Light Year’s 8 Tracks Of Timeless Faithfuls

This is such an awesome record. Paul was well ahead of the game with this one. It barely even sounds like his voice and yet somehow it is still ridiculously hooky like the best of McCartney’s songs. Additionally, that sequence line reminds me of the mid 2000’s electro scene and wouldn’t sound out of place in an old Mr Oizo or Soulwax record.

A friend of mine introduced me to Gil Scott Heron’s music years ago and I instantly fell in love. I was drawn to his ability to tell a detailed story in his songs and his voice is beautiful. I was overseas when I first heard this track and the line ‘it might night be such a bad idea if I never went home again…’ resonated with me. I listened to it over and over again, and always wanted to sample it in some way. A couple years later another friend of mine showed me DJ Rashad’s ‘I’m Gone’ and it instantly made me fall back in love with this record.

Speaking of DJ Rashad, his 2013 album ‘Double Cup’ was light years ahead of anything I had ever heard at that tempo. Picking one song off of that album is hard but ‘Leavin’ in particular is so emotive and manages to have me locked into that super fast tempo and half time groove without the song losing any soul whatsoever, which is a true testament to DJ Rashad as a ground breaking producer. I have to mention that Machinedrum’s DJ Rashad tribute EP ‘Movin Forward’ has been one of my favourite releases so far this year too.

I have closed out many a DJ set with this record. It is easily one of the coolest and most inventive rap records of the 90’s. I have such soft spot for this song and both members of Outkast particularly Dre. His voice glides effortlessly over this beat as he details a narrative about his beloved Atlanta, Georgia. Taking nothing away from Big Boi however, it’s just tough to stand out next 3000’s charisma, besides which the real stars of the show are those horns. DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!

Hailing from Sydney Australia, Pnau was like our Daft Punk. Their first album, Sambanova, was a seminal piece of house music both locally & internationally. I hadn’t really listened to House music until I had heard this album so it was a major catalyst for me delving deeper into 4/4 music. ‘Hard Biscuit’ sounds just as tasty today: that low-slung groove and vocal samples effortlessly roll along. Their production was so good for a couple of kids in their early twenties messing about with samplers.

This track defines a certain feeling I look for in electronic music. Actually, this whole record was phenomenal but it was this track in particular that stood out to me and I still slip it into a mix or two today. It has the right blend of emotion that doesn’t feel forced at all, and then out of nowhere comes the most mega live drum break ever. Epic!

I love this record for almost the exact same reason I love Electronic Battle Weapon 8. Firstly the build throughout the 8 minutes is so good, with each additional element adding just enough to keep you interested. James Murphy’s use of space as a producer is second to none and I think he is one of the few producers that can mix live and electronic instruments to sound completely organic and natural. To this day the way he drops that 808 at 7.01 always puts a smile on my dial.

The ultimate slow jam that sounds light years behind everything I’ve heard over the last couple of years making the song totally unique. This song is like a weirdo’s take on soul. Nobody makes music quite like Ariel Pink. This song belongs on mixtapes for girlfriends and early Sunday morning sessions.