XLR8R

The XLR8R staff's favorite tunes are well documented in 2008 (we do make a music magazine, after all), but what what got our feet moving back in 1993? Publisher and founder Andrew Smith put together this exclusive podcast of our favorite tunes from the days when rave ruled the underground and the magazine was made at Kinko's on a $400 budget. Here, he breaks the mix down, track by track.

1. Altern 8 “Evapor 8 (Just 4 Gemma Remix)”
The kings of acid house, instrumental in the naming of this magazine. Need I say more?

2. Polygon Window “Quoth”
Aphex Twin granted us an interview back in the day that involved $150 in phone bills and bizarre fax transmissions. Totally worth it.

3. Plastikman “Plasticity”
An 11-minute analog odyssey from Richie Hawtin’s first Plastikman album, Sheet One.

4. Cajmere “Percolator (Keep Movin' Mix)”
“Percolator” is a classic, and it still sounds fresh. Cajmere truly pushed the boundaries of house when he brewed up this tune.

5. The Martian “Sex in Zero Gravity”
A true Detroit classic on Submerge’s Red Planet label. Had to throw in a little work from magazine fave Eddie “Flashin” Fowlkes.

6. Original Rockers (Rockers Hi-Fi) “Rockers to Rockers”
Dick and Glynn (now Bigga Bush) put dub-house and the Birmingham reggae scene on the map with their excellent 4/4 bangers.

7. Shaggy “Oh Carolina”
Oh yes, XLR8R was down with the dancehall way back then–we don’t front! Although the same can’t be said for Shaggy.

8. The Orb “Towers of Dub”
The height of chill-out. The version off the Live 93 album makes the spine tingle and induces MDMA flashbacks.

9. M.C. Solaar “Bouge De La (Part 1)”
For those who remember acid jazz… It was tunes like this, from French rapper M.C. Solaar, that made the genre more than just a pile of Roy Ayers samples.

Pictured: Cajmere.

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