Friday, May 15, 2009
Classic WARP 20 - It Began In Sheffield
Posted by Brian Geoghagan on Fri, May 15, 2009 at 9:49 AM
This Autumn, Warp Records celebrate their 20th anniversary. To commemorate the event, Warp have set up a website to allow fans a voice in what appears on the forthcoming Warp 20 compilation. 10 tracks will be chosen by Warp and 10 will be chosen by fan voting. Head over to the Warp20.net microsite to make your picks.
I also highly recommend this excellent article tracing the lineage of Sheffield's music scene from Cabaret Voltaire to Warp. There's a fantastic mix of the tracks discussed at the end of the article.
The Guardian have done a great job explaining the history of the label here.
Of course, no discussion of Warp Records is complete without acknowledging The Designers Replublic. Although TDR™ no longer exist, their designs are second only to Factory/Peter Saville in completely defining the sound and attitude of the label. Be sure to take a look at this article discussing the history of The Designers Republic. Again, there's a great mix at the end so take advantage of the resources on that page.
My favorite Warp era was the 'bleep n bass' stuff like LFO, Sweet Excorcist and the first Nightmares on Wax album although Smokers Delight has probably had more plays on my hi-fi than any other Warp release.
I'd like to hear from the LineOut audience about what your favorite Warp tracks are and any good stories about the first time you heard something on the label. If you're a fan, that moment was probably etched in your brain like it was for me.
Share via
1
Instead of listing every release I think is awesome, which would be a very long list, I'll talk about some that don't get enough recognition:
Autechre's second Peel Session disc (the one with the white cover) is one of their best post 'Chiastic Slide' works in my opinion. Not too weird, not too basic - very soulful yet very mechanical, the soulfulness in my opinion had been missing from their work for a while.
Jamie Lidell 'Multiply Additions' is actually really good, I would venture to say better than the album it remixes. Herbert, Luke Vibert, and Mocky all deliver great remixes and the final cover of 'Game of Fools' by Mara Carlyle is STUNNING. I drove over to a friend's house when I had a promo copy just so he could hear it - over the phone or internet transfer wouldn't do. Also, as an aside, am I the only one fucking with the Rustie remix of 'Another Day'? That remix is like the future of music, I can't believe more people aren't into it.
'Music for Adverts' by the lone remaining member of the Black Dog was almost universally hated on by Warp fans upon release, maybe because of the absence of the boys in Plaid? It really deserves more credit, this is a really solid album and is on par with most of their music on Warp after 'Bytes'. I don't know why this receives so much disdain.
I'm interested to see what other people have to say...
2
but.... the compilation will be CD/digital only -- no vinyl? really?? presumably all or most of these tracks are already available for download, so this is little more than a simple re-packaging. why even bother? i mean, i can compile my own best-of collection and download it myself. i don't need warp to do that for me.
3
There are hints that some of the Warp 20 release(s) will be made up of unreleased material. I agree though, other people's picks for the best Warp songs are definitely not mine.
I already have the DVD 'Made in Sheffield' (where the roots of the sound of Sheffield are traced and documented further) and the book 'Beats Working For a Living: The Story Of Popular Music In Sheffield 1973 to 1984' looks like something i'll pick up too. Interviews and music from The Human League, ABC, Artery, Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA, Heaven 17, The Comsat Angels, Chakk, Pulp and more.
Eve Wood, the creator of the 'Made in Sheffield' DVD has a new film out very soon called 'The Beat is The Law' (Part One) and its a sort of sequel featuring the birth of electronic music in Sheffield with contributions from Warp, Chakk, FON, Clock DVA, Pulp, The Leadmill, Designers Republic, Moloko, The Longpigs, Forgemasters and Sweet Exorcist.
All of this great stuff is at http://www.sheffieldvision.com and is on my wish list.
Doing an all nighter writing funny macromedia lingo apps to it. Going out the next day in brutal cold to Schoolkids in Ann Arbor to buy every single warp album they had.
Have to agree with Segal, I got about 20 life changing AFX tracks, and 20 life changing Autechre tracks, and at least 20 life changing richard h. kirk tracks.
Fuck, I may have 20 tracks for each Aphex pseudonym.
Most Commented on Line Out
-
Local Hardcore Band's New T-Shirt Celebrates Alleged Cop Killer by Megan Seling
-
Julian Casablancas: Lightbulbs and Process by Trent Moorman
-
The Seattle Rock Orchestra Does the Arcade Fire by Megan Seling
-
The Moondoggies: Speed Metal>Skynryd by Trent Moorman
-
Helms Alee Out, Git Some In by Megan Seling
-
"Overheard at the Record Store" by Dave Segal
-
This Weekend in Retrospect by Grant Brissey
-
"R/I/P/S/Y/H" by Megan Seling
-
Former Members of Furious Styles Don't Like the "Cop Killer" Shirt Either by Megan Seling
-
Are Performance Rights Organizations Harming Live Music? by Grant Brissey
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (8) RSS