04) Warp at 20
The Leeds Student, 09/10/2009
Originating in the not-so-far Sheffield, Warp Records has grown impressively in height (commerical gain) and width (style encompassing), although contrary to what you read a few seconds ago, the label is far from two dimensional. Its first substantial venture was Artificial Intelligence, a series of releases which showcased the cerebrally motivated work of the likes of Autechre and Aphex Twin, and demonstrated a distinctive new approach to electronic music for dance fans who were too socially awkward to actually dance.
Since then, the label has massively expanded its sonic territory, from squeaky math-rockstars Battles to Geordie jumpers Maxïmo Park, and, most notably in recent months, Grizzly Bear - who have had unforeseen commercial success with their Warp release Veckatimest.
The Warp 20 box set commemorates twenty years of Warp being A Good Label. It comprises two double CDs (Chosen and Recreated) and three vinyls: Elemental, one long epic medley built from the Warp catalogue; Unheard, containing… unheard material; and Infinite which comprises several locked groove (thus infinite) loops contributed by Warp artists.
The tracks on the first disc of Chosen were elected (for want of a word that’s not ‘chosen’) by fans via warp20.net. The nature of a grossly stereotypical Warp follower is perhaps best illustrated by the origin of the term ‘Intelligent Dance Music’: an alt.rave Usenet group in the early ’90s. That is to say, nerds. It is remarkable, therefore, how layman-friendly the track listing for Chosen CD1 is. Aphex Twin’s ‘Windowlicker’ - a track (in)famous for its onfrontationally odd Chris Cunningham video - opens the disc, and Autechre’s grating, granular ‘Gantz Graf’ also makes an appearance, which boasts the best video evermade. Battles’ ‘Atlas’ also features (insert comment about the ‘Atlas’ video… I never saw it). These are post-rave standards we are mostly all familiar with and, fan-picked or not, it plays like a Warp Greatest Hits.
The second disc of Chosen, i.e. songs picked by Warp co-founder Steve Beckett is a more discerning list. It opens with the title track from Broadcast’s excellent Tender Buttons, while the grimy instrumental hip-hop of Flying Lotus - another ‘atypical’ Warp artist - also shows up.
Recreated is founded on a more novel concept, where artists from the roster cover each other. The idea of wordless electronica covering other wordless electronica (which is mostly what we have here) is somewhat challenging. Elsewhere, Born Ruffians’ hilarious, but oddly powerful Aphex Twin medley opens, whilst Maxïmo Park are pushed into more electronic soundworlds than they have dared explore in their own work.
Luke Vibert’s attempt at LFO’s eponymous track sees some of the cleanest bass sounds, whereas Clark’s Milanese cover sees some of the filthiest (before bursting into a Squarepusher-esque beat seizure). Pivot’s rendition of ‘Colorado’ is unfortunately not a patch on Grizzly Bear’s original, however Gravenhurst’s version of Broadcast’s ‘I Found the F’ is fantastic, although with that strength of material, you can’t really go wrong.
Overall, this collation of Warp music new and old works terrifically well and I, for one, won’t be listening to anything but Warp artists for like… a month.
