I'm sitting here, trying to write something about Warp and the place it's had in my musical history, and I'm listening to Amber, which was not only the first Warp album I ever bought, but the first "electronica" I ever bought. Aphex's SAWII followed shortly thereafter.
I bought Amber in Providence, RI, at Fast Forward -- the record store I visited weekly, where I bought all my emo and hardcore and indie rock. Judy was the "metal chick" there, the expert in all things hard and fast and loud; Ron was the "techno guy," a veteran of acid house and basically the only person in Providence who knew shit about experimental techno. I'd gone in one day to pick up, I dunno, the latest release on Gravity or something. I'd just gotten back from Turkey, and as chance would have it, Autechre's Amber stared up at me from the racks, emblazoned with a luscious photograph from Turkey's Cappadoccia region. I'd just been there, it was one of the most incredible places I'd ever seen (still is). So I bought the record on sight, unheard, brought it home, and quickly had my mind rearranged.
What was your first Warp record, and how'd you get turned on?
(This is all a way of saying thank you to Rob Mitchell -- you changed my world, more than a little. RIP.)
Philip