The other poll got me thinking about this. Im sure autechre remains king, but I remember Equinox told me that he thought Richard Devine is up there with them and I'd have to agree. Squarepusher has some insane moments, and we all know Aphex Twin can really do some amazing things aswell. VS is crazy, and I find that he can compete with the above mentioned on quite a few tracks very well. Are there any artists I should be aware of that are black belt mouse clickers?

where is beefcake?

god damit I knew I left someone out, hold on.


edit: just vote other i guess. sorry.

i don't think comparing musicians is really accurate but it's sort of fun.

amon tobin is really good although nobody mentions him anymore anywhere.

yeah I was just listening to Supermodified and wondering if I should have put him up there.

yeah you cant really compare artists in this type of sense to accurately, and it is fun, but Im most inspired by these type of artists and am also looking for others with inspiring powers.

Let's do these in steps:

Autechre: They've always been stepped up their game as programmers, but with their latest Max/Msp masterpiece, I'd have to say when it comes to technical or abstract programming they are at the top.

Richard Devine: Probably the most brilliant of the bunch, Richard Devine's unique programming methods ala Reaktor have wowwed me for years. Sure his first productions were a little housy or techno-ish, but when his 'Come to Daddy' remix for Aphex Twin surfaced, it showed a side of electronic music I'd never even heard. Something that complex had never entered my ears before and I was floored. When 'Lipswitch' came out and further showed his methods, I thought he was in a league all his own, and has now transcended into something that a lot try to mimic but can't remotely come close to. Let's just say he has his own niche.

Squarepusher: Supposedly Aphex was in a bar listening to this guy and was blown away, therefore causing 'Feed me weird things' to be released on Rephlex. In the mid-late 90's, was definitely the best drum programmer of all time. His style was untouched and still is ridiculous. Using just a simple Boss drum machine, he came out with beats and patterns that still craze me to this day.

Aphex Twin: Perhaps one of the pioneers of what we now know to be IDM or Braindance as he called it. His programming skills are definitely up there amongst the people of IDM and was the basic blueprint of followers superseding him. An influence to almost every electronic producer in the last 10 years. His variety of ambient to IDM to noise to gabba techno over the years has shown his abilities as a producer/programmer. I mentioned earlier that Richard Devine is the brightest of the bunch, but there's no reason of downing Mr. James. Constructing his first TB-303's, making synths just to get into engineering school, and supposedly constructing your first tracks at the tender age of 14 (ambient works 85-92), doesn't really make you an idiot.

Venetian Snares: Probably the most popular of all the spastic programmers today. Came into his own on the Planet Mu label. Honestly, if Mike Paradinas wouldn't have given him the chance a few years back, we may have not seen this guy surface until later. His prolificness sometimes hurts him with fans, but of course you have the others that MUST have everything he's put out. His variety over the past year has surprised me quite a bit and must say I respect him a bit more than I did.

Some others to mention:

Luke Vibert: In my opinion, he's probably the most underrated of programmers because of his laidbackness and acid programming. He has to be the best acid producer of all time, yet people don't realize how ahead of his day he really was. Releasing the Plug ep's in the early 90's, he showed a side of drum n'bass/jungle that no one had ever really heard. There was variety in it all, spastic programming and crazy vocal samples. 'Drum n bass or papa' has to be one of the most underrated albums ever (2cd US edition on Nothing)

Amon Tobin: Drum programming on 'Permutation' was marvelous. Not many people can take Buddy Rich samples and fuck them up so much and create a glorious album such as this. Definitely one of my faves in the last 10 years.

Beefcake: Probably one of the most underrated beat programmers of the last 10 years solely because their albums aren't the easiest to find or obtain. Most of their material has been limited to 1000 copies worldwide and unfortunately (in my eyes) since they are more popular for producing house/techno type music under Robag Wrume and the Wigohnomy Brothers, they may never get the proper attention that they deserve. Their album 'Drei' is probably the most underrated album of all time.

i thought i was alone on luke vibert as a great drum programmer.

i think they are also some really good on the drum and bass scene like technical itch or ed rush, optical.

biosphere is a great drum programmer is just that drum on atmospherc music have a different role.

wow, great write up.

However, I would disagree with Devine being most brilliant. Even though Ive heard a very small amount of his works, I really doubt anyone can match ae's Gantz Graf, Augmatic Disport, or Sim Geshel. I guess its ae's use of grainclusters that amazes me more than anyone else's techniques.

i would also mention bitcrush.

I was saying brilliant as in mind, not necessarily programming.