Dance albums you should own #5

In part 5 of dance albums you should own we swerve to another iconic rave act and visit a French house legend in its early days.

I:Cube - Picnic Attack (1997)

I:Cube may be a big name in quirky, understated house nowadays but it's been over 15 years since the first I:Cube outing. It is one of French producer Nicholas Chaix's alter ego's in addition to his Château Flight moniker. He rose to fame initially after Daft Punk's amazing remix of Disco Cubism, which features on this album. The album rides a fine line between the dance floor style of Daft Punk and the more random, jazzy style of Pepe Bradock etc. Stand-out tracks outside of 'Disco Cubism' include the massive title track 'Picnic Attack', the spacey breaks of 'Strange Wax', the before-its-time minimal prog '11 Novembre' and 'Mighty Atom-Sub Aqua' which is a more jazz bar style jammy groove.

Key moments on Youtube: 'Picnic Attack'  / Disco Cubism' (Daft Punk Mix)

Altern 8 - Full On.. Mask Hysteria (1992)

A few years earlier over in the UK two artists known as Altern 8 were already making brilliant music and jumping about in boiler-suits wearing filter masks. From the first track, 'Move Me Body', it's pretty clear this is a manic album. Through 'Infiltrate 202', 'Hypnotic St8', 'Activ 8' and more this is vintage rave of the highest quality. Many of Altern 8's records were global hits and in the UK they attracted plenty of media attention for their unofficial parties during the period when the Criminal Justice Bill was being drafted to prevent such gatherings.

No surprises though, this album is one of the benchmarks for old school breaks, cheeky sampling and funky hardcore music (even if some of it sounds rather cartoon-ish nowdays)

Key moments on Youtube: 'Infiltrate 202'  / 'Hypnotic St8'