The best way to begin a career is to set up an instant connection with the listener, and then do something else: create some sort of unique context for your music. Burial’s South London Boroughs, released on Hyperdub in 2005, did that effortlessly. It was a sonic painting of south London at night, crafted with spray-cans of a dark two-step beat, wonky synths and his signature bass. It was like a Banksy had suddenly appeared. Next to nothing was known about Burial except for where he came from, and he marked his territory by inviting us to ride through the dark streets of south London’s outer boroughs with beats alone.

When Burial released his self-titled LP a year later, it was hailed as one of the most complete dubstep albums ever created. Although much of the album was brooding and harsh, it contained Burial’s first real ambient composition: Night Bus. It’s the sound of hopping on a near-empty bus in the early hours of the morning, weighed down by an aching comedown. The sounds used are minimal, but the track is profound; drizzling rain and haunting synth pads interlock to create something as introspective as it is beautiful.

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If Night Bus was Burial’s first slice of true ambience, Endorphin – from his second album, Untrue, is his greatest. It’s the sound of being haunted, by people who themselves feel haunted; ghostly voices materialise from crevices of deep bass and warped horn sounds, and the whole track is cloaked in a film of crackle and fuzz. It’s the epitome of Burial’s ability to make everything sound stunningly nostalgic and emulate a state of saudade through a sense of pining and loss, without ever coming across as sentimental.

Archangel is sometimes overlooked in Burial’s catalogue, perhaps because of its accessibility. The fact that it’s his best known track shouldn’t stop it making this list: it somehow makes Ray J – an ex of Kim Kardashian and maker of the Kardashian-referencing track I Hit It First – sound magical. It’s driven by a simple two-step beat and echoes of warped vocals, and makes the perfect soundtrack for twilight walks through the city, played ultra-loud through a tinny set of earphones. It’s Burial at his poppiest, while retaining the future garage flair that colours all his work.

The final track on this list from Untrue, Raver is perhaps the best example of Burial’s wide-ranging but indefinable approach to music, with twisted snippets of vocals, rippling synths and a thumping two-step beat. It’s the kind of track that gets all Burialheads feverishly trying to decide what genre he is working in. Future garage? Post dubstep? Post future? Burial is not someone genre labels can be attached to easily; it’s probably just better to accept the music for what it is.

Following Untrue, Burial had been unmasked as William Bevan after a campaign by the Sun’s Gordon Smart. Since then, he hasn’t released another full LP, but instead has worked on EPs and singles that are longer, multilayered epics. Arguably his finest work of all, Burial’s reworking of Paradise Circus turns it into something even more poignant and atmospheric. It’s a breathy, perfect moment of disassociation. There are so many parts to it, but best are the heavenly pitched-up vocals and triumphant synths in the closing minutes.

School reunions can be dire congregations of people trying to out-impress each other and remembering each other as the dicks they were in their teens. That might not be the case with Elliott School in Putney, which produced members of So Solid Crew, the Maccabees, DragonForce, the xx and Hot Chip, as well as Burial and Four Tet (though the former would definitely be a no-show). The two producers worked together a few years back on Moth/Wolf Club, but also joined forces in 2012 for Nova. Mixing Burial’s garage rhythms with Four Tet’s ear for delicate melodies, it’s a shuffling, delay-filled track. Rumour has it that Thom Yorke has joined forces with both to make some more tunes. They make for a fantastic duo, although conspiracy theorists will still argue they are one and the same.

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Fizzing with frenetic energy, Rough Sleeper signalled a move towards longer, more upbeat compositions. It’s still got the same click beats and trapped voices, but feels somehow different. The highlight of the track is undoubtedly the electric-piano hook that dominates the middle section, winding its way through the vocals and fuzz. Although it is nearly 14 minutes long, it seems to finish in a flash – testament to how gripping it is.

Burial’s most recent EP, Rival Dealer, was the closest thing so far to a third album. In a rare interview, Burial told BBC 6Music the release was centred around a motif of “anti-bullying tunes that could help someone to believe in themselves” and it features recurring samples from an interview with Nasa scientist Melissa Dawson Higgins. Come Down to Us is the pinnacle of the EP – Burial at his most experimental and positive. Cinematic, almost Christmas-sounding chimes make it a quasi-hymn, and it ends on a crackly, evocative recording of Lana Wachowski talking about the difficulty of coming out as transgender.

Sweetz is far and away the most divisive tune Burial has worked on, with the critical gauge of the YouTube likes/dislikes bar highlighting that (868 likes and 246 dislikes at the time of writing). But it’s the fact that it is so deliciously polarising that contributes to it being the most interesting track Burial has released. Driven by a hyperactive “yeah, we fucked up” sample that constantly shifts in tone, stop-start bass rhythms and hypnotic synths that come and go as they damn well please, it’s Burial gone avant garde. It’s constantly threatening to shape-shift into something completely different, yet it somehow – just – sticks together as one piece. It’s a playful side to Burial that’s never been shown before and hints at a more off-the-wall approach to come in the future.

