Brett Schewitz Brett Schewitz

#201 A Tribe Called Quest, 'Midnight Marauders' (1993)

The best thing to come out of the last countdown for me was A Tribe Called Quest. A group that I was previously unfamiliar with that I quickly grew to love. This album fuses Jazz, Funk, Soul and R&B, alongside witty, socially conscious lyrics.

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Brett Schewitz Brett Schewitz

#211 Joy Divison, 'Unknown Pleasures' (1979)

With an album cover as famous as the album itself, the debut album by Joy Division was the one and only record of theirs to be released in vocalist, Ian Curtis’s lifetime. It was produced by Martin Hannett, whose production technique was so unusual and unique that it made this record sound like nothing before or after. He allowed the music space, giving it room to meander around a sonic environment. As it was their first record, the band had no idea and gave him the freedom to do what he wanted. He used digital delay, tape bounce, sounds of bottles smashing, backwards guitar, munching of crisps and even a Leslie speaker whirring inside the studio lift.

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