What is essential listening when it comes to electronic music? (2024)

There are countless dance records and mixes that I won't get into now. What I will recommend here are essential albums.

Pet Shop Boys-Very/Relentless (2cd limited version)
Daft Punk-Discovery
Adamski-Adamski's Thing
Goldie-Timeless (US version)
AFX-Chosen Lords
Andrew Weatherall-Masterpiece (3CD)
Beirut Cafe Stockholm Vol1
Fabric 60: Dave Clarke
Terry Farley presents Acid Rain
Yoshiesque
Thievery Corporation-Radio Retaliation
Biosphere-Substrata
Breakbeat Era-Ultra Obscene
Chemical Brothers-Brothers Gonna Work It Out
Depeche Mode-Violator
Erasure-Erasure
Floorplan-Paradise
Grimes-Art Angels
Hell-Teufelswerk
High Functioning Flesh-Definite Structures
Human League-Dare/Love and Dancing
Jimi Tenor-Intervision
Josh Wink-20 To 20
KLF-The White Room
Laurent Garnier-Unreasonable Behavior
Leila-Like Weather
Liza Minnelli-Results
Madonna-Confessions On A Dance Floor
Moby-Move
New Order-Republic
Nine Inch Nails-Ghosts I to IV
Orbital-In Sides (2CD version)
Patrick Cowley-School Daze
Pet Shop Boys-Introspective
Plastikman-Consumed
Prodigy-Experience
Robert Hood-Internal Empire
Royksopp&Robyn-Do It Again
Tangerine Dream-The Virgin Years compilations
Tim Hecker-Love Streams
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross-The Social Network soundtrack
Youth Code-A Place To Stand

I tend to favor music with vocals and these bands are all over the electronic music map, so:

Massive Attack
Telepopmusik
Morcheeba
Air
Zero 7
Pretty Lights
Disclosure
Mura Masa
Oliver
Alabama 3 (A3 )
Sohn
Basem*nt Jaxx
Future H
London Elektricity

Remixers:
Petko Turner ( Free DL on Soundcloud )
Latroit
Girl Talk

Kinda Historic classics
Moby-Play
Propaganda-A secret Wish
Fatboy Slim-You've come a long way baby
MC 900ft Jesus-Welcome to my Dream
Portishead-Dummy
Scritti Politti-Cupid and Psyche 85

some v good ones here. Acid Rain by Terry Farley is the best acid house compilation there is.

Orbital - The Box (full EP):

No Eurythamics?

future city - only love (fulvio zafret)

pardon the dat error....

if anyone can translate what dieter meier is saying here?

maisonvauge??

2:27m

Find something that you like on youtube, then follow the path (generally called a playlist) until you realise it's 2am and you need to get up for work at 5:30.

More often than not though you do get lucky with a broken link, usually a guilty pleasure that doesn't sit well with the rest of the playlist and you can often then escape the grip. The trick is to know when it's a bad idea to look for more great music that might drag you into another rabbit hole just before bedtime.

Listen to this one 100x.... in particular after 1:04m

James Holden - The Inheritors
Jon Hopkins - Open Eye Signal
Depeche Mode - Violator
Leftfield - Leftism
Daniel Avery - Drone Logic
David Bowie - Low
LTJ Bukem - Logical Progression
Luke Slater - Freek Funk
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
Primal Scream - Xterminator
Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman
Aphex Twin - Richard D James
YMO - YMO
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Plastikman

Some classics off the top of my head.

Lots of good one's listed so far!

Ed Rush & Nico - Torque. Mind blowing at the time, and was one of the classic early techstep albums from the mid 90's. Moody dark and sparse...

Scorn.

Essentially created an entire subgenre that still influences today. Never gets enough credit (hell, I work with younger self-described "bass heads" who have never heard of Mick Harris).

Definitely this.

And any John Carpenter soundtrack.

Some random 'electronic' albums that I haven't seen mentioned yet in this thread;

Altern-8 - Full On Mask Hysteria

Dillinja - Cybotron

Gesaffelstein - Aleph

Somebody has already mentioned Massive Attack - Mezzanine, but I think their first 3 albums are all pretty special, so i'll add Blue Lines and Protection.

I can listen to them and my mind might focus on a particular percussive element, or a bassline, or some really clever effect. Their attention to detail even in choosing the right singer for a track is phenomenal imo, hence why I listened to Protection twice today. It would be the perfect album for a hot day zoning out from life and zoning into the music on a well balanced sound system with a few beers, or something recreational.

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine. Seminal album IMHO. Hard to believe it's 30 years old now.

Yes.

Yes.

Pioneers...

Strange nobody has mentioned these dudes, what with numerous AFX, BOC, B12 and Autechre mentions.

... and when people like Darude, Axwell, Tiesto, Aviici, ATB, Skrillex, Deadmau5, Paul Van Dyke, Armin Van Buuren or Fatboy Slim are mentioned in this context...it makes me furious. J'sayin.

Yes.

Juno Reactor - Beyond The Infinite is a master work of goa/trance and ambient but goes well well beyond both.

Let me put it this way, I hate pretty much 99.9% of trance, even the classics, but I listen to this album in its entirety 4-5x a year.

It's definitely cheesy, but it's like double cream brie classy cheese.

His name is Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner

This guy is amazing and has been around a long time but I am just discovering him now.

There is much much more on his Youtube including full concerts.

Unless they were mentioned previously (and I haven't noticed).

1.OMD
2.The Crystal Method
3. Paul Hardcastle
4. Thomas Dolby
5. Art of Noise
6. Prodigy

Mantronix - King Of The Beats
Rhythim Is Rhythim - Strings Of Life
Phuture - Acid Trax
Mr. Fingers - Washing Machine
Soul Sonic Force - Planet Rock
Donna Summer - I Feel Love
Cybotron - Clear
Kraftwerk - Numbers
Man Parrish - Hip Hop Be Bop
Shannon - Let The Music Play
Nu Yorican Soul - Nervous Track
Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
Orbital - Chime
LFO - LFO
Royal House - Can You Party
Marshall Jefferson - House Music Anthem
Joey Beltram - Energy Flash
Adonis - No Way Back
New Order - Blue Monday
Rude Boyz Of House - House Nation
Colonel Abrams - Trapped
D-Train - Your're The One For Me
Aleem - Release Yourself
Newcleus - Jam On It

Maybe...depending on taste. But I see a lot of my list as influential tracks on the progression of certain house, techno and electro but definitely not exhaustive, just my take. Modern derivatives certainly have more modern influences as well.

Yes please

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