IDM is a horrible term for a soon-to-be dead genre of music. Its already becoming stagnant for various reasons, the first of which is the tacit assumption that 'idm' must be boundry pushing in order for it to have any merit. I dont think this is necessarily true but I do think that idm is a deader.

As with many things that peak too quickly (creative premature ejactulation), its not unreasonable to assume that the genre of idm will soon begin to wane. I already see this reflected in peoples attitudes toward the genre who feel frustrated or just plain bored at the latest releases coming out. For others, still desperately clinging onto hope, we find grotesque exaggerations of merit (see: Fourtet - Rounds review... 'jazz aesthetic' bullshit).

The problem of its imminent death is quite simple: a) people are unwilling to accept idm as a formal style b) assuming the fallacy of 'progression', it has no where to progress. Lets look at each separately:

a) Gimmik - Back To Basics. I loved this album because, as far as I was concerned, it wasnt the spastic or contrived style of 'advanced' or 'groundbreaking' music that typefies what is wrong with the genre. It is without a doubt a straight-forward IDM album. Everything about it is thoughtful and carefully assembled. The problem is that alot of people seem to think that BTB is boring - an assemblange of 'cliches' from the IDM world, which people are unable to accept because idm is about 'pushing boundaries'. No its not, in my opinion. Its as formalized as jazz music except it expresses itself differently. Respect to Gimmik for not falling for the bullshit about progression, especially when it tends reflects poorly on the music in general.

b) Idm has nowhere to progress because it progressed so quickly and explored its limitations before it had a real chance to mature. Music can be dichotomized based on two basic forms: Structure or Chaos. You can explore either, or both, or a little from each at the same time. But Idm has aaccomplished that. And that is already a major stumbling block for artists to overcome in their presentation... from Jenkinsons spastic high-bpm 'Mind Rubbers', 'Scose Poise' unstructured style, formless ambient/drone, Ovals intellectual deconstructions, to Prefuse's pathetic choppy noodling on One World Extinguisher (you can guage the coming apocalypse in terms of praise for this album specifically).
Those who entertain hope will often object that: Idm is like anything, people will create new sounds and the genre will reinvent itself. I would argue that the range of possible audible sounds has been explored and spent within the genre. You might invent a sound (that sounds somewhat like another sound, but not quite the same), however the reality of our sensory limits has been explored, and now saturated. We are hampered by a limited audible range.

All of this basically means that people will have to either a) accept Idm as a formalized genre with recognizable traits or b) let is slowly die away because it refused to continue to be a novelty of progression. 'A' is the most logical but I fear that, for whatever reason, people are unwilling to accept it on those terms. Yes, the notion of 'Idm' or more broadly 'electronic music' was borne out of experimentation and innovation but just like anything it cannot sustain itself forever on those terms.

I love 'idm' and electronic music in general but there are certain realities to what is happening in its development which make me question its overall future. Somebody call the coroner, because this ones about to burn itself out.

p.s. please dont respond if you wish to complain about my use of the term 'IDM'. The sub-genre bullshit must stop. Artists I feel that fall under the umbrella of IDM: Autechre, Apparat, Arovane, Desmorais, Biosphere, BOC, Mum, Mu-Ziq, Plaid, Oval, Squarepusher, Vsnares, To Rococo Rot, Styrofoam, Susumu Yokata, Aphex Twin, Gas, Manitoba, Nobukazu, Cex, The Orb, Gescom (assorted members), Geiom, Nautilis, FSOL, etc etc. This represents a broad range; elements of the history of its evolution are also included.

very well said. The only problem I've ever had with IDM is the term IDM itself. Since it is so widely used with people from Autechre to Venetian Snares, how can I actually mean 'intelligent dance music'. It's funny how I use to think years ago it meant 'intelligent digital music'. To me, it sounds a bit more logical...

Yeah I've heard these arguments before and have to agree. But I try to enjoy it as long as it lasts. And something new's gonna have to come after IDM. Won't it? Please say it will...

new in electronic music? honestly, peoples creativity at this point are being pushed because really, what can it be now? Squarepusher has altered his sound and the new album is fucking wicked. I see electronics going back to a more softer acoustic side in the future...maybe i'm an idiot.

IDM is a formal style.

Simple as that.

IDM does not have to push boundaries to be good, it just has to be good. Only uber elitists will say something like that. IDM isn't and has never been true experimentation but people have tried to push it to its limits.

A lot of people are talking about the possible demise of IDM and I think those people are missing the point. The market is currently fairly saturated with IDM artists and finding the good among the bad is NOT easy. I think that's what it somes down to

Agreed. Just take a look around 1998. The so-called IDM artists back then were around, but let's just say since then the market has blown up about 120%. Seems like there are trends in electronic music...(house in the late 80's-mid 90's, dn'b & jungle mid 90's-late 90's, and now IDM)

Plus, I'm finding myself looping back to using an acoustic guitar or mandolin in my tracks and doing things differently like that, and other people will find other ways.

I think people are bored with the amount of albums that sound like Tri Repartae v238471 and that's where it comes from.

Don't kill the horse yet!

At least give it chance!

Take Matmos' The Civil War as an example of a fresh IDM album IMO.

great example. And even the new squarepusher

I really dont think it can move any more forward. Of course, I like 'formalized' idm so I dont really care about pathetically eager attempts to reinvent the wheel. Yeah, so 'Lets Play Cricket' borrows heavily from 'Brace Yourself Jason'. I like both.

I've heard some good field recordings that are on the verge of freshness without being completely pretentious and wank. Best current example I can think of is Tetsu's Waterloo Terminal. Field recordings are the next logical reinvention of the old mode. Its only right for the entire process to come full circle, considering that it began with borrowed sounds, evolved into mimicry of borrowed sounds, and then returned to it again.

The true death-knell of the whole process is the fragmentization of typical genre categories into endless subgroups. Its a kind of useless stratification which complicates the matter. Maybe its a symptom of the whole system gnawing away at itself.