# Warp One label, five of our rankings, thirteen years. A shop in Sheffield that kept signing the thing that came next, and kept being right about it. - **Picks:** 12 - **Drawn from:** 5 rankings - **Years:** 1989–2002 - **Curator:** The Waxonia Desk - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Curator's page:** https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/ - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/theme/warp/ ## What gets in, and what does not The record has to be one our rankings already hold, and it has to have moved the label somewhere it had not been. A good Warp record that sounds like the last Warp record is exactly what this list is not for. Every record here is already in one of our rankings — a theme re-cuts what the site has vouched for, and vouches for nothing new. Drawn from: [Ambient](https://waxonia.com/genre/ambient/), [Balearic](https://waxonia.com/genre/balearic/), [Bleep Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/bleep-techno/), [IDM](https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/), [Trip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/). ## The records Selected, not ranked — the order carries no claim about which is best. ### [Forgemasters](https://waxonia.com/artist/forgemasters/) — [Track With No Name](https://waxonia.com/track/forgemasters--track-with-no-name/) *1989 · Warp* Catalogue number one, funded by a government enterprise grant, made by people who worked in the shop. Everything else here exists because this sold well enough locally to pay for the next one. Also on: [Bleep Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/bleep-techno/), [The Eighties](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Forgemasters%20Track%20With%20No%20Name) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ys9e2m0LTs) ### [Nightmares on Wax](https://waxonia.com/artist/nightmares-on-wax/) — [Dextrous](https://waxonia.com/track/nightmares-on-wax--dextrous/) *1989 · Warp* The bass frequency as the entire point of a record, which is what "bleep" meant before anyone had a word for it. It established that the label's taste was a taste and not just a postcode. Also on: [Bleep Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/bleep-techno/), [Twice Over](https://waxonia.com/theme/twice-over/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Nightmares%20on%20Wax%20Dextrous) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=YiTL_HptsiY) ### [Sweet Exorcist](https://waxonia.com/artist/sweet-exorcist/) — [Testone](https://waxonia.com/track/sweet-exorcist--testone/) *1990 · Warp* Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H. Kirk making a club record, which is the moment Sheffield's industrial past and its rave present turn out to be the same story. The label's first sign that it would sign an idea rather than a sound. Also on: [Bleep Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/bleep-techno/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Sweet%20Exorcist%20Testone) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ooD4plDsO60) ### [LFO](https://waxonia.com/artist/lfo/) — [LFO](https://waxonia.com/track/lfo--lfo/) *1990 · Warp* A top-twenty hit made of almost nothing but sub-bass and a voice saying the title. The commercial proof that the room was right, and the record that gave the label enough money to take the risks below. Also on: [Bleep Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/bleep-techno/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/LFO%20LFO) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=s-1Y2EqThyQ) ### [Aphex Twin](https://waxonia.com/artist/aphex-twin/) — [Rhubarb](https://waxonia.com/track/aphex-twin--rhubarb/) *1994 · Warp* Selected Ambient Works Volume II is where the label stops being a dance label without announcing it. Four minutes with no drums at all, released by the people who had just sold a lot of records made entirely of drums. Also on: [Ambient](https://waxonia.com/genre/ambient/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Aphex%20Twin%20Rhubarb) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=75O11W5EZAU) ### [Autechre](https://waxonia.com/artist/autechre/) — [Flutter](https://waxonia.com/track/autechre--flutter/) *1994 · Warp* No two bars at the same tempo, written that way to be legal under the Criminal Justice Bill. A label with a hit single putting out a piece of legislative protest, which is the clearest evidence here that the A&R was not commercial. Also on: [IDM](https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/), [1994](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Autechre%20Flutter) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mdhtm6qjmhU) ### [Squarepusher](https://waxonia.com/artist/squarepusher/) — [Come On My Selector](https://waxonia.com/track/squarepusher--come-on-my-selector/) *1997 · Warp* Jungle played at a speed and density no jungle dancefloor asked for, by a bassist. The label's habit by this point is signing people who are obviously misusing a genre, and being right about it a few years early. Also on: [IDM](https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Squarepusher%20Come%20On%20My%20Selector) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MWCSw_cNxKc) ### [Boards of Canada](https://waxonia.com/artist/boards-of-canada/) — [Roygbiv](https://waxonia.com/track/boards-of-canada--roygbiv/) *1998 · Warp* Two minutes of warmth on a roster known for the opposite, and the most widely loved record the label ever released. It moved Warp somewhere it had not been: melancholy, and legible to people who did not care about electronic music. Also on: [IDM](https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Boards%20of%20Canada%20Roygbiv) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=SM4tQcUt_mQ) ### [Aphex Twin](https://waxonia.com/artist/aphex-twin/) — [Windowlicker](https://waxonia.com/track/aphex-twin--windowlicker/) *1999 · Warp* A genuine pop single, with a Chris Cunningham video on daytime rotation, made by the artist least interested in being one. The label's tenth year, and it is still signing off on things nobody could have planned for. Also on: [IDM](https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Aphex%20Twin%20Windowlicker) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=go6-MliYCAs) ### [Nightmares on Wax](https://waxonia.com/artist/nightmares-on-wax/) — [Les Nuits](https://waxonia.com/track/nightmares-on-wax--les-nuits/) *1999 · Warp* The most recognisable record the label ever released to people who do not follow it, and the moment its catalogue acquires warmth. A bleep techno act from the label's first year making something you could put on at the end of a night. Also on: [Trip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/), [Twice Over](https://waxonia.com/theme/twice-over/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Nightmares%20on%20Wax%20Les%20Nuits) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0FdXIYxLbE) ### [Nightmares on Wax](https://waxonia.com/artist/nightmares-on-wax/) — [Sueño](https://waxonia.com/track/nightmares-on-wax--sueno/) *1999 · Warp* Released the same year as the entry above and filed by us in a different ranking again. Ten years in, the label's founding act is still moving it somewhere it had not been, which is the argument this list is making. Also on: [Balearic](https://waxonia.com/genre/balearic/), [Twice Over](https://waxonia.com/theme/twice-over/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Nightmares%20on%20Wax%20Sue%C3%B1o) · [Search YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Nightmares%20on%20Wax%20Sue%C3%B1o) ### [Autechre](https://waxonia.com/artist/autechre/) — [Gantz Graf](https://waxonia.com/track/autechre--gantz-graf/) *2002 · Warp* The end point of the argument this list makes: music arranged past the point where a listener can hold the pattern, released by a label that began with a dance twelve-inch. Whether it is enjoyable is not the claim. That it was released is. Also on: [IDM](https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Autechre%20Gantz%20Graf) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xNRPl0kA0a4) ## Who made this The people who write the rankings on this site. We keep the lists honest, we argue about the order, and we get asked the same question more than any other: where should someone actually start. These are our answers. Elsewhere: https://waxonia.com/ --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.