Intelligent dance music (IDM) 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 Four Tet, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, Venetian Snares, Boards of Canada, Amon Tobin, Telefon Tel Aviv, μ-Ziq, the Black Dog, the Future Sound of London, and Luke Vibert.
Rephlex Records was a record label launched in 1991 in Cornwall by electronic musician Richard D. James and Grant Wilson-Claridge. The label coined the term braindance to describe the output of Aphex Twin and fellow artists.
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.
Luke Vibert is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genres, including techno, drum and bass, and trip hop. He has recorded on labels such as Rephlex, Ninja Tune, Planet Mu, and Warp.
...I Care Because You Do is the third studio album by electronic musician Richard D. James under the alias Aphex Twin, released on 24 April 1995 by Warp. Containing material recorded between 1990 and 1994, the album marked James's return to a percussive sound following the largely beatless Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994), and pairs abrasive rhythms with symphonic and ambient elements. The cover artwork is a self-portrait by James.
808 State is an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking its name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. It was formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, Newbuild, in September 1988 and secured commercial success in 1989, when their song "Pacific State" was picked up by BBC Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies and charted for 11 weeks in the UK.
Michael Robert Paradinas, better known by his stage name μ-Ziq, is an English electronic musician from Wimbledon, London. He was associated with the electronic style intelligent dance music (IDM) during the 1990s, and recorded on Rephlex Records and Reflective Records. His critically acclaimed 1997 album, Lunatic Harness, helped define the drill 'n' bass subgenre and was also his most successful release, selling over 100,000 copies. Paradinas founded the record label Planet Mu, begun in 1995, where he has championed genres such as juke, IDM and footwork.
Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The range of lounge music encompasses beautiful music-influenced instrumentals, modern electronica, while remaining thematically focused on its retro-space age cultural elements. The earliest type of lounge music appeared during the 1920s and 1930s, and was known as light music.
Analord is a series of eleven 12" vinyl records released in 2005 by UK-based electronic music artist Richard D. James, primarily under the alias AFX. The series marked James's return to primarily analogue equipment following his computer-oriented programming work in the late 1990s. After their release, James "distilled" the 3½ hour, 42-track series into the 10-track compilation album Chosen Lords (2006), effectively his first full-length release since the 2001 album Drukqs.
Chris Jeffs, best known by the stage name Cylob, is a British electronic musician and producer closely associated with Aphex Twin. He has produced seven albums, three compilations and a number of remixes. Previously signed to Rephlex records, Jeffs started his own digital label Cylob Industries in 2007. His most well-known tracks include "Rewind" and "Cut The Midrange, Drop The Bass".
Classics is a 1995 compilation album by electronic musician Richard D. James, more commonly known by his pseudonym of Aphex Twin.
Expert Knob Twiddlers is a 1996 studio album by Mike Paradinas and Richard D. James. It was released in 1996 on Rephlex Records and is the only release credited to the two as Mike & Rich.
Seefeel are a British electronic and post-rock band formed in the early 1990s by Mark Clifford, Daren Seymour (bass), Justin Fletcher, and Sarah Peacock. Their work became known for fusing guitar-based shoegaze with the production techniques of ambient techno and electronica.
Eurotechno refers to the musical soundtrack by English group Stakker for their 1989 experimental short film of the same name. The original film was an avant-garde experiment and features rapidly shifting colourful computer graphics, reflecting the influence of rave culture. Although the visuals of the film were primarily the work of Stakker members Marek Pytel, Mark McClean and Colin Scott, the musical soundtrack was largely the work of Brian Dougans, later of The Future Sound of London. The 25-minute soundtrack was recorded using a Roland TB-303, and reflects the fast-shifting momentum of the film by incorporating fragmented elements of acid house, Chicago house and Detroit techno that shift after their brief appearances, thus contributing to an intricately layered style.
Richard David James, best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publications including Mixmag, The New York Times, NME, Fact,Clash and The Guardian have called James one of the most influential and important artists in contemporary electronic music.
Bogdan W. Raczynski is a Polish-American electronic musician. Associated with the intelligent dance music (IDM) movement, Raczynski's work draws inspiration from the chaotic breakbeats of jungle and hardcore rave as well as traditional Polish music and other sources.
Selected Ambient Works 85–92 is the debut studio album by Aphex Twin, the pseudonym of British electronic musician Richard D. James. It was released on 9 November 1992 through Apollo Records, a subsidiary of Belgian label R&S Records. The album consists of ambient techno tracks recorded onto cassette reputedly dating as far back as 1985, when James was thirteen to fourteen years old. Upon release it received widespread acclaim. It entered the UK Dance Albums Chart at No. 6 on 26 December 1992.
Bochum Welt is the stage name of the Italian electronic musician Gianluigi Di Costanzo. The name Bochum Welt is a combination of the German word for "world" (welt) and the name of a high-powered astral telescope.
Hyperreal.org, also known as Hyperreal, is a rave culture website founded by Brian Behlendorf in 1994. It is based in San Francisco.
