Welcome back to Vol. 2 of the Genre Guide series! I provide detailed recommendations and jumping-off-points for a variety of music genres, so that you know where to start your listening journey. Whether you’re brand new, or a long-term enjoyer, I hope to provide relevant, high quality, and accessible album picks for you!
This time around, we’re exploring Intelligent Dance Music or IDM. Originating in the 90s, IDM combines techno and ambient with an element of the avant-garde. It can often be strange, experimental, and idiosyncratic. It’s not everyone’s style, and it’s likely not suited for actual dancing, despite the namesake; however, IDM is a refreshingly compelling flavor of electronica that captures feelings rarely explored in other contemporary genres of music. It also features some of the most talented and acclaimed electronic artists of all time.
As always, I’ve selected three essential albums. The first album is generally what I consider to be the most essential starter album for a beginner. Never even heard of IDM? Start here! My second pick is a deeper essential, one that I think any fan must hear if they consider themselves an enjoyer of the genre. And finally, my third pick is a wildcard! It can be a personal favorite of mine, a more unique spin on the genre, a niche or underappreciated selection, or just another essential record. With that being said, let’s dive in.
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 – Aphex Twin
It would be criminal to make a list like this without including the legendary Aphex Twin. Perhaps the most influential electronic artist of all time, Aphex Twin, or Richard James, is undeniably a genius and a pioneer — and there’s no better place to start than with his debut record Selected Ambient Works 85-92. With the release of this album, ambient techno was born, and electronic music was changed forever.
The opening track “Xtal” feels alive, with pounding hi-hats that seem to breathe, and a surreal vocal sample echoing amongst the lush soundscape. The beat develops as more echoey drums enter the play, bouncing off of each other so elegantly as to be trancelike. The song is structurally simple but each moment is layered with sonic depth. Aphex Twin continues this style throughout the entire album but never repeats himself. Each track is brimming with character, some stand-outs including “Heliosphan” and “Ptolemy.”
Aphex Twin’s titles are as bizarre and unintelligible as ever, though certainly more readable than many of his later works (notably on Syro with incredible titles such as “s950tx16wasr10 [163.97][earth portal mix]”). For his first record it’s clear that he had not yet embraced his signature uncanny absurdity, even musically it would not be inaccurate to call this debut his most conventional work. Even so, the record is not without its quirks, and is nonetheless undeniably unique. There is an underlying eeriness on every second of the album; “Hedphelym” being a particularly strange and scary track, featuring heart-rate-spiking pings of sound over a spongy, thumping bass that is repeated throughout the full song.
Aphex Twin truly demonstrates his mastery of the electronic art, blending fun, accessibly danceable tunes such as “Green Calx” and “We Are the Music Makers” with creepy ambience, strange mechanical noises, and layers of trippy beats. It’s psychedelic, at times silly, odd, and always immensely rich with personality and complexity. Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is over an hour of IDM perfection.
If you had to hear one song: “Xtal”
Music Has the Right to Children – Boards of Canada
Music Has the Right to Children is the essence of Intelligent Dance Music. The cover art alone perfectly encapsulates the strange and unnerving feeling present throughout the entire record. Boards of Canada, the iconic electronic duo powerhouse, created a quintessential classic with the release of this record. “Roygbiv,” the breakout track, was the first song I heard from BoC and it instantly captured my attention. The incredible production and attention to craft is undeniable here, but BoC goes beyond just sounding good, they have crafted a truly unique experience.
Music Has the Right to Children is as simplistic and relaxed as it is wildly experimental and deeply reflective. BoC jumps between distorted and spatial interludes with a melancholic tint such as “Olson” and “Wildlife Analysis,” alongside dazing, textured journeys of not-so-danceable beats that’ll punch through your speakers such as “Sixtyten” or “Happy Cycling.” There is no shortage of variety here, but throughout it all, BoC is committed to capturing a very distinct emotional resonance.
Music Has the Right to Children starts with the warm and welcoming “Wildlife Analysis,” which feels like a swim through liquidy nostalgia, but as you move through “An Eagle in Your Mind” and “The Color Of The Fire,” things take a turn for the cold and even haunting. Nothing else in electronic music quite captures the hard-to-place atmosphere of this record that is so strangely compelling. After listening for the first time, I just wasn’t yet drawn in, but over and over I returned to it until it quickly became one of my favorite records of all time. Something about it just reaches through time and space to pull you in again and again. Like Aphex Twin, BoC expresses a style that is truly unparalleled and demonstrates a level of craft that is impressively refreshing.
If you had to hear one song: “Open the Light”
Tri Repetae – Autechre
By now I’m sure you’ve grasped the weirdness of IDM, and hopefully come to appreciate its beauty as well. However, this third pick is something even more left-field. Autechre is an electronic duo with a long career and humongous catalogue of music, but Tri Repetae has managed to earn a high status, and for very good reason. The duo explores truly abstract soundscapes throughout this technological marvel of a record that pushes the boundaries of music production. Its cold, mechanical, and futuristic energy just can’t be ignored. It’s a beast of an album that demands the attention of any IDM fan.
Tri Repetae is difficult to describe. It lacks warmth, emotion, or any sign of humanity. It feels like the soundtrack to a dystopian cyber-future where human beings no longer rule. That’s not to say that it’s lifeless, however. Within the mechanical layers there is striking energy and immense variety. Each song sounds unique and full of electronic textures like nothing else you’ve ever heard. Tri Repetae creates a fascinating sonic world to explore.
Tracks like “Eutow” or “Clipper” are dynamic and lively. Not songs you’d hear at the club, but nonetheless get the body moving with distinct synths and bouncy beats. Meanwhile, Autechre explores a variety of bizarre and abstract soundscapes on “Gnit,” “Rotar,” and “Stud,” bringing you straight into the grimy underground of something akin to Blade Runner’s fictional Los Angeles. Softer, reflective pieces like “Overand” break up the noise with a calming atmosphere. Finally ending on “Rsdio,” which features sharp pinging drums accompanied by sounds straight out of The Terminator’s internal computer functions, perhaps the moodiest track.
Every sound on Tri Repetae feels cranked up to its fullest potential and no song feels like any other. Every moment is dense and astonishingly complex, proving that Autechre are just as much masters of the craft as giants like Aphex Twin. IDM has come to be known for this complexity and density that sets it apart from other forms of electronic music, and through artists like Autechre, becomes something that truly defies conventions. It’s daunting, but like all of IDM, deeply rewarding.
If you had to hear one song: “Eutow”
