Customer Reviews

Warp Vision: The Videos 1989-2004

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

 

 

Warp Vision compiles all of Warp Records' video releases from 1989 to 2004. Inasmuch as this time period tracks Warp's history from being a small, struggling label through its growth into a good-sized (but still independent) record company, you can expect the quality of the videos to range from cheap (and often cheasy) to highly professional works of art. The opening video, "Test One" by Sweet Excorcist, is so bad it's actually kind of funny. Autechre's "Gantz Graf," on the other hand is a visually stunning work that perfectly embodies the music. Chris Cunningham's directorial work frankly puts many of the other directors on this disc to shame.

In sum, I would say that devotees of Warp Records' output will be delighted to have a such a comprehensive collection "from the vaults." However, music fans with only a passing interest in electronica will likely be disappointed by the low-budget offerings at the start of this disc.

Finally, a way to see some of the weirdest music videos EVER made. Not just the Chris Cunningham videos (including the original of Autechre's 'Second Bad Vilbel' not the [superior] re-edited version on his DVD) but also WEIRD videos for the likes of LFO, Plaid, Antipop Consortium, Squarepusher, Autechre and, of course, Aphex Twin... They're not all good... but the great ones might qualify as some of the best music videos ever made (and with 32 videos, it's hard to be spot-on all the time). It's also a great way to hear some new and old electronic music.

the extra CD is OK too.

if youre a fan of warp records you know they also try to embody the musical avant garde in image. the videos by chris cunningham for squarepusher, aphex twin and autechre are really intriguing pieces of work. the video for windowlicker in particular is a hilarious send up of all those sleazy hip hop videos you see on MTV. great stuff. the other videos that blew me away were like ones by jimi tenor. really nice video for midsummer night. really pretty video with jimi and some guy who i suppose is his father in the video rowing a boat along a lake and relazxing. the song itself is amazing and soothing to the soul, in fact its the antithesis of what you'd expect to hear later with hard hitting IDM. ok so another mention goes to jamie lidell for daddys car video, really cool how he sings to a paper mic in the wall while some amazingly gorgeous babe stands beside him watching as he mimes his heart out. really cool video. that video jarvis cocker directed for nightmares on wax, i thought it was soo cool and even if it looks dated as all hell(considering it was done in like 1991) it still was interesting how the visulas worked with the tune. the other jarvis cocker concoction for aphex twin is the ON video which also blew me away great stuff. ok the last one here to mention in the video for i love acid by luke vibert. really catchy as a mother song and really cool video with the animated animals who looks like hobbes from calvin and hobbes.

half of the videos are weak and the other half are priceless. the afx section is missing the ventolin and monkey drummer selections. sqrpshr and prefuse-73 obviously need more videos. autechre's missing bass cadet and the version of second bad vilbel contains scenes with a humanoid that i've never seen. jamie lidell (the city video, or the song actually is fookin bad) and broadcast have a new fan now with their albums in the mail. anti pop and beans videos aren't bad for rap on warp. i've never been fond of vibert but of the "i love acid" video i am, because i do. since my 56k never allowed me to see the whole thing actually having it to watch is almost as good as... well, you know, eating it. the lfo freak and chrish clark videos caught a lot of my interest. i also have no idea why other critics haven't mentioned the "watch and repeat play" mix cd that comes with it. this is what every techno, rave, house, trance, dancehall messhead wished they were listening to. it's got alot of rdj, squarepusher, prefuse, boards, luke vibert and other warp artist all fused together. it must be heard if your a fan because it's actually pretty b!tch!n, and makes the package far worth the five stars and the money. unless you happen to overpay and don't like this kind of art.

This is the greatest collection out there for people who enjoy actual music. I personally love every single video on here, and for fans of popular artists such as Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, and Autechre, youll be happy to find that there are many other groups making amazing electronica music. No this video is not for the MTV generation. This is all coming from an electronica artist himself, you will love these songs and videos, they are amazing, and they're is a better collection here then on any other DVD including the Chris Cunningham collection, more diversity people, its amazing, and you know it. So grab some doobage and get ready for some mind expansion.

This realease, as a DVD video history of a label like Warp works just fine.

However, as a video compilation, its not that complete...or at least, not as I expected it to be.

Aphex Twin's "Ventolin", Red Snapper's "Some kind of Kink", Nightmares on Wax's "Les Nuits" would fit perfectly in this release.

And how come there's not a single video from Boards of Canada?

Another negative thing on this DVD is the poor extras. Although the artwork gallery is ok, there are no interviews (early ones, from 1990, with Warp's early artists)...at least one would do the trick.

Anyway, the final result is pretty positive, but the "Warp Vision" is far wider.

That's a strong statement, but it's arguably true.

If you can get your hands on this, grab it. Incredible value for money as you get about 2.5 hours of first-class videos that can be watched endlessly. You will never get tired of this. Warp have been releasing mindblowing music since the late 80s and they've always put out innovative and creative visuals that blow most everything else away. Some of the early ones are very low-budget, but they still have a nostalgic charm.

Yeah, you can probably find these videos on youtube, but it's nowhere near the same as watching it on DVD quality. It also comes with a fantastic mix cd.

Get it!

This is the definition of cutting edge with examples of the past 10+ years of Warp's innovative style and finesse. With music from the UK's top Electro groups like Aphex Twin, this collection easily shows the progression from England's 1990's Summer of love (the 'E' revolution) to the modern day extension of Audio Art in a commercial formate.

The Bonus is that when you buy the DVD it comes with a compilation CD of all the music found on the DVD so when you can't sit down and watch the examples of people like Chris Cunningham's work at his best you can always chill out at a party to the "classics".

For other examples look up Chis Cunningham Director's Label Series Boxed Set - The Works of Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, and Michel Gondry

This a very high quality dvd. I am a big fan of idm music and chris cunningham, but the things i've seen on this dvd are astounding. Only problem is i can't play the video disc on my sony dvd player because of region encoding (a rather stupid and useless restriction). That's big dissapointment because i want dvd quality on my 70 cm sony trinitron rather then on the pc.

Other then that the mix cd is good, nice selection of tracks.

if I had not already purchased the Chris Cunningham dvd I think I would of enjoyed this dvd more. Some of the music here was really bad like Antipop Consortium and that really lame Bean video where hes in a forest with his bad sweater and ugly trucker hat. Granted some of these are dated back in the 90s the videos are really low tech and experimental which is cool but for the most part, the music is so so or downright weird adn bad. Of course autechre, aphex twin and squarepusher are amazing I just wish some of the videos would be better (donkey rhubarb...the one with the stuffed animals). James Lidell is weird and so is Jimi Tenor. The John Callaghan really sucked but the video has a cool idea. LFO is nice I like their newer stuff. But basically I think the only thing worth viewing here is Autechre, LFO, any chris cunningham, and Broadcast.If you bought Chris Cunningham don't buy this you might feel jipped