DANCE
CRAIG DAVID |
R&B sensation Craig David was barely out of his teens when he took a hold of the U.K. pop circuit, twisted it around, and threw it back on its bum during fall 2000. This fresh-faced native of Southampton, England, was merely playing into his love of funkadelic hip-hop and crooning urban stylings when he started writing songs as a teenager |
THE PRODIGY |
Navigated the high-wire, balancing artistic merit and mainstream visibility with more flair than any electronica act of the 1990s. Ably defeating the image-unconscious attitude of most electronic artists in favor of a focus on nominal frontman Keith Flint |
MOBY |
Moby was one of the most controversial figures in techno music, alternately praised for bringing a face to the notoriously anonymous electronic genre, as well as being scorned by hordes of techno artists and fans for diluting and trivializing the form |
BLACK BOX| Leaders of the Italian house music movement of the late '80s, Black Box was primarily comprised of club DJ Daniele Davoli, computer whiz Mirko Limoni and classical clarinetist Valeric Semplici, a trio of studio musicians known collectively as the Groove Groove Melody production team |
THE SHAMEN |
Combining swirling psychedelic rock with hardcore hip-hop rhythms, the Shamen were one of the first alternative bands to appeal to dance clubs as much as indie rockers. Comprised of Colin Angus, Peter Stephenson, Keith McKenzie, and Derek McKenzie, the Scottish quartet had its roots in the early-'80s neo-psychedelic group Alone Again Or. |
SUNSCREEM |
One of the first rave-pop groups with live-performance abilities as well, Sunscreem formed around Paul Carnell and Lucia Holm (both on keyboards and vocals) with a handful of contributors including guitarists Darren Woodford and Wayne Simms, bassist Rob Fricker, drummer Sean Wright and Baz the DJ |
2 UNLIMITED |
The Netherlands techno/dance-pop phenomenon 2 Unlimited was one of the most popular groups in Europe during the early '90s, selling 18 million records and charting number one singles in every European country. (In England, 11 consecutive singles topped the charts.) America, however, remained unaffected, bringing only "Get Ready for This" |
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS |
Taking the swirling eclecticism of their post-techno debut, Exit Planet Dust, to the extreme, the Chemical Brothers blow all stylistic boundaries down with their second album, Dig Your Own Hole. |
