Slug comes to us with a bit of electronic music history from across the pond. Sit back, relax, and get your headphones ready. We're talking Intelligent Dance Music, baby!
Britain's popular soundscapes during 1991-1992 are not particularly surprising: U2's Achtung Baby, Enya's Shepherd Moons, Nirvana's Nevermind, and an insanely high volume of legacy rock'n'roll and post-punk bands' "Greatest Hits" records.. not exactly mind-blowing stuff. (We're cool with Enya, though.) Anyways—something else was happening in the undercurrents of the British music industry. In an unassuming record store in Sheffield, an entire subgenre of electronic music was putting down its roots.
Warp Records store image from The Star.
At a time when pop music reigned supreme, 1980s Sheffield had a single oasis for electronic music lovers: FON Records. Two young employees of the store, Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell, were looking to bring the sounds of American electronic music to the city's music scene. In 1987, they convinced the owner of the shop, Robert Gordon, to rebrand the store and call it Warp Records. They began specializing in imports from Chicago house and Detroit techno labels like Trax and Metroplex. The duo quickly realized that there were plenty of Sheffield-based musicians creating their own dance music and believed there was a market for it.
In 1989, the shop morphed into an indie record label while retaining its namesake. Warp released a number of "bleep and bass" singles, like Forgemasters' Track With No Name and Nightmares on Wax's Dextrous, which became a top-40 hit. They were truly independent: hand-delivering records to shops across England, splitting the profits with their artists. They partnered with the now-iconic design company, Designers Republic, to create a recognizable record sleeve that stood out from others. You might recognize some of their work:
Despite Warp's initial success with club-oriented tracks, they would fall into financial disparity in 1990 after a string of poor business deals. Determined to be an album-oriented label rather than a singles-focused one, they released Sweet Exorcist's CCCD in 1991. The album sold well, especially in the United States, and its success saved Warp from bankruptcy. Riding on this success, Mitchell and Beckett took a sharp turn into left field, compiling what would become Warp Records' defining release: 1992's Artificial Intelligence.
Diving into Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is not a club record. As suggested by its bizarro CGI cover (designed by Phil Wolstenholme), this record is different from its early-90s peers. It's experiential, best enjoyed in your living room with a spliff and some headphones. Steve Beckett had this to say about it back in 1999:
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 minds that you weren't supposed to dance to it!
Brimming with metallic flavors of ambient techno, acid, and breakbeat, Artificial Intelligence is a near-perfect snapshot of the IDM genre in its infancy. Although no one knew it at a time, the album would mark the beginning of Warp artists' dominance on the frontier of "electronic listening music" for the home.
On the very first track, we hear a young Richard D. James' first (and only) release as The Dice Man, Polygon Window. Fans might recognize this name as one of James' future monikers. It's a solid ambient techno track, albeit very simplistic when compared to his later work under Aphex Twin. Other standout tracks include Autechre's contributions, Crystel and The Egg, both of which remain earworms and exemplary of what makes them such a great outfit. I'm also a big fan of the hypnotizing bassline on I.A.O.'s The Clan.
The sounds of Artificial Intelligence might sound conventional (maybe even dated) to the modern ear, but in 1992 this wasn't something you'd normally listen to at home. I still find the entire record pleasing to the ears, although a lot of the Roland sounds you'll hear have been beaten to death some thirty-five years later. Either way, this album is worth a listen, even if solely for the experience of a pivotal moment in electronic music history.
Spark one up, press play, and melt into the recliner like it's 1992. It's the closest you'll ever get to time traveling.
Author's Notes
Warp Records didn't go away, they just moved to London. I guarantee you have come across at least one or two of their releases, even if you're not into electronic music. The label went on to become a forebearer of experimental electronic music, spawning the careers of artists like Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher, Flying Lotus, and many others.
My favorite recent releases of theirs are Kelala's New Avatar and In A Space Outta Dub.
"It's not going to be long before an artist can make an album, film, CD1 and CDO in his or her own bedroom for a few thousand pounds, advertise the 'product' to hundreds of thousands of people directly via the computer networks and sell directly to them. This will completely cut out the need for the usual trek around the major entertainment companies looking for finance, and could lead to things getting really interesting."
– From Warp's ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE post-release statement in 1992.
Further Reading
- Collective Rendering: The Early '90s CGI Album Designs of Phil Wolstenholme
- Are You Sitting Comfortably? An Oral History Of Warp’s Artificial Intelligence
- Machines of loving grace: how Artificial Intelligence helped techno grow up
Artcore by Phil Wolstenholme
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