Out of your box

Ron Trent: ‘Altered Sates’ [Djax]

Made at home by a 16-year-old Chicago house producer called Ron Trent in 1986. Neither Ron himself nor the rest of the of the world has managed to better it since.

Goldie: ‘Inner City Life’ [Metalheadz]

A sprawling epic tale of big city dislocation set to a twenty minute modern soul, break beat-led revue by the man with the gold teeth. Genius.

Urban Shakedown featuring Mickey Finn: ‘Some Justice’ [Urban Shakedown]

Who invented jungle? Well, if you were to listen to this early ’90s plea for unity as the rave scene disintegrated amidst guns, drugs and deaths you’d have to agree it was Micky Finn and Aphrodite.

The Aphex Twin: ‘Digeridoo’ [R+S]

The electronic maverick with the Midas touch makes every other hardcore record seem soft by comparison with this high paced belter that unfortunately made the digeridoo popular with crusties and new age travellers.

Joey Beltram: ‘Energy Flash’ [Transmat]

Brooklyn house head Joey suddenly and unexpectedly became the darling of the European rave/techno scene with ‘Energy’, a track with the darkest, dirtiest, most bad-ass bassline you’ll ever hear.

Donna Summer: ‘I Feel Love’ [Casablanca]

Giorgio Moroder’s timeless production and trademark pulsating rhythm coupled with Donna Summer’s orgasmic wails mean that ‘Love’ is still dropped by club DJs and has provided the inspiration for the electro clash movement.

Rhythm Is Rhythm: ‘Strings Of Life’ [Transmat]

Not as jaw droppingly beautiful as Derrick May’s finest moment, ‘Icon’, ‘Strings Of Life’ still has the most distinctive strings in dance music. No wonder he danced around his apartment naked the day he recorded it.

Hardfloor: ‘Hardtrance Acsperience’ [Harthouse]

The record that brought the 303 back into vogue and, as Billy Nasty once said, ‘changed people’s lives forever’.

New Order: ‘Blue Monday’ [Factory]

The biggest selling 12” of all time and all that – this slice of cold, robotic British pop still sounds amazingly fresh.

MFSB: ‘Love Is The Message’ [Salsoul]

Not that we were around for it or anything, but this Gamble and Huff-produced disco monster summed up everything that was right about dancing to music in nightclubs.

Massive Attack: ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ [Wild Bunch/Virgin]

Still Massive Attack’s finest moment, a string led soul symphony of lost love that brought a tear to the most hardened cynic’s eye as Shara Nelson sings her heart out.

Leftfield: ‘Not Forgotten’ [Hard Hands]

Barnes and Daley’s undisputed greatest moment, the record that lit the torch paper for the progressive house revolution.

Kraftwerk: ‘Trans Europe Express’ [Kling Klang/EMI]

The true techno pioneers – how could you get any more techno than pretending to be robots? Almost any track from their back catalogue could be chosen, but ‘Trans Europe Express’ shades it, because it led to…

Afrika Bambaataa: ‘Planet Rock’ [Tommy Boy]

…a key record in the last century’s musical history. Arthur Baker and Bambaataa took chunks of ‘Trans Europe Express’ and ‘Numbers’, added some ‘rapping’ and bob’s yer uncle: hip-hop was invented.

Dust Brothers: ‘Song To The Siren’ [Collect Boys Own]

You might not agree with this one, but the Dust Brothers (aka the Chemical Brothers) really did kick-start British ‘stadium techno’ (and big beat) with this Cocteau Twins-sampling number.

Alison Limerick: ‘Where Love Lives’ [Arista]

‘Don’t reach out for me with an apology!’ Right on Alison! The soundtrack to end of night shenanigans for many a club in the early ’90s. Classic NYC house.

Joe Smooth: ‘Promised Land’ [DJ International]

Joe Smooth’s spiritual vocal about angels spreading love all over the gaff really made you believe that anything was possible. Especially when you had a couple of quality Es inside of you.

Model 500: ‘No UFOs’ [Metroplex]

Juan Atkins had already made the first Detroit electro track with ‘Clear’ in 1986, but this was the first techno choon to look to the galaxies for inspiration. Proper sci fi funk.

Mr. Fingers: ‘Washing Machine’ [Trax]

Containing the bassline that every house producer has tried and failed to emulate over the last fifteen years.

UR: ‘Galaxy To Galaxy’ [UR]

The record that put jazz into techno and sounded like nothing else on earth – or from anywhere else – in the process.

Sabres Of Paradise: ‘Smokebelch II’ [Sabres Of Paradise]

Has British techno ever made a more beautiful record? Based on a ‘borrowed’ keyboard riff, Andy Weatherall’s ten minute epic is a shimmering, emotional, uplifting, (insert other cliché here) classic.

Aztec Mystic: ‘Knights Of The Jaguar’ [UR]

One of the few from recent times, Rolando’s ‘Knights…’ is here because it’s one of those records that crossed over from the underground to the mainstream jocks and still retained the ability to make ravers misty eyed at the end if the night.

Eric B & Rakim: ‘Paid in Full’ [4th & Broadway]

We ain’t dissing the original, but it’s all about

the Coldcut remix on this one. Sampling just

about everything, they showed how far you

could go and how much you could do with

other people’s music.”

Orbital: ‘Chime’ [Oh-Zone/FFRR]

The other kings of stadium techno made their name with this cheap and cheerful ditty. The emotional riff makes it.

Misjah and Tim: ‘Access’ [FFRR]

A screaming mother of an acid bender of a record. You could argue about this all day, but this is one of those records that paved the way for the ‘hard dance’ scene today.