Various Artists: Warp20 (Unheard) (Warp) - 3 x 10” originally released October 2009

Was severely underwhelmed by this when it first came out, I think it was just me being overwhelmed by the amount of tracks on offer, grappling with the myriad of formats and the packaging and the book and and and....

The Unheard series came spread over three wonderfully packaged 10” records as well as on CD and despite my initially sarky comment of “there’s a reason why these were unheard”. I’ve since revisited these with a better appreciation.

That’s not to say everything is decent.

The opening Boards of Canada track does sound like a sketch that seems to recall several of their motifs all at once. And trouble-free contributions from the new-school of Clark and Flying Lotus will pass without incident. I did like the bouncy electro castle of Elecktroids, the MIDI synthesis / 303 wig-out of Autechre and the sub-back-to-basics approach of ‘Biofeedback Dub’ by Nightmares on Wax. Even Plaid turn in a driving number on ‘Sam Lac Run’, which doesn’t overdo their trademark saccharine melodies and instead focuses on a decent rhythm.