is a pioneering independent
UK Record Label , founded in
Sheffield in
1989 , notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in
Electronic Music .
Founded by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell, from their experiences working at the (produced by Robert Gordon), whose limited 500 copy pressing of "Track With No Name" was 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 ''C.C.E.P.'' in
1991 . Robert Gordon left
Warp acrimoniously in 1991 around the time of their Tomas
release "Mind Song".
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 Twin (as Diceman and later Polygon Window),
Autechre ,
B12 , the
Black Dog ,
Richie Hawtin and Alex Paterson (of
The Orb ). Initially all the album releases were gatefold sleeves and coloured vinyl, often with striking covers by
The Designers Republic or
Phil Wolstenholme .
Since then the label has evolved, and later artists were a similarly eclectic group, and included the influential DJ
Andrew Weatherall (as
Sabres Of Paradise and later as
Two Lone Swordsmen ), the live sensation
Red Snapper and experimental hip-hop group
Antipop Consortium .
In '', a
Compilation spanning six discs, featuring early
Acid House and
Techno music that influenced the label and its artists, as well as classic tracks from Warp's back catalog, and new
Remix es of Warp material. The collection celebrated the label's tenth anniversary.
In the late
1990s the label moved its operation to
London along with its physical music and merchandise store
Warpmart . In
January 2004 Warp Records launched an online digital music store,
Bleep , notable for being among the few stores to completely avoid all
Digital Rights Management features in the downloadable tracks, unlike other music stores such as
ITunes and
Rhapsody .
On
September 27 ,
2004 Warp Records released its first
Music Video compilation, named
WarpVision , featuring most of the videos produced from
1989 to
2004 .
2005 saw the release of ''Warp'', the first book in the
Labels Unlimited series. Written by Rob Young, the book gives an illustrated history of the label, as well as offering a complete
Discography .
A number of sublabels have also been set up by Warp.
In addition, Warp has set up a film company,
Warp Films , as well as digital download store
Bleep .
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