I was initially unsure as to whether to include this. Of course, I like the album, but I debated as to whether it truly qualified as an all-time favourite. Then I thought back...
I thought back to when I saw it on a listening pod in Virgin Megastore in 1997, read the blurb and realised these guys were signed to Warp, the same label that sired many of Aphex Twin's releases; and that label familiarity gave me something to go on.
I thought back to how, having liked what I heard on the pod, I decided it was worth paying £14.99 to own it (I shudder as I recall how expensive CDs were in those days....). I thought back to how often I played the disc, how it was one the first earnestly electronic albums I bought, and how it would (unconsciously at first) reshape my tastes and inform the trajectory my own music would take when the day came for me to start making it.
I thought back to how the progressive unpredictability of the tracks kept me second guessing throughout, how I was constantly wrong-footed and pleasantly surprised. I recalled the goosebumps I got from Extork's dark, near-industrial grit and how it juxstaposed with Nicolette's smooth, yet somewhat acidic chirrups (see below), and how I knew straight away, that I needed to hear more music like this. I recall the chilled vibes of 'Rakimou' and the way Fer's breezy, off-kilter Aphex-like melody shifted like day and night into something more menacing.
Above all, I thought back to how this was the beginning of my first foray into experimental eletronica (to this day, I REFUSE to use the term IDM), and how it reconnected me to my electronic roots, showing me a world far beyond the generic 4/4 dance-pop that was so ubiquitous back then.
So yes, this album definitely shaped me in a big way, and leaving it off would've been a regrettable oversight. Thankfully, I saw sense.
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