Lupe Fiasco, "The Emperor's Soundtrack"
There's something so grandiose about Lupe Fiasco's stuff. The beats are so layered, and they're structured in a way to feel really huge, and the production of the rest of the track reinforces that massive impression.
Sebadoh, "Junk Bonds"
A Jason Loewenstein song from Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock, which is a comp of tracks from a couple import EPs. Like a lot of material from them at this time, it's a schizophrenic record, but that's also part of the appeal of the band. Tracks like this threw the tender material into even sharper relief.
The Flaming Lips, "How??"
From Oczy Mlody, an album where they really went all-in on the orchestral psych stuff. By this time, Wayne Coyne sounded pretty haggard on these things, which makes the proceedings feel a little more forlorn than sometimes the songs might otherwise be.
μ‐Ziq, "Meinheld"
Bilious Paths picks back up where Lunatic Harness left off, with frantic drill'n'bass taking center stage, and some of the more symphonic stuff from Royal Astronomy less present. Because I like this kind of splattery stuff in my electronic music, I'm fond of this record.
Devo, "Girl U Want"
Three albums in, Devo had fully embraced the synths, and were fully new wave, although still in an absurdist kind of way. It's not a coincidence that this also produced their biggest hit, even if it's kind of a surprise that it did so.