A Friend Is a Stranger You Haven't Met Yet

The Spymania label had already achieved notoriety for bringing Squarepusher to the world (the label founders being his schoolmates in Essex), but it kept on pushing the envelope as obstreperously as is humanly possible. One of their core acts was Coventry-born Martin “MDK” Wood, and this 2000 album is probably his masterpiece. Its tracks are titled “One” to “Twenty-Four,” they veer from 30 seconds to six minutes, and they directly reference (and sample) everything from anarcho-punk and death metal to DJ Premier / Pete Rock style golden age hip hop to Steve Reich minimalism to Detroit techno. It should be a complete mess, but its brilliance lies in the fact that for the time you’re immersed in it, it all makes total – if eerie and bizarre – sense.