El Question Stupido: What's the "I" in IDM?

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I've gathered that DM = Dance Music

I have a faint recollection that "I" might stand for Intelligent?!?!

But I can't fathom why it would be called that!!!

Can I get a witness?

― pheNAM (pheNAM), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:25 (twenty-two years ago)

yup. As opposed to "gabba" I guess..

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Cos it's for hipster cunts with no rhythm and a prejudice against people who actually enjoy themselves at raves.

― Llahtuos Kcin (Nick Southall), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

'Braindance' is the less pretentious term. See www.rephlex.com for more ("It's not intelligent, it's not dance, it's not music" = Braindance)

― hmmm, Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:35 (twenty-two years ago)

"Braindance"? Oh my god that's actually worse! What's wrong with 'electronica'?

― Llahtuos Kcin (Nick Southall), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Now your talking LK!!!

But still.....???? I don't get it, I figured it must mean Independent. It just sounds so.....stupid, actually.

So what genre/artists/scenes flow with this concept?

― pheNAM (pheNAM), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Brainfart!

― pheNAM (pheNAM), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

LFO for a start

― Silly Sailor (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:39 (twenty-two years ago)

If you can ignore it for another couple of years the term will probably dissapear. Replaced by something with the word "laptop" in it.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:40 (twenty-two years ago)

It basically started off with that massive wave of UK hardcore ravey stuff in the charts 91-92, when a lot of the existing dance music establishment were horrified at the great unwashed crashing their party (eg Mixmag declaring stuff like The Prodigy's ace "Charly" chune to killing rave)... Then Warp released this compilation of dance-based music for listening to (with the likes of Aphex Twin and Black Dog, etc.) called "Artificial Intelligence" (Wasn't really intended to be judgemental of ravers) and the name for the general genre of music in that compil kind of evolved from there, as a reaction to ravey stuff!!! (And LFO was actually considered a part of the ravey contingent at the time!!!!!)

These days of course a lot of IDM sounds a bit like a recording of a speeded up jazz record with about 10 speeded up jungle tracks over it, which is then edited by a lunatic on speed with a meat cleaver!!!!!

― Old Fart!!! (oldfart_sd), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

It's electronic music and I find it sexy ergo = electronica.

― Llahtuos Kcin (Nick Southall), Thursday, 29 January 2004 14:46 (twenty-two years ago)

It stands for troll.

― Scott Warner (thream), Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Back in the day, the prefix "intelligent" used to be put in front of any genre name, like "intelligent trance" or "intelligent techno" or even "intelligent jungle", to make sure that people understand you're not talking about "stupid" music meant for those idiots on the dancefloor. But nowadays the term IDM has become a catchphrase to cover all sorts of "home listening electronic music", some of which might even be listenable. However, one prerequisite for IDM seems to be that it needs to be artsy and complex (read: pretentious), which is why most of the good electronic listening music is found outside the realm of IDM.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:02 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah OF that's the weird thing about LFO, they WERE housey rave and are now super IDM. Also tho I believe a few Aphex tracks have done Ok dancewise, like you suggest this whole thing's kinda false/dumb

― Silly Sailor (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Wasn't Aphex's first single "Didgeridoo", which is definitely a dancefloor track?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah exactly! And yet people often hold him up as MR IDM

― Silly Sailor (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Can't believe no one has mentioned Autechre yet.

Isn't 'electronica' used to describe dance music in general in the USA, hence why it hasn't found popular appeal as a name for IDM? I'd also prefer it to be honest.

― hmmm, Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:11 (twenty-two years ago)

"Electronic Listening Music" was a term floating around 'at the time' - yes IDM is lame but it's only a name, the good stuff is still good despite it and the rubbish stuff isn't made more rubbish by it (well maybe just a bit...)

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

(Back in the day, the prefix "intelligent" used to be put in front of any genre name
Oh my does this bring back memories or what. 'Back in the day' - late 70s/ early 80s - some of my fellow coutrymen & even women suddenly took to reguraly, publicly uttering word combinations like "deep intellectual prog rock", totally seriously. Somehow mere 'prog' wasn't enough, it had to be accentuated that it sure was 'deep' and 'intellectual' as-well-but-of-course)

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:18 (twenty-two years ago)

yes IDM is lame but it's only a name

that's a pretty dangerous thing to say...

― tricky disco (disco stu), Thursday, 29 January 2004 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

the UK media only used the term "intelligent" so they could sell it to the middle classes. that's definitely the case with inteligent jungle.

turns out all that mad, revolutionary, break-edited original jungle wasn't so dim after all. Nor was that rave/detroit or chicago stuff neither.

― martin (martin), Thursday, 29 January 2004 16:02 (twenty-two years ago)

All my IDM buddies hate the term, and are annoyed that no one dances.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 29 January 2004 16:59 (twenty-two years ago)

IDM actually stands for Incredibly Deranged Muzak

― ejad (daje), Thursday, 29 January 2004 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

warp's roots were in pressing tracks on ultra heavy dubplates specifically for banging in clubs. yes, the 'intelligent' in idm was derived from the ai comp, but it was always a term they distanced themselves from. its a shame that the subsequent grafting of 'idm' onto the warp brand has resulted in a revisionism where tracks like 'lfo' and 'testfour' get almost entirely muscled out of their history in favour of the rdj album and tri repetae and all those..

― mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 29 January 2004 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

incredibly dancy music!!

― vahid (vahid), Thursday, 29 January 2004 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Dance music you can't dance to! What an excellent idea!

― The River Kate (kate), Thursday, 29 January 2004 17:44 (twenty-two years ago)

oh c'mon. you people just need to learn some Impressive Dance Moves

― vahid (vahid), Thursday, 29 January 2004 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

seriously, i'd never seen the term IDM until i started reading this board in '01. and i too am baffled that people say they can dance to the Warp and Rephlex lot.

i call it electronica.

― zebedee (zebedee), Thursday, 29 January 2004 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

The one Rephlex-affiliated night I've been to (the Micro Music festival at the Spitz a few years ago) the music was totally danceable - kind of primitive and messed-about in places but basically big electro-pop grooves. We got drunk and started dancing down the front and we were the only people dancing - all the people with their shaved heads and thick glasses were giving us such nasty looks, whether because we were dancing or because we were a bunch of pissed twats I don't know.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Thursday, 29 January 2004 17:53 (twenty-two years ago)

wasn't the name IDM perpetuated by the electronica email list of the same name...

― martin (martin), Thursday, 29 January 2004 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Heh...which I was on near the very start, back in 1993 or so.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 January 2004 18:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe it's just a throwback to that old IDA drug store ad.

"I'm the 'I' in I-D-M!"

[then you dance]

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Thursday, 29 January 2004 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

If you want to split hairs the first rdj single was Analogue Bubblebath on Might Force in 91. The first Aphex Twin release was Digeridoo on R&S in 92.

IDM = Imitating Derrick May

― Former Supposed So Called Nihilist Teenage Drug Disco Addiction Counselor (mjt), Friday, 30 January 2004 00:35 (twenty-two years ago)

you said that on another thread re: plaid (as balil, etc.)

SO TRUE

― vahid (vahid), Friday, 30 January 2004 00:51 (twenty-two years ago)

there's a derrick may track that sounds like "girl/boy song"?!

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 30 January 2004 02:53 (twenty-two years ago)

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