93. 2 Many DJs - As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt.2 (2002)

The question is: what makes this album so much better than Girl Talk's far more popular entries into the world of DJ mixes and sampling? I think it's because the 2 Many DJs guys allow the samples room to breathe, allow brilliant pairings to gain in power by adding and subtracting elements, rather than just going from one bit to another over a 50-minute span. Also, everything is perfectly sequenced here; this thing's like a dance party on a disc, with hardly a dull moment and some brilliant combinations (Destiny's Child and Dolly Parton!) that, again, are allowed to develop into distinct tracks of their own. I'm sure somebody's sent you a mashup or two on Youtube or whatever; think of this album as an hour of brilliant mashups. I suppose you could denigrate this album by simply saying it's no more than a "dance record", that by focusing on the more recognizable elements of the samples the group is going for the lowest common denominator, that what other electronic artists do with sampling is far more subtle and nuanced, etc. All of which is true. But it's not fair to knock an album for not doing what it isn't even trying to do; what this album is clearly trying to do is be the most kickass sample-based album of the decade, and at that it succeeds completely.

MY RATING: 9.0

2 Many DJs - "ELP - Peter Gunn (Live); Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At (head-a-pella)"

103. M.I.A. - Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol.1 (2004)

This served as little more than an introduction to M.I.A. and her music back in 2004, and today it doesn't serve much purpose now that Arular and Kala exist; all this album does is make me want to listen to an actual M.I.A. album. I did like that this mixtape looks back all the way to the early 90s when looking for stuff to sample; it's a big departure from the hundreds of rap mixtapes that never sample anything that's more than a year old. "China Girl (Diplo Mix)" starts out with a Eurythmics sample, which by itself isn't all that creative but shows M.I.A.'s awareness that she is closer to Madonna than Fela Kuti, who never once allowed the politics on his records to usurp the music, so too on this record its most powerful moments are when M.I.A. allows the political statements to come second behind the beats and samples. So this is basically a party record, to be put on when you're more focused on drinking and talking to other people than listening to music.

MY RATING: 3.8

M.I.A. - "Baile Funk One"

107. Justice - † (2007)

It was inevitable that after Daft Punk would come the Daft Punk copyists--even moreso since it seems that the original duo don't seem much interested in making new music anymore. The band is still coasting off of Discovery, now nine years old, and it only makes sense that other groups would jump in to fill the super-bassy French house void Daft Punk have left behind them. So how does this fare? The entire thing is basically constructed around the gigantic single "D.A.N.C.E.", a song I've never really liked, mainly because the playground-chant chorus isn't nearly as good as the band seems to think it is and there isn't enough else interesting in the track to make up for it. The rest of the tracks somewhat resemble that single except with the catchy choruses removed, as though Justice only decided to copy the middle, slightly less good section of Discovery and forget the rest. All is not lost, though: "Newjack" and "DVNO" are both great dance tracks, the latter with its expertly sampled vocals almost worthy of the great ones themselves (it's as good as "Face to Face", anyway). But the whole thing is kind of neutered and faceless, as if sheer loudness were enough to overcome the essential emptiness at this album's center. It isn't, and it doesn't.

MY RATING: 5.9

Justice - "Let There Be Light"

113. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (2005)

James Murphy might be too smart for his own good. I saw LCD Soundsystem perform at Lollapalooza in 2007. They were the second-to-last performer of the night, right after which was to be, holy of holies, Daft Punk. It was like the heavens had aligned, but Murphy almost seemed embarrassed by real life's lining up with one of his songs, simply saying "I'm not even going to comment on this." Murphy might be rock's most ironic frontman--even his attempts at sentiment in later records have this apologetic thing about them, like "Isn't it crazy that a cynical guy like me is being so emotionally direct?" The pose seems so...calculated. Again this would all be moot if the music were more interesting, but LCD's first record is pretty boring, an album as bleached-out as its cover. I've never understood exactly how this could work as dance music, since Murphy refuses to put any low end into any of these songs. Everything is harsh and trebly and minimalistic--dance music for art installations. The attempts to combine dance and rock don't work as well as they did on the two follow-up records and a couple of these songs are nothing more than eight-minute-plus odes to percussion and screeching synth noises. James' method is to start out quiet and get louder and louder and louder, which might work if you're Mogwai but gets awfully irritating in a dance track. The only track that really works is "Tribulations", but nevertheless it's depressing to note that it's the album's least adventurous song. "Losing My Edge" is a shaggy-dog story set to music, "Great Release" starts out as an alright Brian Eno ripoff but ends in three minutes of pointless noise, and "Yeah" is just too noisy to enjoy. At least the album's, uh, clever?

MY RATING: 5.5

LCD Soundsystem - "Losing My Edge"

132. Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair (2008)

First of all, I don't know whose idea it was to get vibrato-y torch singer Antony Hegarty to sing on a disco track, but give him lots of money right now because that idea was genius. That song, "Blind", along with the Rapture's "House of Jealous Lovers", is probably the high point of the entire 00s "dance-punk" thing, with "Blind" being closer to dance, and "Lovers" being closer to punk. So, what about the album that surrounds it? Most of it is the same sort of updated 70s disco, with an occasional nod to 90s dance ("You Belong"). In my opinion it's a little early to start canonizing this record; it seems like the setup for an even better follow-up. Too much of the second half is slow electronica stuff that does nothing original, and what it does do it does boringly. A notable exception is "Easy", which brings in Antony to sing gorgeous lyrics over a chilly, almost Knife-ish backing. It's truly one of the great underrated tracks of the decade, and it's in danger of getting lost within the album's more flashy moments. Overall it sounds like the kind of record the Rapture would have made had they not tried to out-Strokes the Strokes. There's always a danger of this kind of overly nostalgic music making you think: well, if I like this so much, why don't I just listen to the original stuff? Aside from "Blind" and "Easy", two songs that almost by themselves make this purchase-worthy, I don't know how well this record is able to answer that question.

MY RATING: 6.9


Hercules and Love Affair - "Blind"

148. Erlend Øye – DJ-Kicks (2004)

This is a mix record, of which there are a few on this list, but what separates this one from the rest is that Kings of Convenience member Oye uses the format to indulge his own particulars, doing things like covering "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" and re-recording certain songs with his own vocals. The whole thing is like a cross between Michael Mayer's Immer and a DJ Shadow record, and it works beautifully (most of the time). Oye has a great, soothing voice, perfectly suited for this kind of electronic pop, and the album works the best when it's focusing on that and not trying to make us "dance". Because, frankly, this isn't a very good dance record. The interpolation of "2D2F" is a near-disaster; while this kind of hyper-aggressive and filthy as hell dance track might have worked on 2 Many DJs' As Heard on Radio Soulwax, here it's a total mood-killer and doesn't fit with the rest of the record. The interpolation of the more "obvious" artists doesn't work too much either--Phoenix don't fit with this kind of record, as good as they are, and the Rapture's "I Need Your Love" is too straightforward a pop track to fit with the rest. Other than those caveats, this really is a well-sequenced, at some parts gorgeous pop record. Oye manages to keep the thing flowing nicely despite the frequent switches between tracks, and with his own re-recorded vocals there to tie everything together, it really feels all one thing, as opposed to just another mix record.

MY RATING: 8.4

Erlend Oye - "Sheltered Life vs. Fine Day (accapella)"

149. The Tough Alliance - A New Chance (2007)

I figured it wouldn't be long until the nostalgia factory that is modern indie music got around to early 90s dance pop--stuff like Dee-Lite, Haddaway, Real McCoy, etc. Granted this album doesn't exactly copy those (there aren't any rap bridges performed by deep-voiced bald men, for example) but it's pretty close. The operative word here on this record is fun--everything's uptempo, upbeat, and happy. The group tosses in a reggae groove ("Looking for Gold") and a minimalistic dance number ("Miami") but this is happy European pop music, not so far removed from something like Eiffel 65. The best thing about this album is that it's short--not that it's bad, but too many groups seem to feel like they're required to pump out at least 40 minutes or it isn't a proper record. This album is 30 minutes exactly--not a minute too short or too long. It won't change the world, and I'm a little confused as to why it's on such a list, but it isn't bad at all, and if, like me, you have a soft spot for Londonbeat or Bizarre Inc., this is more of the same.

MY RATING: 7.6

The Tough Alliance - "The Last Dance"

156. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (2005)

Bloc Party resemble Gang of Four both in their sound and in the fact that a brilliant first album was followed up by two albums of meandering crap. Granted, Gang of  Four's meandering crap wasn't nearly as bad as Bloc Party's would end up being, but the point still stands. But luckily this album is before the rot set in, and it's still as great as I thought it was five years ago--super-energetic guitar rock in the vein of 80s U2 (but with a funkier low end), masterfully written and played. It's one of those albums where every song is a potential single, which is all the more impressive because of its variety--there's catchy singles ("Banquet"; "Pioneers") funky dance tracks ("Positive Tension"; "She's Hearing Voices") tearjerkers ("Blue Light"; "This Modern Love") and creepy, Joy Division-y stuff ("Luno"; "Compliments"). It's such a near-masterpiece of 00s guitar rock that in retrospect it seems like the band was blowing its load here; everything since has been awful. It's just fantastic guitar pop, in the old style--setting sad words to pretty music. If the album has a problem it might be that it's entirely too serious and poker-faced--there is not a hint of humor or irony on this thing, and every single track is attempting to be a GLORIOUS NEW ANTHEM for the YOUTH OF TODAY. It's a testament to the band's skills that they didn't fall on their face, and while they didn't exactly become the new Radiohead at least they made one great record, which is more than what most groups of this type can say (remember Maximo Park?)

MY RATING: 9.0

Bloc Party - "Positive Tension"

167. Annie - Anniemal (2004)

I'm not a fan of most modern dance-pop; it seems to me a genre that reached its apex with Michael Jackson and never really recovered since then. The very idea of "indie dance-pop" is enough to make my brain explode, because has there ever been a type of music where commercial success and radio play is so intrinsic, so utterly required? Dance-pop seems to exist only as a function of commercial success, the logical endpoint of a desire to make music as simple and unoffensive as possible. Yet every once in a while something good sneaks through, like this one. Annie's debut record is everything you'd want in a modern pop record: great vocals, great hooks, great production. The problem is that it's too unpretentious. This kind of music is pretentious as hell: fashionable guest stars and incongruous hip-hop sections are the rule. Not here. It's just 80s-style pop, through and through. It makes no concessions to modern trends; it just sounds as though Annie and her producers loved early 80s Madonna and wanted to make an album in that style as accurately as they could. It's pointless to talk about singles here: they could all be singles. It's that kind of record. It's shallow, but this music is designed to be shallow; one might as well castigate a Slayer record for being too loud. For what it is, it's as good as it can be. A weird kind of minor miracle.

MY RATING: 8.1

Annie - "Happy Without You"

184. Vitalic - OK Cowboy (2005)

French house producer Vitalic's first album is a weird and fascinating combination of heavy techno and aggressive noise that almost brings to mind heavy metal. Later the Fuck Buttons would expand and improve on this sound, but Vitalic's music is more mainstream and would undoubtedly work better in a club. It's dance music you can headbang to. Daft Punk might party hard, but Vitalic is undoubtedly angrier and parties harder. Vitalic is like Daft Punk's louder, dumber older brother (Following that comparison, Burial could be called Daft Punk's younger, more depressed brother). The album is built around the gigantic bangers "La Rock" and "Poney" parts one and two. Both of these are excellent--some of the decade's best dance music. There are also some shorter, weirder tracks, like the opening "Polkamatic" and the closing "Valletta Fanfares", which in its incessant hi-hat pounding seems to presage Major Lazer. So, is this album a classic? No. It's fairly disposable. Is it fun, and worth sitting down and listening to for 50 minutes? Absolutely. I don't know how much value it has outside of a dance club, but inside one, it kills.

MY RATING: 7.0

Vitalic - "Poney Pt. 1"