{ "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred", "theme": null, "genre": null, "genreUrl": null, "brief": "Every genre we rank, distilled to a hundred records and ordered best first. If you only ever play one list from this site, play this one.", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/", "updated": "2026-08-29", "curator": { "slug": "the-desk", "name": "The Waxonia Desk", "bio": "The people who write the rankings on this site. We keep the lists honest, we argue about the order, and we get asked the same question more than any other: where should someone actually start. These are our answers.", "link": "https://waxonia.com/", "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/" }, "ordered": false, "pickCount": 100, "years": { "first": 1964, "last": 2023 }, "picks": [ { "trackKey": "rhythim-is-rhythim--strings-of-life", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/rhythim-is-rhythim--strings-of-life/", "title": "Strings of Life", "artist": "Rhythim Is Rhythim", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/rhythim-is-rhythim/", "year": 1987, "label": "Transmat", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "No bassline, barely a kick, and it still empties a bar into a dancefloor faster than anything made since. The one record on this site nobody in thirty-eight years has argued with.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "detroit-techno", "name": "Detroit Techno", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-eighties", "name": "The Eighties", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-detroit-in-europe", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-in-europe/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Rhythim%20Is%20Rhythim%20Strings%20of%20Life", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=vGFw2qeUp0s", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "marvin-gaye--whats-going-on", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/marvin-gaye--whats-going-on/", "title": "What's Going On", "artist": "Marvin Gaye", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/marvin-gaye/", "year": 1971, "label": "Tamla", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A protest record that sounds like a conversation at a party. Its label tried to stop it, which is usually the sign.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "soul", "name": "Soul", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-one-subject", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — One Subject", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-one-subject/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Marvin%20Gaye%20What's%20Going%20On", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KDK7TiEiMOI", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "donna-summer--i-feel-love", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/donna-summer--i-feel-love/", "title": "I Feel Love", "artist": "Donna Summer", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/donna-summer/", "year": 1977, "label": "Casablanca", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The moment a machine takes over the rhythm section of popular music and nobody notices they have crossed a line. Everything electronic below here is downstream of it.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "disco", "name": "Disco", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records", "name": "Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-roots", "name": "Roots", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Donna%20Summer%20I%20Feel%20Love", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=yEbaeLv-aOo", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "james-brown--cold-sweat", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--cold-sweat/", "title": "Cold Sweat", "artist": "James Brown", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/james-brown/", "year": 1967, "label": "King", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The accent moves to the first beat and the chord stops changing. Eight bars that reorganise the next sixty years.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "funk", "name": "Funk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-roots", "name": "Roots", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Cold%20Sweat", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qkgIoMuaoQ0", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "mr-fingers--can-you-feel-it", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/mr-fingers--can-you-feel-it/", "title": "Can You Feel It", "artist": "Mr. Fingers", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/mr-fingers/", "year": 1986, "label": "Trax", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A bassline, a hi-hat and an enormous amount of patience. House music explained in one record, and never bettered by the ten thousand that copied it.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "chicago-house", "name": "Chicago House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/chicago-house/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-eighties", "name": "The Eighties", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-chicago-in-the-room", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — In the Room", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-chicago-in-the-room/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-chicago-looped-and-filtered", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Looped and Filtered", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-chicago-looped-and-filtered/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Mr.%20Fingers%20Can%20You%20Feel%20It", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=p2XxyBViBog", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "sam-cooke--a-change-is-gonna-come", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sam-cooke--a-change-is-gonna-come/", "title": "A Change Is Gonna Come", "artist": "Sam Cooke", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sam-cooke/", "year": 1964, "label": "RCA Victor", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "More weight per bar than anything else in this list. The strings are almost unbearable and the restraint in the vocal is the reason.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "soul", "name": "Soul", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sam%20Cooke%20A%20Change%20Is%20Gonna%20Come", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "massive-attack--unfinished-sympathy", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/massive-attack--unfinished-sympathy/", "title": "Unfinished Sympathy", "artist": "Massive Attack", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/massive-attack/", "year": 1991, "label": "Wild Bunch / Circa", "isrc": "GBAAA9100034", "whyItMatters": "A full string section over a hip-hop break, in 1991, made by people from Bristol with no permission to attempt it. Still sounds like it cost a fortune and meant it.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "trip-hop", "name": "Trip-Hop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-sounds-like-a-single", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Sounds Like a Single", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-sounds-like-a-single/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Massive%20Attack%20Unfinished%20Sympathy", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmrfgj0MZI", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "afrika-bambaataa-and-the-soulsonic-force--planet-rock", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/afrika-bambaataa-and-the-soulsonic-force--planet-rock/", "title": "Planet Rock", "artist": "Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/afrika-bambaataa-and-the-soulsonic-force/", "year": 1982, "label": "Tommy Boy", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Two German records, an 808 and a Bronx park. The most generative four minutes in this entire corpus — techno, electro and half of pop start here.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "electro", "name": "Electro", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/electro/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records", "name": "Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Afrika%20Bambaataa%20%26%20The%20Soulsonic%20Force%20Planet%20Rock", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=SqS8X-5aIns", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "augustus-pablo--king-tubby-meets-rockers-uptown", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/augustus-pablo--king-tubby-meets-rockers-uptown/", "title": "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown", "artist": "Augustus Pablo", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/augustus-pablo/", "year": 1976, "label": "Yard Music", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The record that proves an engineer is a composer. Everything on this list built from the bass upward is quoting it, usually without knowing.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dub", "name": "Dub", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dub/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "nineteen-seventy-six", "name": "1976", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-roots", "name": "Roots", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-ghosts", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Augustus%20Pablo%20King%20Tubby%20Meets%20Rockers%20Uptown", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oxAl3Jijs20", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "public-enemy--fight-the-power", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/public-enemy--fight-the-power/", "title": "Fight the Power", "artist": "Public Enemy", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/public-enemy/", "year": 1989, "label": "Motown / Def Jam", "isrc": "USDJ29000034", "whyItMatters": "The densest production in rap attached to the least negotiable lyric. Thirty-six years on, no record has managed to be this loud and this precise at once.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "golden-age-hip-hop", "name": "Golden Age Hip-Hop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Public%20Enemy%20Fight%20the%20Power", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mmo3HFa2vjg", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "chic--good-times", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/chic--good-times/", "title": "Good Times", "artist": "Chic", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/chic/", "year": 1979, "label": "Atlantic", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A bassline so useful that hip-hop, post-punk and pop all took it within eighteen months. Rodgers leaves gaps, and other people's careers fit inside them.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "disco", "name": "Disco", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-what-the-djs-kept", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — What the DJs Kept", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-what-the-djs-kept/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Chic%20Good%20Times", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKQapswGaY", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "joy-division--love-will-tear-us-apart", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/joy-division--love-will-tear-us-apart/", "title": "Love Will Tear Us Apart", "artist": "Joy Division", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/joy-division/", "year": 1980, "label": "Factory", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The bass carries the melody, a cheap synth carries the weather, and the lyric refuses every available metaphor. Guitar music's most perfect three minutes.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "post-punk", "name": "Post-Punk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/post-punk/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-eighties", "name": "The Eighties", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Joy%20Division%20Love%20Will%20Tear%20Us%20Apart", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zuuObGsB0No", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "kraftwerk--autobahn", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/kraftwerk--autobahn/", "title": "Autobahn", "artist": "Kraftwerk", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/kraftwerk/", "year": 1974, "label": "Philips", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Twenty-two minutes about a car journey that Detroit heard as the future and Britain heard as a pop tune. Both readings were correct and both built genres.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "krautrock", "name": "Krautrock", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/krautrock/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-krautrock", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Krautrock", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-krautrock/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Kraftwerk%20Autobahn", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=vkOZNJYAZ7c", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "my-bloody-valentine--only-shallow", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/my-bloody-valentine--only-shallow/", "title": "Only Shallow", "artist": "My Bloody Valentine", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/my-bloody-valentine/", "year": 1991, "label": "Creation", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Four snare hits and then a guitar sound nobody has satisfactorily explained since. The loudest record here, and the most delicate.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "shoegaze", "name": "Shoegaze", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/shoegaze/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/My%20Bloody%20Valentine%20Only%20Shallow", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=nwfCoKNI5hs", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "aretha-franklin--respect", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/aretha-franklin--respect/", "title": "Respect", "artist": "Aretha Franklin", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/aretha-franklin/", "year": 1967, "label": "Atlantic", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Otis Redding wrote it and then conceded it was hers. The most complete act of reinterpretation in recorded music.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "soul", "name": "Soul", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Aretha%20Franklin%20Respect", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=A134hShx_gw", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "goldie--inner-city-life", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/goldie--inner-city-life/", "title": "Inner City Life", "artist": "Goldie", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/goldie/", "year": 1994, "label": "FFRR / Metalheadz", "isrc": "GBAAP9500462", "whyItMatters": "Time-stretched breaks, a Diane Charlemagne vocal and an emotional register jungle was not supposed to have. The record that made an entire genre legible to outsiders.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "drum-and-bass", "name": "Drum and Bass", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/drum-and-bass/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four", "name": "1994", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Goldie%20Inner%20City%20Life", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=i-P98B2skts", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "fela-kuti-and-africa-70--zombie", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/fela-kuti-and-africa-70--zombie/", "title": "Zombie", "artist": "Fela Kuti & Africa 70", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/fela-kuti-and-africa-70/", "year": 1976, "label": "Coconut", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Twelve minutes calling the army a column of unthinking bodies, answered by the state burning his compound down. Few records have been taken this seriously by their subject.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "afrobeat", "name": "Afrobeat", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/afrobeat/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "nineteen-seventy-six", "name": "1976", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "dancing-to-bad-news", "name": "Dancing to Bad News", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/dancing-to-bad-news/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records", "name": "Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Fela%20Kuti%20%26%20Africa%2070%20Zombie", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RUSg31Ignw4", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "steve-reich--music-for-18-musicians", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/steve-reich--music-for-18-musicians/", "title": "Music for 18 Musicians", "artist": "Steve Reich", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/steve-reich/", "year": 1978, "label": "ECM", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "An hour of pulsing marimbas that converts people with no patience for the theory behind it. The most seductive thing minimalism produced.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "minimalism", "name": "Minimalism", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/minimalism/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Steve%20Reich%20Music%20for%2018%20Musicians", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1oOmUi4HGt0", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "a-guy-called-gerald--voodoo-ray", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/a-guy-called-gerald--voodoo-ray/", "title": "Voodoo Ray", "artist": "A Guy Called Gerald", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/a-guy-called-gerald/", "year": 1988, "label": "Rham!", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A Manchester bedroom, borrowed equipment and a sample cut short because the sampler ran out of memory. British dance music's most beautiful accident.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "acid-house", "name": "Acid House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/acid-house/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-both-rooms", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Both Rooms", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-both-rooms/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/A%20Guy%20Called%20Gerald%20Voodoo%20Ray", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=j7vxHOCeiQ4", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "eric-b-and-rakim--paid-in-full", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/eric-b-and-rakim--paid-in-full/", "title": "Paid in Full", "artist": "Eric B. & Rakim", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/eric-b-and-rakim/", "year": 1987, "label": "4th & Broadway", "isrc": "USIR28700020", "whyItMatters": "Rakim changes what a rap verse can do — internal rhyme, conversational delivery, no shouting — and every MC after him is working from this template.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "golden-age-hip-hop", "name": "Golden Age Hip-Hop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Eric%20B.%20%26%20Rakim%20Paid%20in%20Full", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=E7t8eoA_1jQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "model-500--no-ufos", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/model-500--no-ufos/", "title": "No UFO's", "artist": "Model 500", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/model-500/", "year": 1985, "label": "Metroplex", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The first record that is unambiguously techno rather than something approaching it. Cold, distant, and completely certain of itself.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "detroit-techno", "name": "Detroit Techno", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-eighties", "name": "The Eighties", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-detroit-techno", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Detroit Techno", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-techno/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Model%20500%20No%20UFO's", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Model%20500%20No%20UFO's", "exact": false } } }, { "trackKey": "brian-eno--an-ending-ascent", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/brian-eno--an-ending-ascent/", "title": "An Ending (Ascent)", "artist": "Brian Eno", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/brian-eno/", "year": 1983, "label": "Editions EG", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Four minutes that have been used to sell everything and still cannot be cheapened. The purest demonstration that music can be a place rather than an event.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "ambient", "name": "Ambient", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/ambient/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Brian%20Eno%20An%20Ending%20(Ascent)", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OlaTeXX3uH8", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "portishead--glory-box", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/portishead--glory-box/", "title": "Glory Box", "artist": "Portishead", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/portishead/", "year": 1994, "label": "Go! Beat", "isrc": "GBAQT9400066", "whyItMatters": "An Isaac Hayes loop, a broken-theremin guitar and the most desolate vocal of the decade. Grim, gorgeous, and nobody has repeated it.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "trip-hop", "name": "Trip-Hop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four", "name": "1994", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Portishead%20Glory%20Box", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQyUi4zfDs", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "sister-nancy--bam-bam", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sister-nancy--bam-bam/", "title": "Bam Bam", "artist": "Sister Nancy", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sister-nancy/", "year": 1982, "label": "Techniques", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The most sampled record in this list by a distance, and its author was paid nothing for decades. Effortless in a way that cannot be manufactured.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dancehall", "name": "Dancehall", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dancehall/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sister%20Nancy%20Bam%20Bam", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=a9OopCd1gpE", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "stardust--music-sounds-better-with-you", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/stardust--music-sounds-better-with-you/", "title": "Music Sounds Better with You", "artist": "Stardust", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/stardust/", "year": 1998, "label": "Roulé", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "One guitar figure, one filter, one line repeated until it becomes a mantra. The most perfect single-idea record dance music has, and the trio never made another.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "french-house", "name": "French House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/french-house/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-french-house", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — French House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-french-house/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Stardust%20Music%20Sounds%20Better%20with%20You", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FQlAEiCb8m0", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "talking-heads--once-in-a-lifetime", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/talking-heads--once-in-a-lifetime/", "title": "Once in a Lifetime", "artist": "Talking Heads", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/talking-heads/", "year": 1980, "label": "Sire", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A looped Afro-funk bed and a man having a public breakdown on top of it. Post-punk's most joyful record is also its most panicked, which is why it lasts.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "post-punk", "name": "Post-Punk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/post-punk/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Talking%20Heads%20Once%20in%20a%20Lifetime", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5IsSpAOD6K8", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "stevie-wonder--superstition", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/stevie-wonder--superstition/", "title": "Superstition", "artist": "Stevie Wonder", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/stevie-wonder/", "year": 1972, "label": "Tamla", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A clavinet riff so complete the arrangement is almost optional. One man playing nearly everything, at the exact moment that became possible.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "funk", "name": "Funk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Stevie%20Wonder%20Superstition", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ftdZ363R9kQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "mj-cole--sincere", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/mj-cole--sincere/", "title": "Sincere", "artist": "MJ Cole", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/mj-cole/", "year": 1998, "label": "Talkin' Loud", "isrc": "GBF080000103", "whyItMatters": "The most musically ambitious record UK garage produced, by a classically trained producer who could have done anything and chose two-step.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "uk-garage", "name": "UK Garage", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/uk-garage/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-a-way-in", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — A Way In", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-garage-on-the-mix", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Garage on the Mix", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-garage-on-the-mix/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/MJ%20Cole%20Sincere", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cy-djtiU5RE", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "dangelo--untitled-how-does-it-feel", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dangelo--untitled-how-does-it-feel/", "title": "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", "artist": "D'Angelo", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dangelo/", "year": 2000, "label": "Virgin", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Seven minutes played so far behind the beat that the track feels like it might stop. A masterclass in how much tension a band can hold by simply not hurrying.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "neo-soul", "name": "Neo-Soul", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/neo-soul/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-the-soulquarians-room", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-soulquarians-room/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/D'Angelo%20Untitled%20(How%20Does%20It%20Feel)", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=SxVNOnPyvIU", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "neu--hallogallo", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/neu--hallogallo/", "title": "Hallogallo", "artist": "Neu!", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/neu/", "year": 1972, "label": "Brain", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Ten minutes of one beat played perfectly. The idea that rhythm can drive without swinging is Europe's single largest export to this list.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "krautrock", "name": "Krautrock", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/krautrock/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-roots", "name": "Roots", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-krautrock", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Krautrock", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-krautrock/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Neu!%20Hallogallo", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zndpi8tNZyQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "burial--archangel", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/burial--archangel/", "title": "Archangel", "artist": "Burial", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/burial/", "year": 2007, "label": "Hyperdub", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Rain, vinyl crackle and a pitched vocal grieving over percussion that never lands on the grid. The record that made club music legible to people who never go to clubs.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dubstep", "name": "Dubstep", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dubstep/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-ghosts", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-dubstep-goes-national", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Night It Went National", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-dubstep-goes-national/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Burial%20Archangel", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=E2qLD9c3Gq4", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "frankie-knuckles-and-jamie-principle--your-love", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/frankie-knuckles-and-jamie-principle--your-love/", "title": "Your Love", "artist": "Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/frankie-knuckles-and-jamie-principle/", "year": 1987, "label": "Trax", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "It circulated on cassette for years before anyone pressed it, which tells you what it did to a room. Still the most romantic record house has.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "chicago-house", "name": "Chicago House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/chicago-house/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "sung-to-someone", "name": "Sung to Someone", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/sung-to-someone/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-chicago-in-the-room", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — In the Room", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-chicago-in-the-room/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Frankie%20Knuckles%20%26%20Jamie%20Principle%20Your%20Love", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=M6LAE5ejrjg", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "dr-dre-featuring-snoop-doggy-dogg--nuthin-but-a-g-thang", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dr-dre-featuring-snoop-doggy-dogg--nuthin-but-a-g-thang/", "title": "Nuthin' but a \"G\" Thang", "artist": "Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dr-dre-featuring-snoop-doggy-dogg/", "year": 1992, "label": "Death Row", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A loop, a synth whine and two people sounding entirely untroubled. Delivered so completely on the first attempt that the genre spent five years elaborating it.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "g-funk", "name": "G-Funk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/g-funk/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Dr.%20Dre%20featuring%20Snoop%20Doggy%20Dogg%20Nuthin'%20but%20a%20%22G%22%20Thang", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8GliyDgAGQI", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "bob-marley-and-the-wailers--no-woman-no-cry", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/bob-marley-and-the-wailers--no-woman-no-cry/", "title": "No Woman, No Cry", "artist": "Bob Marley & The Wailers", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/bob-marley-and-the-wailers/", "year": 1975, "label": "Island", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Seven minutes of a man consoling a room by describing a yard. The most widely loved record here, and it earns every bit of that.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "reggae", "name": "Reggae", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/reggae/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "sung-to-someone", "name": "Sung to Someone", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/sung-to-someone/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Bob%20Marley%20%26%20The%20Wailers%20No%20Woman%2C%20No%20Cry", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=IT8XvzIfi4U", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "shy-fx-and-uk-apache--original-nuttah", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/shy-fx-and-uk-apache--original-nuttah/", "title": "Original Nuttah", "artist": "Shy FX & UK Apache", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/shy-fx-and-uk-apache/", "year": 1994, "label": "SOUR", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A ragga vocal over an Amen break at 170 BPM, with nobody involved thinking the combination needed explaining. Britain's two inheritances, fused without ceremony.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "drum-and-bass", "name": "Drum and Bass", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/drum-and-bass/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four", "name": "1994", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-bass-weight", "name": "Bass Weight", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-bass-weight/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-160", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — 160", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-160/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-ghosts", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Shy%20FX%20%26%20UK%20Apache%20Original%20Nuttah", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=sxbekgL4w7w", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "this-mortal-coil--song-to-the-siren", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/this-mortal-coil--song-to-the-siren/", "title": "Song to the Siren", "artist": "This Mortal Coil", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/this-mortal-coil/", "year": 1983, "label": "4AD", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Almost nothing behind the voice but a treated guitar, and it is still overwhelming. A cover version that has effectively replaced the original.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dream-pop", "name": "Dream Pop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dream-pop/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/This%20Mortal%20Coil%20Song%20to%20the%20Siren", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=6GFteqnmoxg", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "james-brown--funky-drummer", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--funky-drummer/", "title": "Funky Drummer", "artist": "James Brown", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/james-brown/", "year": 1970, "label": "King", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Twenty seconds of Clyde Stubblefield alone, and then thirty years of other people's records. The most consequential drum break in existence.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "funk", "name": "Funk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-the-soulquarians-room", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-soulquarians-room/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Funky%20Drummer", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtpj8qa1hQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "mfsb--love-is-the-message", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/mfsb--love-is-the-message/", "title": "Love Is the Message", "artist": "MFSB", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/mfsb/", "year": 1973, "label": "Philadelphia International", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Not a song so much as a structure that DJs spent a decade learning to use. The Paradise Garage closed on it, which is the highest recommendation available.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "disco", "name": "Disco", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-what-the-djs-kept", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — What the DJs Kept", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-what-the-djs-kept/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/MFSB%20Love%20Is%20the%20Message", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7b1umcmfaXY", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "dizzee-rascal--i-luv-u", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dizzee-rascal--i-luv-u/", "title": "I Luv U", "artist": "Dizzee Rascal", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dizzee-rascal/", "year": 2002, "label": "XL", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Made at sixteen on a school computer, and nothing in British music had sounded that unmediated before. A row between two teenagers, and the beat sounds like the row.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "grime", "name": "Grime", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/grime/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records", "name": "Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Dizzee%20Rascal%20I%20Luv%20U", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=YH0KWX2a8zY", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "jeff-mills--the-bells", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/jeff-mills--the-bells/", "title": "The Bells", "artist": "Jeff Mills", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/jeff-mills/", "year": 1996, "label": "Purpose Maker", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Four elements, no development, total inevitability. The most recognisable DJ tool in techno, built out of very nearly nothing.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "detroit-techno", "name": "Detroit Techno", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-detroit-techno", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Detroit Techno", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-techno/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-detroit-in-europe", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-in-europe/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Jeff%20Mills%20The%20Bells", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=S-BlgAQ7uRQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "basic-channel--phylyps-trak", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/basic-channel--phylyps-trak/", "title": "Phylyps Trak", "artist": "Basic Channel", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/basic-channel/", "year": 1993, "label": "Basic Channel", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "One chord, a filter and eleven minutes, and it establishes that a techno record can consist almost entirely of the space around its own decay.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dub-techno", "name": "Dub Techno", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dub-techno/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Basic%20Channel%20Phylyps%20Trak", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=6a4HlgmlMuw", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "aphex-twin--windowlicker", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/aphex-twin--windowlicker/", "title": "Windowlicker", "artist": "Aphex Twin", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/aphex-twin/", "year": 1999, "label": "Warp", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "An R&B pastiche processed into something inhuman and sold as a pop single. Proof that he could do the thing he spent a career refusing to do.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "idm", "name": "IDM", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "warp", "name": "Warp", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/warp/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Aphex%20Twin%20Windowlicker", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=go6-MliYCAs", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "public-image-ltd--public-image", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/public-image-ltd--public-image/", "title": "Public Image", "artist": "Public Image Ltd", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/public-image-ltd/", "year": 1978, "label": "Virgin", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A resignation letter from punk delivered as a single: dub bass, ringing guitar, and no interest whatsoever in the audience that came for the last band.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "post-punk", "name": "Post-Punk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/post-punk/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-roots", "name": "Roots", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Public%20Image%20Ltd%20Public%20Image", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAZ8unRm2c", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "nas--n-y-state-of-mind", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/nas--n-y-state-of-mind/", "title": "N.Y. State of Mind", "artist": "Nas", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/nas/", "year": 1994, "label": "Columbia", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A twenty-year-old writing at a level most novelists never reach, over a piano loop that never resolves. The best-written record in this list.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "golden-age-hip-hop", "name": "Golden Age Hip-Hop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four", "name": "1994", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Nas%20N.Y.%20State%20of%20Mind", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=hI8A14Qcv68", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "the-stone-roses--fools-gold", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/the-stone-roses--fools-gold/", "title": "Fools Gold", "artist": "The Stone Roses", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-stone-roses/", "year": 1989, "label": "Silvertone", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "An indie band's biggest single is a groove with some singing on it, and a whole country followed them across the floor. The hinge record of British music.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "madchester", "name": "Madchester", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/madchester/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-both-rooms", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Both Rooms", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-both-rooms/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Stone%20Roses%20Fools%20Gold", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=NSD11dnphg0", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "kraftwerk--trans-europe-express", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/kraftwerk--trans-europe-express/", "title": "Trans-Europe Express", "artist": "Kraftwerk", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/kraftwerk/", "year": 1977, "label": "Kling Klang", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A wistful song about trains that Bambaataa turned into hip-hop and Detroit turned into techno. No other record here has been quite so productive for people who misheard it.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "krautrock", "name": "Krautrock", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/krautrock/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Kraftwerk%20Trans-Europe%20Express", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=i_85fUIRlmU", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "lauryn-hill--ex-factor", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/lauryn-hill--ex-factor/", "title": "Ex-Factor", "artist": "Lauryn Hill", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/lauryn-hill/", "year": 1998, "label": "Ruffhouse", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A Wu-Tang sample, a gospel structure, and a lyric with no interest in protecting anyone's dignity. The most covered song of its era and nobody has improved on it.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "neo-soul", "name": "Neo-Soul", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/neo-soul/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-the-soulquarians-room", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-soulquarians-room/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Lauryn%20Hill%20Ex-Factor", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cE-bnWqLqxE", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "skream--midnight-request-line", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/skream--midnight-request-line/", "title": "Midnight Request Line", "artist": "Skream", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/skream/", "year": 2005, "label": "Tempa", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A riff simple enough to hum over a bassline that only fully exists on a large rig. That combination is why an entire scene got out of South London.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dubstep", "name": "Dubstep", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dubstep/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-bass-weight", "name": "Bass Weight", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-bass-weight/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-dubstep-goes-national", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Night It Went National", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-dubstep-goes-national/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Skream%20Midnight%20Request%20Line", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=lcMAbnZy8l8", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "phuture--acid-trax", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/phuture--acid-trax/", "title": "Acid Trax", "artist": "Phuture", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/phuture/", "year": 1987, "label": "Trax", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A misused bass synth, released because Ron Hardy would not stop playing the tape. One record invents a genre and names it in the title.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "chicago-house", "name": "Chicago House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/chicago-house/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-chicago-on-a-machine", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — On a Machine", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-chicago-on-a-machine/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Phuture%20Acid%20Trax", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Phuture%20Acid%20Trax", "exact": false } } }, { "trackKey": "steve-reich--come-out", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/steve-reich--come-out/", "title": "Come Out", "artist": "Steve Reich", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/steve-reich/", "year": 1966, "label": "Odyssey", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "One phrase from riot testimony, looped on two tapes drifting apart until the words become rhythm. Devastating, and the origin of phasing.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "minimalism", "name": "Minimalism", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/minimalism/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Steve%20Reich%20Come%20Out", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni-LmThfV6c", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "sly-and-the-family-stone--thank-you-falettinme-be-mice-elf-agin", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sly-and-the-family-stone--thank-you-falettinme-be-mice-elf-agin/", "title": "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", "artist": "Sly & the Family Stone", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sly-and-the-family-stone/", "year": 1969, "label": "Epic", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A bass technique invented to cover for a missing drummer, and the most cheerful record ever written about being ground down.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "funk", "name": "Funk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sly%20%26%20the%20Family%20Stone%20Thank%20You%20(Falettinme%20Be%20Mice%20Elf%20Agin)", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-T9vmaTI2LE", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "omni-trio--renegade-snares", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/omni-trio--renegade-snares/", "title": "Renegade Snares", "artist": "Omni Trio", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/omni-trio/", "year": 1993, "label": "Moving Shadow", "isrc": "GBAGN9300093", "whyItMatters": "Jungle's prettiest record and its most technically alarming, at the same time. The breaks are chopped past the point of sense and the piano does not care.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "drum-and-bass", "name": "Drum and Bass", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/drum-and-bass/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Omni%20Trio%20Renegade%20Snares", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzet6jYKQAU", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "double-exposure--ten-percent", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/double-exposure--ten-percent/", "title": "Ten Percent", "artist": "Double Exposure", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/double-exposure/", "year": 1976, "label": "Salsoul", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Walter Gibbons invents the job of remixer on the first commercially released twelve-inch. Extend, strip, delay the payoff — all of it is already here.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "disco", "name": "Disco", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-what-the-djs-kept", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — What the DJs Kept", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-what-the-djs-kept/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Double%20Exposure%20Ten%20Percent", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=rP0EPsS3OdQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "my-bloody-valentine--soon", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/my-bloody-valentine--soon/", "title": "Soon", "artist": "My Bloody Valentine", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/my-bloody-valentine/", "year": 1990, "label": "Creation", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A dance beat under a guitar sound that will not hold still. Eno called it the vaguest music ever to have been a hit, approvingly.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "shoegaze", "name": "Shoegaze", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/shoegaze/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/My%20Bloody%20Valentine%20Soon", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gU7tX5YJghc", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "fela-kuti-and-africa-70--water-no-get-enemy", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/fela-kuti-and-africa-70--water-no-get-enemy/", "title": "Water No Get Enemy", "artist": "Fela Kuti & Africa 70", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/fela-kuti-and-africa-70/", "year": 1975, "label": "Coconut", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A proverb, a horn line, and Tony Allen playing the most relaxed complicated drum part imaginable. The way in for anyone who finds the politics forbidding.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "afrobeat", "name": "Afrobeat", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/afrobeat/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Fela%20Kuti%20%26%20Africa%2070%20Water%20No%20Get%20Enemy", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jx2qcKd1-0", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "new-order--blue-monday", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/new-order--blue-monday/", "title": "Blue Monday", "artist": "New Order", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/new-order/", "year": 1983, "label": "Factory", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A guitar band making a club twelve-inch on sequencers, in packaging that lost money per copy. Five years early and the reason so much else was possible.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "madchester", "name": "Madchester", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/madchester/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records", "name": "Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-both-rooms", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Both Rooms", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-both-rooms/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/New%20Order%20Blue%20Monday", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMjH1nR0ds", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "daft-punk--da-funk", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/daft-punk--da-funk/", "title": "Da Funk", "artist": "Daft Punk", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/daft-punk/", "year": 1995, "label": "Soma", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A deliberately ugly lead over a hip-hop tempo, released on a Glasgow techno label. Two Parisians arriving already refusing to do the expected thing.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "french-house", "name": "French House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/french-house/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-both-rooms", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Both Rooms", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-both-rooms/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Daft%20Punk%20Da%20Funk", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PwILkY9gRrc", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "cajmere--percolator", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/cajmere--percolator/", "title": "Percolator", "artist": "Cajmere", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/cajmere/", "year": 1992, "label": "Cajual", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "One bleeping figure repeated until it became a city's shared vocabulary. Thirty years of Chicago records quote it and a whole category is named after it.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "juke-and-footwork", "name": "Juke and Footwork", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Cajmere%20Percolator", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BYAZ-lq_KLg", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "burning-spear--marcus-garvey", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/burning-spear--marcus-garvey/", "title": "Marcus Garvey", "artist": "Burning Spear", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/burning-spear/", "year": 1975, "label": "Island", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "History lessons delivered over a rhythm that barely moves, and they land like prophecy. The most severe great record in this tradition.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "reggae", "name": "Reggae", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/reggae/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Burning%20Spear%20Marcus%20Garvey", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=JW0iPMG1ohc", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "aphex-twin--xtal", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/aphex-twin--xtal/", "title": "Xtal", "artist": "Aphex Twin", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/aphex-twin/", "year": 1992, "label": "Apollo / R&S", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A wordless vocal over a break that has been degraded until it sounds remembered rather than played. Ambient's most-loved record by someone who denies making ambient.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "ambient", "name": "Ambient", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/ambient/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Aphex%20Twin%20Xtal", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=sWcLccMuCA8", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "wu-tang-clan--c-r-e-a-m", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/wu-tang-clan--c-r-e-a-m/", "title": "C.R.E.A.M.", "artist": "Wu-Tang Clan", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/wu-tang-clan/", "year": 1993, "label": "Loud", "isrc": "USRC19300133", "whyItMatters": "A four-bar piano loop, two verses, and a hook that became a proverb. RZA proved that the cheapest possible production could carry the heaviest possible writing.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "golden-age-hip-hop", "name": "Golden Age Hip-Hop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Wu-Tang%20Clan%20C.R.E.A.M.", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4yNQ7_7I5aE", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "artful-dodger-featuring-craig-david--re-rewind-the-crowd-say-bo-selecta", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/artful-dodger-featuring-craig-david--re-rewind-the-crowd-say-bo-selecta/", "title": "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta)", "artist": "Artful Dodger featuring Craig David", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/artful-dodger-featuring-craig-david/", "year": 1999, "label": "Public Demand", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A pop record about a DJ's device, sung by a teenager who then became the biggest star in Britain. Garage's moment of complete confidence.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "uk-garage", "name": "UK Garage", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/uk-garage/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-garage-on-the-mix", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Garage on the Mix", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-garage-on-the-mix/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Artful%20Dodger%20featuring%20Craig%20David%20Re-Rewind%20(The%20Crowd%20Say%20Bo%20Selecta)", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=M0wv_cQv8As", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "dj-rolando-underground-resistance--jaguar", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dj-rolando-underground-resistance--jaguar/", "title": "Jaguar", "artist": "DJ Rolando / Underground Resistance", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-rolando-underground-resistance/", "year": 1999, "label": "Underground Resistance", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The riff a major label tried to buy and the Detroit underground refused to sell. Politics aside, the most physical string line techno has.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "detroit-techno", "name": "Detroit Techno", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records", "name": "Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-detroit-in-europe", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-in-europe/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Rolando%20%2F%20Underground%20Resistance%20Jaguar", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gw7vrBSBQwk", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "ice-cube--it-was-a-good-day", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/ice-cube--it-was-a-good-day/", "title": "It Was a Good Day", "artist": "Ice Cube", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/ice-cube/", "year": 1992, "label": "Priority", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A list of ordinary things not going wrong, over an Isley Brothers loop. Rap's most affecting record achieves it entirely by describing an absence.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "g-funk", "name": "G-Funk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/g-funk/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Ice%20Cube%20It%20Was%20a%20Good%20Day", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=h4UqMyldS7Q", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "klein-m-b-o--dirty-talk", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/klein-m-b-o--dirty-talk/", "title": "Dirty Talk", "artist": "Klein + M.B.O.", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/klein-m-b-o/", "year": 1982, "label": "Zanza", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Italians make a record that Chicago plays until the grooves go, and house music turns out to have been specified in Milan. Stark, cold and enormously influential.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "italo-disco", "name": "Italo Disco", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/italo-disco/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-eighties", "name": "The Eighties", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Klein%20%2B%20M.B.O.%20Dirty%20Talk", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Klein%20%2B%20M.B.O.%20Dirty%20Talk", "exact": false } } }, { "trackKey": "massive-attack--teardrop", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/massive-attack--teardrop/", "title": "Teardrop", "artist": "Massive Attack", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/massive-attack/", "year": 1998, "label": "Virgin", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A harpsichord, a heartbeat and Elizabeth Fraser singing about grief. Proof the Bristol formula was a language rather than a trick.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "trip-hop", "name": "Trip-Hop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Massive%20Attack%20Teardrop", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=u7K72X4eo_s", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "metalheads--terminator", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/metalheads--terminator/", "title": "Terminator", "artist": "Metalheads", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/metalheads/", "year": 1992, "label": "Synthetic", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Time-stretching discovered and immediately weaponised. The technical leap that turned hardcore into jungle, audible as it happens.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "breakbeat-hardcore", "name": "Breakbeat Hardcore", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/breakbeat-hardcore/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-160", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — 160", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-160/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Metalheads%20Terminator", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Knu-7A7BLtQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "marshall-jefferson--move-your-body", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/marshall-jefferson--move-your-body/", "title": "Move Your Body", "artist": "Marshall Jefferson", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/marshall-jefferson/", "year": 1986, "label": "Trax", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Subtitled the house music anthem, and it earned the definite article. 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Everything blurred except the melody, which is why this one survived the backlash that buried the rest.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "shoegaze", "name": "Shoegaze", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/shoegaze/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Slowdive%20Alison", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak43tAU5QuA", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "arthur-mafokate--kaffir", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/arthur-mafokate--kaffir/", "title": "Kaffir", "artist": "Arthur Mafokate", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/arthur-mafokate/", "year": 1995, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A dance record built around a plea not to be called a slur, and the first real argument of the new South Africa. 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The closest post-apartheid South Africa came to a shared anthem.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "kwaito", "name": "Kwaito", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/kwaito/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Mandoza%20Nkalakatha", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=b28vJvntyUM", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "gang-of-four--damaged-goods", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/gang-of-four--damaged-goods/", "title": "Damaged Goods", "artist": "Gang of Four", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/gang-of-four/", "year": 1978, "label": "Fast Product", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A guitar used as a percussion instrument that mostly stays silent. The politics are in the arrangement, which is what separates this band from everyone who copied them.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "post-punk", "name": "Post-Punk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/post-punk/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Gang%20of%20Four%20Damaged%20Goods", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7BVaDIAbA", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "dangelo--brown-sugar", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dangelo--brown-sugar/", "title": "Brown Sugar", "artist": "D'Angelo", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dangelo/", "year": 1995, "label": "EMI", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A Rhodes, a hip-hop drum feel and a vocal arrangement borrowed from Marvin Gaye. 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Optimism is the harder thing to write and this is the most durable example anyone has managed.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "soul", "name": "Soul", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-one-subject", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — One Subject", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-one-subject/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Curtis%20Mayfield%20Move%20On%20Up", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=A9RMr9KuVZo", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "sl2--on-a-ragga-tip", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sl2--on-a-ragga-tip/", "title": "On a Ragga Tip", "artist": "SL2", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sl2/", "year": 1992, "label": "XL", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Number two in the national charts with a Jamaican vocal sample and a hoover bass. British pop has rarely been this directly a dispatch from a field off the M25.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "breakbeat-hardcore", "name": "Breakbeat Hardcore", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/breakbeat-hardcore/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/SL2%20On%20a%20Ragga%20Tip", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=M6vgWFsKpdw", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "dj-lag--ice-drop", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dj-lag--ice-drop/", "title": "Ice Drop", "artist": "DJ Lag", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-lag/", "year": 2016, "label": "Goon Club Allstars", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Written at seventeen. Three elements, no resolution, and a low end that argues for a whole genre in ninety seconds.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "gqom", "name": "Gqom", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/gqom/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Lag%20Ice%20Drop", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9ycr4BI8I94", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "can--halleluhwah", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/can--halleluhwah/", "title": "Halleluhwah", "artist": "Can", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/can/", "year": 1971, "label": "United Artists", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Jaki Liebezeit holds one figure for eighteen minutes while the band comes apart around him. The strongest case that repetition is drama's cheapest fuel.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "krautrock", "name": "Krautrock", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/krautrock/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Can%20Halleluhwah", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-ukhZgsC4vc", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "warren-g-and-nate-dogg--regulate", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/warren-g-and-nate-dogg--regulate/", "title": "Regulate", "artist": "Warren G & Nate Dogg", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/warren-g-and-nate-dogg/", "year": 1994, "label": "Death Row", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A Michael McDonald sample, a story told in alternating verses, and hooks nobody else could have sold. Perfect construction, beginning to end.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "g-funk", "name": "G-Funk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/g-funk/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four", "name": "1994", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Warren%20G%20%26%20Nate%20Dogg%20Regulate", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1plPyJdXKIY", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "the-orb--little-fluffy-clouds", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/the-orb--little-fluffy-clouds/", "title": "Little Fluffy Clouds", "artist": "The Orb", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-orb/", "year": 1990, "label": "Big Life", "isrc": "GBAAN9100004", "whyItMatters": "A Rickie Lee Jones interview, a Steve Reich pulse and a Pat Metheny sample, assembled into something oddly moving. 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The bassline does almost nothing, which is exactly why it works.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "amapiano", "name": "Amapiano", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/amapiano/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Focalistic%20featuring%20Vigro%20Deep%20Ke%20Star", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=a9_da2P5JjQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "the-bug-featuring-killa-p-and-flowdan--skeng", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/the-bug-featuring-killa-p-and-flowdan--skeng/", "title": "Skeng", "artist": "The Bug featuring Killa P & Flowdan", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-bug-featuring-killa-p-and-flowdan/", "year": 2007, "label": "Ninja Tune", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Dancehall toasting welded to a bassline that sounds actively corroded. The point where British bass music stops being polite about its inheritance.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dubstep", "name": "Dubstep", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dubstep/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-bass-weight", "name": "Bass Weight", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-bass-weight/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Bug%20featuring%20Killa%20P%20%26%20Flowdan%20Skeng", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmUOJR-GwA", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "sweet-female-attitude--flowers-sunship-remix", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sweet-female-attitude--flowers-sunship-remix/", "title": "Flowers (Sunship Remix)", "artist": "Sweet Female Attitude", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sweet-female-attitude/", "year": 2000, "label": "WEA", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The remix, not the original, and everybody knows it. Two-step's warmest record, and a reminder that garage's canon is largely other people's rebuilds.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "uk-garage", "name": "UK Garage", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/uk-garage/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-garage-on-the-mix", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Garage on the Mix", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-garage-on-the-mix/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sweet%20Female%20Attitude%20Flowers%20(Sunship%20Remix)", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=sv2Uu7NOPng", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "wayne-smith--under-me-sleng-teng", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/wayne-smith--under-me-sleng-teng/", "title": "Under Me Sleng Teng", "artist": "Wayne Smith", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/wayne-smith/", "year": 1985, "label": "Jammy's", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A Casio preset becomes a rhythm hundreds of records are built on. The moment Jamaican music goes digital, and the template for every riddim scene since.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dub", "name": "Dub", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dub/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Wayne%20Smith%20Under%20Me%20Sleng%20Teng", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=H_STPoI_eoM", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "skepta--shutdown", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/skepta--shutdown/", "title": "Shutdown", "artist": "Skepta", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/skepta/", "year": 2015, "label": "Boy Better Know", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Thirteen years after grime began, its commercial peak is still built from almost nothing. Total confidence with no additional ingredients.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "grime", "name": "Grime", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/grime/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Skepta%20Shutdown", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MQOG5BkY2Bc", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "alan-braxe-and-fred-falke--intro", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/alan-braxe-and-fred-falke--intro/", "title": "Intro", "artist": "Alan Braxe & Fred Falke", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/alan-braxe-and-fred-falke/", "year": 2000, "label": "Vulture", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Six minutes that only go upwards, with a string line that never resolves down. The record DJs still reach for when a room needs lifting off the floor.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "french-house", "name": "French House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/french-house/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-french-house", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — French House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-french-house/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Alan%20Braxe%20%26%20Fred%20Falke%20Intro", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BR2kp7lMYdc", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "808-state--pacific-state", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/808-state--pacific-state/", "title": "Pacific State", "artist": "808 State", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/808-state/", "year": 1989, "label": "ZTT", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A saxophone and birdsong over an acid bassline, which should not work. Proof that this music could be pretty without becoming polite.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "acid-house", "name": "Acid House", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/acid-house/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/808%20State%20Pacific%20State", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv0UiQ5n7SM", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "the-jesus-and-mary-chain--just-like-honey", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/the-jesus-and-mary-chain--just-like-honey/", "title": "Just Like Honey", "artist": "The Jesus and Mary Chain", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-jesus-and-mary-chain/", "year": 1985, "label": "Blanco y Negro", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A Ronettes drum pattern buried in feedback, with a love song underneath that nobody expected these people to have written. The template for the decade that followed.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "shoegaze", "name": "Shoegaze", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/shoegaze/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Jesus%20and%20Mary%20Chain%20Just%20Like%20Honey", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9LoSpJF_YxE", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "sueno-latino--sueno-latino", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sueno-latino--sueno-latino/", "title": "Sueño Latino", "artist": "Sueño Latino", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sueno-latino/", "year": 1989, "label": "DFC", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "An entire record built by looping somebody else's hour-long guitar improvisation and adding birdsong. Absurd, beautiful, and the bridge from kosmische to the dancefloor.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "balearic", "name": "Balearic", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/balearic/" }, { "kind": "genre", "slug": "italo-disco", "name": "Italo Disco", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/italo-disco/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sue%C3%B1o%20Latino%20Sue%C3%B1o%20Latino", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=EEXJuZ877OE", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "roni-size-reprazent--brown-paper-bag", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/roni-size-reprazent--brown-paper-bag/", "title": "Brown Paper Bag", "artist": "Roni Size / Reprazent", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/roni-size-reprazent/", "year": 1997, "label": "Talkin' Loud", "isrc": "GBF089700307", "whyItMatters": "A double bass line, a breakbeat and a Mercury Prize. Drum and bass at its most musical without giving up an inch of its rhythmic difficulty.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "drum-and-bass", "name": "Drum and Bass", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/drum-and-bass/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Roni%20Size%20%2F%20Reprazent%20Brown%20Paper%20Bag", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cwI0gbGEyuI", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "yellowman--zungguzungguguzungguzeng", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/yellowman--zungguzungguguzungguzeng/", "title": "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng", "artist": "Yellowman", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/yellowman/", "year": 1983, "label": "Greensleeves", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A melody so contagious that half of hip-hop borrowed it without discussion. An unpronounceable title attached to dancehall's most recognisable hook.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dancehall", "name": "Dancehall", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dancehall/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Yellowman%20Zungguzungguguzungguzeng", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=X-tfYbRK2OA", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "slum-village--guess-who", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/slum-village--guess-who/", "title": "Guess Who", "artist": "Slum Village", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/slum-village/", "year": 2000, "label": "Barak", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "J Dilla programming drums audibly out of time and grooving harder for it. The single most imitated piece of programming of the last thirty years.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "neo-soul", "name": "Neo-Soul", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/neo-soul/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-the-soulquarians-room", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Soulquarians Room", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-soulquarians-room/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Slum%20Village%20Guess%20Who", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Slum%20Village%20Guess%20Who", "exact": false } } }, { "trackKey": "incredible-bongo-band--apache", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/incredible-bongo-band--apache/", "title": "Apache", "artist": "Incredible Bongo Band", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/incredible-bongo-band/", "year": 1973, "label": "Pride", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A session-band cover of a Shadows instrumental, and the break on which hip-hop was physically assembled. Included for consequences rather than for intentions.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "funk", "name": "Funk", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Incredible%20Bongo%20Band%20Apache", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-Udnb6F1A0g", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "basic-channel--quadrant-dub", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/basic-channel--quadrant-dub/", "title": "Quadrant Dub", "artist": "Basic Channel", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/basic-channel/", "year": 1994, "label": "Basic Channel", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The rhythm dissolves into delay returns and never quite reassembles. Thirty years on it still sounds mastered underwater, deliberately.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "dub-techno", "name": "Dub Techno", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dub-techno/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "nineteen-ninety-four", "name": "1994", "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Basic%20Channel%20Quadrant%20Dub", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=APH42GVgUTM", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "tyler-icu-and-tumelo-za--mnike", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/tyler-icu-and-tumelo-za--mnike/", "title": "Mnike", "artist": "Tyler ICU & Tumelo ZA", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/tyler-icu-and-tumelo-za/", "year": 2023, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Number one at home and unavoidable everywhere else within a month. A loop, a chant and a bending bass note — the oldest recipe in this list, working again.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "amapiano", "name": "Amapiano", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/amapiano/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Tyler%20ICU%20%26%20Tumelo%20ZA%20Mnike", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=IBOvTfcMfjY", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "dj-shadow--midnight-in-a-perfect-world", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dj-shadow--midnight-in-a-perfect-world/", "title": "Midnight in a Perfect World", "artist": "DJ Shadow", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-shadow/", "year": 1996, "label": "Mo' Wax", "isrc": "GBAQH9600061", "whyItMatters": "Built entirely from other people's records and yet unmistakably one person's. The high point of sampling as a compositional discipline rather than a shortcut.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "trip-hop", "name": "Trip-Hop", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Shadow%20Midnight%20in%20a%20Perfect%20World", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=InFbBlpDTfQ", "exact": true } } }, { "trackKey": "manuel-gottsching--e2-e4", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/manuel-gottsching--e2-e4/", "title": "E2-E4", "artist": "Manuel Göttsching", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/manuel-gottsching/", "year": 1984, "label": "Inteam", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "One hour, one sequence, one guitarist, one take. Ends this list because it is where half of it accidentally began.", "alsoOn": [ { "kind": "genre", "slug": "krautrock", "name": "Krautrock", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/krautrock/" }, { "kind": "curator", "slug": "the-desk-krautrock", "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Krautrock", "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-krautrock/" } ], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Manuel%20G%C3%B6ttsching%20E2-E4", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pUfIqO5arq4", "exact": true } } } ] }