Today I wanted to post another classic, maybe I’ll make this a regular Friday thing (not sure I can restrict this to only Friday). Around 1996 I was introduced to Warp records via their US distribution deal with Wax Trax! records (I’m sure I’ll divulge my obsession with Wax Trax in later posts). Ok, to be fair TVT had bought Wax Trax at that point so the move to bring all these great Warp artists over to listeners in the states may have been more of their move than it was Wax Trax but whatever. Because of that distribution deal, I discovered the compilations Artificial Intelligence I and II both of which completely blew me away. Warp seemed to have this sound which reminded me of the early Detroit techno sound but it was somehow different. I didn’t need to classify it though, I just knew that I liked it. More importantly, through Artificial Intelligence II I discovered b12.
Already interested in this group that I knew nothing about, I was later at my local independent record store (I mention independent only because none of the retails were willing to carry this stuff here and we have almost zero independents left at this point) and found b12’s Time Tourist. They also had Electro Soma but I think my decision to buy Time Tourist was probably based on the fact that it had the song from Artificial Intelligence II. I was immediately intrigued by the cover art of Time Tourist and its crazy science fiction/travel imagery. That was one of the best purchases I have made having only heard one song from the album or artist. Time Tourist still stands on its own today and I never can get enough of it.
Here is the opening track VOID/Comm:
Answers Come In Dreams 