Exit Planet Dust

A key record of the 1990s, Exit Planet Dust invented the big-beat style that dominated British dance music in the second half of the decade, and it still sounds superb in its own right. Skull-crunching hip-hop loops, fuzz guitar, insistently repetitive spoken samples and thunderous basslines make up the blueprint for one of the most instantly energising albums ever recorded. Many of the titles--"Chemical Beats", "Fuck Up Beats", "Chico's Groove"--are fairly self-explanatory. Others show a level of erudite humour; "Song To The Siren" filches the name of a Tim Buckley ballad for a track more in keeping with the mysteries of a car alarm, while "One Too Many Mornings" is nothing that Bob Dylan would recognise in a hurry. Collaborations with Beth Orton ("Alive Alone") and the Charlatans' Tim Burgess ("Life Is Sweet") add human voices to the brilliant mechanical formula. --David Bennun

1. Leave Home - 5:32
2. In Dust We Trust - 5:17
3. Song To The Siren - 3:16
4. Three Little Birdies Down Beats - 5:38
5. Fuck Up Beats - 1:25
6. Chemical Beats - 4:50
7. Chico's Groove - 4:48
8. One Too Many Mornings - 4:13
9. Life Is Sweet - 6:33
10. Playground For A Wedgeless Firm - 2:31
11. Alive Alone - 5:16