warp20

Okay, maybe this theme is a bit easy, but hey – in honor of Warp‘s 20-year anniversary, why not showcase some of my all-time favorites from the Sheffield label? To raise the bar, it seemed like a good idea to select some of the more obscure favorites, therefore all of these tracks come from singles and EPs that didn’t really receive album-level attention. So without further ado: Squarepusher, Battles, Clark and Prefuse 73.

Squarepusher – Tundra4

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Forget Warp, this is one of my . Everything about it is perfect. “Tundra4″ is like the Mulholland Drive of music; sure, it’s on the long side (clocking in at 12:43), but there’s always something new and mysterious lurking around every corner, and everything that’s uncovered fills in details yet adds to the enigma. sticks with a theme, but drops variation after variation (the whole track itself is a variation on ““).  He gives things the time they need to settle in, but occasionally startles you with jaw-dropping synth theatrics (e.g. the stuff that comes in at 9:23) like the dumpster-dwelling homeless monster does with disgust.  All aspiring IDM-breakbeat-acid-ambient producers should throw in the towel now: you will always be a mere Diane to Jenkinson’s Camilla.

Battles – Atlas (DJ Koze Remix)

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: not really my favorite but I can certainly appreciate every aspect of their music. Mirrored was very good, and a nice smooth departure from the debut, but this version from remix-maestro is what really made me jump like Woody Harrelson when I first heard it as the “Atlas” b-side.  A bit more accessible than the weirded-out , Koze’s mix utilizes just enough of Braxton & co’s stems to make a clear connection but goes off well into his own signature territory. We invented the reincarnation!

Clark – Ted (Bibio Remix)

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“” by is definitely one of my favorite tracks to be released by Warp.  Yes it’s chaotic and yes it’s noisy and yes it has more saws than a lumberyard, but it manages to stay 100% head-nodding and melodic throughout. The remix by from the Ted EP says the same things the original says, except in place of all the synthesizer mumbo-jumbo is a whisperingly clear acoustic guitar. Bibio’s brilliant idea for a remix was executed flawlessly, successfully turning it into a brilliant song in its own right.

Prefuse 73 ft Ghostface & El-P – Hideyaface (El-P Mix)

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For me, collaborating with and seemed to come out of nowhere, and was accordingly hyped up by Warp to Jigga-Man proportions.  Obviously the stand-out track from the severely disappointing Surrounded By Silence, “Hideyaface” became the street anthem for legions of glitch-hop/IDM fans who have definitely never set foot in the ghetto in their lives, but who love the fact that they can live it out vicariously through the Ironman Tony Starks. El-P’s mix reminds me of some of the unreleased/bonus material from the excellent Fantastic Damage, rolling along with an overdriven funk-guitar loop overtop a trip-hoppy breakbeat and minor-second moving major chords that sound like something out of some -influenced 70s psychedelia.  Sorry guys, but El-Producto’s beat outdoes Scott Herren’s in terms of rawness and authenticity both, as if he dropped his verses then felt an obligation to make it into a real hip-hop song. “Nothin’ but fly beats floatin’ around here an’ shit”: Ghostface and Lazerface.

Posted in Music Posted by on Sep 07 2009 12:00 pm

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