and the magnificant "Chesh"
which is ineffably wonderful.
8. "Music for Adverts" -- Black Dog. Really underappreciated, due in large
part to the "short attention span theatre" strategy Ken Downie uses. But
probably the best CD ever to put on infinite shuffle...
9. "Envane" Autechre
4 tracks and none of them prone to the excesses that occasionally show
up on their full lengths.
10. "Music has the Right to Children" Boards of Canada. Perhaps the most
sublime expression of the British love of hip hop. Melodic, funky,
introspective with really effective use of vocal samples.
I don't have that many different artists on the list, and they're
pretty obvious names. But each of the records are the kind that bear
repeated listening, are musically challenging, and remain fresh years
after the fact. They're also each unique artists -- there aren't really
cases where you could mistake one for the other.
I also am consciously trying to be true to what have been the most
enduring subjects of the IDM mailing list. For better or worse this is
the music upon which the mailing list was founded, and I think that
even as people dismiss the idea that there is a genre, and the IDM list
fills up with contentious weasels, there really was a 'there' there when
we started out.
kent williams -- kent@avalon.net
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