Released in spring 1991, UK duo The Orb’s Adventures… was one of the first albums of the post-acid house revolution that took the sounds, beats and atmosphere of house and techno and began using them to mould new sub-genres. Kicking off with the dreamy downtempo early chill-out classic Little Fluffy Clouds, the album is made up of techno-ish synths and a mix of sampled funk/hip hop and drum machine rhythms, decorated by field recordings, found sounds and all sorts of sampling trickery. Tracks like Supernova At The… and Outlands eventually, via elongated psychedelic and atmospheric intros unfold into proto-trip hop, Perpetual Dawn is chunky dub-flavoured house, while Back Side of The Moon and Spanish Castles are (virtually) beatless ambient pieces. Its influence was a broadening of the possibilities of electronic music, demonstrating an introspective, immersive and tranquil alternative to rave and techno’s intensity and dance floor dynamism.

– Harold Heath

This is simultaneously the most Nineties album and also entirely fresh? Cannot lie—did not see this one lasting so well. But it did! Samples of Rickie Lee Jones sounding like Marcel the Shell? Check. Breakbeats? Yes. Gorgeous bass and guitar lines we all forgot? Check. Alex Patterson was part of rave culture and maybe this is still that but it’s also a key development in chill culture and sample work. “Spanish Castles in Space” is, by itself, a massive classic waiting for its moment. Also it’s an ambient album? And it’s cheerful? This was low-key an album that everybody listened to or learned from.

– Sasha Frere-Jones