Released in July 1992, Warp Records' Artificial Intelligence label compilation helped pioneer the electronic subgenre of intelligent dance music (IDM), and the storied label is bringing it back to vinyl to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
A new pressing of the comp — which features work from Aphex Twin (as the Dice Man), Autechre, Richie Hawtin (as Up!), Speedy J, the Orb's Alex Paterson and more — arrives December 9 via Warp.
You can familiarize yourself with a few of the album's inclusions below alongside its tracklist.
As Warp co-founder Steve Beckett told journalist and author Simon Reynolds for 1999 book Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, the album was primarily intended for sedentary listening rather than dancing — evidenced by its cover scene of an armchair parked in front of a stereo.
"You could sit down and listen to it like you would a Kraftwerk or Pink Floyd album," he explained. "That's why we put those sleeves on the cover of Artificial Intelligence — to get it into people's minds that you weren't supposed to dance to it!"
In the following years, Warp's Artificial Intelligence series would expand to include debut releases from Aphex Twin (as Polygon Window), the Black Dog, B12, Autechre, Speedy J and Hawtin (as F.U.S.E.). A second label compliation, Artificial Intelligence II, would cap the series in 1994.
Artificial Intelligence:
1. The Dice Man - "Polygon Window"
2. Musicology - "Telefone 529"
3. Autechre - "Crystal"
4. I.A.O - "The Clan"
5. Speedy J - "De-Orbit "
6. Musicology - "Premonition"
7. Up! - "Spiritual High"
8. Autechre - "The Egg"
9. Dr Alex Paterson - "Loving You Live"
A new pressing of the comp — which features work from Aphex Twin (as the Dice Man), Autechre, Richie Hawtin (as Up!), Speedy J, the Orb's Alex Paterson and more — arrives December 9 via Warp.
You can familiarize yourself with a few of the album's inclusions below alongside its tracklist.
As Warp co-founder Steve Beckett told journalist and author Simon Reynolds for 1999 book Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, the album was primarily intended for sedentary listening rather than dancing — evidenced by its cover scene of an armchair parked in front of a stereo.
"You could sit down and listen to it like you would a Kraftwerk or Pink Floyd album," he explained. "That's why we put those sleeves on the cover of Artificial Intelligence — to get it into people's minds that you weren't supposed to dance to it!"
In the following years, Warp's Artificial Intelligence series would expand to include debut releases from Aphex Twin (as Polygon Window), the Black Dog, B12, Autechre, Speedy J and Hawtin (as F.U.S.E.). A second label compliation, Artificial Intelligence II, would cap the series in 1994.
Artificial Intelligence:
1. The Dice Man - "Polygon Window"
2. Musicology - "Telefone 529"
3. Autechre - "Crystal"
4. I.A.O - "The Clan"
5. Speedy J - "De-Orbit "
6. Musicology - "Premonition"
7. Up! - "Spiritual High"
8. Autechre - "The Egg"
9. Dr Alex Paterson - "Loving You Live"