Thursday, April 7, 2011

Warp 9 - It's a Beat Wave (1983)


I literally can find no biographical information about these guys. That said, they sound like a logical extension of The Jonzun Crew, whose "Lost in Space" was a record I found on the street one day, took home for the sake of taking someone's trash into my house and eventually listened to, albeit for sinister ironic purposes...because, a song called "Electro Boogie Encounter" can only be enjoyed in such a fashion, right? Initially, sure, but, like most things that start out that way, it inevitably merges into "I actually kind of like this" territory. Listen for yourself here:

Warp 9 are sort of one of those forgettable post Parliament/Funkadelic, early 80's Herbie Hancock meets Sugar Hill Records kind of groups, probably more likely to be heard as a sample on a Beastie Boys album than on its own. Yet, for all of its generic framing (and what an awful cover) there are some pretty damn solid jams on here, with "Light Years Away" and "Nunk (New Wave Funk)" closer to something you'd hear on an Arthur Russell or ESG album than you would from Parliament. Perp it:

White Noise - An Electric Storm (1968)


If you just loved Major Organ then you will surely love this. While much less sunny in tone, this album employs many of the cut- up, synthesizer driven, tape loop, strategies just a good thirty years before. One of the first solely "electronic" groups to get a high profile recording company to try and market them as a sellable pop group (I would think the musical break for orgasm noises in the middle and ending of "My Game of Loving" would have been enough to make them second guess this decision, but who I am to discourage an ambitious A & R man) White Noise was mostly the work of the American living in London, David Vorhous, who employed help from other early electronic musicians such as Delia Derbyshire (who composed the original Dr. Who soundtrack). The album, as you'll be able to tell the instant you listen to it, didn't generate any commercial success, but remains a fairly influential staple for anyone who has had any success diddling around with a synthesizer in the subsequent 40 years after its release. Truly a strange but nonetheless fun listen or "experience" if you are one of those people who like terms like that. Plus what a great cover.