Smileys for miles: 10 rave culture classics that you should listen to immediately

Look at you, sat on your sofa watching repeats of the Nine O'Clock News from 1984 while munching seven-day old Jaffa cakes you found in the back of your cupboard. Jeez, what a loser. What you need, my lazy friend, are some rave-inspired records to ramp up your energy.

Here are ten tracks that, in their own individual way, bring alive the energy of rave music. Some are more directly connected to rave, and will transport you back to the days of poppers and smiley faces. Others owe some kind of historic debt to rave culture: even if you didn't experience rave back in the day, these tunes should still evoke the pill-popping hypercoloured club culture of yore. 

The highlighted links should open to a YouTube video of that track.

808 State: Cubik
Following the success of their blissful and balaeric Pacific State, 808 State put out a series of singles with a harder energy. Cubik was an unlikely top ten hit because of its cranky square-wave chords, alarmist emergency sirens and wild guitar shreds. There's footage online of young ravers partying to Cubik at Stone Roses' infamous Spike Island gig. Perfect for throwing (cuboid) shapes to.

Altern-8: Infiltrate 202
This was the masked mavericks' first hit single, and it peaked at number 28 in July 1991, just behind a new entry from Frankie Knuckles' The Whistle Song and just ahead of a new entry from Bomb The Bass's Winter In July. Crumbs, what a chart. And what an anthem. Simplistic, geometric breakbeat shapes which felt quite comical at the time, but laid some pretty serious groundwork in commercial chart rave.

Bicep: Glue
The video for Bicep's nostalgia-bazooka Glue interspersed images of abandoned rave sites with quote captions from ex-ravers. "Never had a comedown like that one," reminisces one caption. "Best days of my life," says another. "Off my box with four cans of Stella," interrupts one wag, ruining the mood. Joe Wilson's video was a perfect foil to the Bicep boys' heart-wrenching breakbeats. What a comedown. 

Chase & Status: Blind Faith
Like the Chemical Brothers, Chase & Status's partnership can be traced back to their time at Manchester university. And like the Chemical Brothers, the pair tread a neat line in roof-shattering beats. Blind Faith was a huge hit from their breakthrough album No More Idols. It was a tribute to grubby warehouse rave, bolstered by Loleatta Holloway-style live vocals from Yola. Chase & Status gonna work it out.

Fatboy Slim: Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat
Norman Cook has enjoyed number one success in various guises, and I had plenty of choice for this list. His creativity knows no bounds, whether it's a caveman turning into a chubby lad or Christopher Walken walkin' weird. Three decades after he learnt bass so he could join the Housemartins, Mr Slim released this modern classic in tribute to the fours states of raving. It's like Eat, Pray, Love but with poppers.

Klaxons: Atlantis To Interzone
They may have just been a bunch of London indie kids, but they brought "new rave" to the masses and singlehandedly re-popularised glowsticks with the gigging public. The awkwardly-named Atlantis To Interzone enjoyed radio support but, incredibly, failed to make a dent in the UK charts. A travesty. They followed-up this tribute to rave with an ace cover of Grace's Perfecto Records classic Not Over Yet.

Nia Archives: Off Wiv Ya Headz
I could have included A-Trak's iconic remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Heads Will Roll, but this junglist remix is irresistible. Nia Archives knocked up the track when trying to entertain crowds at Manchester's Warehouse Project, no mean feat considering the number of gurning bucket-hatters I've encountered there. If her name is new to you, dive into the Nia Archives archives immediately. Your rave heart will thank you.

Pet Shop Boys: Vocal
This might be a controversial one if you're a purist. And yes, I know Vocal has all the energy of your grandad pining for the days when the high street was all butchers and shoe shops. But this track has proper rave origins: the Boys say it was inspired by a clubbing venture in Brazil in the mid-1990s. They reflected this in the video by using footage from actual raves. A great tune from the domino dancers. 

Together: Hardcore Uproar
This John Carpenter-sampling classic was released on Pete Tong's brilliant FFRR label, It was the epitome of crossover rave bangers. That "ha-ha-hardcore uproar" voice? It's not a sample: it's just Suddi Raval's doing it directly into a mic. And the crowd cheers are from a Together live recording - in the background, you can hear Suddi shouting "yeeeeeah" to hype the crowd up. Rave to its very (hard)core.

The Streets: Weak Become Heroes
This list is almost in alphabetical order by artist, so we end up with The Streets. This is the best music act named after a road since, er, 'Don't Call Me Baby' hitmakers Madison Avenue. The downbeat Weak Become Heroes is Skinner's paeon to losing himself in the club and having a KFC afterwards. It's not a very ravey way to finish this list, but you can't have the smiley highs without the post-ecstasy crash.

Main blog picture: Altern-8

Further Fats: If it goes bleep, it may or may not be EDM (2013)

Further Fats: Just how DO you act at your first rave? (2019)

Top ten best electronic music albums of 2021: Bicep – Isles

Fat Roland's Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021 presents another brilliant album:

Bicep – Isles (Ninja Tune)

It's time for my top ten countdown of the bestest best electronic music albums of 2021. Apart from the number one album, the top ten will be in alphabetical order by artist. Let's start with B for Bicep.

Respected author of the uncanny Nicholas Royle has a problem with this Belfast DJing duo's name. Back in 2017, I posted a link to one of their videos, commenting "it'll cheer your weekend up good and proper". Royle, who writes and edits books so knows how to do words good, said he was uncheered by the fact the band should know the word is "biceps" not "bicep". You can't have one bicep.

What followed was a light-hearted exchange in which Bicep, the band, jokingly promised Royle that they would address their dictionary-unfriendly name in the liner notes of their second album. Extra points to the author for his "Good strong response, Bicep" quip. Biceps? Strong? Ah suit yerself.

Here we are in December 2021, and Bicep have released their second album Isles. What does it contain? Drizzles of melancholic electronica, punchy beats filed to within an inch of their life, ear-popping vocal samples, and a nostalgic trip through every sheeny techno beat that's ever been created. Its a Bonobo fixed up and looking even sharper. A tribute to the unity of club culture, full of portent and scrumptious chords.

What's noticeably absent is a written explanation to Mr Royle, in full legalese, about their improbable name. Perhaps we'll never know what a bicep is. I admit, this did all happen more than four years ago: I put it down to bad muscle memory. 

This is part of a series of the Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021. Read it all here.

Listen to Bicep's Glue - it'll stick with you

I've been scribbling a bunch of reviews for Electronic Sound today, which means I've been pouring music down my ears even more than usual.

One earworm has stayed with me: Bicep's Glue. This track from their debut album Bicep is worth a listen if you like Moderat and Four Tet. It does the sad-but-happy thing really well.

I also realise I've just missed a metaphor about glue and memorable tracks sticking to you. Dammit. This happens when I write a bunch of reviews to deadline: my ability to write creatively goes completely hatstand banana.

Below Glue, listen to fellow album track Aura.

A bite-size look at Bleep's best electronic music tracks of 2016

Every year, the online retailer Bleep sells a package of 100 bestest tracks of the year. It's usually a great big steaming pile of brilliance. Here is a brief peep into that Bleep heap.

Belfast duo Bicep remixed 808 State's top ten classic In Yer Face. Bicep also co-run a record label. Do you know what it's called? Feel My Bicep. Good job Willie Nelson never set up a similar label, eh? Arf.



Ben Lukas Boysen turned out a blissful opus called Nocturne 4. It's mixed by labelmate Nils Frahm, the bloke from nonkeen who's worked with Ólafur Arnalds from Kiasmos. In other words, we're in heart-breaking classical territory here.



House DJ Midland recently won Pete Tong's Essential Mix of the Year, so he's got an embarrassment of riches right now. Makes sense then this track, debuted at Boiler Room, is called Blush. Nice fat synths.



And finally, the one and only Boards of Canada remixed Sisters by cLOUDDEAD's Odd Nosdam. BoC are usually chilled, but this is a different flavour of chilled: more heavenly and glisten-like thanks to the original's choir vibes.



'Feel My Willie.' It was a dong joke. Oh never mind. Enjoyed these four tracks? Loads more where that came from. Grab yourself Bleep's excellent top 100 tracks of 2016 here.

Further Fats: Ten plaudits Bleeping (2010)