From what you see happening in the electronic scene, what is the
newest, freshest, and most relevently modern progressive techno
style out on the market currently?

I'm saying, to be exact, since everyone on radiomute is a sharp
technicalist in terms of jargon, exact words, etc...
music is constantly evolving whether you like it or not.
what have you listened to this year (let's say) that you feel
is an exciting step for modern electronica?..styles, albums,
artists, songs, are all well and good.

I have my ideas, but want to throwout the questions to the
virtual universe first.

~spiz

First of all, I'd say one of the freshest bands would have to be Run_Return on the n5md label. Their mix of electronic/IDM elements with acoustic instrumentation isn't new per se, but they make it work better than anyone i've heard in a very long time, if at all.

Well, I wouldn't call 'breakcore' by any means a new form of electronic music, but I'd say it has made a big impact on what is known as the electronic scene as of late. Artists such as End.user, Doormouse, Epsilon, etc...and the advent of newer Breakcore labels such as Cock Rock Disco has really made this style of electronic more prevalent. It's been around for awhile, but with these aforementioned artists and label, it's become more open to other styles and not the conventional 'bang bang bang' that we were use to hearing in the past.

Another style which isn't totally electronic is this folk/experimental/singer-songwriter type movement brought forth by the artists on the labels:

Foxglove
Barl Fire
Digitalis Industries
Child of Microtones
Musicyourmindwillloveyou
Celebrate Psi-Phenomenon
23 Productions
American Tapes
Deserted Village
Collective Jyrk/Jyrk

...and on another note: It still surprises me how techno and house music has really been on the radar as of late. It's becoming popular again and perhaps it just follows the thought of 'when there's no new ideas, you revert back to the old and re-iterate, but in a different way'

Drum n' Bass is still around, but not nearly as prevalent as Jungle. Jungle seemed to be a forgotten art for awhile and then Mike Paradinas (aka Mu-ziq) of Planet-Mu seemed to revive it with the releases of the old Remarc vinyls on CD, brought back Bizzy B to release jungle albums years apart and is releasing some other unknown artists to be enjoyed by many. I'm not saying he's the sole purpose behind this 'revival', but he definitely helped.

IDM is still just IDM. Still an idiotic term which only explains, by definition, 1 Percent of what it's actually termed. I would still say it's probably my favorite of 'electronic' subgenres, but it still gets pretty damn bland sometimes.

Some labels that seem to never disappoint that put out albums on a routine basis are as follows:

Kompakt
Hymen/Ant-Zen/Mirex
Sublight
Merck (will end mid 2006)
Planet-Mu
Ninja Tune
n5md

...and countless others. I didn't mention Warp because they've went downhill for awhile now. Even the new Prefuse73 isn't that swell to me. I'd say the last decent recording was the Jackson and his Computer Band album and that relatively decent.


ADDED: Let me just add an analogy here. Aphex Twin was to IDM of the 90's as what Gridlock was to the new millinnium. Everyone in the early days of IDM was heavily influenced by Aphex Twin and I believe as industrial slowly mixed into electronic (not the EBM stuff) and morphed into a hybrid of sorts, Gridlock definitely took it to the next level. The transformation of Cadoo and Wells sound (harsh industrial beats spaced apart by emotional dark atmospheres) from 'Further' on was heavily influential. You can definitely hear it in the IDM sounds of Keef Baker, Autoclav1.1, and End's "Science/Fiction".

well said josh.

i wish i had something to add to that, but i don't because i'm far too dumb to even act like i know what i'm talking about.

you're not dumb, Brian. I could've rambled on for days, but what's the use

the use is that people like me have a sacred book we call the tetrapedia, which we pull out to reference when anything musical is on the line.

and as David puts it:

"Off to the Tetramall"

dude, you so need a merch page for that.

we have the tetramall and the tetrapedia, what's next the tetracollege?

maybe you wanna check out banabila, but you better go to the tetracollege where education really pays off.

equinox, wow man. I think I have some listening to do. You're vary much more up on the
electronic scene than I. I'm more of a jazz cat, with deep leanings in electro-acoustic experimental
music. i'm definitely checking out Run_Return, and the label you mentioned they're on. I've heard
of many of the cats you mentioned, just not familliar with their music. so i hit the books! or as they
say in the jazz world...back to the woodshed.