The CD was a freebie from the defunct but much-missed Select magazine, being a sampler from Skint Records, a hot-house for bigbeat and non-cheesy electronica. This was really the first dance-oriented electronica album I listened to a lot. Some of the tracks are more traditional dance, like вЂњNo Good (Start The Dance)вЂќ (how cool is the video?!)ДЄnd вЂњ Voodoo PeopleвЂќ (taking its riff from NirvanaвЂ™s вЂњVery ApeвЂќ) but even then there a rockier, guitar tinge to the music. Vital, adrenalizing, life-affirming stuff. This is best seen on вЂњ Their LawвЂќ (with guitars by Pop Will Eat Itself), which is a furious snarling punk song within the structure of a dance track. Their second album was a much darker and more aggressive affair, with substantial grit added to the texture, while retaining the breakbeats and high tempo energy.

The Prodigy were a cartoonish rave band to start with, breaking through with вЂњ Charly SaysвЂќ (did you know Kenny Everett voiced the cat?). The Prodigy Music For The Jilted Generation Leftism remains the single best example of a dance album. WhatвЂ™s terrific about Leftism is that while the songs have definite propulsive beats, this is never for the sake of it: you feel the intelligent craft of what the song is about and what itвЂ™s doing all the time, and the sense of narrative works well not just within each song but on the broader structure of the entire album. With dance music based on rhythm, tracks can just go on based on their 4/4 beat. Similarly, the tender ballad вЂњ OriginalвЂќ leads to the sinister dark charge of вЂњ Black FluteвЂќ which then yields to the glorious adrenaline-rush of вЂњ Space ShantyвЂњ. The sense of rhythm and texture are endlessly superb: the bouncy toy piano of opener вЂњ Release The PressureвЂњ, the tribal rhythms of вЂњAfro-LeftвЂќ (a style later refined to the ferocious rhythmic assault of вЂњ Phat PlanetвЂњ), the cool liquid textures of вЂњ MeltвЂќ which leads gracefully to the slow-build of вЂњ Song Of LifeвЂњ, with its glorious beats opening up halfway through. (Well, maybe вЂњStorm 3000вЂќ isnвЂ™t all that, but it does provide a welcome lull midway through the second side before the John Lydon-sung stomper вЂњ Open UpвЂњ). Hands down, the best dance album ever, in my opinion. Never mind вЂ“ Homework is a fantastic work of imagination, skill, style and flair. The tension and gritty textures of Homework disappeared entirely, and IвЂ™ve never thought much of Discovery or subsequent work вЂ“ not even the recent much-hyped single вЂњGet LuckyвЂќ. Probably the most famous is вЂњ Da FunkвЂњ, with that memorable вЂњNAAAOOOBut the album is strong throughout, from lead-in track вЂњ DaftendirektвЂќ to вЂњ Revolution 909вЂќ (a Beatles tribute there?) to the brutal stomper вЂњ RollinвЂ™ And ScratchinвЂвЂќ to the very fine вЂњ AliveвЂњ.ДЄfter Homework, Daft Punk went off the lo-fi techno approach and went all house music, shimmery and glossy. Daft PunkвЂ™s Homework was the best of them, a thumping concoction of abrasive textures over slyly melodic riffs. The mid-late 90s seemed to blossom some outstanding French electronica, with AirвЂ™s Moon Safari and the brilliant Super Discount compilations, not to mention the wonderful Stardust single вЂњMusic Sounds Better With YouвЂќ. Dance no longer meant just nightclub preening or disco frivolity, expanding its emotional and textural palette to something more recognisable to rock fans. Your taste in 80s thrash might seem banal to my ears рџ™‚ДЄll that self-justification having been said, it does seem to me that there was something of a rich seam of dance/electronica albums around the turn of the millennium, with a convergence of вЂњdanceвЂќ and the indie/lo-fi aesthetic.

No doubt my choices will appear ridiculously mainstream and pedestrian to those in the know. So although I had some background here, through Kraftwerk mostly, dance albums were new to me and it was all interesting and new, etc.

We all liked going to jungle, drum nвЂ™ bass and pounding techno nights, but for music at home, my chums favoured electronica more than I would have. There was then a big amorphous group of us (as happens when youвЂ™re drawn together by hedonism, rather than similarity in outlook or experiences) and most of that crowd were substantially more danceheads than me, in their music taste I mean. My exposure to them began and pretty much ended when I was in my nightclubbing phase, in my late teens-early 20s. IвЂ™m really the wrong person to write about dance albums.

Prodigy discography youtube