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

74. Groove Chronicles - Stone Cold (Groove Chronicles, 1998)
360 points, 5 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/stonecold_zpse682f7f5.jpeg

http://youtu.be/EigTICaacAg

(Can't find any good quotes for this one, comments? I wasn't familiar with it before, but it's cool, very sleek and minimal.)

Sorry, here's the Yotube link to it:

http://youtu.be/EigTICaacAg

Push The Feeling On, Desire, Bombscare and Aftermath all on my ballot. Even if the results become blander from here on in I already feel vindicated.
xpost Stone Cold too :D

72. (tie) Photek - Ni - Ten - Ichi - Ryu (Two Swords Technique) (Science, 1997)
361 points, 7 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/nitenichiryu_zpsfccf87d0.jpeg

http://youtu.be/9qJKxaWb0_A

Dark, menacing tracks like Panacea make you want to lock your doors and look out for the maniac with the chainsaw, but something like Photek's "Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu" strikes an emotional core by stripping common emotional signifiers out and stalking you relentlessly with a precisely devastating beat.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), 1. marraskuuta 2002 0:36

Revive cos i have just been listening to Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu and 8 years on it's still truly incredible.

― jed_ (jed), 7. kesäkuuta 2004 1:42

I have this track on an MTV drum n bass compilation I inherited, and it's okay. I've had a couple MRI's done and some of the sounds are similar (though I still think the MRI experience is more intense).

― Rockist_Scientist (rockist_scientist), 4. syyskuuta 2004 5:02

if dubstep is the most exciting music of the moment (which it's not, it just can't be), does that make "ni ten ichi ryu" the greatest record of the 90s?

in the new issue of wax poetics, four tet says "everyone goes on about autechre and aphex, but i think photek ... was more ambitious than anything else going on; they were on a whole other level. ni ten ichi ryu is off the scale. what i love about it is not only was it trying to be the most innovative thing ever, it also tried to rock a club at the same time"

― renegade bear shot by cops on frat row (vahid), 12. kesäkuuta 2006 1:17

72. (tie) Underworld - Born Slippy (NUXX) (Junior Boy's Own, 1995)
361 points, 7 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/bornslippy_zps590ee027.jpeg

http://youtu.be/XiMrrleH_hI

Born Slippy (nuxx)

I remember sorta liking "Born Slippy" as a novelty when it came out in 1995, because it didn't sound like anything else, not even like the earlier Underworld tunes I'd heard... Then the following year it was revitalized by Trainspotting, and the novelty wore off quickly. IMO time hasn't really been kind to it, today it sounds mostly like crap, the only redeeming features are the pretty synth stabs, and some of the drum craziness towards the end (in the full-length version). Then again, I never much cared for Underworld's singing (my favourite track by them are instrumentals), so a track which is pretty much just vocals + drums isn't exactly manna to my ears.

so relieved this has shown up already.

Born Slippy (original) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Born Slippy (NUXX)

I still pack that Groove Chronicles 12 quite often on the rare times I DJ out, such as great tune, and with some Aaliyah too. <3

I could very easily live my life without hearing Born Slippy again.

;_; my #1

this is the version you want: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOi8Gnq_z_U

Obviously that has something to do with how this track hit me in '96 but I'm not going to apologize for that. Still love the drum sounds and the relative economy of means. Love the bleak vocals (and they are very bleak) over the energy of the track. Big.

sorry, thought wrapping that link in (url) brackets would quarantine it

tuomas otm re: born slippy

Groove Chronicles is another new one to me. Just got back from a house party slightly buzzing on a small dab of md and it sounds absolutely lovely.

tuomas roll out before chap comes down ffs. we could do with some visceral comments.

Haha.

Too late.

^Always forget just how abrasive Rollin & Scratchin sounds.
Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu was a late cut from my ballot, on another day it might have made it in.

Next day is always a good idea to get back on the Mandy train chap.

Sorry, I was away for the weekend, but I'll continue the countdown today. I'll try to get to #1 by Friday.

71. The Orb - Blue Room (Big Life, 1992)
365 points, 6 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/blueroom_zpsd3739e48.jpg

http://youtu.be/xIx2X8MSZF4
(The votes went for the full 40 minute version, but I can't find that on Youtube, so enjoy the official video with cool computer graphics instead.)

As for non prog stuff, Orbital's "Out There Somewhere" and The Orb's "Blue Room" are both really great.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), 29. marraskuuta 2003 0:44

"The Blue Room" is awesome even in its 40 minute version (infinitely preferable to "Pulsating Orb") but the single edit is even better.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), 23. marraskuuta 2004 0:21

The 45 minute mix of Blue Room is the bomb.

― sympathizer (sympathizer), 29. syyskuuta 2005 3:37

I found the "waa waah" bit on a Lee Perry dub album some years later.

Yes!

It was on a Mad Professor comp for me, IIRC

That was it: Poptones..

I must have been about 10 or 11 when I first heard the single edit of Blue Room and I remember loving it so much even then. Always found it quite a frightening tune - those alien grunts mimicking the dubby bassline. Well good.

70. Apollo Two - Atlantis (I Need You) (L.T.J. Bukem Remix) (Good Looking Records, 1993)
365 points, 7 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/atlantis_zpsab99acb0.jpg

http://youtu.be/C1b9cQArti8

great moments in pop history

LTJ Bukem's "Atlantis", after the last "I need you/I want you" sample when the drums suddenly crash in.

― Omar, 12. maaliskuuta 2001 3:00

LTJ's best?

- Bukem w/ "Atlantis"

So poignant.

― viborg, 25. huhtikuuta 2009 10:40

Just last Thursday went to see LTJ Bukem spin. Since I don't go out that much anymore I needed a sure thing and something not too hectic for me overworked dad's brains so this seemed like a good choice. It was too. Total closed-off 95/96 universe sound-wise really, but utterly enjoyable. Still, nagging in the back of my head a voice saying "this is not cutting edge. is this the first sign i'm starting to give up? why the ***** should I care about these bloody questions?" A propos nothing: he closed with Atlantis...still absolutely glorious.

― Ned Raggett, 29. joulukuuta 2001 3:00

Note that this was credited to LTJ Bukem in the nominations, but Discogs.com says it was originally released as Apollo Two.

69. Beats International featuring Lindy Layton - Dub Be Good to Me (Go! Beat, 1990)
366 points, 7 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/dubbegoodtome_zpsd6fcf86d.jpg

http://youtu.be/-MnELifX3sQ

Beats International - Dub Be Good To Me - Classic or Dud?

Best thing Norman Cook ever did.

Everyone in my school was doing the 'tag fly boss walk' bit in the playground for months after it came out.

Xpost Co signed. First hit song I ever fell in love with. I remember 9y/o me getting quite sore at The Power knocking it off the #1 spot because I wanted it to be number one forever

68. M.J. Cole featuring Caspar Nova & Jay Dee - Sincere (Metrix Recordings, 1998)
378 points, 8 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/sincere_zpscb572042.jpg

http://youtu.be/IZjHgoBrEpw

(Can't find any good quotes on this one.)

67. Goldie presents Metalheads - Inner City Life (FFRR, 1994)
380 point, 6 votes, one 1st place vote.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/innercitylife_zps7b713a03.jpg

http://youtu.be/DJDvxRkmeqw

goldie came up with some serious earworm craziness - i've literally had "inner city life" stuck on my head since the instant i saw the thread title.

― the late great, 5. syyskuuta 2012 11:28

And all 53,579,000 versions of "Inner City Life" = classic.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), 3. lokakuuta 2004 3:15

It still strikes me as odd that Goldie didn't produce more tracks pre-Timeless. I guess we're talking about only a three-or-so year period but it's so usual that these guys do heaps and heaps of stuff before they finally get around to making a patchy album. But Goldie was very efficient, it's like he evolved (and then later "evolved") with big steps every time he released something, such that the road from "Terminator" to "Inner City Life" actually isn't that long and winding at all.

― Tim F, 26. heinäkuuta 2007 12:37

Did anyone see him get classical on yo' ass on Maestro? His conducting totally knocked the judges for six, and only didn't win because they put the last round to a public vote. In retrospect, 'Timeless' reeks of classicism with its contrasting movements, that moody prelude to Inner City Life. So yeh, classic in more ways than one.

― Dr X O'Skeleton, 2. joulukuuta 2008 13:50

66. Leftfield featuring John Lydon - Open Up (Full Vocal Mix) (Hard Hands, 1993)
382 points, 7 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/openup_zps70099961.jpg

http://youtu.be/hZj9bi7YNmI

You know, the only time I ever really enjoyed Leftfield was when my little brother was playing this baseball video game and it played "Open Up" over the title credits. Except it was this edited version with the "play ball!" samples left in and the boring John Lydon rant cut out, so it was good.

― Ian, 23. tammikuuta 2002 3:00

Ok so Leftism may have made it into the coffee table market but it's still a fantastic album, I can't think of a better icon/dance band collaboration than Open Up.

― Ronan, 2. heinäkuuta 2002 3:00

Yes, "Open Up" was super, a very class track that is still loved and gets dancefloors moving today.

― Carlos, 7. syyskuuta 2007 19:13

Coming up next: the British domination of this countdown will be broken for 4 whole songs! What will they be?

one will be by Moby, probably "Go"

Oh, I just realized it won't be fully broken, as one of the four is an remix by an American act of a tune by a British act.

EBTG?

Jesus Jones?

Yay Atlantis. Yay Sincere.
Inner City Life was one that didn't vote for because I knew it would do fine all on its own, but yay to it too and yay to Dub Be Good To Me which I hadn't even noticed was nominated.

I don't like Leftfield but I think I already moaned about that in the albums rollout so will keep it to a minimum here.

haha yay, someone was around to express Leftfield ire in my absence!

65. Armand van Helden featuring Duane Harden - U Don't Know Me (Armed Records, 1999)
388 points, 8 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/udontknowme_zps56591b8b.jpeg

http://youtu.be/J8L3_xQr0Z8

"U Don't Know Me" is one of house's great "I'm fabulous, fuck you" anthems

― M Matos (M Matos), 10. maaliskuuta 2003 8:48

The extended version of UDON'TKNOWME (with the Orson Welles vocal clip at the start) is god.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), 15. marraskuuta 2004 20:23

he just needs to pump up the sweetness a bit more, and possibly make it sound wetter too, i mean do you remember how exciting it was when 'u dont know me' came out?

― minna (minna), 2. lokakuuta 2005 18:15

and yeah "U Don't Know Me" is one of those magic 90s dance records that will pop up on the radio here now and again when you're driving the car and cause you to ramp the volume to ridiculous levels.

― Ronan (Ronan), 4. lokakuuta 2005 0:03

Total jam.

I have to say I've never been particularly impressed by AvH... Like everyone, I liked "The Witch Doktor", but the stuff I've heard after that sounds like totally generic loop-based house to my ears, and "U Don't Know Me" is no exception. I guess it works on the dancefloor, but that's about it for me.

"Flowerz" is def better (sample sourced from a better song, more striking falsetto, atmospherics, et al), but Matos' blurb is basically right. To be on board, you have to have a taste for "get out of my way" statements.

Yeah was goin to say it worked great on the radio as well as the dancefloor, a lot of people clicked with that defiant underdog-anthem aspect of it I think.

64. Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar (Armand's Dark Garage Mix) (Clean Up records, 1997)
392 points, 6 votes.

http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/u641/Lixenixen/spinspinsugar_zps73aecc52.jpeg

http://youtu.be/9V73VBUNCMg

The Armand Van Helden remix of "Spin Spin Sugar" is godlike; the rest is pffft.

― M Matos (M Matos), 3. joulukuuta 2002 9:25

If we need a destroy, I'm going for Sneaker Pimps as long as we can keep Armand Van Helden's remake of Spin Spin Sugar.

― Martin Skidmore, 8. toukokuuta 2002 3:00

True history of rock house:

"Rolling & Scratching"/"Rock'n'Roll" --> "Spin Spin Sugar (Armand Van Helden Remix)" --> "Alienz" --> "Yo-Yo"/"Don't Give Up" --> "Little Black Spiders" --> "Where's Your Head At" --> "I'm So Crazy" --> various Subliminal Records efforts --> "Shiny Disco Balls" --> populist electro-house (Deep Dish/Bodyrockers/Rogue Traders etc.)

― Tim F, 29. syyskuuta 2009 5:39

Now, that one is actually better than I remembered, too bad the Sneaker Pimps singer is so weak. Maybe if AvH would've gotten a proper house singer to do the vocals and released this as an original tune, I might've actually liked it.