# The Waxonia Desk: A Way In Ten records that open ten doors. One way into each genre we cover, plus two that show what the deep end sounds like once you are through. - **Picks:** 10 - **Years:** 1983–1998 - **Curator:** The Waxonia Desk - **Updated:** 2026-08-28 - **Curator's page:** https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/ - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/ ## The picks Selected, not ranked — the order is the curator’s, and carries no claim about which is best. ### [Rhythim Is Rhythim](https://waxonia.com/artist/rhythim-is-rhythim/) — [Strings of Life](https://waxonia.com/track/rhythim-is-rhythim--strings-of-life/) *1987 · Transmat* Start here if you think electronic music is cold. There is no bassline and barely a kick for half its length, and it still empties a room into a dancefloor faster than anything made since. Also on: [Detroit Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/), [The Eighties](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/), [The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-in-europe/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Rhythim%20Is%20Rhythim%20Strings%20of%20Life) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=vGFw2qeUp0s) ### [Mr. Fingers](https://waxonia.com/artist/mr-fingers/) — [Can You Feel It](https://waxonia.com/track/mr-fingers--can-you-feel-it/) *1986 · Trax* House music at its most elemental: a bassline, a hi-hat and an enormous amount of patience. Every four-to-the-floor record made since is arguing with this one, whether or not it knows it. Also on: [Chicago House](https://waxonia.com/genre/chicago-house/), [The Eighties](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/), [The Waxonia Desk — In the Room](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-chicago-in-the-room/), [The Waxonia Desk — Looped and Filtered](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-chicago-looped-and-filtered/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Mr.%20Fingers%20Can%20You%20Feel%20It) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=p2XxyBViBog) ### [Goldie](https://waxonia.com/artist/goldie/) — [Inner City Life](https://waxonia.com/track/goldie--inner-city-life/) *1994 · FFRR / Metalheadz* The record that proves breakbeat music can carry grief. If drum and bass has only ever reached you as speed, this is the one that reframes the whole genre as something you feel rather than survive. Also on: [Drum and Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/drum-and-bass/), [1994](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Goldie%20Inner%20City%20Life) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=i-P98B2skts) ### [Massive Attack](https://waxonia.com/artist/massive-attack/) — [Unfinished Sympathy](https://waxonia.com/track/massive-attack--unfinished-sympathy/) *1991 · Wild Bunch / Circa* Strings, a slow breakbeat and a vocal that refuses to resolve. It sounds like a pop single until you notice nothing in it behaves the way a pop single does. Also on: [Trip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/), [The Waxonia Desk — Sounds Like a Single](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-sounds-like-a-single/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Massive%20Attack%20Unfinished%20Sympathy) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmrfgj0MZI) ### [My Bloody Valentine](https://waxonia.com/artist/my-bloody-valentine/) — [Only Shallow](https://waxonia.com/track/my-bloody-valentine--only-shallow/) *1991 · Creation* Four snare hits and then a wall. Shoegaze is often described as vague; this is the record that shows how precisely engineered the vagueness has to be before it works. Also on: [Shoegaze](https://waxonia.com/genre/shoegaze/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/My%20Bloody%20Valentine%20Only%20Shallow) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=nwfCoKNI5hs) ### [Eric B. & Rakim](https://waxonia.com/artist/eric-b-and-rakim/) — [Paid in Full](https://waxonia.com/track/eric-b-and-rakim--paid-in-full/) *1987 · 4th & Broadway* Rakim rewrote what a rapper could sound like — internal rhyme, conversational delivery, nothing forced to land on the beat. Almost every MC you like is downstream of this. Also on: [Golden Age Hip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Eric%20B.%20%26%20Rakim%20Paid%20in%20Full) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=E7t8eoA_1jQ) ### [Brian Eno](https://waxonia.com/artist/brian-eno/) — [An Ending (Ascent)](https://waxonia.com/track/brian-eno--an-ending-ascent/) *1983 · Editions EG* Four chords and an enormous amount of room around them. The best argument that ambient music is composition rather than absence, and the easiest one to hear on first listen. Also on: [Ambient](https://waxonia.com/genre/ambient/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Brian%20Eno%20An%20Ending%20(Ascent)) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OlaTeXX3uH8) ### [MJ Cole](https://waxonia.com/artist/mj-cole/) — [Sincere](https://waxonia.com/track/mj-cole--sincere/) *1998 · Talkin' Loud* Garage at its most elegant: a two-step shuffle that never lands where you expect, under a vocal treated as an instrument. The genre's case that rhythm alone can be luxurious. Also on: [UK Garage](https://waxonia.com/genre/uk-garage/), [The Waxonia Desk — Garage on the Mix](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-garage-on-the-mix/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/MJ%20Cole%20Sincere) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cy-djtiU5RE) ### [Drexciya](https://waxonia.com/artist/drexciya/) — [Bubble Metropolis](https://waxonia.com/track/drexciya--bubble-metropolis/) *1993 · Underground Resistance* Now the deep end. Detroit techno as science fiction, made by people who refused to be photographed and built an underwater mythology instead. Play it after Strings of Life and hear the same city thinking differently. Also on: [Detroit Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/), [The Waxonia Desk — Detroit Techno](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-techno/), [The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-in-europe/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Drexciya%20Bubble%20Metropolis) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wdbf7-tlDV8) ### [Todd Edwards](https://waxonia.com/artist/todd-edwards/) — [Saved My Life](https://waxonia.com/track/todd-edwards--saved-my-life/) *1995 · i! Records* The other deep end. Hundreds of vocal fragments cut to a sixteenth and rebuilt into a melody, decades before anyone called it a technique. Once you hear the method you cannot unhear it anywhere in dance music. Also on: [UK Garage](https://waxonia.com/genre/uk-garage/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Todd%20Edwards%20Saved%20My%20Life) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=nk0LWxIBtis) ## About the curator 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. Elsewhere: https://waxonia.com/ --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.