Customer Reviews

Artificial Intelligence

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This compilation stands frozen in time (like in an air bubble) in 1993, which was a wonderful year for electronic music. Around that time electronic artists were creating fantastic music, like Autechre, B12 and Black Dog on Warp, and The Orb elesewhere. It was a heyday, now sadly gone, but this compilation remains as a reminder of those times.

I usually don't like compilations, so it is a sign of this compilation's quality that I rate it so highly. There isn't a bad track on here. If you like Warp, or IDM, or electronica or have the barest liking of electronic music, you really need to own this CD.

The cover art is even magical, everything about this compilation has an air of quality and magic about it. They sure don't make them like this no more!

I discovered this title in a public library back in 1995 and took it home, discovering what to me was a whole new musical experience. Whether played for background or foreground listening, Artificial Intelligence is both mentally stimulating and numbing at the same time, creating a quite unique musical atmosphere. Definitely recommended for first-time electronica listeners. Good title to get your toes wet before diving into other electronica.

If I wanted to introduce someone to early IDM, so-called "Intelligent" Dance Music, I would surely choose this little gem of an album. It contains most of the heavy-hitters and pioneers of the genre, many using aliases. Richard James, B12, Richie Hawtin, Autechre, Black Dog, Speedy J are all represented here with fantastic tracks.

I, for one, am a huge fan of the early IDM stuff, before things got a little weird in the genre. Of course, this is a matter of preference and many people will surely disagree. Some will argue that this is overly simplistic and too minimal; that the genre evolved into something better. Perhaps, but my personal sensibilities lie with this earlier, warmer, more analog-sounding style.

Once you've listened and decided that you love this stuff, there is a whole world of fascinating music to uncover. Best of luck and happy listening.

This impressive 2-disc compilation showcases some of the most cutting edge examples of electronic listening music in the early 1990s. All contributions are of a high standard and the music still sounds fresh and innovative in 2010. Polygon Window by The Dice Man opens the first disc on an undulating, mid-tempo beat, followed by a series of sonic gems like Musicology's Telephone 529 with its spacey voice samples, the rhythmically complex Crystel by Autechre and The Clan, a semi-symphonic soundscape by I.A.O.

Some of these artists were no doubt influenced by the German pioneers like Tangerine Dream but they've evolved beyond those structures to create something quite unique. Multiple layers endow certain pieces with a profoundly cinematic quality, e. g. Spiritual High by UP! which has a trance-like texture in which different types of vocals alternate. Musicology's Preminition, on the other hand, has R&B type female vocals throughout.

On the second disc my favorites include Link's percussive Arcadian, B12's solemn Scriptures, Autechre's quirky Chatter, Beaumont Hannant's bubbling & percolating Utuba, former Cabaret Voltaire member Richard H Kirk's plinking, plonking & lilting Reality Net and Seefeel's chiming & echoing Spangle which reminds me somewhat of Popol Vuh's majestic Nosferatu. In my opinion Disc 2 offers more variety and contains more memorable pieces.

These artists created striking, varied and sometimes sublime sonic sculptures. With their strangely compelling patterns and arrangements, the sounds are anything but clinical. Often applied like instruments, human voices are sparingly employed on many of the pieces. Owing to the stylistic variety I enjoy listening to this compilation in one go, something I would rarely attempt in this genre with an album by one artist. Artificial Intelligence ought to appeal to a wide spectrum of electronic music lovers - from the fans of intelligent techno to the followers of the classical avant garde.

This great compilation showcases some of the cutting edge artists making electronic listening music in the early 1990s. The music still sounds fresh and innovative now, especially tracks like Telephone 529 with its muted voice samples, Crystal (Autechre) and I.A.O. (The Clan). Some of these artists were no doubt influenced by Krautrock pioneers like Tangerine Dream, but they've expanded on these influences to create something quite unique. Some of the pieces are highly evocative in their multi-textured splendour, like Spiritual High by UP! and The Egg by Autechre. The sounds on Artificial Intelligence have stood the test of time very well to provide enduring listening pleasure. This one is good, but Artificial Intelligence II is even better as it contains a host of classics by artists like Autechre, B12, Link, Beaumont Hannant and Seefeel, amongst others.

The term "Artificial intelligence" was popularized in rock music by a John Cale album in 1985, but the Warp label was the first one that came up with the categorization "Electronic listening music". This is techno music rather designed for listening at home than being played in dance clubs, similar to the work of '70s bands like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. Unlike its follow-up "AI2", "AI1" is a compilation of previously released and otherwise available material. Best tracks here are the wonderfully floating "Loving you" by Dr.LX Paterson (an excerpt from the Orb's mega-work "A huge ever growing pulsating brain") and the two Autechre tracks, "Crystel" and "The egg". The aforementioned tracks once were on a demo tape Autechre had sent to Warp Records in order to become engaged, so I guess it's essential stuff for all fans of Sean and Rob. However, I don't find the contributions from other artists like B12, Aphex Twin, or Black Dog (all under pseudonyms) as interesting as their individual albums. And in consideration of Autechre's "Amber" or "Tri repetae", everything here seems a bit tame. The accompanying booklet features interviews (!) with all participating bands, and I guess you're interested in all the answers to questions like, "Why did you contribute to AI?", "Top 5 electronic tracks?", "Electronic music. Where next?".

Perversely, I bought this only recently having owned Artificial Intelligence II for several years. I had been looking for it in stores for ages, then looked for it on Amazon who had it in stock (of course!).

This CD differs from its sequel in that it is slightly more uptempo, and features more convential ambient techno, as compared to the world-music style of AI2.

Both CDs are divine to listen to, and it is a travesty of justice that the series stopped so early.

In 1992, Warp Records had just a couple of singles and a few unknown artists to its name. The label introduced itself to the world through a series of albums grouped under the name Artificial Intelligence. The series began with this album, a compilation of tracks by Warp's new artists. The rest of the series consisted of debut albums by each of these artists, with another compilation at the end. The reason why anyone still remembers this is because these artists later became the most recognizable names in experimental electronica. Such figures as Aphex Twin, Autechre, Richie Hawtin and Plaid all got started here.

Warp claimed to have a groundbreaking new sound. Revisiting this album after thirteen years, with the benefit of a more historical perspective, that's a little hard to see. In fact, the music on this album is a bit of a step back from the state of popular dance music around 1990. The Warp musicians took the simple, mechanical grooves of Detroit techno and acid-house, slowed them down, and removed all of the sensuality. You could quite comfortably make out to certain tracks by Larry Heard or Derrick May, but not to anything on this album. Instead of sex, Warp had artiness. Warp's style of techno was deliberately uncommercial and unusable for dance clubs. It was meant for "open minds" to think to, rather than dance to. There was some science-fiction imagery and mysticism, too.

All this looks silly now, for three reasons. First of all, the production style of this album dated very quickly. It's a sparse style that sounds really boring compared to, say, New Order's 1989 single "Fine Time." That song contains layer upon layer of catchy guitar and keyboard lines. The drum track alone is highly detailed. Of course, that song is also very upbeat and vibrant. But most tracks on this album have few layers. The instruments drone flatly, and even the drums don't have much energy. If you take some digital samples of musical instruments, and then compress them too much, you might get a similar sound.

The second reason is that the songwriting on this album is really weak. Some of the songs do have good rhythms. For example, "Telefone 529" by B12 has a relaxing, rolling drum track, complemented by some Detroit-style bass. But practically no one can write a memorable melody. Black Dog's "Clan" contains just one short keyboard line, which either insistently repeats or disappears altogether, leaving just drums and acid squelches. "Fill 3" by Speedy J has no drums at all. It consists entirely of whooshing keyboard notes - not melodies, but individual notes, each of which is held for a long time. It's like one sample from Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygene, repeated with slight changes in pitch. Most tracks on the album don't build up to anywhere, nor do they introduce new sounds as they play.

The third reason is that Warp's self-important attitude really was a bit silly. In the liner notes, Autechre earnestly explain that they want to create a "new kind of music" driven by "ideas and originality". But then, right next to them, a fellow called The Dice Man discusses his favourite music. It turns out that his favourite label is Rephlex and his favourite artist is AFX. Well, Rephlex is Aphex Twin's label, and AFX is Aphex Twin's alias, and in fact The Dice Man is none other than Aphex Twin himself. Aphex Twin's narcissism is well-known, of course. But to my mind, this just illustrates that Warp's music was more about the label's insistence on its own originality than it was about actual originality. Black Dog are asked to name the intended audience for their music. "Sentients," they grandly reply. And Richie Hawtin names his contribution to the album "Spiritual High," even though it's a plodding, dour track with nothing spiritual or high about it.

But if you get past the criticism, or if you don't accept it, this album does contain rare tracks by the Warp artists. There are two non-album tracks by Autechre, including "Crystel," which was supposedly the demo that got the band signed to Warp. Both are in the general style of the band's first album, so there are no surprises. But they're not bad, and actually they come across as a bit less cold than Autechre's usual productions. There's also a non-album track by B12 (masquerading as Musicology) called "Premonition." This one is uncharacteristically chaotic for that band, but it doesn't have much of a tune. Black Dog's "Clan" sounds like a demo of "Clan (Mongol Hordes)," from the band's first album, only with inferior sound quality and less detail.

Last is "Loving You Live," credited to Dr. Alex Paterson of The Orb. There is no track with this name on any Orb album. But I'm sorry, Orb fans, you're going to have to be disappointed: this isn't any sort of unheard rarity, it's just a simple four-minute edit of The Orb's famous track, "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld." The edit contains nothing noteworthy. The leading keyboard line is probably the best bit of music on this whole compilation, but if you want to hear it, you should turn to the full-length nineteen-minute version on the first Orb album, Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld. In fact, that album is a lot more fun to listen to than this one.

The value of this compilation is mostly historical. I don't think anybody aside from the most devoted fans of Autechre and B12 really needs to bother with it. If you have a casual interest in early nineties techno, a better choice would be either Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by Aphex Twin, or Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld by The Orb. If you're specifically interested in the early Warp sound, you'll still do much better with Bytes by Black Dog Productions.