The Red Circle

12. Daft Punk – Discovery (2001)
Daft Punk have been an unstoppable force in electronic music for the last decade, a phenomenon directly caused by 2001’s Discovery. The universal success of lead single “One More Time” put the band on the radar and the thirteen tracks that followed helped the band change the way the world looked at techno. The enigmatic duo created music that sounded as if TONTO had gained sentience and decided to show all the puny humans what machines could really do. Elements of rock, pop and R&B are woven throughout, but they’ve all been distorted through some sort of magical Daft Punk filter pedal that one has to assume simply says “ROBOT.” The impact of this album was such that the rest of the group’s peers is still playing catch-up and its influence can be seen in everything from mainstream hip-hop to video games. As innovative as the group’s sound is though, Daft Punk’s music would never have achieved its place in the pantheon of Electronica if it weren’t first and foremost extremely effective dance music. On Discovery, Daft Punk crafts irresistible futuristic space pop that blends visionary innovation and a strong understanding of how to get a party started.

11. Neurosis – Given To The Rising (2007)
Neurosis’ two decade career reached new heights in 2007 with the release of their ninth album, Given To The Rising. The album represented another evolutionary step forward from an act that had builts its name on progress. Collaborating for the fifth time with Chicago noise god Steve Albini, Neurosis bring a focus to their composition on this album that defies the usual laws of band longevity vs. quality. Frontman Steve Von Till’s gravely bellow resembles a demonic Tom Waits, stripped of even that remotest trace of optimism. The group’s music cherrypicks the finest elements of heavy music from the blues to black metal and assembles it into a lumbering behemoth of doom and destruction. Gradual shifts in tempo are disrupted by thunderous guitars and songs themselves likewise twist and turn, patiently waiting to reveal their true nature. While younger acts spent the last ten years trying to sound like Neurosis, Neurosis spent that time learning what it takes to inhabit that sound. As the surprise finale at the end of album closer “Origin” reminds the listener of the value of patience, Neurosis have proven it with their deliberate and increasingly refined efforts.

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