Warp Records is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It specialises in electronic, indie rock and experimental music, and has released records by acts including Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher, Oneohtrix Point Never, Broadcast, Flying Lotus, Battles and Grizzly Bear.

Warp began as a record shop in 1987, and released its first record, "Track With No Name" by Gordon's band Forgemasters, in 1989. In the early 1990s, Warp became associated with the UK bleep scene, releasing music by acts such as LFO, Sweet Exorcist and Nightmares on Wax. Rather than releasing dance singles by short-lived acts, Warp prioritised albums and artist longevity. In 1992, it released Artificial Intelligence, a compilation of tracks by various artists that helped establish intelligent dance music, a genre of electronic music intended for home listening rather than dancing.

Gordon left in 1991 and Mitchell died in 2001, leaving Beckett as the head. Warp moved to London in 2000. Over the following decade, it expanded its roster to include rock, hip-hop, film soundtracks, neoclassical music and ambient music. In 2001, Warp established a film production company, Warp Films, initially to release films by Chris Cunningham and Chris Morris. In 2004, Warp launched Bleep, one of the first download stores.

Warp is associated with the experimental electronic music of acts such as Aphex Twin, Autechre and Boards of Canada, but has influenced artists of other genres, such as the rock band Radiohead. Publications such as The Independent, The Guardian and Resident Advisor described it as one of the most influential and respected independent labels. In 2017, Beckett received the Pioneer Award at the AIM Independent Music Awards.

History

1980s record shop origins

thumb|[[Division Street, Sheffield, the site of the Warp Records shop in the 1980s]]

In the mid-1980s, Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell, then in their early twenties, were active in the music scene of Sheffield in Northern England. Sheffield's steel manufacturing was in decline, and abandoned warehouses were being used for illegal raves as part of the growing subculture of club music and acid house. According to Beckett, the shop mainly sold indie and alternative records before expanding to imports from electronic Chicago house records. Beckett had a background in indie rock, and discovered electronic music while working in FON. FON also operated a recording studio used by artists such as David Bowie, Yazz and Chakk. It specialised in imports released by American dance labels such as Transmat, Metroplex, Trax Records and Underground Resistance, which sold out quickly. In 1989, Warp released its first single, "Track With No Name" by Gordon's band Forgemasters. The singles received attention from the influential BBC DJ John Peel. Warp created an imprint, Gift Records, to release acts by pop and rock records including Pulp. After releasing some early Pulp singles, Gift closed after Pulp signed to Island Records. It was followed by Frequencies by LFO, which Beckett cited as a turning point for Warp.

Artificial Intelligence and intelligent dance music

thumb|[[Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) has been described as the most important Warp artist.]]

In 1992, Warp released Artificial Intelligence, a compilation of tracks by artists such as Aphex Twin (under the name Dice Man), Autechre, B12 (Musicology), Plaid, the Black Dog (AO) and Richie Hawtin (Fuse).

Though Warp proposed the term "electronic listening music", Artificial Intelligence popularised a genre that instead became known as electronica or intelligent dance music (IDM). Though the IDM term was criticised as denigrating other forms of dance music, it endured. In 1994, Warp released Artificial Intelligence II, accompanied by an hour-long music video on VHS and LaserDisc, Warp Motion, created by the Sheffield artist Phil Wolstenholme. Resident Advisor described the video as "a pioneering attempt to mix music and cutting-edge 3D computer animation". It also released a compilation of sketches from the surreal comedy radio series Blue Jam by Chris Morris, which Vice described as Warp's "boldest act of diversification".

In 2003, Billboard reported that Warp had annual revenues of US$10 million, with Warpmart contributing 10%. Its prices were slightly higher than competing online stores such as iTunes, and its MP3s were available at a variable bitrate of 205 kbit/s, higher than the more common 160 kbit/s of the period. In January 2009, Warp merged Warpmart into Bleep, selling records from more than 300 independent labels, including Beggars Banquet, Domino and !K7. That year, Warp reported that Bleep had sold more than 1.8 million downloads.

Death of Mitchell and Warp Films

thumb|275x275px|[[Chris Morris (satirist)|Chris Morris (pictured in 2010) directed the first Warp Films release, My Wrongs 8245–8249 & 117 (2002).]]

Mitchell died from cancer on 8 October 2001, at the age of 38, leaving Beckett as the head of Warp.

In 2004, Warp released its first feature film, Dead Man's Shoes, directed by Shane Meadows, which was nominated for a Bafta. Meadows's next film, This Is England (2007), won the Bafta for Best British Film. In 2009, The Independent wrote that Warp Films had "quickly become the UK's most consistent and challenging indie production company". The Independent wrote that the Maxïmo Park singer, Paul Smith, "fitted the label snugly, even if the guitars did not", while Grizzly Bear "with their careful sculpting of sound and veiled emotions [...] could be a warmer, softer Autechre". When Warp decided to close Lex Records, Brown bought it in 2004. In 2009, for its 20th anniversary, Warp held a party in an old steelworks in Sheffield, along with events in Paris, New York City and Tokyo. As of that year, according to Beckett, Warp employed 60 people in six offices around the world.

Legacy

Pitchfork said music released by Warp typically emphasises "shifts and melodies and complex rhythm structures over the more subtle builds and crescendos of repetitive dance", using "syncopated rhythms, wit and whimsy, and the blending [of] the abstract and the melodic".

In 2007, The Independent described Warp as one of the most pioneering independent labels in history, The singer, Thom Yorke, purchased copies of the entire Warp back catalogue.

References

  • – official site
  • – official site (a now independent abstract hip-hop label that branched off from Warp)
  • Warp feature story in Guardian Music Weekly
  • A Warped Mind : Steve Beckett On Running A Label Legend – [PIAS]'s Blog, 27 January 2015