The Decibel Tolls

I was raised on Warp. During my very first job at a hole in the wall lawn & garden shop my boss used to put on the Richard D James Album whenever it was a slow day (i.e. every day except Arbor Day). But all my nostalgia aside, there is no other label that has promoted more discussion, mystique, or innovation to the world of electronic music than these guys right here, and after going 20 years strong, it’s time to fucking celebrate.

Here’s how they’re rolling it out. Right now, instead of reading this, you could be helping to decide the track listing for the Best of Warp compilation! This 20-song cd will have 10 tracks chosen by co-founder Steve Beckett, and the rest are up to us. Each person can vote up to 50 times (but only once for each track) from now until May 8th. My first vote just went to Squarepusher’s “Iambic 9 Poetry”.

What would a birthday bash be without some crazy guest appearances? Kicking off in Paris on May 8th will be a limited tour with a drool-worthy lineup featuring: Aphex Twin, arriving either by tank or submarine depending on location, and sharing the stage with him is wonderkid Tim Hecker, also !!! (chk chk chk), Pivot, Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, and that’s only who they’ve revealed so far (I’m lookin’ at you, Boards of Canada). Most of the dates are in the UK, but the crew will make one stop state-side in New York on July 20th.

[Editor's Note: You too can see the spectrograph demon Richard James hidden in Windowlicker. What a creep! Read more here.]

Now, that’s already enough excitement for us faint of heart, but it doesn’t stop there. This autumn, Warp will also be releasing a collection of “new and unreleased tracks from the majority of the current Warp roster, as well as some of the finest artists from our history.” Quantities are said to be “extremely limited” so stay tuned in for details if you wanna beat me to it. Viva la Warp!

[Editor's Note: Fuckin' love Warp, dude. I just voted for Broadcast "America's Boy", Seefeel "Spangle," Aphex Twin "To Cure a Weakling Child" and Two Lone Swordsmen "Punches and Knives," four incredibly sick songs that I've included below for your consideration. Vote for 'em! If it ain't Warp, it ain't worth a shit!]

MP3 :::
Squarepusher – Iambic 9 Poetry
Boards of Canada – Drive Left Side
Broadcast – America’s Boy
Two Lone Swordsmen – Punches and Knives
Seefeel – Spangle
Aphex Twin – To Cure a Weakling Child