MOTM

Hoo boy.  Did you ever make a mistake, asking this on a list with me on
it.  All the prog rock fans will probably get together to beat me
senseless now.  :)

> 1) Need some more (sigh) techno/dance/less-than-26-years-old music. I have
> some Orbital, Chemical Bros, M.B.F. but those are so like "yesterday"!
> Suggestions?

The UK label Warp has put out many innovative and influential albums in a
genre which is perhaps best described as "Intelligent Dance Music".
Availability as domestic (read: cheap) releases varies.  Warp is no longer
"underground" enough for some hip-snobs, but they still release
consistently good music.  The following in particular should be considered
required listening:
  Autechre - everything (best in chronological order: Incunabula,
Basscadet EP, Anti EP, Amber, Anvil Vapre, Garbage, Tri Repetae, Envane,
Chiastic Slide, Cichlisuite, Autechre, Peel Sessions, EP7)  It is
impossible to overstate how brilliant this band is.  Like Led Zeppelin,
they are the apotheosis of their genre: they make all their successors and
many of their predecessors sound like Autechre imitations.
  Aphex Twin - everything, especially Selected Ambient Works II and
Richard D. James Album.  No two Aphex releases are alike, so try a few
before you write him off as a pompous egomaniac (he is that, but it's hard
to tell how much of his cult of personality is parody).

Other highly recommended artists in the intelligent dance music/ambient
electronics spectrum, listed from "least ambient" to "most ambient":
  Squarepusher (Warp) - pick and choose; jazz fans will dig the later
stuff more, particularly Music is Rotted One Note and Budakhan Mindphone.
  Meat Beat Manifesto (Nothing, at least lately) - great fun, high-energy
reggae-and-jazz-influenced Chicago dub-techno, with vocals.  Actual Sounds
and Voices is a gem.
  Mouse on Mars (Thrill Jockey) - it's hard to call this stuff cheesy
because, although they make wack funny dance music, it conveys such a
spirit of good fun.  They're so happy looking in concert.
  Future Sound of London (Astralwerks) - tends toward the overproduced and
histrionic occasionally, but several discs are worth a listen:  Dead
Cities, the Lifeforms EP, and ISDN.
  Orb (Island) - one of the first ambient-dance acts and still one of the
best, despite commercial success.  Orbvs Terrarvm is indescribable.
Albums before and after are more conventionally dancey.
  Pole (Kiff) - goooood deep semi-beatless ambient dub.  The name comes
from a busted Waldorf 4-Pole filter that produces his trademark fuzzy pops
and clicks.
  Pan Sonic (formerly Panasonic before they got sued; Mute/Blast First) -
a couple of Finns making dance music out of ... clicks and beeps and
subsonics and 10 kHz test tones???  Not easy listening but rewarding.
  Boards of Canada (Warp/Skam) - kind of cutesy, but in a nice way.
  Bola (Skam) - just one album so far but it's dynamite.
  Oval (Thrill Jockey) - interesting sounds (granular synthesis?).
Supposedly he's going to release his software on the next album.
Systemisch is particularly recommended.
  Seefeel (Astralwerks, Warp, Rephlex) and side project Disjecta (Warp) -
brilliantly hypnotic soundscapes ranging from poppy guitar/vocal mixes
(the old stuff on Astralwerks - like a nicer My Bloody Valentine) to
harsher synthetic space noises (later stuff).
  Experimental Audio Research [E.A.R.] (various labels) - beatless Serge
noodling, done well.  Whenever this guy tries to do beatful music (under
names Spacemen 3, Spectrum), it's terrible.  Beyond the Pale is especially
good.

A few other projects I've been listening to lately which fit more under
"experimental/noise" than "electronic/ambient" :
  Aube (various labels) - I picked up a disc called "Flash" which is
processed output from fluorescent lights and glow lamps.  Not casual fare
but interesting nonetheless.
  Controlled Bleeding (various labels, lately Hypnotic) - This act has
been in business since 1983 and has experimented with many different
genres.  Ranges from not quite okay to excellent (The Drowning, Songs from
the Vault).
  Coil (various labels) - veterans of experimental, I'd have more of their
stuff if it weren't $27 a disc.

I'm sure this was more than you wanted to know *grin*  There's so much
throwaway trash in dance sections, it's hard to find intelligent music.
All the artists I've listed are ones I find myself coming back to again
and again.

peace,
Chris