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AMAZON.COM DELIVERS
DANCE & DJ: TOP 10 OF 1999
Editor, Mike McGonigal
It's been quite a year in dance music: Underground genres continued to splinter off into smaller factions. The
influence of early-'80s electro was everywhere. French techno-pop artists Cassius and, most importantly, Basement
Jaxx lit up the dance floors the world over with their infectious, melodic grooves. The leftfield Warp label celebrated
its 10th anniversary. Leftfield finally released another album. This year also saw the death of the myth that "faceless"
dance musicians do not have it in them to release many vital, full-length recordings over the course of their career.
The Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Underworld, Moby, Everything but the Girl, and the Pet Shop Boys all produced great
(awe-inspiring, even) albums. And the trance/progressive house scene finally got its due, thanks in no small part
to a veritable mountain of releases by Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, Digweed, Dave Ralph, Nick Warren, Paul van Dyk, and
Danny Tenaglia.
1. "Play"
Moby
Moby's "Play" is a breakthrough album, clearly the idiosyncratic, musically shape-shifting techno genius's
finest work. Within months of its release, the disc was lauded as one of the finest recordings of the '90s by "Spin"
magazine, nominated as one of the most important works of the century by NPR, and voted one of the top 100 recordings
of the millennium by Amazon.com customers. It's easy to see why after just one listen to the album: the melodies
are eerie yet relentlessly accessible. The cueball-headed one cleverly blends sacred and blues vocals with wah-wah
guitars, tasty beats, moody synth washes, and old-school hip-hop. 
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