Intelligent dance music is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, regarded as "cerebral" and better suited to home listening than dancing. Emerging from electronic and rave music styles such as techno, acid house, ambient music, and breakbeat, IDM tended to rely upon individualistic experimentation rather than adhering to characteristics associated with specific genres. Prominent artists associated with the genre include Aphex Twin, μ-Ziq, the Black Dog, the Orb, the Future Sound of London, Autechre, Luke Vibert, Squarepusher, Venetian Snares, pilotredsun, and Boards of Canada.
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 output of Aphex Twin and fellow artists.
808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson, and they released their debut album, Newbuild, in September 1988. The band secured commercial success in 1989, when their song "Pacific State" was picked up by BBC Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies.
Michael 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. He is also founder of the record label Planet Mu, begun in 1995, where he has championed genres such as juke and footwork.
Mo' Wax was a British record label founded by James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy in 1992. Steve Finan became co-owner shortly after. Mo' Wax came to recognition for being at the forefront of trip hop, turntablism and alternative hip hop during the mid-1990s. The label is also responsible for bringing attention to the graffiti artist Futura 2000 by using his artwork on many of its releases in the early to mid-1990s. Lavelle signed partial ownership of Mo' Wax over to A&M Records in 1996. Some of the Mo' Wax catalogue is now part of the Beggars Group.
Ceephax Acid Crew is a British acid House and drum and bass electronic musician. Jenkinson is also known simply by the pseudonym Ceephax, which is a reference to the BBC teletext service Ceefax. He is the brother of Squarepusher.
Mark Ramos Nishita, known professionally as Money Mark, is an American producer and musician, best known for his collaborations with the Beastie Boys from 1992 until 2011.
DMX Krew is the recording name of the musician Edward Upton. Upton's other aliases include 101 Force, Asylum Seekers, Bass Potato, Chester Louis III, Computor Rockers, David Michael Cross, Ed DMX, EDMX, House of Brakes, Michael Knight, and Viet Cong. He has released six full albums on Aphex Twin's label Rephlex Records and numerous singles/EPs for both Rephlex and his own Breakin' Records. DMX Krew's sound spans several electronic music genres, mostly been rooted in early electro-pop/breakbeat type music; the Collapse of the Wave Function EPs were a more experimental direction.
Tracy Bonham is an American alternative rock musician, best known for her 1996 single "Mother Mother".
B12 are a British electronic music duo consisting of Mike Golding and Steve Rutter. First appearing in the early 1990s under a variety of monikers, including Musicology, Redcell and Cmetric, the duo were often mistaken as hailing from Detroit, their sound being comparable to the so-called second wave of Detroit techno. This was compounded by the signature style of their initial releases on their own imprint B12 Records, limited editions on coloured 12" vinyl with cryptic messages etched into the run-out grooves, and the fact that Golding and Rutter tended to shy away from the press, and rarely gave interviews, which added to the mystery of their identities.
Andrea Parker is a British electronic music producer, record label proprietor and DJ from Pembury, Kent, England. Despite having a background in cello playing, Parker was influenced by electronic pioneers such as Art Of Noise and Jean Michel Jarre. She formed the group Inky Blacknuss with producers Alex Knight and Ian Tregoning in 1993 for Andrew Weatherall's Sabrettes label, before signing to hip hop label Mo' Wax for her solo output, releasing her debut album Kiss My Arp in 1999. Electronic music producer David Morley was an important part of her musical output as co-writer and almost all her studio work took place in his studio, which was then in Germany.
Michael Cullen, aka Mike Dred, is a British experimental techno DJ, producer, and sound engineer. He has been a leading DJ since 1983, a producer since 1988, a sound designer since 1992, and is considered an important figure in the development of acid techno and innovative use of the Roland TB-303.
James Lavelle is an English electronic musician, record label owner and curator. He founded the Mo'Wax record label in 1992, and has been the only constant member of UNKLE. He directed the 2014 edition of the Meltdown festival on London's South Bank, and curated the 2016 exhibition "Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick" at Somerset House. He was the subject of 2018 documentary film The Man From Mo'Wax.
Joyrex J9ii is an album by Richard D. James under the alias Caustic Window. The release is a 12" vinyl and has received more than one pressing. The title of this release is very similar to another Caustic Window release titled Joyrex J9i.
Attica Blues are a UK trip hop band, who made their debut releases on the Mo' Wax label. Taking their name from an Archie Shepp album, the band have also provided remixes for Ultra Naté, Sneaker Pimps, Silent Poets and DJ Krush.
Steve Goodman, known as Kode9 is a Scottish electronic music artist, DJ, and founder of the Hyperdub record label. He was one of the founding members of the early dubstep scene with the late MC and former collaborator The Spaceape. He has released three full-length albums: Memories of the Future (2006) and Black Sun (2011), both with The Spaceape, and Nothing (2015).
Richard David James, best known by the stage name Aphex Twin, is an English musician. He is best known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno and ambient music in the 1990s, and has also been associated with the electronic subgenre known as intelligent dance music. In 2001, Guardian journalist Paul Lester called James "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music".
Anthony "Shake" Shakir, who also uses the aliases Sequence 10 and Da Sampla, is an American techno producer, best known for his contributions to Detroit techno.
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.
