Home > Warp Records

The label has since moved its operation to London. In January 2004 Warp Records launched an online music store, Bleep, notable for being among the few record labels to avoid completely all digital rights management (DRM) features in the downloadable tracks, unlike other music stores such as iTunes Music Store and Rhapsody.

Founded by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell from their experiences working at the FON record store. The label and store soon became home to artists who would be highly influential in shaping the future of music. The first release (WAP1) was by Forgemasters , a limited 500 copy pressing of "Track With No Name" financed by an Enterprise Allowance grant. It set a trend for the early releases both in terms of sound and the use of purple sleeves. This was followed up by Nightmares on Wax 's "Dextrous" and with WAP5 the label had its first top twenty chart success with LFO and their eponymous single selling 120,000 copies. The first album released was Sweet Exorcist 's Clonk's Coming in 1991.

Warp went on to release a series of singles and albums from 1992 under the Artificial Intelligence heading, a series of experimental electronic music releases by artists such as Aphex TwinAphex Twin (born Richard David James 1971) is a UK-based electronic music artist, credited with pushing forward the genres of techno, ambient, IDM, acid, drum and bass (specifically drill n bass). Recent experimentation on his album drukqs included use of (as Diceman and later Polygon Window), SquarepusherSquarepusher the stage name of Tom Jenkinson is a British electronic music artist (born in Chelmsford, Essex) signed to Warp Records. A trained bass guitar player and drummer, his style of extremely fast, cut-up beats mixed with fusion jazz and interlaced, AutechreAutechre is a Sheffield, England based electronic music group, working in what is described by some as the IDM style. Two friends, Rob Brown and Sean Booth, formed the group in 1991. Booth and Brown have explained that the name Autechre can be pronounced, the Black DogBlack Dog Productions (or The Black Dog were a musical trio that produced Spanners a high point of the intelligent dance music genre. Two members, Andy Turner and Ed Handley, went on to record as Plaid. The remaining member, Ken Downey, continues to recor, Richie HawtinRichie Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a Canadian associated with Detroit techno's second wave of artists who helped to change the face of electronic music along with peers Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin, Stacey Pullen, John Acquaviva, Daniel Bell and others. and Alex Paterson (later of the OrbThe Orb is a British electronic music band known for pioneering the genre of ambient house. History The group was formed in 1988 by Dr. Alex Paterson (full name Duncan Robert Alex Paterson) and Jimmy Cauty (who had played in Brilliant with Youth and June). Initially all the album releases were gatefold sleeves and coloured vinyl, often with striking covers by the Designers RepublicThe Designers Republic is a controversial graphic design company, founded in 1986 by Ian Anderson, and based in Sheffield, England. It is known for its anti-establishment aesthetics. The Designer Republic's works are playful and bright, mixing images from or Phil Wolstenholme.

Later artists were a similarly eclectic group, and included the influential DJ Andrew Weatherall (as Sabres of Paradise and later as Two Lone Swordsmen), PlaidPlaid is a British electronic music duo, Andy Turner & Ed Handley. The pair take their name from the different interweaving threads of the cloth. They are former members of The Black Dog (also known as Atypic, Balil. Plaid have collaborated with female si, Boards of Canada, and the live sensation Red Snapper . A very recent addition to the Warp lineup is !!! (pronounced chik chik chik). Other recent additions include Chris Clark, Prefuse 73 and Jimmy Edgar .