33 45 78

For a group who were internationally huge — they remixed no less than U2, Madonna and Jungle Brothers, and in the mid-90s were one of the biggest live acts in the UK — Stereo MC’s are bizarrely under-appreciated. Their catalogue is extraordinary though: they are one of those acts who seem to thrive creatively whether playing to 20,000 or 20 people, so have remained creative at all phases of their career. It wasn’t until their third album Connected in 1992 that they really blew up, by which point they’d been in music for a decade already: initially as new wave act Birch & Hallam, then from 1985 as Stereo MCs. This is their debut album, and it is extraordinary: made on zero budget between Nottingham and London, it wrings incredible results out of the most rudimentary sampling technology. Its mix down may be lo-fi but its grooves and inventiveness come close to what was happening Stateside on records like 3 Feet High and Rising and Paul’s Boutique. And the MC’s voices are not only English-sounding — a huge rarity for UK rappers at the time — but even have some of their native Nottingham twang. On this, you can hear all the drive, performance skill and sheer delight in groove that would take them to huge platforms over the decade that followed.