Friday 10/10/25, Saturday 11/10/25 and Sunday 11/10/25 and then later on Mixcloud.com.

Welcome to the early 2000s — a moment when guitars snarled, laptops hummed, and the boundaries between analogue grit and digital sheen began to melt away. This playlist captures that strange, brilliant transition: bands rediscovering the power of distortion while others dove headfirst into glitch, groove, and future funk. Here’s a guided spin through the albums and tracks that defined the sound of that restless era.

🎸 The Hives – “Supply and Demand”

From “Your New Favourite Band” (2001)

A shot of pure adrenaline from Sweden’s sharp-suited garage punks. “Supply and Demand” burns with the swagger of a band who know exactly what they are — a blast of punk precision and rock ’n’ roll arrogance. Their compilation Your New Favourite Band lived up to its title, packaging chaos and charisma into one stylish punch.

🎷 The Strokes – “The Modern Age”

From “Is This It” (2001)

Swagger, disaffection, and tight denim. “The Modern Age” is the sound of a band reviving New York cool. With its clipped guitars and laconic delivery, The Strokes’ debut felt like a lost Velvet Underground demo reimagined for the post-Y2K world. Is This It remains one of the defining indie statements of its time.

🌀 Squarepusher – “Plaistow Flex Out”

From “Go Plastic” (2001)

Tom Jenkinson — better known as Squarepusher — was operating on another planet. “Plaistow Flex Out” is a ferocious assault of breakbeats, jazz-inflected bass, and machine chaos. Go Plastic was his manifesto: a brutal, brilliant collision of virtuosity and digital abstraction.

🌙 Low – “Laser Beam”

From “Things We Lost in the Fire” (2001)

Stillness and sorrow wrapped in distortion. “Laser Beam” glows like an ember — slowcore at its most spectral and hypnotic. With Steve Albini producing, Things We Lost in the Fire is a fragile masterpiece, each song a whispered confession against a backdrop of thunder.

🧱 Radiohead – “Pakt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box”

From “Amnesiac” (2001)

A metallic heartbeat and a mantra of alienation. “Pakt Like Sardines…” opens Amnesiac with mechanical claustrophobia and minimalist dread — Thom Yorke mumbling from inside a digital dream. This was Radiohead diving even deeper into the strange, post-human world hinted at by Kid A.

🦇 Gorillaz – “Dracula”

From “Gorillaz” (2001)

Buried in the debut’s shadowy corners, “Dracula” is all skittering beats and dubby basslines — Damon Albarn’s cartoon collective embracing the undead groove. The self-titled Gorillaz album made genre boundaries feel obsolete; here, hip-hop and melancholy stroll hand in hand through the twilight.

🔥 Manic Street Preachers – “My Guernica”

From “Know Your Enemy” (2001)

A ragged return to anger and noise. “My Guernica” thrashes with political fire and punk urgency, a raw reminder of the Manics’ uncompromising heart. Know Your Enemy was sprawling, uneven, but defiantly human — a middle finger to polish and conformity.

💫 Daft Punk – “Veridis Quo”

From “Discovery” (2001)

Dreamy and cosmic, “Veridis Quo” sounds like robots falling in love. The title — a pun on “very disco” — captures the duo’s mission perfectly: turning nostalgia into something timeless. Discovery remains one of electronic music’s great odysseys, gliding between euphoria and melancholy with effortless grace.

⚡️ Air – “Electronic Performers”

From “10 000 Hz Legend” (2001)

Air abandoned the soft glow of Moon Safari for something stranger, colder, and more artificial. “Electronic Performers” opens the album with a robotic hymn to creativity itself — a lush, synthetic symphony that questions whether machines can dream.

🪐 Muse – “Micro Cuts”

From “Origin of Symmetry” (2001)

Operatic and apocalyptic, “Micro Cuts” showcases Matt Bellamy’s otherworldly falsetto slicing through guitars and chaos. Origin of Symmetry was where Muse found their identity — bombastic, fearless, and utterly unrestrained.

💄 Garbage – “Parade”

From “Beautiful Garbage” (2001)

Shirley Manson leads a shimmering, seductive march through heartbreak and defiance. “Parade” blends glam swagger with digital edge, reflecting an album that dared to be more pop than its predecessors while retaining its bite.

❄️ Björk – “Heirloom”

From “Vespertine” (2001)

Tender and intimate, “Heirloom” feels like a lullaby transmitted through snow. Vespertine is Björk’s most delicate creation — full of microscopic sounds, music boxes, and whispered electronics that seem to hover just above the human pulse.

🖤 Depeche Mode – “Comatose”

From “Exciter” (2001)

“Comatose” drifts through dark, sensual minimalism — electronic gospel for the lonely. On Exciter, Depeche Mode stripped back their sound, trading industrial weight for icy atmosphere, creating one of their most quietly haunting works.

🏁 Drive-By Truckers – “The Three Great Alabama Icons”

From “Southern Rock Opera” (2001)

To close, a Southern epic — part rock history, part autobiography. “The Three Great Alabama Icons” reimagines Lynyrd Skynyrd, George Wallace, and Patterson Hood’s father through a haze of pride and pain. Southern Rock Opera is storytelling as redemption, a two-disc myth about music, memory, and the South itself.