Vitalic, OK Cowboy Full Album Zi: A Tribute to the Legendary Artist and His Work

But you also sense that Arbez knows these tracks are glorified breathers, and has sequenced the album very carefully. For instance, following the relatively low-key and carefully sculpted vocoders of "See the Sea (Blue)" with "Chicken Lady", Flashmob's most unrepentantly thuggish moment-- three minutes of Arbez dragging his knuckles around his studio as his melody-spurning machines groan and growl. Taken individually, neither is a jaw-dropper, but in tandem they mimic the one-two punch of his best work. Little of Flashmob could be described as "tender," or even traditionally catchy, but Arbez has enough of a pop instinct to know that drama results only from careful pacing. He also knows that when you're making big, potentially dumb, and definitely unruly dance music, a sense of humor and a lack of pretension is crucial. It's hard not to laugh when a robot tells you, "This is your disco song, made for you, for those rain days, to chase the shadows away," over a backdrop of mock-menacing see-sawing synth-grind.

Vitalic, OK Cowboy Full Album Zi

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40. Battles: 'Mirrored' (2007) - 'Mirrored', the first full-length release from US band Battles, drew wild praise by critics for its instrumental experimentation and hypnotic beats when it was released in 2007. Unlike the band's two trailblazing EPs, the album also contained the vocals of keyboard and guitarist Tyondai Braxton. To this date, it's hard to fault the dynamic sounds of the avant-garde lead single, and arguably the album's best track, the wonky ketamine trip that is 'Atlas'.

39. The Mars Volta: 'De-Loused In The Comatorium' (2003) - The pinnacle of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala's epic post At The Drive-In career; a prog-rock concept album with an impenetrable concept, that feels like it works, even though you don't fully understand it. Easily the best album about a man who attempts suicide by overdosing on morphine and rat poison ever recorded! Musically mesmerising and baffling, even the album artwork designed by the legendary Storm Thorgerson is a work of genius. 2ff7e9595c