Artificial Intelligence (compilation Album)

''Artificial Intelligence'' is a compilation album released via Warp on 6 July 1992. It is the first release in Warp's ''Artificial Intelligence'' series. The album helped birth the genre that would later become known as intelligent dance music (IDM).

Music and artwork

The staff of '' GQ India'' said of the style present on ''Artificial Intelligence'': "Here was dance music you could listen to at home, like a rock album." According to Warp co-founder Steve Beckett, the album was primarily intended for sedentary listening rather than dancing, and this was reflected in the album art. He said:

According to Ben Cardew of ''Pitchfork'': "''Artificial Intelligence'' saw arp artistsunite in the service of otherworldly melody, mechanical beats that reach beyond the demands of the dance floor, and waves of chilling ambience and production skills that nod to Detroit techno without resorting to slavish reproduction."

Artwork

The album's cover artwork depicts an android asleep in an armchair with Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd albums ''Autobahn'' (1974) and ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' (1973), respectively, at its side. The third album on the floor is ''Pioneers of the Hypnotic Groove'', a 1991 collection of some of the first tracks released on Warp. The album's interior sleeve contains the text: "Are you sitting comfortably? ''Artificial Intelligence'' is for long journeys, quiet nights and club drowsy dawns. Listen with an open mind."

Critical reception and legacy

Critic Simon Reynolds cited ''Artificial Intelligence'' as a key ambient techno release in a 1994 write-up for ''The New York Times''.

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic John Bush praised ''Artificial Intelligence'' as "a superb collection of electronic listening music." In 2014, Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy of ''Vice'' described it as "an exercise in re-training the ear." The following year, Tegan O'Neil of ''The A.V. Club'' wrote: "Although every producer on it would go on to have a long and storied career, the album's music is satisfying enough on its own terms."

In 2014, ''Rolling Stone'' included ''Artificial Intelligence'' on its list of "The 40 Most Groundbreaking Albums of All Time", citing its formative role in the development of intelligent dance music (IDM). According to ''The Guardian''s Ben Cardew, the album "birthed" the IDM genre and "changed the idea of electronic music as merely a tool for dancing".

In 2017, ''Pitchfork'' placed it at number ten on its list of "The 50 Best IDM Albums of All Time". Staff writer Ben Cardew explained: "The origins of most musical genres are steeped in legend, obfuscation, and mystery. With IDM, however, the starting point is easy to finger: It emerged from ''Artificial Intelligence'', a compilation album released by Sheffield’s Warp Records in 1992 that promised—on its cover, no less—“electronic listening music.” That might not sound like a revolutionary idea today but, at the time, the notion that you might sit down and listen to “rave” (as it was still widely known) was novel."

In 2023, British ''GQ'' placed it at number three on its list of the ten best electronic albums of all time.

The staff of '' GQ India'' stated that the album "in fact reorientated electronic music forever, spawning the complicated tag Intelligent Dance Music and helping to mainstream home electronic listening and ambient music."

Track listing

References

External links

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''Artificial Intelligence''
at Warp

{{Artificial Intelligence (series)

1992 compilation albums
Warp (record label) compilation albums
Record label compilation albums
Electronic compilation albums
Intelligent dance music compilation albums