The premier listening-techno label for the early '90s, Warp (distributed by TVT) released seminal albums by
Polygon Window (aka
Aphex Twin),
Black Dog,
B12, and
Autechre. Great tracks from all these artists appear on
Artificial Intelligence, along with contributions from
Richie Hawtin,
Speedy J, and
the Orb's Dr. Alex Paterson. The
B12 track "Telefone 529" (as
Musicology),
Black Dog's "Clan" (as I.A.O.) and
Autechre's "Crystel" are three of the best here. The cover display, of a robotic humanoid relaxing in a futuristic living room with copies of
Kraftwerk and
Pink Floyd LPs on the floor, is quite appropriate: Warp virtually pioneered the concept of applying the concepts of '70s ambience to '80s techno. The result is a superb collection of electronic listening music, and it's a great place to start for the newly interested.