If I had my own radio station - Groove Armada

[You're going to see some republishing of my old series 'If I Had My Own Radio Station'. I finally found an online free music library worthy of linking the songs in my posts to without having to host snippets of the songs on my own (limited) web space. No more 30 second clips. Now you get to hear the whole song, albeit in a separate web page. A small price to pay, no? Note - the original posts will be deleted, as their links are now dead.]

Anyone who knows me is aware of my love for electronica. In particular, anything with a soulful groove. There are very few artists in this genre whose entire catalogue keeps me interested as much as Groove Armada. Not so much a group as a project of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay with some awesome guest vocalists, Groove Armada's music has become popular enough to be included in movies, TV ads and the like.

Their first album, Vertigo (1999), produced the hit I See You Baby (shakin' that ass). I got tired of that one fast due to its overexposure. But the album also produced some down-tempo faves of mine - At the River and Inside my Mind (Blue Skies). A compilation record, Back to Mine (2000), produced a couple of excellent tracks, Stanway's Revenge and the smooth Playing your Game Baby. Next came the album Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)(2001). This produced the rap-along Suntoucher, the groovy My Friend and Tuning In. Much livelier stuff. Then came Lovebox (2003). I didn't like everything from this album, but Think Twice is a well crafted tune and is likely in the running for my favourite Groove Armada song ever. Hands of Time is a superb throwback to the soul of the 1970s. You may recognize it from the soundtrack of Collateral. It's the song the Jamie Foxx character called "a classic". Soundboy Rock (2007) is another solid album with lots to enjoy. Paris (in my opinion the best track on the album), Love's Sweet Sound and See What You Get are all tracks that would be comfortable in a club, or as background music at a party. Which could be said for pretty much every tune. After all - they are the Groove Armada.