3.
The KLF – The White Room
As far as club music goes this is without doubt one of the most influential albums for me. ‘What Time Is Love?’, ‘3am Eternal’ and ‘Last Train to Trancentral’ struck a major chord with me when I first heard them back in the early 90s, and I hold these records close to my heart as much as I did then. But I imagine its the same for others when I say that The KLF were so much more than the music, I think I watch their Brit awards performance (with Extreme Noise Terror) to remind myself just how much piss one can take.
As an album it’s ambitious, and it’s quite unusual in its cultural DNA, which has made it stand apart from other club records since the very first day I heard it. If I was to be honest, there are a couple of tracks which I don’t even really like, but everything which surrounds The KLF kind of makes up for it. Would have been nice to have had ‘It’s Grim Up North’ on here as well.
My uncle, who I count as my musical guru and who fed my young ears, used to drive us around North London listening to this album at deafening levels. We weren’t going anywhere in particular, it just sounded great whilst driving (I have since always tested the music I produce in this way). The fact that the most exciting pop group of that time consisted of two men in their late thirties has also been reassuring.
