Various Artists – Warp10+2 Classics 89-92 [1999; Matador, Play It Again Sam, Source, Virgin France S.A., Warp Records]

Collecting several of the singles from the first few years of Warp Records’ catalog, and presenting them in order of their positions in the label’s catalog numbers (not always matching up directly with actual release), this decade-anniversary compilation gives a quick run
(by omitting most of the remixes)

through those recordings and the way they defined Warp’s foundational style. In keeping with the label’s need to clearly demonstrate their approach, the bulk of the songs feature very clean production on their beats and synth-tones, along with fairly simple structuring of their house/techno patterns, with the most ‘cluttered’-sounding likely being the hip-hop-glazed “Hey! Hey! Can U Relate?” by DJ Mink.

Most of the other songs omit vocals entirely, which ends up being one of the main strains linking artists which stuck with the label as long-term attachments (e.g., Nightmares On Wax and LFO), those which had faded away or disbanded even before this compilation’s release (Sweet Exorcist), ones which eventually bounced to other labels (Forgemasters, Coco Steel & Lovebomb), and the groups which put just one or two singles to their name before disappearing (The Step, Tuff Little Unit).

The electronic nature of the music is another big link, of course, as are the extensive use of loops, the very nature of the hardware used at the time, and an undercurrent of funk, but picking out the particulars of style which separate the songs’ similarities is one of the collection’s more entertaining points of usage. Primarily a historical document, it also shows that the singles used to build Warp’s reputation had better-than-decent technique backing them up, even if the same can’t be said of the B-sides.

Various Artists – Sampler 06: Quality Electronic Music [2006; Ai Records]

Freeform electronica fills this compilation, bringing together previously issued tracks with exclusive ones, and joining members of the Ai Records stable with artists who never released on it outside of this sampler. IDM, chillout, downbeat, house, dub, and more are stirred together within and across the tracks, and though none of the contributors are particularly well-known (Plant43 and Datassette being the biggest names of the lot), they all serve up their piece with high style, careful production, and a striking sense of character.

Slowed beats, squelched synths, delicate undertextures, and drifting light drones are regular components of the songs, with multiple rhythmic layerings offered up in forms allowing for enjoyment of their entanglement or individual merits. Some recurrent qualities across the eight tracks isn’t enough to drag it down by a significant extent, and the continuity over their course has enough twists thrown in to keep things interesting. A little uneven, but still a strong showing from everyone involved.

Justice – Audio, Video, Disco. [2011; Because Music, Ed Banger Records, Elektra, Warner Music Japan, Никитин]

For their second studio album, Justice shed the nocturnal atmosphere of † in favor of peppier moods and song styles which draw from ‘80s pop prog, a la Genesis, by way of spangly electric guitar wankery and pseudo-spiritual posturing and shallow sociological pondering. Though they keep the short audio cuts and strong beats of the first album, the overt sampling is lower, and the synths generally feel more hammered-down in comparison to the buzzy aggression of their earlier usage. Those changes don’t keep the band from turning out several memorable tunes, though, even if the earworminess comes down to a hooky main riff over the full song’s shaping more often than not.

That lackluster song-writing seems all the more strange in the face of the apparent care for arranging the tracks within the album, with a loose narrative told through song titles and a separated intro for one of the central songs. The production work is stellar, though, and a trio of guest vocalists add to the grand assembly vibes, but in the end, it feels a little too aimless and overwrought to fit either its affected antiquity or wallowings in retro-pop excess.