808 State were a much more radical proposition than their Madchester peers in the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Instead of augmenting traditional, jangling psych-pop with dance rhythms, the group started at the other end of the spectrum—rough, squelching acid house—and used it as a base for their wildest impulses. They were huge music nerds, the kind of guys who’d congregate at the record store that member Martin Price owned and listen to everything under the sun. When they started making their second album, 90, they thought carefully about how and where the album should flow and peak, and they infused it with the jazz, prog, and electro they enjoyed in their spare time.

There are a few straightforward rippers on 90 (“Donkey Doctor,” “808080808”), but it’s an album that shines when its creators get weird. “Ancodia” tosses a chugging breakbeat, lounge-lizard synths, and kooky vocal samples into a blender; “Cobra Bora” is an acid-funk odyssey that opens with a disco sample before twisting like a corkscrew and whacking you over the head with a cowbell. The surprise UK hit “Pacific State” (present here in its “202” mix) still sounds invigorating today, with its warm chords and hooting wildlife cushioning an oily, goofy saxophone riff. Bold choices like those proved that electronic music could be brainy without being boring. –Jamieson Cox

Listen: 808 State: “Magical Dream”