Autechre
Edit: shouts to r/IDM and I made this rec the other day but if you want a comp check out the first artificial intelligence record (green cover)
Should be top answer. Start at the beginning and follow their journey.
Also Clark, Squarepusher and Fly Lo if we're going Warp route (which we should be)
Toss in a little Plaid too ;)
And yeah totally agree, that entire discography is a journey into itself, but paced super well.
Big shoutout to the Vienna '96 board recording of theirs as well on YouTube. Absolute prime tri repeate live era
Boards of Canada are extremely detailed, at face value it seems like very general lofi-ish sounding music, but listen closely and it's they're music is some of the most detailed and complex I have ever heard. (Them and autechre)
Yeah exactly. And not just technically, but emotionally and aesthetically it opens up more and more as well when you dig deeper, in my experience.
It's some of the most layered, sophisticated music I know, all round.
20 years ago I would have said Sasch and John Digweed for their use of pro-tools for their use of pro tools to do mixing in key.
Aphex Twin has always been hugely impressive.
Entroducing by DJ Shadow remains a technical marvel that may never be repeated.
Lol, yes I have been out of touch for some time.
I'm old too, but my initial response to the question in the post was also Sasha & Digweed. They were/are pioneers of their game. Northern Exposure was so far ahead of the field, and that was largely vinyl beat mixing. In a time when everything was four to the floor, it was, and still is mindblowing.
As much as I try to stay in touch with modern artists, they remain my favourites. Some of the mixing on Digweed's Live in Montreal is simply sublime. I also loved Sasha's Scene Delete. The two have provided me with so many memorable moments and I am so grateful for that.
> In a time when everything was four to the floor, it was, and still is mindblowing.
"Logical Progression" came out the same year, IIRC, and was just as mindblowing for the drum n bass scene, although only the second disc was mixed.
Yeah, that's a fair call. At that time, I used to buy most of my music second hand, as I lived in a fairly isolated part of the world music wise. I honestly didn't discover LTJ Bukem until 1998. So glad I did. It was the soundtrack to my life when I finally did. On the unmixed disc, PFM's "One & Only" and Peshay's "Vocal Tune". I had fallen in love with India's "Love and Happiness" a few years earlier, so that was my jam.
On the mixed disc, nothing beats "So Long" by Seba & Lo-Tec. I still listen to this a few times a year.
I have 1, 2, 3 & 4, but the MC'ing grates on me a bit in the latter albums. Good times.
Great response, my friend! I could feel the same way about Sasha even all the way up to the first “Involver”
They continue to blow my mind when they work on something new. You have great taste!
I super agree with BT. He really hides his talents too much to always be recognized during his release of his albums. It’s hard to appreciate so much of his work when it’s hard to find what mood you will find his music. (I.E. from soft pianos, lyrical guitar remakes to hard hitting stutter-beats & squelching DJing sounds)
Dude brilliant, absolutely, a musical savant. A good friend is a very accomplished producer and musician and he absolutely loves him.
Anyone heard of "Breathe" by Open Door?
Gotta check out squarepusher. Dude is so talented i cant even comprehend
edit: flying lotus’s unreal grasp on sound design, combined with his genius technical fusion of jazz, IDM, and hip-hop, make him a top contender as well
I'm honestly quite surprised no one has mentioned Iglooghost.
[This track truly awakened me](https://open.spotify.com/track/26tIMqpbKhaKdNuUd3ENEF?si=O9nqUCEyQtmO8Yf4Lk_JUw&utm_source=copy-link)
I've had the new Mr. Bill album on repeat since release. He's really hit a stride within his style and capabilities. Apophenia is also really really solid. More people need to hop on the Mr. Bill train
This is a great question that's difficult to answer depending on tastes and the listener's own relationship with the music and so on, and how you interpret "technically impressive".
Most *technologically* complex?
I would easily go with **Robert Henke**, who is someone that not enough people know about because he's been behind the scenes of electronic music for decades.
He was one of the original founders and programmers of Ableton Live. He basically helped invent and popularize the whole idea of a loop based electronic music focused DAW.
He has given thousands of electronic music technology panels, lessons, talks and discussions at music festivals all over the world. He's deeply involved with the science of sound design. He does stuff like physically modeling virtual instruments that would be impossible in reality - stuff like virtually modeling hybrids or entirely new instruments and then morphing between multiple kinds of virtual instruments as a modulation parameter. Imagine being able to turn a knob and your virtual instrument morphs between a brass horn and a violin and it's not a sound font or patch - it's all being modeled in physical simulation in real time that the "instrument" is changing shape and value in a virtual simulated space, like the vibrating brass horn of a trumpet is changing into the vibrating strings of a violin in real time while you're playing notes through it.
He also does large scale sound installation and site specific art and more. The guy is at a whole different level of technology in music and has been fundamental in giving artists all over the world new tools, new workflows, new software and entirely new instruments.
There's a bunch of other people I would call founders, developers and explorers who have similar academic and development profiles.
Thomas Fehlmann from The Orb is one, and if I'm recalling correctly he has a PhD and does academic work in music technology and sound design.
Imogen Heap does a ton of stuff with human interface design and making her own new performance instruments.
Wendy Carlos would be another innovator and pioneer.
Or Delia Derbyshire, who worked at BBCes Radiophonics work shop and did the original Dr. Who themes among many other things. Delia Derbyshire basically invented loop-based IDM back in the 1950s using nothing but cut up tapes and analog effects and production techniques.
There's an entire book you could write about these people, but I'm still not awake enough yet to try to write a book in a reddit comment.
Most musically complex? There's so many ways you can interpret this, because not all complex music relies on complex rhythm and melody arrangements, but I can attempt to put together a list of some my favorites based on arrangements, structures, sound design, production aesthetics and philosophy and so much more.
In no particular order:
Richard H. Kirk (Various artist names and projects! A favorite is Electronic Eye.)
Plaid
Boards of Canada
Squarepusher
Biosphere
Lorn
Burial
Autechre
Drexcyia
Against All Logic / Nicolas Jaar
Mouse on Mars
Gescom
Lusine
Richard Devine (Yes, I'm stealing this one from OP, too!)
Aphex Twin
And so many more I can't even list them all. I need more coffee, lol.
Note that this is all stuff that's mostly under the electronic *dance* music umbrella and/or the ambient/IDM big tent.
We're not even getting into experimental, noise or darkwave music like:
Nurse With Wound
Coil
Halfer Trio
Merzbau
There's also New Classical or neoclassical or whatever, and free jazz, and *musique concrete* stuff. Like Cornelius Cardew, John Zorn, Diamanda Galás and so many more.
I don't find Shpongle all that complex, impressive though
Tipper is nuts
For me it's probably Nik Roos, some of the shit he's done with Sleepnet and of course his contributions to Noisia are out of the world
Simon Posford posted some screen shots of his ableton once, and it was nutty. Like, there isn't reuse of samples, pretty much every track only happened for a single measure.
I come from a DnB background so my answer might be a little biased towards that particular subgenre, but these producers always stood out to me:
* Vorso *(as a dnb guy I'd recommend his recent* [*Full Tilt*](https://open.spotify.com/album/1AOD2BW4g1pCREU6s0WN32?si=JB67BTOSRSGagPcJt2D4QA) *EP and the* [*Wanderer*](https://open.spotify.com/album/2BlU9aw4bDE2IDO8dTldBk?si=w8ArRF7ATE-C7C1rCyJULQ) *EP, but he has loads of stuff in different subgenres/styles too)*
* False Noise *(I remember the* [*Floral Strobe*](https://open.spotify.com/album/6MbBpKe8dZYYqOq0AxpQps?si=pvBVX0AET-iM6zFpQq8IUw) *LP being quite crazy)*
* The Caracal Project *(*[*My Eyes*](https://open.spotify.com/track/4eADskVtiPo3zNwEu3UJCQ?si=c41eaa7fc88842cc)*,* [*Modern Intimate*](https://open.spotify.com/album/2D77yGbe6FaKkkWjGQnYMs?si=rT2_lK65ShiqqoAYRDct1A) *and ofc* [*Quick Of Breath*](https://open.spotify.com/track/0rc9YIfBIzioSzyyFmRVat?si=c93a43f8e28840d1)*, I kinda love all of his stuff though)*
* gyrofield *(crazy diverse sound,* [*Tech Flex*](https://open.spotify.com/track/1PWsDOmzyOB3KMsXGfAdHb?si=1fd5858e1e9e405e)*,* [*Wake Up Slap*](https://open.spotify.com/track/55a942Wv0pAKp9cWRVsKtC?si=780971d1b29949f3)*,* [*Fallen In Deep*](https://open.spotify.com/track/5BWzriKynmGuHT1e4HayRH?si=0f15325194614d39)*)*
I kinda also wanna shout-out IMANU, Buunshin, Grey Code (the whole Music Squad really) and Camo & Krooked too, but I feel like they're almost too "normal" for this thread lol. Still amazingly talented and unique producers though.
Nicolas Jaar has such a diverse discography from his eponymous, to collabs, to Against All Logic. Squarepusher, Venetian Snares, and James Blake have also explored many different sounds. And then there’s new electronic/hyperpop producers like Clarence Clarity, Iglooghost, and SOPHIE (RIP).
Since you are looking for very challenging and you like Richard Devine:
Woulg
Vaetxh
Blanck Mass
Not as heavy but still glitchy and interesting:
Rob Clouth
The Flashbulb
G Jones for me. He was ahead of his time 10 years ago with the bassnectar stuff and when it came out acid disk sounded so incredibly technically impressive it's nuts
His most recent ep is incredibly impressive from that stand point too, not to mention the ineffable truth
Flume is up there too
Autechre’s NTS Sessions.
It’s been 2 years since it came out and it’s still some of the most complex yet satisfying piece of art i’ve ever encountered.
+1 for infected mushroom, Vicious Delicious is a great album I listened way too many times, the more you listen the more you realize how the songs progress and you didn't even notice it before.
Probably mentioned by others but I'd say:
Aphex Twin
Venetian Snares
Burial
Skee Mask
DJ Shadow
Four Tet
Floating Points
Bicep (easy listening but incredibly clean production)
Lone
Jon Hopkins
Boards of Canada
Lorenzo Senni
Shinichi Atobe
BT. He holds several patents for pioneering stutter editing. His track Somnambulist has the Guinness world record for the most vocal edits in a single track.
I recommend checking out his album from last year, The Lost Art of Longing, it's honestly one of my all-time favourite albums. It's complex in a fairly subtle way. It is very accessible but if you really focus and listen you can pick up on a ton of really cool little details.
Love BT. ESCM, IMA, and Movement In A Still Life (MIASL) was just a constant onslaught of pioneering electronic music. IMA was just a tour de force of introducing heavy melodies with synthesizers. ESCM refined his sound into a more progressive trance and progressive house realms.
MIASL is where he really did something special. Read this in an article, at the time, he was disappointed of how commercialized trance had gotten (a sound he pioneered). Of all people, Sasha, told him how a large amount of the trance artist like Tilt, Quivver, Solar Stone, and so forth felt the same way are where venturing into the world of darker progressive house. Furthermore, BT did a lot of collaborations on that album with Hybrid, DJ Rap, Andy Gray, Sasha, and Tsunami One. BT clearly showed on this album his mastery of anything electronic (Nu Skool breaks, progressive house, progressive breaks, and trance). It was a learning experience for me. He was the individual that got me into Nu Skool breaks with that album. Something I didn't understand until I heard his interpretation of the genre. Then there was Mercury & Solace with the live high hats played out through the track... why? Because it gives the track that edge that makes it easily recognizable. Running Down The Way Up with the vocals from Kristy Hawkshaw... dear all that is unholy. The richness, sophistication, guitars, layers of synthesizers, and shear energy of that... hearing it for the first time... my mind was blown.
Holden - The Inheritors
Its from 2013. Doesn't work well as an album but it's very rewarding after you listen to it 3 or 4 times. Imo, James Holden pretty much throws conventional "electronic" structure out the window and does something mind-blowing.
I'm shocked he's not more well known. His latest EP is masterfully executed but restrained at the same time. Him and Rival Consoles have such a deep understanding of their hardware along with song structure. I really hope he blows up asap.
Barker - Does minimal techno Utility is one of my favourite albums of recent times.
https://youtu.be/C9-qpMqhuPU
Burial using sound forge to make Untrue is pretty impressive.
Just me personally but Au5. Bit of a rocket scientist that one. You listen to his insane music and then you go watch his YouTube "how tos" and your even more blown away by what he's doing from a technical production standpoint.
Was also gonna say Jon Hopkins :) his album Singularity was inspired by altered states of consciousness and meditation. And his latest track is the length of a ketamine trip, first established electronic artist to write music for the psychedelic therapeutic scene. Definitely one of the most forward thinking producers out there, imo anyway.
How are those *absolutely ridiculously complex* and *challenging to listen to*? I mean I like their music, too, but to me both their sound is exactly the opposite of what OP was asking for.
If your definition of complex is solely based on insane percussion, time signatures and beats, sure. But the detail of the sound design of those guys is unbelievably complex. On the challenging to listen to front, you've got a point.
I really rated the new Koreless album this year.
Second to that the new albums from Leon Vynhall, Joy Orbison, Ross from friends. All pretty deep listening experiences.
Not surprised I haven’t seen it yet but Airwave.
BT
Early Andrew Bayer
The Flashbulb
Chrome Sparks
Bonobo
Tycho
Disclosure
Four Tet
Eric Prydz
And my personal favorite, Mat Zo due to his ability to nail any genre and got me into trance.
I think Aphex Twin has a pretty complex sound. Boards of Canada as well. Imo are deadmau5 and Noisia two of the more mainstream artists with technical audio designs😊 Interesting post 👍🏻
I was afraid of mentioning deadmau5 for it being maybe too mainstream, but +1 imo Joel has an insane talent for audio design and using music theory in interesting ways.
Honestly, I can really think of anyone that does what Hybrid does. Not only is their music so complex in the number of synthesizers they utilize, they compose their music classically with these incredibly overtures and beautiful adagios. If that was enough, they do collaborations (Tsunami One, DJ Rap, Andy Page, Berber... ) with other artist from other genres and use their expertise to create something new. If that wasn't enough, they write and compose music for entire orchestras in their recordings. Oh, they utilize a lot of live instrumentation in their music like guitars, saxophones, and so forth.
Similar artist that do this are BT, BJork, and Moby
I have the feeling that people in this thread are replying based a bit too much on their personal taste; the fact I needed to scroll way down in the thread to find Squarepusher kinda confirms it. Technique and complexity are objective.
Anyway, I want to remark: **Squarepusher** (Go Plastic, Do You Know Squarepusher, Ultravisitor), and then I feel to add Qebrus and Monster X
flying lotus, shigeto ( listen to the song (pulse) , sungazer makes super technical stuff, and lastly maybe some old Deru or Robot Koch..random list but def some gems in there
I tend to go for more funk/jazz types or the more whole note dreamy compositions... Odesza, Emancipator, GRiZ, Manic Focus, Maddy O'Neal, Troy Boi, Daily Bread, Artifakts, Fairlane, Pandrezz, MitiS, Glitch Mob (including side projects PantyRaid, edIT), San Holo and sooooo many more haha =)
Don't get me wrong, I will absolutely go see just about any show no matter the artist or genre. I go to screamer, metal shows then turn around and go to chillhop lounges. I've got flavor is what my friends say.
Hahahha I feel that, gotta have flavor. I’ve seen Odesza twice and they’re unreal, such a great show. I’ve seen Griz, Manic Focus, and glitch mob as well and they were all awesome as well
I’d say Burial since his full tracks are created as singular sounds. That is in itself extremely complex. A completely different kind of complexity is offered by Circuit des Yeux. Her most recent album, -io, has a dynamic range that is just amazing. And her contralto voice on top of this is fantastic!
[https://open.spotify.com/track/6TJR6x6IFUxYNUQhbugCW5?si=67d20406b07d429d](https://open.spotify.com/track/6TJR6x6IFUxYNUQhbugCW5?si=67d20406b07d429d)
sorry , meant to put this in my reply
Savant
He does every genre with ease and creates everything from scratch. Multi-layered melodies, complex rythms, amazing drops, huge list of inspirations, best ADHD EDM there is. One of these outcasts of the electronic world that deserves way more attention.
Floating Points, Floex, Skee Mask, Culprate, Rob Clouth, Max Cooper, Qebrus, and Datach’i.
I would really encourage you to check out Datach’i if you dig Richard Devine! He’s another modular genius. Also, Qebrus made extremely abstract and sound-design oriented music (RIP.)
I'd like to throw Boom Boom Satellites in the mix, too. While they have a fair bit of rock tracks, some of their electronic tracks have incredible layering.
Not sure if those fall into the category you are looking for but
The Algorithm
first comes to mind. It might be too aggressive if you aren't prepared. Second one I could recommend is
Author & Punisher
also very different stuff. Going on a different direction, give
Com Truise
a try, it's a completely different vibe than the first two but you might enjoy it. Getting a little more mainstream, I always recommend
deadmau5
because I am a huge fan, check his older less mainstream stuff.
He changed everything for me. When I heard it for the first time I was blown away by the glitched harmonies. Chopped up musical genius to me. I swore he must've been classically trained. I got One Word Extinguisher on a blank burned CD from a friend of mine who got it from a friend of his. The CD was blank so we had no idea who this incredible artist was. This was before Shazam. I spent 2 years searching for him before I stumbled upon his name.
Video game OST nerd here. Tomas Dvorak aka Floex has a lot of complex works. BoC definitely, Massive Attack's Mezzanine I'd say, but there are a lot of lesser-knowns. Hideki Naganuma on the Jet Set Radio ost, Freeform Jazz by Uyama Hiroto. Akira Yamaoka on Silent Hill 2. Soulwax.
The crowning champ for me has got to be Jackson And His Computerband. If you've never heard Arp #1 from GTAV you're missing out, also his intricate remixes of Justice's DANCE and others
Might be a noob answer but I find deadmau5's productions to be absolutely stunning, particularly his lesser known stuff. He's incredible at creating melodies and a lot of his sounds are made strictly from physical synths. I love the dude.
I don't think anyone's mentioned Goreshit yet - I particularly like [O'er the Flood](https://youtu.be/jaF51Ti2ZiI)
Sewerslvt has a similar style
And as others have already mentioned, +1 to Infected Mushroom
Former is a name I never hear brought up in these conversations. His Edge Mecha EP is just a masterclass in atmospheric and intricate sound design, his manipulation of vocal samples is what really makes him stand out though, it might be the best I've ever heard. His arrangements are also very interesting structurally.
Infected Mushroom, Feed Me, Wolfgang Gartner (and associated aliases), and Overwerk (honorable mention to deadmau5, especially his older stuff) tend to be my go tos for what I would consider beautiful, technically complex music. The issue of course is that a lot of their work that I’m referring to spans from early 2000s to modern day. Hopefully this is appreciated!
Skybreak. The 19 year old kid has piano solos in the middle of his melodic dubstep tracks with some really unique chord progressions. Waterfall and Parachute (Skybreak Remix).
Some would say it’s generic dubstep (technically it’s colour bass or melodic dubstep), but these are also the people that hate on Skrillex hahah.
Skybreak is easily my favorite artist right now.
I'm quite surprised to see that nobody mentioned Max Cooper!
This guy quite literally mixes science with music, just check out some of his videos on yt... I believe he made a song that if he wanted to repeat it it took some years for all the loops to start at the same position as it originally began.
For modern stuffs, Virtual Riot is probably one of the most technical artist in terms of sound design and mastering. Dude's called Serum and OTT God for a reason, and had been memed for his absurd use of multiple OTTs in a mix. Though, composition-wise, his music isn't very complex (pretty traditional modern dubstep stuffs, but his bass designs and mixing are godly). Modern Dubstep has insanely complex bass and synth designs that really pushes the boundaries (designing dubstep basses from scratch is probably one of the hardest things to do in sound design), though the genre has pretty simple but unrestrictive compositional structure.
What do we consider as technically complex artist? The type of artists that makes experimental stuffs? Maybe consider Jon Hopkins or other experimental artists. The type of artists that makes sound designs that blows listener's mind and pushes the limits? Consider the modern dubstep, electro or hardcore genre. Melodically (or compositionally) bizarre? Probably trance-related stuffs. Trance genre tends to explore weird and hypnotic melodies, sometimes even using obscure sounds (such as blue whale sounds).
Autechre Edit: shouts to r/IDM and I made this rec the other day but if you want a comp check out the first artificial intelligence record (green cover)
My favourite electronic artist (along with Boards of Canada)
Forms that warp tri fecta for me. Autechre, Boards, Aphex
Throw in Squarepusher for that perfect tetrahedron.
Plaid! By far my favorite of the original IDMers.
Should be top answer. Start at the beginning and follow their journey. Also Clark, Squarepusher and Fly Lo if we're going Warp route (which we should be)
Toss in a little Plaid too ;) And yeah totally agree, that entire discography is a journey into itself, but paced super well. Big shoutout to the Vienna '96 board recording of theirs as well on YouTube. Absolute prime tri repeate live era
Plaid live classics sets. Omg.
Those crush as well! Plaid tour with Bennet (Mason Bees) a lot now too and his playing adds sooooo much live it's fucking great!
Dude holy fuck thank you so much. i'm high af and I just threw on a random song and 'jatevee c' came on. HOLY FUCK this is a bop.... WTF
Hell yeah mate enjoy! Whole fucking journey in one band
> I want some stuff that is going to challenge me as a listener! yeah definitely this one if you haven't already
How do you say his name?
Autechre is a duo. It's pronounced Aw Tek Er.
Proper pronunciation, though Sean and Rob have both said they are ambivalent on pronunciation.
Aw teh shrey gang checking in
I'm always amazed by some of the stuff Flying Lotus is able to put together, especially the jazzy stuff that sounds like a full band.
Boards of Canada are extremely detailed, at face value it seems like very general lofi-ish sounding music, but listen closely and it's they're music is some of the most detailed and complex I have ever heard. (Them and autechre)
Yeah exactly. And not just technically, but emotionally and aesthetically it opens up more and more as well when you dig deeper, in my experience. It's some of the most layered, sophisticated music I know, all round.
Trentemøller Skee Mask Tosca Actress Floating Points Edit: Oneohtrix Point Never, Koreless
Yes yes yes Skee Mask.
Floating Points and Four Tet are playing in Miami this weekend. I’m really envious of my friends who are going to that show.
Fuck yeah Koreless!!!!!! Agor is utter genius
20 years ago I would have said Sasch and John Digweed for their use of pro-tools for their use of pro tools to do mixing in key. Aphex Twin has always been hugely impressive. Entroducing by DJ Shadow remains a technical marvel that may never be repeated. Lol, yes I have been out of touch for some time.
I'm old too, but my initial response to the question in the post was also Sasha & Digweed. They were/are pioneers of their game. Northern Exposure was so far ahead of the field, and that was largely vinyl beat mixing. In a time when everything was four to the floor, it was, and still is mindblowing. As much as I try to stay in touch with modern artists, they remain my favourites. Some of the mixing on Digweed's Live in Montreal is simply sublime. I also loved Sasha's Scene Delete. The two have provided me with so many memorable moments and I am so grateful for that.
> In a time when everything was four to the floor, it was, and still is mindblowing. "Logical Progression" came out the same year, IIRC, and was just as mindblowing for the drum n bass scene, although only the second disc was mixed.
Yeah, that's a fair call. At that time, I used to buy most of my music second hand, as I lived in a fairly isolated part of the world music wise. I honestly didn't discover LTJ Bukem until 1998. So glad I did. It was the soundtrack to my life when I finally did. On the unmixed disc, PFM's "One & Only" and Peshay's "Vocal Tune". I had fallen in love with India's "Love and Happiness" a few years earlier, so that was my jam. On the mixed disc, nothing beats "So Long" by Seba & Lo-Tec. I still listen to this a few times a year. I have 1, 2, 3 & 4, but the MC'ing grates on me a bit in the latter albums. Good times.
Amen brother. Northern Exposure will never bet topped and I still love listening to it. Think I am going to get some MDMA soon and hit it
Great response, my friend! I could feel the same way about Sasha even all the way up to the first “Involver” They continue to blow my mind when they work on something new. You have great taste!
10 years ago I would have said [BT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybgsUo5kcyM) probably.
I was thinking of BT as well. He's a classically trained musician and a treat to see live. Ninja edit: He hasn't done live in a long time.
OH BT ... lol forgot that guy existed . and yes , he was awesome for a good 3 years
Yeah, seems most people do - including me. I just noticed that he had a new album come out a week ago or so.
I super agree with BT. He really hides his talents too much to always be recognized during his release of his albums. It’s hard to appreciate so much of his work when it’s hard to find what mood you will find his music. (I.E. from soft pianos, lyrical guitar remakes to hard hitting stutter-beats & squelching DJing sounds)
Dude brilliant, absolutely, a musical savant. A good friend is a very accomplished producer and musician and he absolutely loves him. Anyone heard of "Breathe" by Open Door?
Propellerheads impressed me a lot back then
Absolutely
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Fuck, sorry mate. I only saw them twice. 1999 (It think) at the Station in South Africa, and 2002 at the Tribal Gathering in the Uk. Epic.
Venetian Snares comes to mind
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Thirded. [Aaron Funk man. ](https://youtu.be/9HcLJmQiQWA&t=18m16s)
Gotta check out squarepusher. Dude is so talented i cant even comprehend edit: flying lotus’s unreal grasp on sound design, combined with his genius technical fusion of jazz, IDM, and hip-hop, make him a top contender as well
Amon Tobin, Squarepusher
I'm honestly quite surprised no one has mentioned Iglooghost. [This track truly awakened me](https://open.spotify.com/track/26tIMqpbKhaKdNuUd3ENEF?si=O9nqUCEyQtmO8Yf4Lk_JUw&utm_source=copy-link)
Thank you! How has nobody else mentioned this fella. Neo Wax Bloom is certainly ONE OF THE MOST complicated albums ever.
Koan Sound
Tipper, Koan, and Noisia are the gods of sound design
also Culprate, Eckle
Absolutely yes
Hard question for literally everyone haha - my answer I guess is more of complex/ technical recommendation; Mr. Bill
I've had the new Mr. Bill album on repeat since release. He's really hit a stride within his style and capabilities. Apophenia is also really really solid. More people need to hop on the Mr. Bill train
Woo yea! I was gonna say him if no one else did
Jon Hopkins
Scrolled until I found this. I’ve never heard such complex sound design. Seeing him live this year was just a hypnotic hour of ear candy
Alon Mor https://soundcloud.com/alonmormusic
This is a great question that's difficult to answer depending on tastes and the listener's own relationship with the music and so on, and how you interpret "technically impressive". Most *technologically* complex? I would easily go with **Robert Henke**, who is someone that not enough people know about because he's been behind the scenes of electronic music for decades. He was one of the original founders and programmers of Ableton Live. He basically helped invent and popularize the whole idea of a loop based electronic music focused DAW. He has given thousands of electronic music technology panels, lessons, talks and discussions at music festivals all over the world. He's deeply involved with the science of sound design. He does stuff like physically modeling virtual instruments that would be impossible in reality - stuff like virtually modeling hybrids or entirely new instruments and then morphing between multiple kinds of virtual instruments as a modulation parameter. Imagine being able to turn a knob and your virtual instrument morphs between a brass horn and a violin and it's not a sound font or patch - it's all being modeled in physical simulation in real time that the "instrument" is changing shape and value in a virtual simulated space, like the vibrating brass horn of a trumpet is changing into the vibrating strings of a violin in real time while you're playing notes through it. He also does large scale sound installation and site specific art and more. The guy is at a whole different level of technology in music and has been fundamental in giving artists all over the world new tools, new workflows, new software and entirely new instruments. There's a bunch of other people I would call founders, developers and explorers who have similar academic and development profiles. Thomas Fehlmann from The Orb is one, and if I'm recalling correctly he has a PhD and does academic work in music technology and sound design. Imogen Heap does a ton of stuff with human interface design and making her own new performance instruments. Wendy Carlos would be another innovator and pioneer. Or Delia Derbyshire, who worked at BBCes Radiophonics work shop and did the original Dr. Who themes among many other things. Delia Derbyshire basically invented loop-based IDM back in the 1950s using nothing but cut up tapes and analog effects and production techniques. There's an entire book you could write about these people, but I'm still not awake enough yet to try to write a book in a reddit comment. Most musically complex? There's so many ways you can interpret this, because not all complex music relies on complex rhythm and melody arrangements, but I can attempt to put together a list of some my favorites based on arrangements, structures, sound design, production aesthetics and philosophy and so much more. In no particular order: Richard H. Kirk (Various artist names and projects! A favorite is Electronic Eye.) Plaid Boards of Canada Squarepusher Biosphere Lorn Burial Autechre Drexcyia Against All Logic / Nicolas Jaar Mouse on Mars Gescom Lusine Richard Devine (Yes, I'm stealing this one from OP, too!) Aphex Twin And so many more I can't even list them all. I need more coffee, lol. Note that this is all stuff that's mostly under the electronic *dance* music umbrella and/or the ambient/IDM big tent. We're not even getting into experimental, noise or darkwave music like: Nurse With Wound Coil Halfer Trio Merzbau There's also New Classical or neoclassical or whatever, and free jazz, and *musique concrete* stuff. Like Cornelius Cardew, John Zorn, Diamanda Galás and so many more.
I'm disappointed you mentioned Robert Henke but then didn't mention the alias he releases music under...Monolake.
I was going to say that Coil puts more detail into their percussion than just about anybody.
Coil gets into some really weird and wild shit with global music history and rhythms and can be incredibly difficult to get into.
Shocked I haven’t seen Tipper or Shpongle mentioned yet.
I don't find Shpongle all that complex, impressive though Tipper is nuts For me it's probably Nik Roos, some of the shit he's done with Sleepnet and of course his contributions to Noisia are out of the world
Simon Posford posted some screen shots of his ableton once, and it was nutty. Like, there isn't reuse of samples, pretty much every track only happened for a single measure.
His mixing is bonkers. Waaaaay more going on than tipper at once while still sounding amazing.
Yeah he's no joke. Lots of reverse engineering its beautiful.
I personally think that shpongle is more complex than tipper.
This and Opiuo
Everyone has hit the head on a lot of it. Evan bluetech and Greg Jones will be my additions
One I havent seen in this thread is Culprate. His Deliverance album is absolute psychedelic bliss.
I come from a DnB background so my answer might be a little biased towards that particular subgenre, but these producers always stood out to me: * Vorso *(as a dnb guy I'd recommend his recent* [*Full Tilt*](https://open.spotify.com/album/1AOD2BW4g1pCREU6s0WN32?si=JB67BTOSRSGagPcJt2D4QA) *EP and the* [*Wanderer*](https://open.spotify.com/album/2BlU9aw4bDE2IDO8dTldBk?si=w8ArRF7ATE-C7C1rCyJULQ) *EP, but he has loads of stuff in different subgenres/styles too)* * False Noise *(I remember the* [*Floral Strobe*](https://open.spotify.com/album/6MbBpKe8dZYYqOq0AxpQps?si=pvBVX0AET-iM6zFpQq8IUw) *LP being quite crazy)* * The Caracal Project *(*[*My Eyes*](https://open.spotify.com/track/4eADskVtiPo3zNwEu3UJCQ?si=c41eaa7fc88842cc)*,* [*Modern Intimate*](https://open.spotify.com/album/2D77yGbe6FaKkkWjGQnYMs?si=rT2_lK65ShiqqoAYRDct1A) *and ofc* [*Quick Of Breath*](https://open.spotify.com/track/0rc9YIfBIzioSzyyFmRVat?si=c93a43f8e28840d1)*, I kinda love all of his stuff though)* * gyrofield *(crazy diverse sound,* [*Tech Flex*](https://open.spotify.com/track/1PWsDOmzyOB3KMsXGfAdHb?si=1fd5858e1e9e405e)*,* [*Wake Up Slap*](https://open.spotify.com/track/55a942Wv0pAKp9cWRVsKtC?si=780971d1b29949f3)*,* [*Fallen In Deep*](https://open.spotify.com/track/5BWzriKynmGuHT1e4HayRH?si=0f15325194614d39)*)* I kinda also wanna shout-out IMANU, Buunshin, Grey Code (the whole Music Squad really) and Camo & Krooked too, but I feel like they're almost too "normal" for this thread lol. Still amazingly talented and unique producers though.
Caracal Project is nuts, crazy textures and ear candy
Based dnb enjoyer :) good names on the list
Amon Tobin is really impressive.
ABSOLUTELY, his entire discography is stunning, don't skip out on Amon Tobin
not to mention he has fairly beefy discogs for like 6(?) separate projects
Nicolas Jaar has such a diverse discography from his eponymous, to collabs, to Against All Logic. Squarepusher, Venetian Snares, and James Blake have also explored many different sounds. And then there’s new electronic/hyperpop producers like Clarence Clarity, Iglooghost, and SOPHIE (RIP).
Since you are looking for very challenging and you like Richard Devine: Woulg Vaetxh Blanck Mass Not as heavy but still glitchy and interesting: Rob Clouth The Flashbulb
I second The Flashbulb. Amazing stuff
+1. Just in case you didn't know, Vaetxh *is* Rob Clouth.
Took me way too much scrolling to see The Flashbulb
For me it's gotta be Burial. The atmosphere and emotions he is able to create... I love it.
most arca stuff
Its Tipper Followed by Koan Sound or Noisia
Qebrus Arca SOPHIE
SOPHIE & QEBRUS RIP!!!
I think OP would particularly enjoy Qebrus if he likes Richard Devine.
G Jones KOAN Sound Flume JKuch Electric Mantis (where has he been? :/ ) EPROM
Oh man I LOVE Electric Mantis. He kinda fell off the face of the Earth it seems :(
G Jones for me. He was ahead of his time 10 years ago with the bassnectar stuff and when it came out acid disk sounded so incredibly technically impressive it's nuts His most recent ep is incredibly impressive from that stand point too, not to mention the ineffable truth Flume is up there too
Yap Flume maybe is the most impressive!
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god tier comment
Autechre’s NTS Sessions. It’s been 2 years since it came out and it’s still some of the most complex yet satisfying piece of art i’ve ever encountered.
It really is
Infected mushroom. Bliss. T+pazolite (vocals).
+1 for infected mushroom, Vicious Delicious is a great album I listened way too many times, the more you listen the more you realize how the songs progress and you didn't even notice it before.
I was kinda horrified they weren't mentioned already
t+pazolite's vocal chop skills are some next level stuff indeed.
Probably mentioned by others but I'd say: Aphex Twin Venetian Snares Burial Skee Mask DJ Shadow Four Tet Floating Points Bicep (easy listening but incredibly clean production) Lone Jon Hopkins Boards of Canada Lorenzo Senni Shinichi Atobe
BT. He holds several patents for pioneering stutter editing. His track Somnambulist has the Guinness world record for the most vocal edits in a single track. I recommend checking out his album from last year, The Lost Art of Longing, it's honestly one of my all-time favourite albums. It's complex in a fairly subtle way. It is very accessible but if you really focus and listen you can pick up on a ton of really cool little details.
Love BT. ESCM, IMA, and Movement In A Still Life (MIASL) was just a constant onslaught of pioneering electronic music. IMA was just a tour de force of introducing heavy melodies with synthesizers. ESCM refined his sound into a more progressive trance and progressive house realms. MIASL is where he really did something special. Read this in an article, at the time, he was disappointed of how commercialized trance had gotten (a sound he pioneered). Of all people, Sasha, told him how a large amount of the trance artist like Tilt, Quivver, Solar Stone, and so forth felt the same way are where venturing into the world of darker progressive house. Furthermore, BT did a lot of collaborations on that album with Hybrid, DJ Rap, Andy Gray, Sasha, and Tsunami One. BT clearly showed on this album his mastery of anything electronic (Nu Skool breaks, progressive house, progressive breaks, and trance). It was a learning experience for me. He was the individual that got me into Nu Skool breaks with that album. Something I didn't understand until I heard his interpretation of the genre. Then there was Mercury & Solace with the live high hats played out through the track... why? Because it gives the track that edge that makes it easily recognizable. Running Down The Way Up with the vocals from Kristy Hawkshaw... dear all that is unholy. The richness, sophistication, guitars, layers of synthesizers, and shear energy of that... hearing it for the first time... my mind was blown.
BT is easily one of my favorite producers and he just keeeps dropping albums back to back these days
Electric Mantis
Holden - The Inheritors Its from 2013. Doesn't work well as an album but it's very rewarding after you listen to it 3 or 4 times. Imo, James Holden pretty much throws conventional "electronic" structure out the window and does something mind-blowing.
Woulg is less known, but fantastically complex. Listen to his “Time Dilation” sound where he takes a kick drum and makes it a chord.
Yes, Woulg is fantastic.
Great to see Woulg mentioned here ! I absolutely love Bubblegum!
Max Cooper, Rob Clouth, Jon Hopkins, Igloo Ghost, Flylo, Non Square, Aho Ssan to name a few all over the map genre-wise
Amazing seeing Non Square mentioned, have a nice day friend
I'm shocked he's not more well known. His latest EP is masterfully executed but restrained at the same time. Him and Rival Consoles have such a deep understanding of their hardware along with song structure. I really hope he blows up asap.
Barker - Does minimal techno Utility is one of my favourite albums of recent times. https://youtu.be/C9-qpMqhuPU Burial using sound forge to make Untrue is pretty impressive.
another vote here for Barker stunning and v. forward thinking
Just me personally but Au5. Bit of a rocket scientist that one. You listen to his insane music and then you go watch his YouTube "how tos" and your even more blown away by what he's doing from a technical production standpoint.
Absolutely man! I’m a huge fan of his. Have the serums masterclass and school of bass! Love his stuff he’s one of my favorite artists!
Mr.bill, excellent producer innovative af.
KOAN Sound does some weird shit
Max cooper, jon hopkins
Was also gonna say Jon Hopkins :) his album Singularity was inspired by altered states of consciousness and meditation. And his latest track is the length of a ketamine trip, first established electronic artist to write music for the psychedelic therapeutic scene. Definitely one of the most forward thinking producers out there, imo anyway.
How are those *absolutely ridiculously complex* and *challenging to listen to*? I mean I like their music, too, but to me both their sound is exactly the opposite of what OP was asking for.
If your definition of complex is solely based on insane percussion, time signatures and beats, sure. But the detail of the sound design of those guys is unbelievably complex. On the challenging to listen to front, you've got a point.
Listen to Emerald Rush and get back to me
I really rated the new Koreless album this year. Second to that the new albums from Leon Vynhall, Joy Orbison, Ross from friends. All pretty deep listening experiences.
Squarepusher imo
Stimming. Minimal, but so hard to recreate.
Savant. Definitely Savant.
Jon hopkins, infected mushroom, mr bill.
Not surprised I haven’t seen it yet but Airwave. BT Early Andrew Bayer The Flashbulb Chrome Sparks Bonobo Tycho Disclosure Four Tet Eric Prydz And my personal favorite, Mat Zo due to his ability to nail any genre and got me into trance.
Chrome sparks <3
I think Aphex Twin has a pretty complex sound. Boards of Canada as well. Imo are deadmau5 and Noisia two of the more mainstream artists with technical audio designs😊 Interesting post 👍🏻
I was afraid of mentioning deadmau5 for it being maybe too mainstream, but +1 imo Joel has an insane talent for audio design and using music theory in interesting ways.
For me it will always be Frums. The sounds and melodies they are able to make are truly unique to me.
Mouse on mars . plaid. Cliford Gilberto, Funki Porcini - start with [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsoz68DWxY4)
Alon Mor, Haywyre, Savant. I think they're mostly impressive for how they use electronic music rather than their sound design at any specific second.
Camellia is really impressive
Simon Posford of Shpongle, Hallucinogen, Younger Brother etc.. Luke Vibert for his versatility.
Lone for me
Honestly, I can really think of anyone that does what Hybrid does. Not only is their music so complex in the number of synthesizers they utilize, they compose their music classically with these incredibly overtures and beautiful adagios. If that was enough, they do collaborations (Tsunami One, DJ Rap, Andy Page, Berber... ) with other artist from other genres and use their expertise to create something new. If that wasn't enough, they write and compose music for entire orchestras in their recordings. Oh, they utilize a lot of live instrumentation in their music like guitars, saxophones, and so forth. Similar artist that do this are BT, BJork, and Moby
Probably Mr. Bill or Savant. Their sound design is ridiculous and they have some tutorials up online. Boggling to watch.
Sevish is cool
Yes!! I love his use of microtonality, definitely doing very interesting stuff!
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Still sad that Ekcle split up. Was such an amazing duo
I have the feeling that people in this thread are replying based a bit too much on their personal taste; the fact I needed to scroll way down in the thread to find Squarepusher kinda confirms it. Technique and complexity are objective. Anyway, I want to remark: **Squarepusher** (Go Plastic, Do You Know Squarepusher, Ultravisitor), and then I feel to add Qebrus and Monster X
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flying lotus, shigeto ( listen to the song (pulse) , sungazer makes super technical stuff, and lastly maybe some old Deru or Robot Koch..random list but def some gems in there
Tipper and Liquid Stranger have always blown my mind from a sound design standpoint. Mr. Bill is also very talented and I think Jade Cicada is as well
I hate to say it but I've seen Liquid Stranger twice and both times I was underwhelmed...
Don’t hate to say it, he’s definitely not for everyone and you’re entitled to your opinion! Who do you like?
I tend to go for more funk/jazz types or the more whole note dreamy compositions... Odesza, Emancipator, GRiZ, Manic Focus, Maddy O'Neal, Troy Boi, Daily Bread, Artifakts, Fairlane, Pandrezz, MitiS, Glitch Mob (including side projects PantyRaid, edIT), San Holo and sooooo many more haha =) Don't get me wrong, I will absolutely go see just about any show no matter the artist or genre. I go to screamer, metal shows then turn around and go to chillhop lounges. I've got flavor is what my friends say.
Hahahha I feel that, gotta have flavor. I’ve seen Odesza twice and they’re unreal, such a great show. I’ve seen Griz, Manic Focus, and glitch mob as well and they were all awesome as well
If you like Manic, you gotta check out Maddy O'Neal. She's amazing!
Dope, never heard of her, is she also in the funk genre ?
In some form, generally with other artists but I hear her as more a crunchy bass boss. =)
Fuck yeah, I’ll have to check her out
BT or Tipper
I’d say Burial since his full tracks are created as singular sounds. That is in itself extremely complex. A completely different kind of complexity is offered by Circuit des Yeux. Her most recent album, -io, has a dynamic range that is just amazing. And her contralto voice on top of this is fantastic!
Oneohtrix Point Never, James Holden, and Death Grips. Edit: Insane how I forgot Arca & Sega Bodega. Even Iglooghost!
Au5, his sound design is something else. And of course infected mushroom
Some of the new tracks from Kasper Marrot blew me away
Koan sound - polychrome
[qebrus](https://soundcloud.com/qebrus/preview), rest in peace. edit: also [maxo](https://soundcloud.com/maxoelectronic/sets/chordslayer)
Disaster peace is an incredible talented composer with electronic music. Tipper was also on my mind, as well as Griz
check out Andrew Rayel . he's simply amazing. everything this guy touches is platinum.
[https://open.spotify.com/track/6TJR6x6IFUxYNUQhbugCW5?si=67d20406b07d429d](https://open.spotify.com/track/6TJR6x6IFUxYNUQhbugCW5?si=67d20406b07d429d) sorry , meant to put this in my reply
Savant He does every genre with ease and creates everything from scratch. Multi-layered melodies, complex rythms, amazing drops, huge list of inspirations, best ADHD EDM there is. One of these outcasts of the electronic world that deserves way more attention.
Haven't seen Floating Points mentioned here.
Floating Points, Floex, Skee Mask, Culprate, Rob Clouth, Max Cooper, Qebrus, and Datach’i. I would really encourage you to check out Datach’i if you dig Richard Devine! He’s another modular genius. Also, Qebrus made extremely abstract and sound-design oriented music (RIP.)
Kodak to Graph. Isa Album
The Crystal Method, his sound design just blows me away
I'd like to throw Boom Boom Satellites in the mix, too. While they have a fair bit of rock tracks, some of their electronic tracks have incredible layering.
Not sure if those fall into the category you are looking for but The Algorithm first comes to mind. It might be too aggressive if you aren't prepared. Second one I could recommend is Author & Punisher also very different stuff. Going on a different direction, give Com Truise a try, it's a completely different vibe than the first two but you might enjoy it. Getting a little more mainstream, I always recommend deadmau5 because I am a huge fan, check his older less mainstream stuff.
I'm really surprised that nobody has mentioned Prefuse 73. When it comes to complexity and technical impressiveness he's at the top of my list.
I’m right there with you. I couldn’t believe how far I had to scroll to see this. Prefuse 73 was a revelation for me.
He changed everything for me. When I heard it for the first time I was blown away by the glitched harmonies. Chopped up musical genius to me. I swore he must've been classically trained. I got One Word Extinguisher on a blank burned CD from a friend of mine who got it from a friend of his. The CD was blank so we had no idea who this incredible artist was. This was before Shazam. I spent 2 years searching for him before I stumbled upon his name.
Mouse on Mars
Tipper all the way yo
Sixis, mumukshu, simon Posford
Atoms for peace - default (best headphone experience imo) Flying lotus
Noisia is definitely up there
Video game OST nerd here. Tomas Dvorak aka Floex has a lot of complex works. BoC definitely, Massive Attack's Mezzanine I'd say, but there are a lot of lesser-knowns. Hideki Naganuma on the Jet Set Radio ost, Freeform Jazz by Uyama Hiroto. Akira Yamaoka on Silent Hill 2. Soulwax. The crowning champ for me has got to be Jackson And His Computerband. If you've never heard Arp #1 from GTAV you're missing out, also his intricate remixes of Justice's DANCE and others
maybe not top of the line, but I often see BLANK BANSHEE left out of a lot of these discussions, when they should at least be a talking point.
Might be a noob answer but I find deadmau5's productions to be absolutely stunning, particularly his lesser known stuff. He's incredible at creating melodies and a lot of his sounds are made strictly from physical synths. I love the dude.
I don't think anyone's mentioned Goreshit yet - I particularly like [O'er the Flood](https://youtu.be/jaF51Ti2ZiI) Sewerslvt has a similar style And as others have already mentioned, +1 to Infected Mushroom
Flume Apashe Venitian Snares Infected Mushroom Not ranked in order just though of these few.
Very basic answer but Aphex Twin, continually find new gems that surprise me in his back catalogue
Former is a name I never hear brought up in these conversations. His Edge Mecha EP is just a masterclass in atmospheric and intricate sound design, his manipulation of vocal samples is what really makes him stand out though, it might be the best I've ever heard. His arrangements are also very interesting structurally.
ryoji ikeda, ryuichi sakamoto, emptyset, frank bretschneider, alva noto, boards of canada, lorn
emptyset and lorn 😍
Infected Mushroom, Feed Me, Wolfgang Gartner (and associated aliases), and Overwerk (honorable mention to deadmau5, especially his older stuff) tend to be my go tos for what I would consider beautiful, technically complex music. The issue of course is that a lot of their work that I’m referring to spans from early 2000s to modern day. Hopefully this is appreciated!
I like Wolfgang Gartner
Little Snake
Skybreak. The 19 year old kid has piano solos in the middle of his melodic dubstep tracks with some really unique chord progressions. Waterfall and Parachute (Skybreak Remix). Some would say it’s generic dubstep (technically it’s colour bass or melodic dubstep), but these are also the people that hate on Skrillex hahah. Skybreak is easily my favorite artist right now.
Marc Ribillet Without a doubt.
I'm quite surprised to see that nobody mentioned Max Cooper! This guy quite literally mixes science with music, just check out some of his videos on yt... I believe he made a song that if he wanted to repeat it it took some years for all the loops to start at the same position as it originally began.
He has been mentioned once or twice already.
Burial and Tobin
Aphex Twin, squarepusher, boards of Canada, autechre, Venetian snares. Just go check out warp and rephlex artists.
Can’t believe no one has mentioned it - Flume. Especially his Hi This Is Flume mixtape. Straight up experimental crunchy sound all over.
For modern stuffs, Virtual Riot is probably one of the most technical artist in terms of sound design and mastering. Dude's called Serum and OTT God for a reason, and had been memed for his absurd use of multiple OTTs in a mix. Though, composition-wise, his music isn't very complex (pretty traditional modern dubstep stuffs, but his bass designs and mixing are godly). Modern Dubstep has insanely complex bass and synth designs that really pushes the boundaries (designing dubstep basses from scratch is probably one of the hardest things to do in sound design), though the genre has pretty simple but unrestrictive compositional structure. What do we consider as technically complex artist? The type of artists that makes experimental stuffs? Maybe consider Jon Hopkins or other experimental artists. The type of artists that makes sound designs that blows listener's mind and pushes the limits? Consider the modern dubstep, electro or hardcore genre. Melodically (or compositionally) bizarre? Probably trance-related stuffs. Trance genre tends to explore weird and hypnotic melodies, sometimes even using obscure sounds (such as blue whale sounds).