Women in IDM
Article
Women (and gender diverse folk) are under represented in electronic music, making up less than 3% of music producers, however there are also a growing number of women making soundwaves in the Intelligent Dance Music scene. With feminine energy bringing a softer and more melodic touch to the genre, we decided to highlight some of these artists and the beautiful, intricate music they have created. Our top 5 in no particular order:
Mrs Jynx is Hannah Davidson, from Manchester. Sounding not unlike early µ-Ziq, Mrs Jynx distills the evocative sound of a pastoral English summer via the medium of synthesisers.
Her first album through Planet Mu “The Standoffish Cat’ sits somewhere between IDM and Electronica. Davidson has a talent for refined melodies, compositions and technical production. With sparkling arpeggiating synths and incredibly pretty melodie, bright and full of vibrancy, but never overbearing because of the deep, often dark basslines she employs.
Her following album ‘Shark Carousel’ builds on the early ’90s electronic influenced sound of Jynx’s debut. There’s a little more emphasis on lower frequencies and slightly more upbeat arrangements, with programming advanced in complexity and richness but with all the femininity, sensitivity and joy that made her first album so endearing Her music has exquisite production with a deep, rich tone that permeates throughout, resulting in classic IDM of the highest order.
Ariadne's Labyrinth is Sharon Subbarao from London, she is an electronic musician, violinist and pianist. She began to pursue her love for electronica a few years ago, drawn to the beat structures, textures and sounds that could not be created through instrumental performance alone.
She is inspired by an array of classic electronica artists spanning the realms of IDM, techno and ambient styles, as well as music by Phillip Glass. Her music is at once quirky, deep & absorbing, and is characterized by playful rhythms and beautiful, polyphonic melodies.
With releases on the labels Touched and Detroit Underground, and new music coming out in 2021, she is certainly an artist to keep on your radar.
Tonikom (Rachel Maloney) started as tonik in 2002 and changed the name to Tonikom in 2006, documented in the album title 'tonikom killed tonik'. After two self-released albums, 'epoch' sees the light of day on hymen records - her influences include the likes of Aphex Twin, meat beat manifesto, underworld, the orb and leftfield, and hymen records' artist beefcake. Tonikom is worlds, atmospheres, a narrative - a project born out of curiosity, creativity and a need for expression, Tonikom continues to defy genres and explore various styles of electronic music. IDM, industrial, techno, drum n bass, electro, trance, power electronix and ambient all combine to weave her sound.
'Epoch' is an enthralling mixture: the melodic richness of IDM meets drum and bass with breakbeat rhythms, electronic and acoustic instrumentation is enriched with well-placed sampling, sequenced patterns keep embedded ambient soundscapes together, supplemented by power and intensity known from other electronic sub-genres. Two years later, the album ‘The Sniper's Veil’ displays this artist's evolution, followed by ‘Found and Lost’ and ‘Seeking the Lost Mind” with pulsing technoid textures that carry beautiful electronica themes, sampled field recordings add a cinematic ambiance to the diversified rhythmic foundation.
Tryphème is Tiphaine Belin, an electronic music producer from France, she creates music that manages to cause the last few sensitive strings remaining in our souls to resonate. Her music sails between industrial cold, electro, and synthetic sensualities. Tryphème is a painter of enchanting soundscapes, her music is joyful and bubbly with adorable melodies that have an air of innocence to them.
In January 2017, the label Central Processing Unit, based in Sheffield, released her debut album entitled ‘Online Dating’, bringing her international exposition.
The lady behind the rather tongue-in-cheek name Gayphextwin is Brooke Keller, a rising musician now based in San Francisco, California. She began producing music 14 years ago and releases under various other aliases.
Keller first surfaced as odi me with two full-lengths in 2015 and 2016 respectively, exploring techno, ambient, noise, and jungle, before becoming Gayphextwin for her third album, Spiro, in 2018. It’s an album of spectacular precision that forges rough and ready compositions from icy pads, voyeuristic samples, and whip-crack percussion. Her music keeps true to the namesake with braindance being an overriding genre, I personally had a whole lot of fun exploring her music.
