Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints. The music often described with the term originally emerged in the early 1990s from the culture and sound palette of styles of electronic dance music such as acid house, ambient techno, Detroit techno and breakbeat; it has been regarded as better suited to home listening than dancing. Prominent artists in the style include Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, μ-Ziq, the Black Dog and the later duo Plaid, as well as earlier acts such as the Future Sound of London and Orbital.
Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.
Warp Records is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon. It is currently based in London.
Ambient techno is a subgenre of techno that incorporates the atmospheric textures of ambient music with the rhythmic elements and production of techno. It was pioneered by 1990s electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, The Orb, The Future Sound of London, the Black Dog, Pete Namlook and Biosphere.
Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, with an immediate origin in early hip hop and funk genres. Records in the genre typically feature heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals; if vocals are present, they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. It palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.
Artificial Intelligence is a series of albums by Warp Records released from 1992–1994 to exhibit the capabilities and sounds of electronic music. Warp described the new music as "electronic listening music" to clarify that it was meant more for the mind than the body. The sleevenote on the 1992 compilation said "Are you sitting comfortably? Artificial Intelligence is for long journeys, quiet nights and club drowsy dawns. Listen with an open mind." The series is remarkable for its inclusion of groups and individuals who would later become leaders in modern electronic music, techno, and ambient, such as Alex Paterson, Plaid, Richard D. James, Richie Hawtin, and Autechre. Every album in the series, aside from Dimension Intrusion, has its name enclosed in parentheses on its cover.
Ghostly International is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by Samuel Valenti IV and currently headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye, Com Truise, Tycho, Gold Panda, School of Seven Bells, Mux Mool, and Shigeto.
Jochem George Paap, known by his stage name Speedy J, is a Dutch electronic music producer based in Rotterdam. His breakthrough came with the release in 1992 of the minimal techno track "Pullover". He released music as part of Warp Records' Artificial Intelligence series in the 1990s, including his debut LP Ginger (1993).
Warp 10 is a series of compilation albums issued by Warp Records in 1999 to celebrate the label's tenth anniversary. The collection spans three double CD/quadruple vinyl sets, which can be purchased individually. Each volume in the set highlights different phases of electronic music, including influential tracks not originally released by Warp, early releases from the first four years of the label's history, and the last being remixes by contemporary musicians of Warp's catalogue.
Kirk Degiorgio, better known as As One, is a British techno producer and DJ. Born in the late 1960s in Stepney, East London, and raised in Suffolk, he started producing music in the early 1990s. He founded the labels A.R.T. Records and Op-Art Records and releases on them as well as B12 Records, R&S Records, New Electronica, and others. His style is a mixture of Detroit-style techno, mixed with funk, soul and jazz fusion. He is one half of The Beauty Room.
Higher Intelligence Agency (HIA) is the main electronic music project of Birmingham, UK-based Robert (Bobby) Bird. The project was featured on Warp's Artificial Intelligence II compilation and went on to release the critically acclaimed albums Colourform (1993) and Freefloater (1995).
Dynamix II is an American DJ act and record label specializing in electro, Florida breaks, and Miami bass. Their 1986 single "Just Give The DJ A Break", reached gold status. Over 600,000+ units of the record were sold and the song reached No. 50 in the United Kingdom in 1987. The record, was considered to be a "formative and influential" in the Miami-bass genre. The track was one of first Miami Bass records to use a Roland TR 808 bass drum.
"Rez" is a non-album track by British electronic music group Underworld, originally released in 1993 in the UK. It became a popular club hit and live track in Underworld's sets, despite the fact it could not be found on an album. However, it did appear on many compilations, b-sides, and even appeared on a bonus disc for Second Toughest in the Infants (1996). The first promo release of the single was pressed onto pink vinyl, and is highly collectible as it has an exclusive non-album track, "Why, Why, Why". The song's obscurity led to many bootleg pressings of the song before it was officially re-issued as part of 1992–2012 The Anthology. The more common release has the single "Cowgirl" as its b-side. This version also received a limited white vinyl pressing in the US.
Artificial Intelligence II is a compilation album released via Warp on 30 May 1994. It is the eighth and final release in Warp's Artificial Intelligence series. It peaked at number 16 on the UK Compilation Chart.
Electro-Soma is the debut studio album by British electronic music duo B12. It was released on Warp on 29 March 1993 and is the fourth release in Warp's Artificial Intelligence series. Some of the album's tracks had been previously released on the duo's own B12 Record label under their pseudonyms Musicology, Redcell, and Cmetric. Thus, Electro-Soma functions more as a compilation of some their earliest material than as a proper full-length LP, much like Incunabula by Autechre.
Ginger is the debut studio album by Dutch electronic music producer Speedy J. Released via a joint deal between Plus 8 and Warp in September 1993, the album was the sixth release in Warp's Artificial Intelligence series, which focused on "electronic listening music" by different artists. It peaked at number 68 on the UK Albums Chart and remains Speedy J's most successful album there.
A Word of Science is the debut studio album by British electronic producers Nightmares on Wax. Released by Warp Records in September 1991, it is the act's only album as a group before it became a solo vehicle for George Evelyn. Evelyn nonetheless recorded and produced the album alone, incorporating samples and elements from demo tapes he made in the late 1980s. Although Nightmares on Wax debuted with two well-received techno singles in 1989-1990, A Word of Science is eclectic and largely moves the act towards a more mellow style influenced by funk, soul and hip hop, while still incorporating techno, drum and bass, and house styles.
Blake Baxter is an American techno musician, associated with the first wave of Detroit techno. AllMusic called him "perhaps the most underrated figure" of the early Detroit techno scene.
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (BPM). The central rhythm is typically in common time and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.
Bleep techno is a regional subgenre of techno which developed in the late 1980s in Northern England, Yorkshire. Named after its minimalistic synthesizer sounds, bleep techno combined influences from American techno and house, with electro elements and heavy sub-bass inspired by reggae sound system culture. The style was commercially successful between 1989 and 1991, and became associated with artists on the Sheffield label Warp Records. It has been characterized as the first unique British style of electronic dance music.
