Intelligent dance music is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints. It emerged from the culture and sound palette of electronic and rave music styles such as ambient techno, acid house, Detroit techno and breakbeat; it has been regarded as better suited to home listening than dancing. Prominent artists associated with it include Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, Venetian Snares, Boards of Canada, Telefon Tel Aviv, μ-Ziq, the Black Dog, the Future Sound of London, and Luke Vibert.
Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including notably J Lesser. Apart from releasing twelve full-length studio albums and numerous collaborative works, Matmos is also well known for their collaboration with Icelandic singer and musician Björk, both on studio recordings and live tours. After being signed to Matador Records for nine years, Matmos signed with Thrill Jockey in 2012. The name Matmos refers to the seething lake of evil slime beneath the city Sogo in the 1968 film Barbarella.
Pretty Girls Make Graves was a post-punk band formed in Seattle in 2001, named after The Smiths' song of the same name. Andrea Zollo and Derek Fudesco had played together previously in The Hookers, as well as The Death Wish Kids and Area 51 along with Dann Gallucci, with whom Derek had formed Murder City Devils. Not long before the Murder City Devils disbanded, Derek and Andrea formed Pretty Girls Make Graves along with Jay, Nick and Nathan. They played the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2004. The band announced its split on January 29, 2007, with their final two shows taking place in Seattle that June.
Cex is an American musical project run by Rjyan Claybrook Kidwell and started in 1998 at the age of 16. Although Cex and Kidwell are frequently used interchangeably, Cex occasionally expands to several people at sporadic points, such as particular tours or albums. In the past it has included Kidwell's musical associates, friends, touring partners, or high school bandmates.
DAT politics is a French electronic band created in 1999. Their energetic live shows explain the cult like enthusiasm that surrounds the French electronic combo as they’ve been touring the world extensively over the years. The two founder members are also involved in visuals and graphic design which leads them to create their own record covers and videos. The music of the duo is often classified under the electropop genre and described as catchy, melodic and sometimes experimental. They’ve been influential for a lot of young electronic composers worldwide.
People Like Us is the stage name of London DJ multimedia artist Vicki Bennett. She has released a number of albums featuring collages of music and sound since 1992. In recent years, she has performed at a number of modern art galleries, festivals and universities.
Jace Clayton, also known as DJ /rupture, is a New York-based American DJ, writer and interdisciplinary artist. In addition to his music, Clayton has established a blog identity with musical and non-musical posts on his website, "mudd up!". His book, Uprooot: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture, was published in 2016.
Tigerbeat6 is a San Francisco and Berlin based independent and (mostly) electronic record label run by Kid606. The label is run as a DIY operation and releases a variety of electronic music styles, including noisecore, intelligent dance music, bedroom pop, folktronica, and electronica-driven hip hop. The name reflects De Pedro's obsession with cats, which also comes to light in the catalogue numbers, all of which start with MEOW. It is also a loose reference to the top-selling teen magazine Tiger Beat. The label's first release was in 2000; it has over two hundred releases in total. A 2001 compilation of the label's output was described as "stripping intelligent dance music of its intelligence[,] often resorting to outright silliness, and sometimes parody." The A.V. Club described the same compilation as satirizing glitch through "gestures borrowed from punk, indie-rock, and hip-hop."
The Soft Pink Truth is an experimental house music side-project from Drew Daniel, one-half of experimental electronic music duo Matmos. Daniel started the project on a dare from Matthew Herbert that he could not produce a house record. Do You Party?, the first album from the Soft Pink Truth, was released in 2003, and featured, among other original songs, a cover of Vanity 6's "Make Up".
Fucked Up is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band consists of Damian Abraham (vocals), Mike Haliechuk, Josh Zucker (guitar), Sandy Miranda (bass), and Jonah Falco. From 2007 to 2021, the band also included guitarist and vocalist Ben Cook.
Disc is an experimental group formed by Miguel Depedro (Kid606), Jason Doerck, M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel (Matmos). The group was most active between 1997 and 1999.
GoGoGo Airheart was a post-punk band from San Diego, California, that was active from 1996 to 2006.
Kevin Blechdom is an American experimental electronic musician and performance artist. She is based in Santa Cruz, California.
Don't Sweat the Technics is the debut studio album by American electronic music artist Kid606. Recorded by Kid606 between the ages 17 to 18, the album was issued on CD format through the independent San Francisco-based label Vinyl Communications in 1998. The album would later catch the attention of Mike Patton, operator of Ipecac Recordings, who subsequently signed Kid606 to Ipecac.
GQ on the EQ++ is a 2001 compilation album by Miguel Trost De Pedro under the alias of kid606. It was released by Tigerbeat6 on June 19, 2001. The album is an expanded version of his previous extended play release GQ on the EQ that included all tracks from the album, unreleased songs from the recording sessions and other recordings from tour shows, various artist compilation albums and split singles.
James Lee Lindsey Jr., known professionally as Jay Reatard, was an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He was signed to Matador Records. He released recordings as a solo artist and as a member of the Reatards and Lost Sounds.
Ache Records is an independent record label based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was started by the musician Andy Dixon around 1999. Ache releases music for both Canadian and foreign acts. The first release on Ache Records was Hot Hot Heat's release, Hot Hot Heat (1999), a four-song EP. Other notable artists to work with Ache include Death from Above 1979, Four Tet, Hrvatski, Konono N°1, and Matmos.
Brad Laner is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with the shoegaze band Medicine, which he founded and led.
The Vespertine World Tour was a tour by the singer Björk that focused on her album Vespertine. She also performed songs from Debut, Post, Homogenic and Selmasongs. She performed 35 shows on this tour and 31 different songs. The tour band consisted of harpist Zeena Parkins, electronic duo Matmos, a Greenlandic choir and a 70-piece orchestra. The tour was released on DVD as Live at Royal Opera House and the concert held at the Orchard Hall in Tokyo, Japan was broadcast on Japanese TV-station WOWOW. A separate release, Vespertine Live, contains a selection of Björk's favourite performances from throughout the Vespertine tour, while a tour documentary, Minuscule, was also released.
Miguel Trost De Pedro, better known by his stage name Kid606, is an electronic musician who was raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco. He is most closely associated with the glitch, IDM, hardcore techno and breakcore scenes.
