squarepusher would Warp sign Autechre now?

warp was my favorite label because of artists like autechre. maybe i was naive to think warp would always release great electronic music from these same and new but similarly minded artists, but the label moved on, and for the most part, so have i. the answer to this hypothetical question of whether someone making music like oversteps or move of ten would be signed as a new artist to warp is a sad no. i get the impression that warp is not a happy place to be for the classic artists on the roster. think about how often aphex, LFO, plaid, or BoC release anything on warp. Ae seem to get by on their renewed vigor in making music, so it's hard to justify letting them sit on the shelf. squarepusher doesn't seem to be very well promoted. i just saw a headline here saying he was releasing something on ed banger of all places, and as hard as that is to comprehend, it makes some sense. i'll always have at least a casual interest in whatever warp does, but they clearly don't care about the artists and type(s) of music that brought them their success and fame in the first place except when there's easy money to be made off of nostalgia.

would warp sign Brian Eno now?

Labels and their audience demographics change over the years, a simple fact. 4AD has to be one of the biggest labels to have remained independent for so long, and their roster now is far removed from what it would have even been in the mid 90s, let alone earlier. Warp're still putting out Clark, Plaid and BoC (apparently), Ae, Sqp and projects by Mark Pritchard, so they haven't completely chucked out the baby with the bath water, which is the main thing. I think I'm in a minority in liking quite a few of their more recent signings (Battles, PVT, The Hundred In The Hands, Gonjasufi). The only people they need to get shut of stat are Born Ruffians, LoneLady and Jamie fucking Lidell.

  On 7/19/2010 at 9:02 PM, beerwolf said:

Film seems to dominate their website more and more, that Trash Humper feature got on my fucking tits.

Fucking hell yes, that and Bunny And The Bull. In fact every film since Dead Man's Shoes that they've been involved looks to have been shit, and I don't normally like to judge films I haven't seen.

jamie lidell...

uh, i don't think so. at the bookstore where i work there was a silly warp records book which includes a little article on ae and there is mention of some of their stuff being rejected by warp from time to time as well as comments about negative issues with touring. additionally i recall reading an interview with sean in which some shitty gigs were discussed including ones in which they were not paid so while warp may have an efficient international booking strategy let's no get carried away by how lucrative and amazing it might be and let's certainly stfu about how sean and rob walk around warp like princes or something.

it's obvious they have a pretty sweet situation with warp in which they have more or less as much creative control as they like but i think we're falling into typical watmm hyperbole when we say things like "warp releases anything ae gives them, ae makes mad cash son, there are sleeper agents in every city in the world waiting to hear the magic words to set up a gig for the masters ae."

ae helped to define the whole aesthetic of warp, why do people keep speculating that there's any other reason for their presence at warp other than that maybe the people who run the label actually like the music and find that people like to, you know, buy it? if there is "zero chance" that warp would release them today than you guys really have to provide some evidence as to what is motivating the behavior of the label to comply with ae's wishes as is being suggested. ya'll sometimes sound like conspiracy theorists.

juss sayin

ps i work for rob and sean

do you mean 'would warp sign incunabula-era autechre now?', 'would warp sign confield-era autechre now?' or 'would warp sign oversteps-era autechre now?'?.

i think they mean would they sign rob's tits?

  On 8/4/2010 at 4:26 PM, xxx said:

Make no mistake, Ae are making money hand over fist--they have it made and they're just fine.

money isn't everything. even still, i'd be curious to see a comparison of what they make in a year from music vs. what grizzly bear or jamie lidell make and how much promo money is spent on each. you get my point. Ae is doing well compared with the other classic artists on the label, but as i said, they keep making music and handing it over to the label, so there's no reason for warp not to release it. i doubt warp would be hungry for all of these Ae releases if they were from a new group, in this hypothtical situation where an unknown could make music just like that, which is a stretch to imagine.

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the Quaristorm debacle

huh? i admit i don't follow autechre or anyone else on warp as closely as i once did, so i must've missed this. jazzband me please.

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they can really give two fucks who else is coming out with them on Warp. Would you?

i'd be curious to know their or any of their '90s peers' candid thoughts on this. as for me, i'd like to be proud of the label i'm on, and i still think warp is a great label releasing some cutting edge music, but times have changed in a lot of ways so i wouldn't presume to know what they think about it all other than the general impression i get from the inactivity of their peers.

nice to see you about lately, titsworth.

they must be doing alright financially since they didn't even bother touring america this time around.

I think too many people in this thread bitched about the specifics of a pretty simple question: Autechre is a new band and they just dropped a new EP called "Move Of Ten" which they submitted to Warp which SOMEHOW, in this situation, ended up exactly as they are today without Autechre's releases. Would Warp sign them?

I think the most insightful answer was someone mentioning how they'd be more likely to sign Animal Collective. Frankly I like the direction Warp is taking. They keep putting out music by the older artists on the label and are always taking risks on newer Experimental Rock and Nu-Experimental Electronic acts. Battles? Flying Lotus? Gonjasufi? Look honestly, not every act on a label is going to be golden, just in general. But if you can have a star player every year, you are doing a pretty fucking good job -- especially if you are an indie label.

But nah, I don't think they'd sign them unless they released a more "accessible" Electronic album of some sort. Just accessible in comparison to Move Of Ten / Oversteps and their 00s output. Not pop music, but definitely not as experimental. That's the only way I could picture them initially getting signed today.