Life on Mars album cover
Life on Mars

Dexter Wansel

1976
Philadelphia International Records

Whether or not his album title and its namesake cut were a tongue-in-cheek riposte to David Bowie taking up residence at Sigma Sound Studios the year before, longtime knob-tweaking synth wizard Dexter Wansel — still in his mid-twenties — leaped on the first opportunity he was given to turn his own studio engineering chops for MFSB and Billy Paul into a showcase for the more experimental side of Philly soul. Fusion-fueled soloing and jazz-funk inflections made this a treasure trove of spacey jams: the frenetic big-band futurism of “A Prophet Named K.G.,”  planetarium smoke-out “Theme From the Planets,” and halogen noir of “Rings Of Saturn” beckon a tomorrow that the bicentennial wasn’t quite ready for — but a successive generation of hip-hop sample-spotters made it a must-have even if you didn’t plan on feeding it into an MPC.

Nate Patrin

Who also suggested

If you select your preferred streamer here, we will save your preference and link to that platform if possible. This can always be changed in the Settings menu.

Apple Music

If you’d like to prioritize Bandcamp if available, tap the Bandcamp logo.

Since some albums are only available on one service, you’ll still see logos for other services if the album is only available on that service.

Next