Damek.

The use of electronics in music has been around longer than many people might think; the earliest purely electronic instrument, the Telharmonium, was developed in 1897. Essentially a precursor to today’s synthesizers, it weighed seven tons and was the size of a boxcar. The first electronic instrument to be widely adopted and used was the Theremin, quick to become a staple in scary film soundtracks, and used to good effect in the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.”

Electronics have had two great impacts on music. First is the ability to create and make use of a much larger sonic pallette. Early synthesizers didn’t have much variety, but with the advancement of the “sampler” and now computers with their infinite malleability, anything you hear can be used in a song, making a traditional orchestra or 4-piece band seem suddenly stifling and limited to those inclined towards adventure and experimentation. Second is the compositional influence of electric machines. Turntables and cassette taples lend themselves to repetition and layering. Progressive composers of the 40s and 50s embraced 4-tracks and synthesizers, thrusting musique concrète upon the world. As the 70s arrived, funk and disco embraced the turntable, thrusting DJs upon the world.

The past three decades of dance music have been almost nothing but variations on loop-based disco — from house to techno, from trance to drum and bass. Meanwhile, the advances of synths, samplers, and the influence of music concrète have had their impact on pop and rock, from the Beatles’ later albums to synth-pop and industrial music in the 80s.

One thread of dance music that grabbed me in the late 90s as I was attending college, and has held my interest for years, finds its origins in 1989, largely as an off-shoot of detroit techno, acid house, and the UK rave scene. Warp Records, started in Sheffield in 1989, began by releasing some seminal techno artists like Sweet Exorcist, Nightmares On Wax, and the industrial-influenced LFO (aka Mark Bell, who has done a ton of production work for Björk). Around the same time, some artists in the same area of the world started taking the already sci-fi-tinged detroit techno & acid house and experimenting with creating more headphone-oriented soundscapes and home-listening tunes out of it. Artists like B12, The Black Dog, Aphex Twin and Global Communication started releasing their music under multiple pseudonyms on their own start-up labels or those of friends. Possibly an outgrowth of so-called “chillout” rooms at the late-80s, early-90s raves, where ravers would go to come down off their music- and probably drug-induced high, these artists were blurring ambient and techno together, and creating interesting compositions that were just as good off the dance floor as on, or weren’t even intended for the dance floor in the first place.

What with some of Warp’s first few artists already leaning towards listenable, experimental electronic music (especially LFO and Nightmares on Wax), it’s no surprise that Warp picked up a number of these artists, including Autechre, B12, Speedy J and Aphex Twin, and with them, launched a movement. With the seminal 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence, Warp began a series of “artificial intelligence” albums, which inspired some fans and artists to start an internet mailing list with the horrible name “IDM” (short for “Intelligent Dance Music“). Initially intended for discussion of the experimental techno on Warp and related labels like GPR and ART, electronic music itself took the broad-minded list for a ride over the years, through drill ‘n’ bass, glitch, electro-pop, and electronic hip-hop and indie-rock hybrids.

The list is now pretty much an open forum for all things abstract, experimental, and “forward-thinking,” but it also still holds a solid focus on techno, dance and electronic music. There’s a lot less music-oritented discussion these days (fewer people on the list actually make music, or talk about making music on the list), but you will find a lot of good tips to new music to try and arguments about the merits of various acts, old and new. You can be sure that every time Autechre releases something new there will be a flurry of emails, since Autechre pretty much defined the sound and tastes of a lot of the people and ideas that orbit around the vague enigma that is IDM.

I came to this music in the summer of ‘97, whilst browsing for something new to excite me at a used CD store in Minnesota. I had never gotten into dance music, though at the time I was a mild fan of Nine Inch Nails. I was browsing their dance music section out of curiosity, determined to try a couple new things. I saw the name “Aphex Twin” and was sure I’d heard of “them” somewhere before. I bought the then-relatively new Richard D. James Album, along with the also-then-new Chemical Brothers album Dig Your Own Hole. I liked the Chemical Brothers album, and have since liked everything else they’ve released — but I was instinctively drawn to the Aphex Twin album. It was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. It was classical and techno all at the same time.

From there it was a hop, skip and a jump to the jazzy drill ‘n’ bass of Squarepusher, the glitchy drone pop of mid-career Kid 606, the spacey, erratic dub of Funckarma, and the complex machinations of later Autechre. Eventually I started looking for something new again, and I started working backwards, discovering the older artificial intelligence releases on Warp and some of the other “simple” ambient techno of the time. The amazing thing to me is how “futuristic” and fresh the old releases still sound. I guess that’s what makes them classics of the era.

Over the next few music posts, I want to highlight some of these early experimental electronic releases, and share what makes them so great. Hopefully you’ll discover one or two you love yourself.

As for IDM itself, it’s still just a mailing list. Certain themes and styles have coalesced into a vague “genre” called IDM that you could probably identify if you listened to enough of it; it usually involves synth melodies, skittery, sometimes glitchy beats, and a plaintive, nostalgic feel or a strong sci-fi theme. Examples of “standard” IDM artists might include Autechre, Proem, Funckarma, Boards of Canada, Plaid and Bola. But aside from that, there is so much variety that the only real thread tying it all together is that it’s electronic, and it’s the kind of stuff people on the IDM-list talk about.

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MORE: Upon reflection, there’s a few thoughts I forgot to include in this post, so here they are.

First, I’ve recently learned the distinction between “techno” and “house” — house is pretty much a direct descendant of 70s disco, and techno hails from the Kraftwerk family of 70s music. Both are nearly indistinguishable, but house music largely features vocals, and techno is largely instrumental. Little surprise, then, that techno ended up being the jumping off point for IDM, which is arguably the “prog rock” of electronic music.

Think about it: “progressive” rock? “Intelligent” dance music? This is not a new idea of mine, it’s been talked about on the very email list that bears the name IDM.

But the unique thing about IDM as opposed to prog rock is that, lacking vocals and (since the late 90s) being relatively easy to produce with the cheapest of computers, IDM is also the “punk rock” of electronic music (minus the political overtones). It has spawned hundreds of cottage labels and small-time artists. The fan base is definitely different; instrumental electronic music doesn’t lend itself so well to live acts, the bread-and-butter of punk bands. But technology also guaranteed a good number of long-distance audience members, since the ease of music creation coincided with the ease of internet downloads and digital music players.

There are a ton of good labels out there, many of the best on Warp Record’s 1-year-old online download music store, Bleep. Warp themselves have moved on and diversified quite a bit. They still have great electronic acts like Autechre, Plaid, Boards of Canada and LFO, but they also have a ton of new artists encompassing indie hip-hop, indie rock, and some other mish-mash styles. Bleep serves as a nice starting point for their own music and a lot of the other labels that have picked up the experimental electronic music slack. Good ones to check out would be Morr Music, Defocus, Planet Mu, Ninja Tune, and Rephlex. One of my favorite USA labels Merck, is also there. My other favorite USA label, n5MD, is not, but they’ve started their own music download section, and a separate, exclusively-download label, en:peg, which features new unknown artists at $2 per release, and the music is really good. I’ve talked about them before. It’s a nice way to introduce yourself to what IDM is all about for not much money, if you’re above downloading music for free.