My 25 Favourite Albums: Jurassic 5 - J5LP

During my childhood and into my young adult life I went through various phases music wise. Rap music was one of those phases, but it wasn't a case of just listening to the entire genre so to speak. It began with Eminem, then those associated with Eminem such as Dr Dre, then more West Coast rap and then at some point it was any rap I found good.

There came a point when my rap phase was over, but amazingly one rap act I didn't listen to during that phase was the featured act in this post, Jurassic 5. There came a point in my life though where I was no longer committed to a specific genre, and that's when I started listening to Jurassic 5.

A lot of rap music had become less about the struggles of growing up in a rough part of the world and more about bragging about how much money they now had and how they were "pimping it up in the club". Jurassic 5 were never about that though, they were as they put it "all about the beats and the lyrics".

Another thing I liked was the fact they are a group and the dynamic they have as a group comes through on the record. The reality is that a decent producer can make a poor rapper a good tune, and a bad producer can make a good rapper a crap tune. Jurassic 5 had Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark to take care of that, who are both great at what they do.

Then you have the 4 rappers, yes confusingly there are 6 members of Jurassic 5. Who is the stand out rapper? Well none of them really, it's all about how they rap together.

What this album taught me is that to make a good rap record, you don't need to claim to be the best rapper in the world, you don't need the who's who of good producers, you don't need to swear all the time and you don't need to go to war with other rappers.

Whilst it's not gangsta rap though, it's not your cheesy Will Smith type nonsense either. The lyrics do have a few expletives, they have a message with the tunes. But the emphasis is on the music, and that's the whole point of music at the end of the day.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

Like with several of the albums that feature in the series, this is an album I bought quite some time after it was released. In 1993 when this album came out I was into grunge, then in the mid to late 90s I was into rave. Throughout this time I did like the odd rap record, but it wasn't a genre I really played close attention to.

In the year 2000 that all changed. I was one of many people jumping on the Eminem bandwagon. This lead me on to listening to other rappers, and Snoop Dogg was one of these.

The first Snoop Dogg album I bought was "Tha Last Meal" which was his latest album at the time. When playing it in my car, a mate asked if I owned "Doggystyle", which I didn't, so he gave me a copy of it. I eventually bought the CD when I got a CD player in my car.

It's actually a pretty close call as to whether I prefer "Doggystyle" to "Tha Last Meal", but "Doggystyle" just about pips it.

The best way to listen to the album is to skip the intros and got straight onto track 3 which is "Gin & Juice". The other hits from the album are "Doggy Dogg World" and the one everyone knows, "Who Am I".

The non singles though are probably better. You have "Lodi Dodi" which is essentially a cover of "La Di Da Di" by Doug E Fresh. There's also "Gz and Hustlas" which is preceded by a skit of a teacher asking kids what they want to be when they grow up, when he asks a young Snoop he say's "I wanna be a motherfuckin hustla, ya betta ask somebody". The voice of young Snoop was a then unknown rapper Bow Wow.

The highlight of the album though has to be "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)". This is the first I remember Nate Dogg singing on a verse as well as the chorus. It also features Kurupt and Warren G. It's one of the only rap tunes where I know all the lyrics and have rapped it many times, but am yet to find it on a karaoke playlist.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Sander Kleinenberg - This Is Everybody Too

A number of years ago when I already owned this album, I asked a mate of mine if he'd heard of Sander Kleinenberg. His response was "No, nobodies heard of these people you listen to".

Generally speaking I know who in my music collection is known to many and who is known to few. With Sander Kleinenberg though I wasn't sure. On one hand he had a big tune with "My Lexicon" in 2000 and his Essential Mix in 2001 was voted Essential Mix of the Year. On the other hand, whilst clearly a big name in the dance music world, maybe he wouldn't be so well known to the wider public.

I put it to test by asking pretty much everyone I knew at the time whether they'd heard of Sander Kleinenberg, bearing in mind most of my friends aren't into dance music. Only 1 person I asked said yes.

They were missing out, as this album is amongst the best ever. Some of them did get to hear it in my car, where I played it a lot. Obviously not everyone liked it, but I managed to convert some people I think.

I think over analysing the album by speaking about the different genres it incorporates isn't going to do it any justice, so I won't. Just think about it as simply being a house album.

The first CD starts off with a couple of ambient numbers. Once we're into dance mode it's still more of the chill out variety but gradually get's heavier as the mix goes on with penultimate track "Don't Stop Go" by Hydroponix perhaps being the heaviest of them all. Not that heavy though, it is house music after all. The final track in the mix is one of his own, "The Right Time".

The second CD more of less goes straight into it, with the 2nd track being his own composition "The Fruit", which is perhaps one of his better known tunes. It finishes with 2 different versions of the same tune, "Waves" by Redanka.

The best way to understand what makes this album so great though is to give it a listen.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Fatboy Slim - Live On Brighton Beach

In the mid-80s when the Housemartins were around, few would have predicted the bass player would go on to become one of the biggest acts in the country at the start of the 21st century, but that's exactly what did happen.

Norman Cook never really went away following the break up of the Housemartins having hits with Beats International, Freak Power, Pizzaman and Mighty Dub Katz. He became Fatboy Slim in 1996 and I first came across him in 1997 when he released "Everybody Needs A 303". It was in 1999 when he really hit the big time with "Praise You".

By the turn of the century, few, if any DJs in the dance music were bigger than Fatboy Slim. I always liked "Right Here Right Now" and "Gangster Trippin", but still to this day I don't like "Praise You", and "The Rockafeller Skank" used to annoy me but it's grown on me since. I also don't like "Sunset (Bird Of Prey)", the first single off his next album.

A mixed bag hit's wise then so initially I didn't really get the hype. But then there is Fatboy Slim the DJ. Although you're likely to hear some of his music in his sets, Fatboy Slim as a DJ is a different concept. I saw him doing a DJ set on the TV and realised just how good he was as a DJ.

His music is big beat, but his DJing was more of the house music variety. My first understanding of what makes a good DJ was ability to mix, but I knew that was a load of nonsense really, nobody really cares if the beats match up perfectly when mixing. Instead myself and a lot of other people agreed that track selection is key to being a good DJ. But actually, it isn't that. What really makes a good DJ is the ability to play any old rubbish and still make it sound good, and Fatboy Slim is just that.

This album was recorded in 2001 at the first Big Beach Boutique in Brighton. It wasn't the one where 250,000 people turned up, that was the following year.

Around the time both events took place, I was listening to more Rap and R&B music than I was dance, so I wasn't at either gig. I was living the other end of the country too at the time.

I bought the album 2 or 3 years later when Fatboy Slims popularity had dwindled and think I only paid £2 for it which was pretty much unheard of at the time. On listening to it I wished I was there.

The 3rd and 4th Big Beach Boutiques were for residents of Brighton only, but I managed to go to the 5th one (and last to date) which was in the Amex stadium as opposed to the beach. It was a great gig.

Fatboy Slim is still very much around today, but his last studio album came out in 2004. Maybe the fact he plays gigs instead of making records is a good thing, that "Eat Sleep Rave Repeat" tune he did a few years ago was dreadful.

He does come under criticism for playing the same set for the last 20 years. Whilst you're pretty much guaranteed to hear "Right Here Right Now", "Praise You" and "Star 69" in his sets, I wouldn't necessarily say they're all the same. Besides, more often than not when you go to a gig, the act you're seeing will play their big hits, this is no different.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Air - Moon Safari

In the late 90s a fair bit of French electronic music was becoming popular in the UK and Air were one of those who were making their mark. Their debut Top 40 hit was "Sexy Boy" which seemed to be everywhere at the time.

I thought it was an alright record, but didn't think it was anything special, the fact it was overplayed didn't really help. When I heard "Kelly Watch The Stars" on the other hand, I thought what a tune. Then there was "All I Need", another great tune.

If you think of these 3 tunes, "Sexy Boy" is more of a dance record, then "Kelly Watch The Stars" straddles the line between dance and chill out, then "All I Need" is a chill out tune.

This pretty much reflects the album, it's not exactly a dance album or a chill out album, but it's something in between.

Back in 2010, Air played in London 3 times and on all 3 occasions I couldn't go for one reason or another. Unfortunately they haven't played in London since then. They did a world tour a year or 2 ago and went to many countries, but not the UK, so I'm yet to see them live. Hopefully I will one day.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Tiga - Sexor

The next in this series is the debut album for Tiga. It was a bit odd that this was his debut album given he'd been around a while by the time it came out, but then again there are plenty of dance music DJs who don't ever release studio albums so maybe not that strange.

Tiga first hit the big time in 2002 with "Sunglasses At Night", still perhaps his best known tune to date. Then came his dance version of "Hot In Herre" which didn't come out that long after the Nelly version and featured Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters at a time before they had their first UK hit. Neither of these tunes were on the album, but given how old these were by this point it's understandable.

The earliest release to make the album was "Pleasure From The Bass" which came out in 2004. Then there was "Louder Than a Bomb", followed by "You Gonna Want Me" which featured a now well known Jake Shears. Also coming out prior to the album was "Good As Gold".

By the time I bought the album, he'd also released "(Far From) Home" and "3 Weeks". The main reason I bought the album was for "(Far From) Home" as it's worth buying for that track alone. Furthermore there is also a remix on the album called "(Far From) Home (The Speed Of Sexor Reprise)".

With 6 tracks that I already knew and liked plus a remix of one of them, what else was on the album?

Well there are 14 tracks in total, 2 of which are interludes (The opening track "Welcome To Planet Sexor" and "Who's That?"). Then we have 3 covers, "Louder Than A Bomb" by Public Enemy, "Down In It" by Nine Inch Nails and "Burning Down The House" by Talking Heads.

The remaining 2 tracks are "The Ballad Of Sexor" and "Brothers", the latter containing the hidden track "Sir Sir Sir".

When I bought it I couldn't stop listening to it. What makes it so great? I've no idea to be honest, it's simply an album I love to listen to.

My 25 Favourite Albums: DJ Shadow - Entroducing.....

At the time this album came out in 1996 I was only listening to dance music. People started talking about DJ Shadow and assumed him to be dance music as that was what many DJs were doing at the time.

Then one day somebody played me this album, and to be honest I didn't like it at first. As I was predominantly into Happy Hardcore at the time, this was simply too slow for me.

Once I became more open minded when it comes to music though, I recalled the time I heard this album and thought maybe it was something I could like, so I revisited it and realised just how good and album it is.

In the beginning I had assumed DJ Shadow to be one of the acts from Bristol, I didn't realise he was American. One thing I did notice though is that the Bristol acts such as Massive Attack had their albums in the dance section in the record shop, whereas DJ Shadow would be in the Rap/Hip Hop section.

On paper it's an instrumental Hip Hop album, and if you had to classify it as something then this would be it. It really breaks down the barriers though, it's experimenting with various samples to produce something you've never heard before.

My 25 Favourite Albums: The Ultimate Lessons

In the world of dance music, generally speaking the DJ is the one who usually gets the acknowledgement. Certainly back in the 90s, you wouldn't even know who the MC was half the time.

In Hip Hop though, the opposite is true. Maybe in the early day's you'd have the likes of Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa taking the plaudits, but the reality is the rapper is the one most people go to a Hip Hop concert to see, few people, if any, go because they want to see the DJ playing for the rapper.

This album though well and truly puts the Hip Hop DJ in the spotlight.

It was released in 2002, but the beginnings of the album date back to 1983. DJs Double Dee & Steinski put together 3 "lessons", which were basically hip hop sample based collages which were named "Lesson 1", "Lesson 2" and "Lesson 3".

Being entirely sample based though they were never commercially released due to sample clearances, until this album got released and they are the first 3 tracks.

Fast forward to the 90s, 2 Hip Hop DJs decided to have a go at creating their own "lesson". They were DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. Both are called "Lesson 4" and are tracks 4 and 5 on the album.

As such, there is no "Lesson 5" and next up is "Lesson 6" which is by Cut Chemist and also appears on the self titled debut album from Cut Chemists group, Jurassic 5.

The final 3 tracks are live performances based on the "lessons" which are "Live Lesson A" by Cut Chemist and Shortkut, "Live Lesson B" by DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and Steinski, and "Live Lesson C" by DJ Shadow.

Hip Hop to many is all about lyrics, and that's fine. We all have our reasons for liking music and lyrics are one of the reasons I like Hip Hop. However, for me there's more to it than the lyrics, or indeed the rapping style.

Basically, the backing track is just as important, if not more important. If the backing track is crap, then any MC, no matter how good they are, is going to struggle to do anything decent.

More to the point though, Hip Hop does not always need a rapper in the same way dance music doesn't need, and often doesn't have an MC. To appreciate what the DJs do in Hip Hop music, this album is a great way to show them in all their glory.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Spiritcatcher - Coast 2 Coast

Just a reminder that I decided what my 25 favourite albums were in 2009, and this one actually came out in 2009.

It's probably the most obscure album out of them all, if you're not into dance music then there's a good chance you've never heard of Spiritcatcher.

When I first started using YouTube I would basically binge on listening to music I hadn't heard for years. After a while I realised that I didn't have to just use YouTube to find old music, I can use it to find new music too. Obviously I had to know said new music existed to find it on YouTube, so this is what happened.

Around the same time, MySpace was still popular. I never had an account myself, but knew a good chunk of the users were musicians, or aspiring musicians. I came across the profile of someone who I saw DJ a few times at a nightclub I used to go to who would mainly play deep house and tech house. This was the sort of music I was seeking at the time, so I looked at what musicians he liked on his profile and listened to said musician on YouTube. Of those, the one which had the biggest impact on me was Spiritcatcher.

A while later I learned they were going to be releasing this album. It's a mix album rather than their own material, but it was the sort of style I was looking for and the latest music.

There are 2 CDs, one mixed and the other unmixed, containing 10 of the 14 tracks that appear on the mixed CD.

It's worth buying for the first track alone, which is "DDNA" by Soul Designer. Like with many great albums though, it's not just about the individual tracks. Basically if you want some simple no nonsense tech house music then I don't think there is any better album than this.

Being a fan of this mix album, Spiritcatcher were on the list of acts I wanted to see (admittedly a long list). One day in 2011, the night of the Tottenham riots to be exact, I was in the Ministry of Sound and saw on the flyers inside that Spiritcatcher were playing there the following week.

Unfortunately I'd reached the point of my life where doing an all nighter would make me knackered the whole week after, so decided against doing the Ministry of Sound 2 weeks in a row and thought maybe I'd see them another time. However it doesn't look like they've played in London since then, that coupled with the fact my clubbing days are pretty much over it looks like that was my last opportunity to see them.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Erol Alkan - A Bugged Out Mix/A Bugged In Selection

I'll begin with an extract from the liner notes:

The only reason I agreed to do a commercially available CD was so I could compile a second CD which had nothing to do with nightclubs and losing your mind along with your mobile phone on the dancefloor.

It's most likely for this reason that this album makes it onto my list. It isn't just a dance mix, it's also a selection of tunes that have nothing to do with dance music.

Bugged Out is a dance music event that's been going since 1994 and this is one of several albums they've put out. Erol Alkan is a well known DJ in the dance music world.

The "Bugged Out Mix" begins with the most unlikely of tunes, "Hush" by Deep Purple, though it is just a 30 second extract which then goes into "E Talking" by Soulwax. Next up is "The Creeps" by Freaks which of course was a big hit, but that was in 2007 and this mix came out in 2005.

The mix follows that electro formula throughout and includes tunes from the likes of Tiga and SebastiAn and perhaps the best known tune in the mix was "Rocker" by Alter Ego.

A great mix, but what truly made the album was the "Bugged In Selection".

This isn't your usual chill out compilation that you might expect, it's a wide selection of tunes which go back as far as the 60s.

The opening track is "Passing Through" by Rare Bird which is from the 70s. We also have a mellow version of the Rolling Stones song "Miss You" by Swedish group The Concretes. The oldest track is "End Of A Love Affair" which is from 1962.

The selection becomes more upbeat when "Lollipop Minds" by Wimple Winch, a psychedelic tune from the 60s appears. The tune that follows was "Rainbow Chaser" by Nirvana. That's the original Nirvana from the 60s, not the Kurt Cobain one. I'd known such a band existed since the early 90s but had never heard any of their music until listening to this, and it's a good tune.

There is one well known tune on the CD which is "Just An Illusion" by Imagination. The tune that follows is the strangest one, "Holland Tunnel Dive" by ImpLOG.

The final track is "Big City" by Spacemen 3 which never seems to end, but that's a good thing because you know it's the final track and once it ends, so does the compilation.

When I bought this album, I was wanting a dance compilation first and foremost. But seeing Deep Purple on the track list did make me intrigued as to how that would fit into the compilation. I also knew that the Nirvana featured were the 60s Nirvana so also wanted to hear what they sounded like.

I didn't think that the CD of random tunes would be the one I'd listen to the most, I think I was more particular about what I listened to at the time. I guess what this compilation taught me was that there's lots of great music out there outside of the genres I'd typically listen to.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Jacques Lu Cont - FabricLive.09

For those who don't know, FabricLive was a series of albums put out by Fabric nightclub which started in 2001 and finished in 2018 when the 100th mix came out.

Being number 9, this was quite early on in the series and came out in 2003. Jacques Lu Cont is an alias of Stuart Price who was also well known as Les Rythmes Digitales and as a member of Zoot Woman. He pretended to be French in the early days, I thought he was French myself when I bought this but later discovered he wasn't.

These day's he's perhaps better known as plain old Stuart Price, the producer of more recent albums by Madonna, Pet Shop Boys and Take That amongst others.

To the album itself then, well it begins with a rip off of "Miss You" by the Rolling Stones which was your typical Dance record of the day. I love the way it mixes into the 2nd track, "Eastern Palace" by Risan. Little did I know until reading the liner notes that we'd now gone back to the early 80s, but somehow it just seemed to fit.

Up next was "Wordy Rappinghood" by the Tom Tom Club, another early 80s tune and I finally learned what that weird but good tune I'd heard a few years earlier actually was. It was then back to the present day with "Steppin" by Chicken Lips, who were 2 former members of Bizarre Inc. Then it was back to the 80s again with "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band.

A bit of a mixture at the start then, but still somehow sounded like a typical House mix. It then settled into just that beginning with the excellent "Give it Up" by Crazy Penis and ending with "Remind Me" by Royksopp.

Then things get a bit strange again, with "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Strauss making an appearance which then goes into "Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics. At first I think it might be a dance remix of it, but then realise no it really is "Sweet Dreams" itself.

We then have a Stuart Price tune in "It's Automatic" by Zoot Woman, then followed by the excellent "David" by GusGus.

Once again we go back to the 80s, but this time to the early days of House music with "House Nation" by Housemaster Boyz, given the nature of the mix so far that didn't seem too unusual, it was still House music after all.

After this though it gets even weirder, if that's even possible. We have "Snowball" by Devo, a notable change in direction. Then it's "I Wanna Rock" by Junior Sanchez, a Rock inspired Dance record. Then it goes completely Rock with "Gouge Away" by The Pixies and then finishes with "Here Come the Warm Jets" by Brian Eno.

Quite a random mix then, but that's what makes it so great. It has some great tunes on it, the Crazy Penis to Royksopp section alone makes it worth buying. I wouldn't have thought having a Pixies record in a Dance mix would work, but somehow it does.

In my pre-London days when I used to drive to work, this was always a favourite to put on in the car on the drive home on Friday, ready for the weekend to begin.

I had hoped one day I would spend the weekend going to see the man himself play, but certainly by the time I moved to London his DJing as Jacques Lu Cont had more or less finished, being a producer for various artists instead. He did briefly start DJing as Jacques Lu Cont again around 2011-2013 but for whatever reason I never went to see him during that time, guess I was getting a bit old for clubbing by then. Maybe it's for the best as his set probably wouldn't be as good as this.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Plump DJs - A Plump Night Out

A key moment in the history of rave came in the mid-90s when the scene split into Happy Hardcore and Drum & Bass. As both genres evolved, by the end of the 90s they were both completely different to the original rave sound they grew out of.

At the same time, it was becoming more common for Old Skool sets to feature at raves to cater for those who missed the older sound.

My tapepack collection only went back as far as 1993 so when I got my first tape pack to feature the Ratpack doing an Old Skool set I thought it was great. However a few tapepacks later I started to realise the limitation of an Old Skool set was that there are only a finite number of tunes from 1992. You were never going to hear anything new and ground-breaking, it was all from the past.

The solution to this was Nu Skool Breaks which basically took the old skool breakbeat formula to create new music.

In 2000, Nu Skool Breaks DJs the Plump DJs released "A Plump Night Out". It's a DJ mix album as opposed to studio album, but it consists entirely of their own material either as the original artist or remixers.

It's not an album that sounds like it's from 1992 though, in fact the beats are where the similarities end. The rest is essentially a mix of all different kinds of dance music.

That's what makes the album so great, the beats keep the album flowing and you get variety everywhere else.

My 25 Favourite Albums: High Contrast - High Society

When I first got into rave music in the mid-90s it was around the same time it split into Happy Hardcore and Drum & Bass, yet it was what I knew to be the "rave sound" that got me into the music rather than either of those genres.

As the years went on, both genres in my mind were moving further away from that "rave sound". Happy Hardcore became basically faster Clubland music and Drum & Bass seemed more of an Urban genre than Dance.

My preferred genre in the 90s was Happy Hardcore, but by the early-00s I was listening to more Urban music so started to prefer Drum & Bass out of the 2, but was more into Rap and R&B.

By 2004 I was getting more into Dance music again. My view was Happy Hardcore was good for the fast tempos with harmonies, and Drum & Bass was good for the drums and the bass.

Then I heard "Racing Green" by High Contrast. It was like the tune I had been waiting for since the 90s had finally arrived. Instead of choosing between the harmony or the beat, you could now have both.

High Contrast was a name who had started to appear at events like Accelerated Culture and Slammin Vinyl in the early-00s but that's all I really knew about him. Then one day I was browsing at the record shop and found this particular album which had "Racing Green" on it and I bought it.

It begins with "Lovesick" and from the off you can tell that the harmonies of "Racing Green" weren't a one off, more so when the breakdown begins and once the beat kicks in I knew this would be a gem of an album.

Then you have "Tutti Frutti" which sounds like it has some LTJ Bukem influences in there, then comes the title track which features Dynamite MC from Reprazent which is followed by "Brief Encounter", another excellent track. The tune that made me purchase this album is next, so far I like every track and mean really like.

According to the track list on the back of the CD, "Natural High" is next. However it's in fact "Angels And Fly" that follows which I find rather irritating if I'm honest, but I guess no album is perfect. "Natural High" does comes next and we're back to form again.

Next up is "The Persistence Of Memory" which is a bit more like your regular Drum & Bass tune, I don't know if it uses the same sample as "Valley of the Shadows" by Origin Unknown but it has the phrase "31 seconds" in it. Then it's "Twilights Last Gleaming", which if you've ever seen High Contrast play you'll know, it's the "have you heard" one.

There's a bit of Reggae influence next in "Only Two Can Play" which features Spoonface. The final official track is "Yesterday's Colours" which is probably more suitable for home listening than the dancefloor, although you still have the breakbeats it's more mellow sounding.

We end with a bonus track called "The Basement Track" which sounds a bit like a Drum & Bass version of "The Launch" by DJ Jean, though there's more to it than just sounding like a blatant rip off.

There often comes a time where fans of a genre will say it's not as good as it used to be. I first got into rave in 1994, this was 10 years later. In the case of Happy Hardcore, I liked some of the new material at the time but didn't think any of it was anywhere near as good as it was in the mid-90s. In the case of Drum & Bass though, I thought this album was better than any of the Drum & Bass I listened to in the 90s, that's how much I like this album.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Massive Attack - Blue Lines

The next in the series of My 25 Favourite Albums is the debut from Massive Attack. It came out in 1991 shortly after the single "Unfinished Sympathy" reached the Top 40. Because of the Gulf War happening at the time, they had to temporarily shorten their name to Massive, but as they were an unknown entity to many people it probably didn't make that much difference.

I do remember "Unfinished Sympathy" at the time but it was one amongst many that you wouldn't hear once it left the charts. In the mid-90s Massive Attack was a name I was hearing more as being part of the "Bristol Scene", but again it wasn't something I was paying much attention to like I mentioned in my previous post about "Dummy" by Portishead.

Then one day I was watching "Club Nation" or a similar programme on TV where they played a record from the archives which was "Unfinished Sympathy". That was probably the first time I'd heard it since 1991 and that's where I learned it was by Massive Attack, the name change at the time may have had something to do with it. I realised then what a great tune it was.

During the late 90s it was being played a lot as one of the all time classics and made number 2 in Radio 1s countdown of best songs of the millennium on NYE 99 despite the fact it only charted at number 13 at the time. The album also peaked at number 13 but would keep re-entering the chart throughout the 90s.

I bought the album around 98/99. When I listened to it for the first time I discovered I also knew the opening track "Safe From Harm" which was also a single and appeared on Top of the Pops.

As you might expect, the album takes a few listens to get into but the order of tracks helps you to give it those few listens you need. Aside from the 2 singles mentioned, the catchier tracks of the album are "Be Thankful for What You've Got" and "Hymn of the Big Wheel" which as it turns out were part of the "Massive Attack EP" which charted in 1992. These are tracks 1, 4, 6 and 9 so you have no more than 2 tracks between these and it's a 9 track album.

You also have the penultimate track "Lately" which would have a degree of familiarity if you know "Mellow Mellow Right On" by Lowrell which it samples. The second track "One Love" takes a similar amount of time to get familiar with.

The remaining 3 tracks, which are all a lot less catchy, feature a then unknown Tricky. However as he was already an established artist when I, and no doubt many others, bought the album it makes them more intriguing.

Overall there isn't a bad track on the album. I wouldn't say I love every track on the album and I wouldn't say it gets better than "Unfinished Sympathy", but that's largely to do with what a great track that is. What I will say though is whatever style of music you're into, you may like this album as it incorporates a variety of styles done in a Massive Attack type way.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Portishead - Dummy

The next album in this series, "Dummy" by Portishead, was released in 1994. I would like to say that's where my story begins, but I'm afraid it doesn't, it starts much later than that.

1994 was the year I started as a Grunger and ended as a Raver. As we got into the late 90s I remember Portishead being popular amongst my peers, particularly those who liked Dance Music. However at the time I liked my music hard and fast, which Portishead clearly weren't.

Fast forward to 2008 (yes my story really does begin much later) and Portishead were back in the headlines with a new album. This brought back memories of Portishead tunes I knew, "Numb", "Sour Times", "Wandering Star" and "Glory Box" and I thought to myself that those tunes were pretty good. In the record shop I discovered they were all on the same album. With 10 tracks on the album, knowing that I liked at least 40% of the album coupled with the fact it was on offer, it was a no brainer to buy it.

The album begins with "Mysterons" which is basically a sign of what's to come. If I had to pick one Portishead tune that perfectly sums up their sound then this would be it. Next up was the more familiar "Sour Times", a great tune. The next couple of tracks on the album are even better.

Up next is the more familiar "Wandering Star" followed by "Numb". Then the tempo goes down a notch, which shouldn't be possible but it does. These next 3 tracks in my mind are building up to the big ending of "Glory Box".

Much like the first 2 albums of this series I've been posting about, what makes this album great is more to do with the album as a whole as opposed to the individual tracks. The positioning of the more familiar tracks at the beginning (well track 2), middle and end helps.

Portishead have a very distinctive sound, its downtempo and quite haunting but at the same time it's quite experimental, almost like they're brainstorming ideas for the tune but it is the actual tune.

Despite this, their debut album, coming out 25 years ago they only have 3 albums to their name. The self titled follow up came out 3 years later in 1997 and then their was an 11 year gap till their 3rd album, called "Third" and it's been 11 years since that came out.

They're not exactly prolific at touring either. The first gig they did in London after I purchased this album was in 2011 at the logistical nightmare that is Alexandra Palace which had a 1am finish so I decided to give it a miss. They haven't played a gig in London since so therefore I've never seen them live.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Joey & Norman Jay - Good Times

In the 90s Norman Jay was one of many House DJs who's name you would hear quite often. I didn't know an awful lot about him at the time other than knowing he was one of the DJs who was there at the beginning of the Rave scene in the 80s.

Then I learnt that him and his brother Joey had a sound system at Notting Hill Carnival called "Good Times" which he'd been doing since the start of the 80s. Obviously House Music didn't exist back then but it's probably fair to say he was playing the sort of music that would influence House Music later on.

In 2000 Joey and Norman Jay released "Good Times", the first of several compilations of the sort of music you would hear from the sound system. It was a variety of styles of music including House, Soul, Funk, Reggae and Hip Hop. When I bought this album you could probably say it covered all the styles of music I was into at the time which is likely the reason it made this list.

The "Good Times" sound system was named after the Chic record of the same name, but it does not feature on this compilation. Instead it opens with "Open Up" by Chic, perhaps not their best known tune but not exactly obscure either, many would at least recognise it if they heard it. That pretty much sets the scene for the rest of the compilation, there's no anthem bashing but there is at least some degree of familiarity in several of the tracks.

The highlight of CD1 comes later on when the excellent "Runaway" by The Salsoul Orchestra appears. Ok I admittedly I only knew the Nuyorican Soul version prior to owning this album but I love that tune and the original isn't that much different. Then comes "Too Blind to See It" by Kym Sims, again an excellent tune.

CD2 begins with the Masters at Work remix of "Thank You" by Bebe Winans which is one of those tunes you can just listen to all day, despite being over 10 minutes long I always feel I could listen to it for longer when it ends. Overall I'd say I prefer CD1 but CD2 does have other great tunes on it such as "Hanging on a String (Contemplating)" by Loose Ends.

Despite the fact I've lived in London some time now, I've never actually been to Notting Hill Carnival. I have however seen Norman Jay DJ elsewhere and he was good.

I think what makes this album worthy of a place in my Top 25 is variety. It came in an era where genres of music were getting more segregated, and if you find yourself only having time to listen to one album do you really want to restrict yourself to one genre?

Another reason is that it works very well as an album, you can listen to all the tracks individually elsewhere or on other albums but the best way to appreciate this album is to listen from beginning to end, or at least one of the CDs all the way through.

Like I've already said this is the first of several "Good Times" compilations and the other ones are also great, but I've picked this one simply because generally speaking the first one you hear is always the best.

My 25 Favourite Albums: 2 Many DJs - As Heard on Radio Soulwax pt 2

10 years ago I picked my 25 favourite albums in no particular order. After realising it's now been 10 years I thought maybe I could write a post for each one throughout out the year. This reflects my own personal taste so you won't find albums like "Dark Side of the Moon" or "Thriller" in the list, partly because it doesn't need to be enjoyed by millions to be amongst my favourite and partly because I don't own either of those examples so they're clearly nowhere near my favourite.

The first of these albums is "As Heard on Radio Soulwax pt 2" by 2 Many DJs. The way I first came across 2 Many DJs was when I kept hearing their name on the line up of various Dance music events. I then came across this album in the record shop and looked at the track listing and saw Emerson Lake & Palmer, 10CC and Dolly Parton amongst others on the track list. How was this Dance music I asked myself?

I then learned that 2 Many DJs were best known for doing mash-ups i.e. playing 2 or more records at the same time to create a new sound. I was still a little sceptical about it but thought I'd give it a listen when I was next in the record shop and on listening I found it just somehow worked.

The story of 2 Many DJs isn't your usual turning up to clubs and giving promoters tapes type story. They hail from Belgium and started off as members of a Rock band called Soulwax in the 90s who had a minor hit in 2000 with a song called "Too Many DJs". They then started DJing on the side before making a name for themselves with their mash-ups. The name Soulwax is now more associated with the Dance music scene thanks to the albums and remixes they have done since.

They started Radio Soulwax on their official website around 2001 which is where the title comes from. There are several "As Heard on Radio Soulwax" albums but this is the only official one and being mash-ups meant a lot of samples needed to be cleared.

When pressing play and rewinding the CD you get the Soulwax Elektronik mix of "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" before the album begins. Quite possibly because of this feature, the CD won't play in my car stereo.

All in all there are 30 tracks and it lasts just over an hour, so even if there is a bit you don't like it doesn't last very long. It's one of those albums you really need to listen to from beginning to end to appreciate, it's difficult to pick a highlight of the album particularly as it features tunes which I don't like in their original form.

I guess this is what makes this album so good. On paper it should be rubbish, but the best thing to do is to forget the track list, forget the fact none of it is original material and just give it a listen and some of you will no doubt be amazed at just how good it is.