14. The Beastie Boys - Ill Communication. I'd listened to Paul's Boutique when it came out alongside ATCQ Instinctive Travels and De La Soul's 3 Feet High but I wouldn't say they hit me as much as Communication. I appreciated the others, but I wasn't committed yet. By the time this came out, I'd basically left grunge behind, given up on modern guitar music and was filling the void with rhythm. I might've listened to Cypress Hill's Black Sunday more and been more impressed with the crazy atmosphere created by the beats, but lyrically there wasn't as much to get into. It's not my favourite rap LP but Communication got my attention that year and I fell in love with the genre again/more.
15. DJ Shadow - ...Entroducing. If I buy enough obscure old records, I can make an album without needing to learn instruments too! First time I heard this I wasn't feeling it. I had his earlier singles, but this wasn't as formulaic and easily assessible... but once I got into it, I loved it.
16. King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown In A Firehouse. First dub LP I really got into, once the offbeat switch had been flicked I never really looked back. Sure, I'd heard The Police, Madness, The Specials, but this was something less poppy, much more abstract and much deeper... psychedelic.
17. Fela Kuti - Beasts Of No Nation. A record dealer I used to supply with lists of lps with breaks on (@Chris Energy) tried to get me into Fela, and at the time I wasn't sure about it. But over time I really fell in love with the rich polyrhythms, the power of the horn section, the irresistible groove. Since then labels like Soundway & Analog Africa have unearthed an absolute goldmine of amazing music and afrobeat is one of my go-to sounds, but it did take a while for me to come around.
EDIT: 25 for me isn't easy. I've been scratching my head wondering what I've left out. During my early life the family had limited access to albums, so while there's more songs I could've listed (Ghost Town, Golden Brown & Let's Dance spring to mind for differing reasons), the above is basically it IIRC. Then during adolescence every couple of months felt like a new, world-changing musical discovery was made. And post-21 years of age, there's new music, but it doesn't mold your mind like it did before... the period of music from 1990-1995 shaped the sounds I'm still in love with and to my ears nothing as good has come since, and as much as I'd love to include something more recent, I've not heard a new music movement since that really compares to that era. The '00s as a decade was godawful - as some wag remarked it's '80s revival lasted longer than the '80s did. Dubstep came along, but no sooner had that started sounding good than it was hijacked and turned into screechy headbanging trash. Influential discoveries of the last decade? The best DnB is actually revival jungle... whadayaknow, rap has turned back the clock to use real drums and samples again... and after a lot of exposure to it, I've found that there is absolutely nothing redeeming about reggaton. Hoping the kids find something new and funky for the '20s.
15. DJ Shadow - ...Entroducing. If I buy enough obscure old records, I can make an album without needing to learn instruments too! First time I heard this I wasn't feeling it. I had his earlier singles, but this wasn't as formulaic and easily assessible... but once I got into it, I loved it.
16. King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown In A Firehouse. First dub LP I really got into, once the offbeat switch had been flicked I never really looked back. Sure, I'd heard The Police, Madness, The Specials, but this was something less poppy, much more abstract and much deeper... psychedelic.
17. Fela Kuti - Beasts Of No Nation. A record dealer I used to supply with lists of lps with breaks on (@Chris Energy) tried to get me into Fela, and at the time I wasn't sure about it. But over time I really fell in love with the rich polyrhythms, the power of the horn section, the irresistible groove. Since then labels like Soundway & Analog Africa have unearthed an absolute goldmine of amazing music and afrobeat is one of my go-to sounds, but it did take a while for me to come around.
EDIT: 25 for me isn't easy. I've been scratching my head wondering what I've left out. During my early life the family had limited access to albums, so while there's more songs I could've listed (Ghost Town, Golden Brown & Let's Dance spring to mind for differing reasons), the above is basically it IIRC. Then during adolescence every couple of months felt like a new, world-changing musical discovery was made. And post-21 years of age, there's new music, but it doesn't mold your mind like it did before... the period of music from 1990-1995 shaped the sounds I'm still in love with and to my ears nothing as good has come since, and as much as I'd love to include something more recent, I've not heard a new music movement since that really compares to that era. The '00s as a decade was godawful - as some wag remarked it's '80s revival lasted longer than the '80s did. Dubstep came along, but no sooner had that started sounding good than it was hijacked and turned into screechy headbanging trash. Influential discoveries of the last decade? The best DnB is actually revival jungle... whadayaknow, rap has turned back the clock to use real drums and samples again... and after a lot of exposure to it, I've found that there is absolutely nothing redeeming about reggaton. Hoping the kids find something new and funky for the '20s.
