We Are Reasonable People
We Are Unreasonable Trainspotters: In order to undertand my insatiable hunger for this ultra-delicious label, you'd have to go back in time to late 1993 or early 1994. I cant pinpoint the exact moment I began to take a serious interest in Warp, but it was probably one of two incidents. In 1992 and 1993 I was buying records on the Too Pure label, simply because of the labels' strength. Stuff like Mouse on Mars, Pram, Th'Faith Healers and Stereolab brogut great pleasure to my ears. The label still holds my interest today with acts like Laika, Scala and Seely. Anyway I picked up a copy of Seefeel's "Time to Find me" EP with remixes by none other than the Aphex Twin. This record was amazing, the depth and quality of Sarah Peacocks voice wrapped me in immediately. I had to get more stuff by this group. After picking up their previous two EPs on Too Pure ("More Like Space" and "Plainsong"), I began to scout around for stuff by this Aphex Twin person. I didnt really know much about them, 'cept for a small interv iew I had read in Lime Lizard magazine (RIP). I picked up a copy of Selected Ambients Works 85-92, which was on R&S records, and then Selected Ambient Works II which appeared about March 1994 to the best of my memory. I was hooked. The beats of 85-92 mixed with the floaty ethereal ambience of II was enough to make me want everything this bloke had ever released. SAWII didnt leave my tape deck for about six months, and sometimes I couldnt listen to it when I was depressed because it was such an emotionally charged LP. SAWII was released on Warp, and I began to investigate into the label further..

as for the other incident, about the same time, I came back home late one morning after a long, heavy night out and the acid was still seriously mashing my brain into shit. I turned on the telly and the video for (sym)(biotics) from the "Motion" Video was on MTV. The pictures of these huge bugs and eggs merging with this little robot, which was flying around this dark, spotted landscape, made my already damaged br ain turn cartwheels inside my skull, and I sat there unblinking for about five minutes watching this video.

After it was over, the usual MTV fare of Janet or Celine came back on and I switched off the TV, and went upstairs to bed where I stared at the ceiling for a few hours. The next day I went about finding this video, or who made the music. As it turned out it was Autechre, who were also signed to Warp. Seefeel, after releasing their debut LP on Too Pure ("Quique") had also signed to the label and their first release on the label was an EP called Starethrough. They released their second LP, "Succour", on Warp but this was very disappointing by their EP standards. I continued to pick up Warp stuff from their back catalogue, like the Polygon Window LP and Speedy J's "Ginger". At this time the label was recieving a lot of press (relatively speaking) for the success of the whole "Artifical Intelligence" thing, but then the media went nuts for drum'n'bass and jungle, and the herds moved onto other things as Warp took a back seat, while people like LTJ Bukem and Grooverider were being showered with praise.

But to me, Warp was putting out infinitely better stu ff. Autechre's "Anti" EP with the track "Flutter" was incredible. At the time it was the most unusual thing I had ever heard. The music was constructed in such a way that no two bars contained repetitive beats. This was a musical statement against the Criminal Justice Bill, which later became the Criminal Justice Act. The "Garbage" EP, also by Ae, was way more ambient, VLetrmx21 was like some majestic classical piece, I listened to it over and over. The "Tri Repetae" LP was much darker and harder than Amber, but it still shook me to the core, and hearing barely recognizable snippets of it at their live performance in the Furnace in pitch black surroundings will stick in my memory for quite a while. The "Anvil Vapre" EP was also very impressive, the video for "Second Bad Vilbel" directed by Chris Cunningham (currently in the news for directing the Aphex "Come to Daddy" video) was also a late night comedown shocker.

As for Aphex, I had picked up the On singles, and then sometime in 1995 I think it was, he released Ventolin, which gave me a serious fucking headache when I heard it piped through the listening post headphones in Virgin. I bought it straight away. He also released the "...I care because you do" LP and the mental "Donkey Rhubarb" EP, with those lunatic teddy bears featuring in the video. He collaborated with Philip Glass on this EP, which resulted in a strings version of "Icct Hedral". Highly reccomended listening.

As for other artists, they never really did as much for me as Aphex and Autechre did, up until the last two years. Acts like RAC and Freeform were weaker IMHO. Nowadays I feel Warp have a much stronger hand, and I buy more or less everything that comes out on the label, bar Jimi Tenor who I dont really enjoy at all. Red Snappers' brand of jazzy techno was a breath of fresh air when I saw them first in the summer of 1996 in the Olympia. It was also a change from the usual Warp sound, and I picked up the Prince Blimey LP and was quite impressed... when I first bought the Port Rhombus EP by Squarepusher, I didnt understand it all (I had missed out on the Hangable Auto Bulb EP by Aphex), the drills were very complex and disjointed and I missed the point, but after picking up Feed Me Wierd Things (on Rephlex) and his consequent EPs, I dont see how I ever lived without the snare rushes.

Aphex also does a similar line in drill beats these days. The Girl/Boy EP was a change from the expected, and anyone who's heard the lunacy of "Bucephalus Bouncing Ball" on the Come To Daddy EP will see that theres still a lot of fresh ideas and sounds to be created with this music. A new act on Warp are Broadcast, who to my ears owe more than a nod to Stereolab. They have released their first LP on Warp entitled "Work and Non-Work", which is a collection of older material. It's interesting, and I'm looking forward to hearing their new material. The Two Lone Swordsmen (Andy Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood) have also been signed up, and their first LP for Warp is expected some time this year. We've advised you to pick up stuff by them before. They have released three LPs on the Emissions Audio Output label, the best of which is the most recent one, "Stockwell Steppas". It treads the fine line between house, techno, ambient and drum'n'bass, very relaxed in places, crashing in others.. Plaid you should all know fairly well at this stage, having gone to see them in the Funnel Club late last year and having read the interview with them in S@E 27. Their second LP, "Not For Threes", was released last year to critical acclaim, although personally I think it lacks backbone in places, its still an enjoyable listem on the turntable.

The next big thing from Warp we confidently predict will be Mira Calix. Her debut 10", Llanga, was absolutely incredible. The A side, "Khala", was on initial hearing unstructured and pure noise, but after several listens I began to see the organisation of the track, everything fitted in with difficulty but it sounded like the music was all cramped into space it couldnt fit into properly, its hard to describe but fuck me, I loved it. The B Side, "Humba", was beautiful.. whispery vocals and scary dark ambience.. her second EP, "Pin Skeeling", is released in March I think. You will do what we tell you and you will buy it. Boards of Canada, Max Tundra and Phonecia are all new artists which I havent heard much of, but if they're on Warp then they will doubtlessly excite.

What happened to Seefeel though? Well, after the "Fracture" 10", which I think was the last thing they released on Warp, Mark Clifford went solo and released an excellent EP under the name Woodenspoon, but also released 2 12"'s and an LP (all on Warp) under the name Disjecta which were a huge let down. The rest of the Group, along with Mark Van Hoen (alias Locust) formed Scala, who have released two EPs on Too Pure and a brilliant LP, "Beauty Nowhere", on Touch Records. This LP was not released in the UK and Ireland due to contractual reasons but you should be able to order it from online web music stores. Its well worth it. Alternatively you could wait for the new LP which is due out in May on Too Pure. According to the nice people in Road Records its been delayed cos the band werent happy with the artwork on the sleeve..(sigh). A Seefeel mini LP ("CH-Vox") was released on Rephlex in 1996 but AFAIK this was older material from the Succour Days. This was disappointing at any rate, and Sarah Peacocks voice did not feature at all. Its much more prominent on the cala material and all the better... Seefeel played as a group at a Blech night in London last October, and theres rumours of new stuff from them coming soon. Mark Clifford is also recording under the name Sneakster at the moment so keep your eyes peeled for that.. if anyone hears anything about Seefeel or Scala then get in touch please.

And Autechre? Well, if you didnt catch them live before, then they're playing on Friday 13th of February in the Funnel Club. You might even be reading this at the gig. It will be interesting to see if the metallic crunchiness of their most recent LP, "Chiastic Slide" works live. This will be the first time they've played here since May 1996 in the Ormond Multi Media Centre, and Warp acts coming here are few and far between, so dont miss this one.

Warp Records is based in Sheffield. For more information you can write to them at PO Box 474, Sheffield, S1 3BW, England. Alternatively you can look at their excellent web site, at http://www.warp-net.com There's news about releases and gigs, Blech, artist biogs, a message board, a full discography (including all the earlier releases that I didnt mention like LFO, Nightmares on Wax and Sabres of Paradise), and WarpMart, where you can order singles, LPs, record bags and other bits of Warp goodies.