'Intelligent techno' / IDM emerged as a reaction against rave commercialisation, repositioning techno for home listening

By 1992 European producers and labels began associating rave culture with corruption of the original techno ideal. Warp Records’ 1992 compilation ‘Artificial Intelligence’ — originally marketed as ‘electronic listening music,’ quickly renamed ‘intelligent techno’ — became a milestone. Warp’s Steve Beckett described it as ‘aimed at home listening rather than clubs’: post-club, at-home listening after nights out. ‘Intelligent Dance Music’ (IDM) eventually became the label for this strand. Simon Reynolds framed the progression as ‘a full-scale retreat from the most radically posthuman and hedonistically functional aspects of rave music toward more traditional ideas about creativity… the auteur theory of the solitary genius who humanizes technology.‘

Examples

Warp’s rebranding of the same compilation from ‘electronic listening music’ to ‘intelligent techno’ shows the label was as much a marketing/critical construct as a sonic one. The move positioned the laptop/studio as site of artistic authorship, versus anonymous dancefloor loop-making.

Assessment

Contrast the aesthetic values of IDM with classic Detroit techno. In what sense is Reynolds’ ‘auteur theory’ critique accurate? What did IDM gain and lose by turning away from the dancefloor?