PEOPLE OF THE NATIONS, DANCING TOGETHER! It's the 1990s TOP 100 ELECTRONIC TRACKS poll results!

I will be so hilariously proud of everyone who voted in this if "Speed Racer" by Alpha Team shows up

"Sandstorm" was the one thing the raver kids in HS listened to that managed to rub off on me just through sheer ubiquity. I dunno, it's cheesy in the best way.

it's marginally better than '9pm til i come'.

Xxposts have been on Green Velvet for a while - accidentally went HEE HEE HEE HA HA along to Flash while out Christmas shopping the other day - but somehow never went to THE PERCOLATOR.

I think, esp. on ILM, "Sandstorm" stands in for an idea of unabashed trance immediacy as much as anything else. While this may result in it being overrated slightly compared to alternative options (if I was gonna choose something from the second golden age of pop-trance I'd probably go for "Toca's Miracle" first, though obv that is much more cheesy), the idea that it besmirches this list in any way is total BS.

If anything the populism of this 90s list should be instructive vis a vis the rigorous middlebrowism of the 00s list.

w/ILM "at its best", immediacy is certainly in play.

it is clear to me that halfway through the list is, exactly, time for the percolator.

also that someone could change their name to cajumerio

Just so we're clear, ILM is happy to stand by Sandstorm being a better song than Inner City Life. I wouldn't have imagined that result. I don't have a problem with populist tracks placing, notice I said nothing about Rhythm of the Night, it's just this particular placement makes me want to call shenanigans. Maybe some people voted for it higher than they truly rate it in order to make a point.

Maybe some people like it more than you.

I'm certain that's true.

Let me drop some science for you: a populist tune liked by lots of people might do better than a celebrated tune that a smaller amount of people really really like in a poll of this nature owing to the tabulation process. This doesn't mean that ILM is "happy to stand by Sandstorm being a better song than Inner City Life" - there might not even have been any individual ballots featuring both tunes.

I'm much happier to see oddball results like this that I don't necessarily agree with than the endless soul-destroying trudge of Autechre albums on the albums list.

it's just this particular placement makes me want to call shenanigans. Maybe some people voted for it higher than they truly rate it in order to make a point

ok dude what, is this the guardian comments box? you think there's a conspiracy going on? you think there's a secret board where a bunch of otherwise impeccably-tasted ilxors have plotted which popular trance track they're going to push to a place at the top of the bottom fifty of the 90s dance trax poll? you think in a poll where people have no obligation to reveal their ballots, where people can only name 75 tracks of a beloved decade's output, people are faking their tastes for the sake of a rhetorical point? is that something you would do?

duly noted. carry on then.

Wish I'd remembered to vote for Sandstorm.

47. Daniel Wang - Like Some Dream I Cant Stop Dreaming (Balihu Records, 1993)
444 points, 8 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/likesomedream_zps38179665.jpg

http://youtu.be/zyCuWIq2PhU

'like some dream i can't stop dreaming' was the first release on his balihu label, early 90's i believe. it is a classic and seems to have been comped ALOT in the past few years.

― jaime, 11. toukokuuta 2007 6:28

A classic, Daniel Wang - Like Some Dream I Cant Stop Dreaming. Especially from 2.45:

― MikoMcha, 27. helmikuuta 2012 19:17

Yeah, that is great.

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), 27. helmikuuta 2012 19:25

Found a used copy of his Balihu comp on Oxygen Music Works (with some hideous cover art, sorry) and Moodymann's "Silentintroduction" at the local used record/vhsdvd/mostly books store last year. Someone had lost their way, clearly, but it was one of my better music days ever. The Balihu comp is top notch. More love for "Like Some Dream I Can't Stop Dreaming", "Berlin Sunrise", and "Free Lovin' (Housedream)."

― matt2, 11. toukokuuta 2007 17:56

I'd never even heard of that tune before this poll... Is it a case of a rediscovered track or something? I could only find a couple of posts on ILM that mentions it before 2007.

Oh yeah, looks like the EP it's from was repressed in 2007, that would explain its resurgence.

I hated pop trance in 1999-2000 and I still loved Sandstorm and knew it was a fucking banger. I probably enjoy it more than Inner City Life and seeing it pop up here was almost as good as when Smang It finished above Bring The Noise.

That Hey Jude remix is really something.

But seriously: what are these reasons to diss Scatman?

New board description

i liked "Sandstorm" well enough when it came out but the key moment for me was when i was djing this one night somewhere around '05, playing hits old and new to a few hundred students/alterna-types/punks/metalheads, and when i played "Sandstorm"... man, the pandemonium that broke out, i've never *ever* seen anything like it, it literally looked like people were gonna start tearing down the walls!

immensely enjoying this rollout, beats the crap out of the 00s poll's fifty shades of Kompakt snorefest - thank you so much for doing this Tuomas!

Was just gonna revive the albs poll to say thanks so much for filling in my gaps re: Kompakt snorefest.

Enjoying both countdowns v much - but yes, that one chart can be so far from the charts at points while the tracks seem always nearer is something.

46. Stardust - Music Sounds Better with You (Roulé, 1998)
445 points, 8 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/musicsoundsbetterwithyou_zpscd05ef99.jpg

http://youtu.be/FgAJWQCC7L0

how is it that music sounds better never gets old?

stardust - the music sound better with you video - what are the names of the fake pop bands

Has ILM's love for filter house diminished as the years have gone by? I was totally sure that one was gonna be in the top 10... It was #16 in the general 90s singles poll we had in 2004.

Music Sounds Better With You has only gone up in my estimation over the years tbh.

45. The Aztec Mystic - Jaguar (Underground Resistance, 1999)
447 points, 9 votes

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/jaguar_zps72eb7795.jpg

http://youtu.be/9UFKA1nWH38

Jaguar is a great track, I do like the Mad Mike remix

― espresso fetish (espresso fetish), 12. syyskuuta 2005 4:14

Personally when Carl Craig played Jaguar after a long bleepy glitchy type track and those massive strings just came in, it was fantastic. I therefore nominate DJ Rolando-Jaguar for classic status. What a song.

― Ronan (Ronan), 14. marraskuuta 2002 13:20

'Jaguar' is definitely an ultimate closing track - did a big techno mix once and it made such perfect sense to finish with it

― stevem (blueski), 14. marraskuuta 2002 13:24

I think Jaguar is a fair choice, I mean it really is a fucking triumph for subtlety and a deft touch, it's not just a dance record, not just a record to dance to, it does have a kind of soul feel to it.

― Ronan (Ronan), 22. marraskuuta 2002 13:20

Don't know the Daniel Wang record for some reason - interested to hear that when I get home

there really aren't 44 90s dance tracks that are better than these last 2, there prob aren't 44 better songs full stop

44. Green Velvet - Flash (Relief Records, 1995)
455 points, 8 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/flash_zps2cb161a2.jpg

http://youtu.be/l_RfediFJFQ

"Flash" - original mix and Timo Maas remix are v. good.

― Tracer Hand, 22. heinäkuuta 2002 3:00

Also Flash is the last song I can think of which made me laugh out loud aswell as think "fuck this is great". Genius.

― Ronan, 22. heinäkuuta 2002 3:00

CAMERAS READY PREPARE TO FLASH

I sometimes think I don't need to ever listen to anything else besides this song.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), 8. kesäkuuta 2005 22:13

One thing that strikes me about the Green Velvet quote I posted is that it is instantly evocative of that paranoid beat, particularly the fantastic snare rolls that immediately follow it. I'm instantly transported into the dingy nightclub, bumping into club kids doing bad club things and taking pictures on my cheap disposable camera. You can see the horrified expressions on the parent's faces as the wander through the club; the worry in their eyes as they scan frantically for their own kids while a little voice in the back of their heads reminds them of what they were like when they were kids, fanning the flames of fear and desperation to a fever pitch.

All of that imagery is tied up in a simple little phrase.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), 20. lokakuuta 2003 17:01

man I REALLY should have voted in this

fuck you, busy life

Jaguar is WAY too low, just one of the most amazing tunes ever.

Can't wait to see where "Children" places on this list

Did anyone nominate Aqua?

Ace of Base

Guru Josh

fingers crossed for "The Key, The Secret"

Stunned at that placing for 'jaguar' tbh.

Careful, Tim could drop some science on you about how polls work, vis a vis populist favorites vs trad classics. You don't want to find yourself besmirched. Questioning poll results is strictly verboten.

would it be better if we swapped out Derude with Rampage - "The Monkees"?

I'd like to see the science that explains this one away.

43. Galaxy 2 Galaxy - Hi-Tech Jazz (Underground Resistance, 1993)
464 points, 7 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/hitechjazz_zps52f84851.jpeg

http://youtu.be/tljseZ1Q0UM

Hi,

Hi Tech Jazz from their "galaxy 2 galaxy"
double ep is one of my favourites

Yours
Jan

― Jan Geerinck, 29. marraskuuta 2002 0:34

I have to give it up for Hi-Tech Jazz. It takes the whole deep house sound set and takes the form and lays down a sampler horn part than just screams I am somebody. Everything on that track is perfect, programming, writing, arrangements. Love the 808 perc breaks and the acidline break has to be one of the best acid lines in dance music. I loved the way he used it to play a jazz solo that was a bitch to program.

― Display Name, 21. kesäkuuta 2007 11:03

i was wondering where the hi tech jazz love was - i was listening to that and Galaxy2Galaxy today. never tires.

― jed_ (jed), 8. toukokuuta 2005 3:39

It is a shame that Hi-Tech Jazz doesn't have the profile of Jupiter Jazz because it is so much better. Jupiter Jazz seems very concise whereas Hi-Tech Jazz seems a lot more sprawling and ambitious. It is one of those records that is so advanced that it is intimidating. How do you get to a place mentally where you can conceive and execute musical ideas like that.

It is raw and expressive, but there is more sophistication in any 16 bars of that track then there are in any random 50 tracks that get gushing praise on the 2008 bobbins thread. Mike Banks is easily one of the 10 top musical minds of all genres that came out of Detroit. He is second only to Juan Atkins as far as Detroit electronic music is concerned.

― Display Name, 30. toukokuuta 2008 6:22

... huh

I would have picked "Funky Guitar" or "Hot Music" over this in a heartbeat

My favourite Detroit tune. Perfect.

42. Sub Sub featuring Melanie Williams - Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (Robs Records, 1993)
467 points, 8 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/aintnolove_zps53a7a39d.jpeg

http://youtu.be/oBj-u98Nce8
There's a music video on Youtube too, but the sound is crappy.

Am I the only who listens to a lot of this disco-house stuff and think '"Ain't No Love" by Sub Sub, only not so good'??!?

― Old Fart!!!!, 20. marraskuuta 2001 3:00

wasn't 1993 when Sub Sub released 'Aint no love aint no use'?

I think they were better as Sub Sub than as the bastard Doves..... zzzz.

― russ t, 19. helmikuuta 2003 16:28

CLASSIC, HELLO EARTH? 'Ain't No Love' by Sub Sub beats this though.

― The Irrelevant Man (Negativa) (Barima), 18. toukokuuta 2005 17:50

Barima that's totally unfair seeing that 'Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)' beats every song ever! (Although Bizarre Inc get bonus points for not turning into sodding Doves at least.)

― The Lex (The Lex), 18. toukokuuta 2005 17:53

Acen scraped in at 94 and this cracked the top 50???????

My hopes for more Acen are probably doomed.

41. Moodymann - I Can't Kick This Feelin' When It Hits (KDJ, 1996)

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/icantkickthisfeelingwhenithits_zps9aa7e67c.jpeg

http://youtu.be/32TOGD-HxzQ

'I Can't Kick This Feelin When It Hits' is a damn good in...

― martin (martin), 9. elokuuta 2004 14:51

Just listened to Moodymann's "I Can't Kick This Feelin' When It Hits" again and I realized this track would be awesome to listen to when you're "in the zone." With its locked, repetitive groove and sleazy cut up vocals.

― dan138zig (Durrr Durrr Durrrrrr), 19. maaliskuuta 2012 4:10

Whenever I hear ""I Can't Kick This Feelin' When It Hits" played out it sounds pretty amazing in exactly this way, though it also sounds more upbeat than I would have expected from home listening.

― Tim F, 19. maaliskuuta 2012 5:05

"ICKTFWIH" loops the chic sample at the beginning for a bit, but then rapidly degrades it basic-channel style down to the heavily filter "gonna do gonna do gonna do" loop until it turns it into a soft drone. then he introduces whole new beat sample on top of it and lets that beat ride for a while over the drone. the whole thing is so much hazier and more textured than the mike clark track. i would say the first time i heard it, well after i was acquainted with filter house, was one of those OMG brain-melting moments you have maybe once a year or so.

― moonship journey to baja, 16. heinäkuuta 2008 2:40

Gotta agree with Vahid's comment there, I'm not the biggest fan of filter house, but this track is like Gas compared to it, there's so much depth and texture in the groove.

Sorry, forgot the points for that:

467 points, 9 votes.

Can't say I'd describe moodymann as filter house though, more deep house / re-edit territory. Great to have high-tech jazz appear in top 50, such a superb track.