Oddy, nailed it.

I'm about halfway through with the updates, a lot of this stuff I hadn't heard, but am going to get ASAP. After the updates are done, I'll try and organize everything by subgenres (as much as I don't want to ).

Thanks everybody!

Well, if that's how we're doing it then it would be absolutely necessary to have Phuture. I would say Phuture 303's Alpha & Omega but I feel that this list needs more foundation rather than another building block, so let's just go with Phuture's Trax Classics so that there older stuff is covered.

Mr. Fingers' Amnesia is also another Acid/Deep House classic.

I don't know if this has been listed yet but Polygon Window's "Surfing on Sine Waves" deserves a mention. Aphex Twin's first U.S. album release and under a pseudonym, if you couldn't tell.
Some more:
Lloop's "Bulbbs"
Plaid's "Rest Proof Clockwork", "Trainer", "Not For Threes", and "Parts in the Post"
The Black Dog's "Bytes" and "Spanners"

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Everyoneanindividual,

I have some suggestions:

Replace:
Permetuation with Supermodified. Newbies will not understand Permetuation and Supermodified is not only better but easier to get into.
Fat of the Land with Music for the Jilted Generation. FOTL has too many vocals and JG is the overall better album anyway.

Just for the sake of narrowing it down, get rid of:
DNTL: What the hell kind of newbie is gonna listen to this? There's maybe 2 tracks on there that they'd listen to before dismissing electronica as boring.
Confield: Tri Repetae is good enough IMO
Isolee: No explanation needed.
Dizzee Rascal: A lot of newbies find him annoying; you definitely need a lot of experience to appreciate him.

And finally, how could you leave these out:
Moby - Moby: Not a single Moby album?? This man basically created techno and works as a great gateway album. Select his debut, and maybe Play.
Basement Jaxx - Remedy: Awesome, awesome house music that everyone loves. I'll just assume we just forgot about this one.
Avalanches - Since I Left You: The best introduction to "sample platter" albums, very dancable but plenty of experimentation as well.
Aphex Twin - Chosen Lords: If there's 1 Aphex Twin album to have, it's this one. It's the perfect representation, and the perfect gateway to, indie electronic. It is considered by me to be his magnum opus, and while his early albums are "classics", I doubt beginners would see the big deal.

Hope that helps... I'm not saying you have to delete anything but it would reduce confusion, and would be more concise without them.

quote:

Originally posted by Cyrone:
Moby - Moby: Not a single Moby album?? This man basically created techno

Say what?

Whether Moby belongs on the list can be debated, but he certainly had nothing to do with the creation of techno.

As for your other points, they're well taken, but I don't think this guide needs to be necessarily directed to people who have never listened to anything beyond Top 40. Clearly those people aren't particularly interested in expanding their musical taste in the first place. I view this as more like a guide for an intelligent rock listener who has never dipped into much electronica.

I also don't understand your comment about Isolee. I personally enjoy his work a lot, and on top of that he's credited with pioneering an entire genre of electronica (microhouse/minimal house/whatever the word of the day for it is), which seems to be enough reason for inclusion even if you don't like him.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: odysseyandoracle,

^ Techno =/= electronic
Sure, electronic was around since the 70's, but tell me who was responsible for starting the 90's upsession with techno - when "Go" came out, no one had heard anything like it.

As for the Top 40 business, it doesn't matter whether they WANT to get into electronic, most people would rather have a listen at the popular stuff (Prodigy, Moby) before the indie stuff (Squarepusher, Aphex Twin).. I mean if this was a guide aimed at techno-heads that only listened to Tiesto and Darude then of course you should only post indie stuff.

As for the Plaid, by far his best album for beginners is "Double Figure" - the older stuff would definitely be a turn off although there are still some good tracks back there.

quote:

Originally posted by Cyrone:
^ Techno =/= electronic
Sure, electronic was around since the 70's, but tell me who was responsible for starting the 90's upsession with techno - when "Go" came out, no one had heard anything like it.

Unfortunately, I can't really say - I was 6 or 7 when "Go" came out. Regardless of who popularized it, techno (and not just electronic music) was around for at least a decade before Moby came onto the scene. What started in the early 80s in Detroit is indisputably techno, and much of it was popular, locally and in dance clubs. That marks the clear defining line between early electronic music and techno, and you'd be hard pressed to find any history of the music that doesn't reference this. Not only was techno around before Moby, it was thriving. I mean, "3 a.m. Eternal" topped the UK overall charts in 1990, something that Moby has yet to do.

To be honest, I've never heard much of Moby's early stuff - as far as I can remember he didn't make much of an impact in the American mainstream until Play. It might well belong on the list; I plan on checking it out when I can based on your recommendation. But to say he created or even single-handedly popularized techno is a massive misrepresentation. It would be something like saying B.B. King invented the blues.

quote:

As for the Top 40 business, it doesn't matter whether they WANT to get into electronic, most people would rather have a listen at the popular stuff (Prodigy, Moby) before the indie stuff (Squarepusher, Aphex Twin).. I mean if this was a guide aimed at techno-heads that only listened to Tiesto and Darude then of course you should only post indie stuff.

What the guide should do, in my view, is simply provide a selection of the most representative records of the various branches of electronica. Only an extremely tiny amount of electronic music has reached the mainstream, at least in America, and it was all within a relatively brief span of time. Moby, The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers...that's all I can think of at the moment. And none of these artists are particularly popular right now, so I'm not sure how you would even define "popularity."

Bringing a genre to the mainstream != invention.

Since you have KLF's Chill Out you should probably add Tetsu Inoue's "World Receiver" as it is one of the best ambient releases of all time.

I don't think Biosphere should be left out either, either Cirque, Substrata, or Autour De La Lune, all are excellent.

Mouse on Mars "Idiology" is my favorite release by them, but they consistently turn out brilliant stuff so they should make the cut.

In addition I would add any of the first three definitive Pole releases (creatively titled 1,2, and 3). And perhaps even Steingarten because I think it stands up to those easily.

On the ambient side, I think just about every member here would recommend Eluvium and his best album (imo) would be Talk Amongst the Tress.