Foxbase Alpha [25th Anniversary Edition] [3 LP/1 7"]

Saint Etienne: Sarah Cracknell (vocals); Bob Stanley (keyboards, tambourine); Pete Wiggs (keyboards, bongos).
Additional personnel: Moira Lambert (vocals); Ian Catt (guitar, keyboard programming); Harvey Williams (bass); Pete Heller (programming); Bo Savage, Gazareth Sweeney, Uncle Vibes, Billy Nasty (background vocals).
Saint Etienne's kaleidoscopic 1991 debut, FOXBASE ALPHA, is one of the most influential albums in '90s dance music. While the rest of the U.K. was mired in a post-acid house Ecstasy hangover, the Northeast London trio of Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley, and Pete Wiggs married club rhythms to classic pop forms. The album's first two singles were covers of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and "Kiss and Make Up" by Sarah Records mainstays the Field Mice. Elsewhere, the album features esoteric sample loops like "Wilson," featuring samples from an old record about British currency decimalization, and "Etienne Gonna Die." There are also killer pop songs like the pounding "She's the One" and the lovely "Carnt Sleep." Cracknell's classic pop voice recalls Petula Clark, and Stanley and Wiggs are inventive arranger-producers. FOXBASE ALPHA is a dance-pop classic.