Intelligent dance music

Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints. The music often described with the term originally emerged in the early 1990s from the culture and sound palette of styles of electronic dance music such as acid house, ambient techno, Detroit techno and breakbeat; it has been regarded as better suited to home listening than dancing. Prominent artists in the style include Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, μ-Ziq, the Black Dog, the Future Sound of London, and Orbital.

The use of the term "intelligent dance music" was likely inspired by the 1992 Warp compilation Artificial Intelligence in 1993 with the formation of the "IDM list", an electronic mailing list which was chartered for the discussion of English artists appearing on the compilation. The term has been widely criticised and dismissed by artists associated with it. Rephlex Records, a label co-created by Aphex Twin, coined the term braindance as an alternative. In 2014, music critic Sasha Frere-Jones observed that the term IDM "is widely reviled but still commonly used".