Warp Vinyl, CD & Tape 212 Items

Essential reissue incl. download code!

Hype sticker on front.

Are you sitting comfortably? Artificial Intelligence is for long journeys, quiet nights and club drowsy dawns. Listen with an open mind.

Back in 1992 when Warp released the Artificial Intelligence compilation it almost instantly changed both the course of Warp as a label and arguably what many would consider club music as an entity to be. Artificial Intelligence came housed inside a prog rock styled gatefold sleeve depicting a cover image of a robot blowing smoke rings whilst reclining on an armchair. Its extra long rolling papers and tin of tobacco just out of reach, whilst a high-end stereo plays out the sounds of Kraftwerk's Autobahn and Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, their LP sleeves lay strewn across the floor. This image along with the above text that as printed on the sleeve acted as a guide for the listener on how to best experience this new mode of techno music, one that was designed for those nights when your body stays in but your mind steps out.

Having been in operation for three years by the time they compiled and released the Artificial Intelligence compilation, Warp had already proved itself as a worthy force within the world of quickfire 12 singles of acid house and the emerging hardcore scene. Starting as a predominant pusher of the new bleep 'n' bass sounds of their hometown Sheffield, Warp had enjoyed success with early anthemic singles from artists such as Nightmares on Wax, LFO & Richard H. Kirk's Sweet Exorcist project. These building blocks laid the foundations for what many would go on to define as the Warp sound but it was 1992's Artificial Intelligence compilation that cemented their place in music history.

Artificial Intelligence was notable for early appearances by people who went on to become pioneers of the hypnotic groove for both Warp and electronic music in its entirety. Artists such as The Black Dog/Plaid whose melancholic contribution The Clan (produced under the alias I.A.O.) bears long drawn out strings combine perfectly with the tear-drenched techno of Carl Craig with the trend for looped breakbeats to create a track that still resonates deeply every time it is played. Looking further out than most, B12's Telefone 529 with its recording of an automated incorrect phone number message carries an air of nostalgic puzzlement, while Preminition transports a diva vocal and hardcore piano roll into a zero-gravity soundtrack of space. Autechre's Crystel and The Egg offers the first steps towards the path of abstract oblivion that they would go on to travel throughout the post-AI years. Both pieces focus an acidic gurgle around some cut up vocals, its timeframe existing perfectly within a distinct hip-hop cylinder that brilliantly displays their roots within b-boy culture.

Aphex Twin appears under his alias The Dice Man, opening up the operation with a track that would become an alias in itself, Polygon Window in many ways formed the core sound of the Artificial Intelligence compilation and subsequent album series that followed it. Rolling post-acid dynamics, a strong knowledge of breakbeat techno and some serious subs keep the track in a full forward motion, Polygon Window still stands out as one of the most unbeatable techno tracks within Warp's discography. Elsewhere, chief ambient technologist Dr Alex Paterson put forward a four-minute cosmic ambient piece akin to his work as the central figure of which The Orb revolves around. Whilst Richie Hawtin made an appearance with his euphoric almost gabba track Spiritual High, produced under the name Up! his fellow Plus 8 producer Speedy J stepped in with De-Orbit, a track that you could say on reflection, almost helped shape the early steps towards what would turn into the deeper recesses of liquid drum & bass.

Warp co-founder Steve Beckett was quoted around the time of the Artificial Intelligence compilations release in 1992 as saying you started to hear tracks by B12 and Plaid and Speedy J that just didn't fit into any category, B-sides and last tracks on EPs. We just realised that they weren't meant for 12-inches, it was just that this was the only outlet for that kind of music. We realised you could make a really good album out of it. You could sit down and listen to it like you would a Kraftwerk or Pink Floyd album. That's why we put those sleeves on the cover of Artificial Intelligence - to get it into people's heads that you weren't supposed to dance to it!. This train of thought led to Warp putting together one of the most forward-thinking compilations to appear within the early 90s post-acid explosion, and many others tried to copy the formula but arguably no imprint ever came close to topping or even releasing anything that stands tall alongside Artificial Intelligence for its undeniably experimental, yet sheer futuristic scope and vision.

Listening back now, 30 years since its original release, it's striking how contemporary and fresh the music of Artificial Intelligence still sounds. While many tracks from those days still and will forever sound brilliant, many AI contemporary compilations have taken on the sheen of a more retro and throwback feel. When digested with a knowledge of what has been made within the last quarter of a century, the tracks that form Artificial Intelligence still carry a strong, almost outside of time feeling that's influence shines as strongly today as it did 30 years ago. A timeless record that will continue to point the way forward for electronic music for many years yet to come.

Another Aphex Twinclassic back in print! Pressed 180 gram wax, download code included!

Another Aphex Twinclassic back in print! Pressed 180 gram wax, download code included!

Responding to popular demand, Warp Records is repressing its seminal Boards of Canada catalogue on vinyl for the first time in over five years. Each Warp reissue comes with a download code and an original BOC sticker design from the era.

Timely reissue with digital download card for digital smoking delights!

Just as paradigm-shifting ideas are met with some cautious scepticism when they first occur, the history of Seefeel’s second LP Succour is a little chequered. Coming in hot from the success of their 1993 debut Quique — regarded as a prophetic example of shoegaze’s eventual transformation into post-rock — a newly minted contract with Warp would prove symbolic of where the group would steer his project next. The few “rock” elements of its full-length predecessor had evaporated, and vast spaces of dub and ambient would come to inform 1995’s Succour. Skeletal rhythmic elements amalgamating into their brooding, elemental and completely singular sound.

Bookending tracks ‘Meol’ and ‘Tempean’ open up like two gaping mouths on a mottled, heavy beast of droning synthesis, laying the groundwork for the world-enveloping tones Stars of the Lid would later produce. The delicate balance of weights teeters throughout the LP, crushing up sheet metal percussion on the techno-minded ‘Fracture’ and ‘Rupt’, which both simultaneously recall Aphex Twin’s rhythmic experiments and large-scale dub textures. The latter style is heavily hinted in the third LP of mostly unreleased tracks in this expanded (Redux) edition, all delay-drenched and booming with bass.

Seefeel proselytised the limitless potential of the post-rock genre with Succour — and produced one of the 1990s’ greatest albums in the process.

If Succour was Seefeel’s departure from the cul de sac of shoegaze music to wander through the desert of abstract electronics, 1996’s (Ch-Vox) which has been out of print since its original release is the sound of a group building a civilisation in the remotest spot, revelling in their sound far away from the rest of the world, their tones arriving to us like strange signals through the air. Singular as each of Seefeel’s LPs are, (Ch-Vox) could well be their definitive statement, a compelling album fuelled by deepest mystery.

Chief among its mystique is that it’s often hard to tell what we’re hearing most of the time. The humid drones of ‘E-hix²’ could have been created using samples, guitar feedback or a string quartet. The clipped ambience of ‘Utreat (Complete)’ ambiguously suggests either a piano or a bass guitar, a grainy twang-thump which revisits the closing motif of Succour, signposting the maturation of the Seefeel project. Although, ‘maturation’ isn’t quite the right word; (Ch-Vox) is amniotic in nature, each of its tracks boiled down to elemental values, co-mingling with plentiful breathing space. ‘Hive’ gives us the first hint of a clangorous beat, rendered alien by its ambient backdrop of what sounds like the howling of wolves.

This expanded edition of (Ch-Vox) comes loaded with unreleased material on the second LP that’s just as thought-provoking, delivering an even more rounded experience for this immersive album.

Classic Aphex Twin 12" with four nice mixes!

Comes with a download card.

Responding to popular demand, Warp Records is repressing its seminal Boards of Canada catalogue on vinyl for the first time in over five years. Each Warp reissue comes with a download code and an original BOC sticker design from the era.

The Autechre sound reached even deeper levels of intricate programming and layered, subtle detail on this their fifth record for Warp.

Best coverartwork ever! And the track isn't too bad either.