Music has a right to the mp3s.

November 23, 2003 7:46 PM

Warp Records becomes the first label to make entire discography available for download as pay-per-track at Bleep.com.

via Pitchforkmedia.com
posted by iamck (32 comments total)

this is the best news I've heard for a while. Thanks, iamck!

...supposedly there's a new Boards of Canada album in the works. It'll nice to be able to hear it as soon as it's available.
posted by LimePi at 8:57 PM on November 23, 2003

And what an amazing discography Warp has.

Great news. May I suggest getting all of Autechre's Amber and Chiastic Slide?
posted by xmutex at 9:11 PM on November 23, 2003

They've also got a fun little shoot-em-up type invaders game on the site to keep you busy while you're waiting for those downloads to become available, which is more fun for the sound (choose between Boards of Canada or Plaid loops) than it is for the game (which doesn't seem to have points or goals in the conventional sense.) [shockwave]
posted by .kobayashi. at 9:12 PM on November 23, 2003

Excellent news! Isn't making the entire discography a great idea (where feasible) to increase sales for lots of labels, making unavailable tracks obsolete in one fell swoop?
posted by Onanist at 10:01 PM on November 23, 2003

I just wanna know how they're going to encode the mp3s. If they are LAME VBR high quality files I'll be buying quite a bit of stuff from them. I'd probably also buy 192kbps ones, if they ain't joint stereo.

I've always wanted some label, any label, to sell high quality mp3s with no restrictions. Warp is the first label to do so with artists I am interested in. I'm pretty excited about this, but if they end up selling tracks at 160kbps or lower I won't be paying - same reason I rarely buy tracks from the iTunes Store. 128 AAC is waaaay overrated and not good enough for me to pay. I don't mind the kiddie DRM so much, but the sound quality is not even close to CD, IMHO.
posted by L. Ron McKenzie at 10:11 PM on November 23, 2003

Is a simple list of bands too much to ask? Or, if one exists, an obvious link to such? I rate their UI as 'very poor'.
posted by mischief at 10:47 PM on November 23, 2003

mischief: www.warprecords.com/artists/

Note that Bleep.com hasn't launched yet, the URL currently just forwards to the regular ol' Warp site.
posted by afx114 at 10:51 PM on November 23, 2003

I'd probably also buy 192kbps ones, if they ain't joint stereo.

Why Joint Stereo?
Joint Stereo (-mj) is the best setting with Lame. This allows the encoder to dynamically adapt to the music and chooses the best stereo mode for each frame: stereo or ms-stereo. No stereo separation problems can occur in a good implemented JS mode, because when there is too much difference between the L and R channel, simple stereo will be used on that frame. All the frames that are encoded in ms-stereo benefit from the lower bitrate requirement and can thus use the extra bits for more accurate encoding.

The underlying reason why you read sometimes that "joint stereo is no good" is simply because the Xing and Fraunhofer implementation is not perfect. Again Lame is much more tweaked and brings a good joint stereo mode. Another reason is that some people mix up the terms "joint stereo", "ms stereo" and "intensity stereo".

posted by meehawl at 11:03 PM on November 23, 2003

If you don't know Warp allready, it's possible you wouldn't be interested anyway. They are *the* label for all the great "idm" acts, ie experimental electronic music. Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, and Autechre are the big ones. Lot's of goodness to be found.
posted by Espoo2 at 11:28 PM on November 23, 2003

They extend beyond "idm" grps, tho -- with bands like Broadcast and !!!.
posted by pfafflin at 12:41 AM on November 24, 2003

BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP


hehehe

sorry, I'm /drunk
posted by delmoi at 12:56 AM on November 24, 2003

They extend beyond "idm" grps, tho -- with bands like Broadcast and !!!.

Yeah, even hip-hop, with Anti-Pop Consortium. Plus Stereolab is there.And don't forget Squarepusher, and Plaid. That label was just the "in a nutshell" label. ;)

It's definitely quality music though. I don't like !!! at all, but most stuff in the Warp catalog is quality.
posted by Espoo2 at 1:11 AM on November 24, 2003

Sounds excellent. Unencumbered tracks are worth paying for. I just hope they don't charge 99 cents US a track -- at that rate many warp releases will be cheaper to buy on CD.
posted by shepd at 3:39 AM on November 24, 2003

My favourite record label :)
posted by nthdegx at 3:54 AM on November 24, 2003

'I rate their UI as 'very poor'

Heh. 100% pure Designers Republic, where functionality must never get in the way of style. Surprised it's not 6 point grey type on a light grey background.

Great news about the Warp discography. I can now fine tune my Squarepusher collection to my hearts content.
posted by arha at 5:39 AM on November 24, 2003

Now if only SubPop would do the same...
posted by kahboom at 5:46 AM on November 24, 2003

Here's hoping the next Boards of Canada album isn't yet *another* rehash of the same old samples they've been using for the past decade. There should be some law about that, I couldn't believe Geogaddi was released as a "new" album and not "BoC's greatest hits remixed".

Hopefully we'll start to see some of the other 'underground' labels going down this route now... there is really no selection of electronic music on iTunes / Napster / etc. worth speaking of...
posted by dvdg at 6:28 AM on November 24, 2003

Surprised it's not 6 point grey type on a light grey background

That's what Schematic's website used to look like.

as for Bleep.com, I think it's a fantastic idea. Perhaps, if all goes well, they'll branch out a la warpmart and start distributing other labels' mp3s.
posted by soplerfo at 7:27 AM on November 24, 2003

Goody goody goody.

dvdg: you are right, BoC are seeming more and more like a one trick pony. Then again most people say all this stuff sounds alike anyway.

Those of you who may have been highly dissappointed by my contributions to the MeFiSwap, don't even bother checking out the catalog.

Props to !!! for having the name most impossible to find in search engines for both the web and P2P.
posted by spartacusroosevelt at 7:45 AM on November 24, 2003

Bass and beep!
We like to see people who remember their roots.
Had a bit of *fun* looking through the discography which, despite the navigation system, gave me the opportunity to count how many of the early 12s I have.
I kind of regret not buying WAP1 and WAP2, I imagine they may be worth something now, however I have never liked "The Track With No Name" and take issue with it's description as the 'first bass and beeps tune'. "Dextrous" OTOH was a good tune, but was a straight steal from Manchester's A Guy Called Gerald, which made it better than just about everything else that NOW have produced as a result (with the possible exception of "21st Century Kong" on the 'Happiness' 12). I am holding out for the Gerald original, not that I have had any luck finding it in the past 13 years.
NB. That second release almost spelled the end for Warp before they even began. If Gerald had been arsed to take them to court over the sampling of his tune then they would have been bankrupt, end of story.

Interestingly (for me at least):
'For WAP 001 (the first Warp Records release) Rob and Steve tried, but failed, to secure the signatures of four Bradford teenagers who had mixed Detroit with Chicago, hop hop with ragga. And on top of the brooding bass heavy fusion: bleeps. Unique 3's 'The Theme' was truly underground, a subterranean sound that Steve and Rob even heard at Blues parties mixed with reggae and hip hop.'

Now that would have made more sense. Unique 3 really were doing something different from any body else at the time. The first line of "The Theme":
'We are the original acid house creators, we hate all commercial house masturbators'
posted by asok at 7:57 AM on November 24, 2003

I'd have to completely disagree about the BOC thing, i think geogaddi shows a lot more adult side to them, and is a much darker album than they have done before.... it sounds nothing like a "BoC's greatest hits remixed" - and this is why so many people turned away from it - they wanted a second "MHTRTC" and when they didn't get it, complained.

I won't go further, because looking at the paragraph again, it seems like thinly veiled flamebait.

I can see the warp website getting a Lot of my money because of this move... I'm glad they did it.
posted by re_verse at 7:58 AM on November 24, 2003

re_verse...
were you to say "geogaddi is a collection of much darker remixes of previous BoC material, showing a more adult side", i might be inclined to agree with you. i'd probably laugh at you for being a typical pretentious BoC trainspotter, but I might agree with you. (just taking the piss, no offense intended :) )

they're still remixes, not new tracks. and remixes of most of their popular tunes (an amalgam of 'music has the right...' and 'in a beautiful place..') at that.

new samples + new melodies + new structure = new tracks.

old samples + old melodies + new structure = remixes.
posted by dvdg at 8:18 AM on November 24, 2003

Meehawl - That all assumes they're using LAME. I use joint stereo myself when I encode tracks with LAME, but if they use a shitty encoder, regular stereo would be better.
posted by L. Ron McKenzie at 9:04 AM on November 24, 2003

asok: Check out www.htfr.com

Which Guy Called Gerald release are you after?

If its blow your house down (includes Voodoo Ray), they last had it in July this year. If its the Rham release of Voodoo Ray, they have a copy for £20.00

If its something else entirely...er...I dunno.
posted by davehat at 9:28 AM on November 24, 2003

i don't think Geogaddi uses the same melodies as any prior BoC release. ditto for the majority of its samples.

"music is math" and "julie and candy" are absooutstandinglymazing.
posted by xmutex at 9:41 AM on November 24, 2003

It'll be nice to be able to pick up some of the early 12"-only stuff from before the label went pear-shaped (around the beginning of '96 or so, with a couple of notable exceptions). However, I notice "Testfour" is missing from the online singles discography, which doesn't bode well. And I guess that super-limited promo-only live LFO EP would be too much to ask for. Still, I'll be sure to check it out when it goes live.
posted by hilker at 10:56 AM on November 24, 2003

Thanks davehat, have you seen gemm? Similar thing, but dispersed. I find vinyl exchange is still good, as long as you know what you are looking for and go when it is quiet. Regularly.

Not Voodoo Ray, but a similar thing released prior to that chart topping abstract clonk tune.
*Looks at complete discography at aguycallederald.com*
Right, it must be on Newbuild or Pacific State, as 808 State. These seem to be the only likely things he puts his name to prior to 1989, as I know it isn't on "Let Yourself Go". If it wasn't released as a 12 then that might explain why I haven't got it. I went through an extended period of not buying albums for artistic reasons.
Ooh it's just like being a dewy-eyed vinyl hunter at the counter, staring up at the stony faced staff with trepidation. Anyhoo, *you know the one* it goes:
dong----dun-- tack ka ta--dong--dun-- tack ka ta----
and sounds exactly like NOW "Dextrous".
Actually, I think I might go and try to play it on the bongos now as I have it running through my head, although it might sound better on congas. One day.

I bought the Peel Sessions BoC, and have heard but one track since that I felt I had to have. Although, you can always tell a persons character by their reaction if you say 'oorange', or something.

on preview, hilker by 'live LFO EP' do you mean LFO "LFO" Leeds Warehouse mix, or another thing entirely? If so, what tracks are on it?
You are right about Testfour, strange really.
posted by asok at 11:56 AM on November 24, 2003

asok: I meant this, which seems to be on Fnac, not Warp. More info here.
posted by hilker at 12:10 PM on November 24, 2003

Like I said, is a simple list of artists too much to ask?
posted by mischief at 2:59 PM on November 24, 2003

"This is for those that know. For those that don't know, this (interface) is your punishment!"
posted by inpHilltr8r at 4:40 PM on November 24, 2003

oh shizznit!! this is great!
posted by jcruelty at 5:33 PM on November 24, 2003

mischief -
Will this do?
posted by iamck at 11:46 PM on November 24, 2003