51) Autechre - Rsdio
Sorry to disappoint Crowl but had to happen. one of the best tunes of 95. and hmmm. that rhythm. not something you heard in most so-called home listening techno at the time did you?
It's not even like the critics know the wavelength these guys are on, they just took mantronix and man parrish's machinic tendancies and injected them with a healthy dose of Rochdale paranoia.
Like, afx didn't grow up on black music. these guys did and if you let go of the rock intelligentsia hype, it becomes apparent. they don't even belong in the same bracket! just like Vatican Shadow has nothing to do with industrial techno. and I like AFX but he's a bit of a chimeric character. AE are scientists. big difference. they can get away with calling albums eps, and for that alone the critics are wrong. if you read interviews with them you'll see they are more in line with Dissensus thinking than most so-called 'idm boffins.'
but - but they're not music! well, neither was the best 80s electro, so...
As for this tune. everything is dematerialised apart from the bass drum sound. even the synth melodies don't sound like they're being played on a keyboard. signalling the death of midi. and that scraping sound just hits all my pleasure buttons in the right place. never has desolation sounded so soothing.