Pitchfork's top 50 IDM albums of all time is not too bad a list. I know this because Warp Records said so.
Not too bad a list 😉 https://t.co/2acEPnAM6V— Warp Records (@WarpRecords) January 24, 2017
Instead of picking apart the list, bemoaning the lack of Future Sound Of London or Orbital, I shall accept the list as fact. This is now the top 50 forever. Anything else is fake news.
Taking only the albums chosen in that top 50, here is my reordered top ten. I've tried to avoid duplicating artists, although I've given Aphex Twin (pictured) a free pass on Polygon Window.
Pitchfork's 50 best IDM albums boiled down into a Fat Roland top ten...
1 - Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92. Because this is the don. Because it crept into my speakers and never quite oozed clear again. Because of Willy Wonka.
2 - Jon Hopkins - Immunity. Because it's 'played with precision and paced to perfection'.
3 - The Black Dog - Spanners. Because its diagonal beats dislodged something in my brain and I liked it. Because without these guys, much of this list won't exist.
4 - Polygon Window - Surfing on Sine Waves. Because Aphex went organic and shimmery. And then super techno. Because of If It Really Is Me.
5 - Autechre - Amber. Because I didn't think they could better Incunabula and they did: what a pair of albums.
6 - Flying Lotus - Los Angeles. Because oh-my-crap-what-is-this-noise and oh-help-my-ears-are-robots-now.
7 - Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children. Because it's one of the greatest debut albums of all time. Because it changed music. And it sounded sad.
8 - Various Artists - Artificial Intelligence. Because there isn't enough Warp in this list already. Jeez, Warp, if I like you so much, why don't you marry me?!
9 - Plaid - Not for Threes. Because of Kortisin. Because of their rhythm section. Because Plaid have appeared in my best albums of the year lists three times.
10 - µ-Ziq - Lunatic Harness. Just because.
Further Fats: Chosen Words: W is for Warp (Obviously) (2010)
Further Fats: Chosen Words: E is for Ecstacy (2010)
