The ill-ec-tro-nic

The second part of our decade review focuses on the defining tracks from the last 10 years; again in terms of mine and Langer's personal tastes. Most of these were properly released as singles although a few of our selections were only ever released on LPs. We've selected a hundred tracks but are revealing the list in two parts splitting the decade into two five year chunks.

As with the album post, let us know your thoughts on the tracks we've criminally overlooked...and feel free to comment on any we've included which you think suck! Today's post covers the years 2000 - 2004.

At the end of the Nineties, Techno was stuck in a loop (Literally). Pounding drums and endless looped up riffs combined with hoover basslines were the order of the day. Something had to give. Thanks largely to one record, Techno rediscovered its melody and soul and reminded everyone why they had fallen in love with it in the first place. ‘Knights of the Jaguar’ by DJ Rolando was released in late ’99 by the militant stalwarts of the Techno scene, Underground Resistance. It’s effect was profound and it became a worldwide smash. We debated long and hard as to whether we should name this our record of the noughties as it soundtracked many a club night in the first half of the decade and to this day will send the crowd wild if dropped during a set. Ultimately we decided against this, opting instead to select one record from each half of the decade as depicted by the image used for each of the two posts.

One word could perhaps be used to sum up the Noughties… The word? Eighties. Never more so has retro influenced the fashion and musical output than the Eighties did over the last 10 years (particularly the first half). What goes around comes around and at the start of the decade electronic music was in need of a new injection of energy and ideas. Electronic music has always looked to the future for inspiration but in the noughties we looked to the past. The new injection came from some of the first incarnations of electronic music, namely Synth pop, Italo Disco and Electro. These old styles gave Techno and house a new edge in the form of Electroclash. For a short while Electroclash ruled dancefloors on both sides of the pond and produced a myriad of great tunes. But as with any scene based around a ‘fashionable’ sound it was never going to last. By 2003 it had burned out, leaving the fashionistas looking for the next big thing. Stepping into the void came the sound of early Eighties New York; Punk, Funk and Disco. One of the key labels of the decade, DFA records exploded onto everyone’s radar with James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem. ‘Losing my Edge’ neatly summing up in one record the feeling of the first generation of Ravers now losing out to the ‘New Kids’ but with the self satisfaction of knowing that it was never going to be as good as when they were kids back in day.

Top 100 Tracks of the Decade (Part 1: 2000-2004)

• 7 Hurtz - Stokers Motor // Output (2000) - Old school electro vibes given a modern polish
• Adam Beyer - Remainings III (DK Remix) // Drumcode (2000) - No nonsense hoover techno
• Adult - Hand To Phone // Clone (2001) - One of the big electro-clash anthems
• Agoria - La 11eme Marche // PIAS (2002) - Anthemic peak time techno from this talented Frenchman
• Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Running // Vulture Music (2000) - Scraping into the 10 year roundup by a whisker, it feels like this classic has been around much longer
• Alter Ego - Rocker // Klang Electronic (2004) - Caned by every man and his dog and given the remix treatment on several occasions to boot
• Boards of Canda - A Beautiful Place In the Country EP // Warp (2000) BOC's sumblimely beautiful 4-tracker from the turn of the century
• Chicken Lips - He Not In // Kingsize (2000) - Kickstarted Electro House with its early Eighties vibe
• Claro Intelecto - Peace Of Mind // Ai Records (2003) - Claro's debut release and one that absolutely blew us away
• Felix Da Housecat - Silver Screen Shower Scene (Original & Thin White Duke Mix) // City Rockers (2001) - The original was good but Jacques' remix was guaranteed to raise the roof on any dancefloor
• Felix Da Housecat - What Does It Feel Like (Royksopp Return To The Sun Remix) // City Rockers (2001) - Smack House? Royskopp's remix utilised a deep bassline to mesmerising effect
• Felix Da Housecat - Madam Hollywood // City Rockers (2002) - Kittin's vocals' perfectly complemented Felix's production and helped him confine his jackin' Chicago roots well & truly to the closet
• Green Velvet - La La Land // Relief Records (2001) - Anthemic vocal number that got sweaty ravers singing along like it was a karaoke night
• Josh One - Contemplation (King Britt Funke Remix) // Prolifica (2002) - The vocal, the bassline, the memories. Pure House.
• Layo & Bushwacka - Love Story // XL Recordings (2002) - Anthemic house at its finest
• LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge // DFA (2002) - How to sum up the Noughties in one record? James Murphy's debut said it all.
• Legowelt - Disco Rout // Ghostly International (2002) - Eighties Influences transformed Techno in the first part of the decade. This was its finest moment
• LFO - Freak // Warp (2003) - A welcome return to form from LFO albeit in a direction not entirely expected
• Lil Louis & Josh Wink - How's Your Evening So Far? // FFRR (2000) - Messing with a classic is a very risky game but this remake of French Kiss once again resulted in screams of ecstasy
• Luciano - Amelie On Ice // Mental Groove Records (2002) - Underpinning the Amelie sountrack with electro beats was nothing short of genius in Luciano's hands - signs of the greatness that was to come
• Luciano & Quenum - Orange Mistake // Cadenza (2003) - Luciano again on fine form this time with Quenum in tow to deliver their twisted genre-defying masterpiece
• M83 - Run Into Flowers (Jackson's Midnight Fuck Remix) // Gooom (2003) - Glitch Noise. M83 was transformed by Jackson's mad genius.
• Mathew Jonson - Deconstruction // M_nus (2004) - Absolutely immense electro growl - somewhat different to much of Jonson's other work but definitely his dancefloor destroyer
• Metro Area - Muria // Envion (2001) - Metro Area re-invented eighties Disco for a new generation
• Nathan Fake - The Sky Was Pink (Holden Remix) // Border Community (2004) - An epic remix full of interesting twists and turns - it's starting to show signs of age but this is still a killer and for the time being at least, remains our favourite track from the first half of the decade
  
• Octave One - Black Water // 430 West (2000) - The Burden brother's answer to Jaguar - a detroit techno anthem for the 21st century
• Radioactiveman - Uranium // Rotters Golf Club (2001) - That Bassline! Killer electro that proved Tenniswood was a considerable solo force to be reckoned with
• Rex The Dog - Prototype // Kompakt (2004) - Uplifting fun from a pop-star turned (semi)-serious producer
• Roman Flugel - Gehts Noch? // Cocoon (2004) - Headwrecking wonkiness from one half of Alter Ego
• Roots Manuva - Witness (One Hope) // Big Dada Recordings (2001) Jump up party anthem with bass to die for
• Simian Vs Justice - Never Be Alone // International Deejay Gigolo (2004) - Justice transformed this Indie pop track into the ultimate party anthem
• Soulwax - E-Talking (Soulwax Nite Version) // PIAS (2004) - It's all about the bass guitar in this reworking by Soulwax
• Soulwax - Another Excuse (DFA Remix) // PIAS (2004) - The DFA added extra vocals and melody to the Electro House staple
• Spektrum - Kinda New (Tiefschwarz Remix) // Playhouse (2003) - Starting to sound a little dated now but this electro house number killed dancefloors and mixes by the dozen upon its release
• The Hacker - Fadin Away (Dima Remix) // Goodlife (2000) - First exposed on Dave Clarke's World Service mix, this is a fast-pased slice of nu-electro fun
• Tiga & Zyntherus - Sunglasses At Night // City Rockers 2002 - Camp electroclash nonsense that suddenly made so much sense
• Underground Resistance - Transition // Underground Resistance - (2001) - UR has delivered a number of strong messages over the years and this was it's defining one as we entered the new millenium
• Villalobos - Dexter // Playhouse (2003) - Way back before he went all minimal, Villalobos used to knock out quality techno such as this
• Vitalic - La Rock 01 // International Deejay Gigolo (2001) Like it said on the release notes at the time; if you only bought one record all year, make sure it was this one!

Labels: 2000-2004, Charts, Tracks