Electro house

(Redirected from Electro House)

Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute.[1] The term has been used to describe the music of many DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5.[2][3][4]

Characteristics

edit

Simon Reynolds described electro house, as a style attributed to artists like Zedd, Erol Alkan and Bloody Beetroots.[5] Electro-house is typified by its heavy bass.[6] This is often in the form of buzzing basslines,[6] such as those created with sawtooth waves and distortion.[7] It is also often in the form of large bass drum sounds[6] in a four-on-the-floor pattern.[7] The tempo of electro house is usually between 125 and 135 beats per minute.[1] Electro house sometimes resembles tech house,[8] but it can contain melodic elements[1] and electro-influenced samples and synths.[8] In contrast, Reynolds stated the genre had "little relationship with either house or electro".[5]

History

edit

Reynolds described the sound as being influenced by Discovery by Daft Punk and further developed by Justice and Digitalism.[5] The sound was popularized in the United States by deadmau5 and noted the style's distinct style had a "dirty bass" with "grinding and whirring sawtooth b-lines".[5]

By 2011, the word "electro" had come to be seen as an adjective denoting "hard electronic dance music".[9]

Early songs that have been labelled retroactively as electro house include "Dark Invader" (1996) by Arrivers and "Raw S*it" (1997) by Basement Jaxx.[10] Mr. Oizo's "Flat Beat" (1999) has also been considered an early example of the genre.[11]

Andy Kellman of AllMusic described "Satisfaction" (2002) by Italian DJ Benny Benassi as being a precursor to electro-house.[12][13] By the mid-2000s, electro house saw an increase in popularity.[1] In November 2006, electro house tracks "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" by Fedde Le Grand and the D. Ramirez remix of "Yeah Yeah" by Bodyrox and Luciana held the number one and number two spots, respectively, in the UK Top 40 singles charts.[14] Since then, electro house producers such as Feed Me, Knife Party, The M Machine, Porter Robinson, Yasutaka Nakata[15] and Dada Life have emerged.

Subgenres

edit

Big room

edit

In the early 2010s, a type of electro house known as big room began to develop, particularly gaining popularity through EDM-oriented events and festivals. Big room songs resemble Dutch house, often incorporating drops, minimalist percussion, regular beats, sub-bass layered kicks, simple melodies and synth-driven breakdowns.[16][17] The layout of a big room track is very similar to the layout of a typical electro house song.

Complextro

edit

Complextro is typified by glitchy, intricate basslines and textures created by sharply cutting between instruments in quick succession.[18][19] The term, a portmanteau of the words "complex" and "electro",[18][19][20] was coined by Porter Robinson to describe the music he was making in 2010.[20][21] He has cited video game sounds, or chiptunes, as an influence on his music along with 1980s analog synth music.[22] Other producers of the genre include Adventure Club, Kill the Noise, Feed Me, Knife Party, The M Machine, Madeon,[18] Mord Fustang, Savant, Virtual Riot, Deadmau5 and Wolfgang Gartner.

Dutch house

edit

Dutch house, sometimes referred to as 'Dirty Dutch', is a style of electro house that originated in the Netherlands and found prominence by 2009,[23] mainly pioneered by Vato Gonzalez, Afrojack and DJ Chuckie. It is primarily defined by complex rhythms made from Latin-influenced drum kits, a lower emphasis on basslines and squeaky, high-pitched lead synths. Influences on the subgenre include Detroit techno, hip hop and other urban styles of music.[24]

Fidget house

edit

Fidget house, or fidget, is "defined by snatched vocal snippets, pitch-bent dirty basslines and rave-style synth stabs over glitchy 4/4 beats."[25] It contains influences from Chicago house, Detroit techno, Baltimore club, Kuduro and hip hop.[25] Purveyors of the genre include The Bloody Beetroots, AC Slater, Danger, Hervé, Jack Beats and Switch. The term fidget house was coined by DJs/producers Jesse Rose and Switch, "as a joke, which has now gone a little too far."[25]

Melbourne bounce

edit

Melbourne bounce is a subgenre of electro house originating in Melbourne, Australia, characterized by the progression from the uptempo, horn-infused Dutch house style, tech trance synths, electro house stabs, and scouse house-influenced bass lines,[26] sometimes also including elements of acid house, psytrance.[27] The genre is generally characterized by a standard 128 bpm, although in some cases up to 150 bpm.The term has been used to describe the 2012 to 2016 music of some DJ/producers, including Deorro, Joel Fletcher, Will Sparks, Vinai, and TJR. It is composed of bouncy offbeat bass, whiny vocal cut/saw[clarification needed] lead, raucous horns, 8-bar snare fills before the drop.[28] It often features a repetitive beat structure with some amount of build-ups and mild drops throughout. It started as a cross between elements, and underground Melbourne house/minimal style. Melbourne Bounce gained popularity around mid to late 2012 and had a steady rise from 2013. In 2014, productions of Joel Fletcher, Will Sparks, and Uberjak'd were playing both domestically and internationally, and influencing the EDM style of Steve Aoki, TJR, and more.[29]

Further development

edit

Jungle terror

edit

Jungle terror is a music genre that developed in the 2010s. It is often described as a "chaotic" mix of house with grime and drum 'n' bass rhythms.[30] There are also animal noises as well as vocal cuts and percussions. The Dutch DJ and music producer Wiwek is named as the founder of the genre,[31] who made the style popular in the EDM scene between 2013 and 2016. Skrillex, Diplo and KURA are also associated with the genre.

Moombahton

edit

Moombahton came as a mixture of slowed-down Dutch house and reggaeton.[32] Its identifying characteristics include "a thick, spread-out bass line; some dramatic builds; and a two-step pulse, with quick drum fills",[33] but it has "no real rules beyond working within a 108 bpm range."[34] A portmanteau of "moombah" and "reggaeton", moombahton was created by DJ Dave Nada when he slowed down the tempo of the Afrojack remix of the Silvio Ecomo & Chuckie song "Moombah" to please party-goers with tastes in reggaeton.[33] Other producers of the genre include Dillon Francis, Diplo and Munchi.[34]

Moombahcore is a style of moombahton with elements of breakcore, dubstep, techstep and newstyle hardcore.[35][36] Characteristics of the genre include chopped vocals, dubstep-influenced bass sounds and extensive build-ups.[36] Artists who have produced moombahcore include Delta Heavy, Dillon Francis, Feed Me, Knife Party, and Noisia.

See also

edit

Notes and references

edit
  1. ^ a b c d "Electro House". Beat Explorers' Dance Music Guide. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Electro House rose to prominence in the early to mid 00's as a heavier alternative to other house subgenres that were prevalent at the time. [...] Electro House usually sits somewhere between 125–135 bpm and tracks are arranged in a way that gives a large focus on the climax or drop. This usually contains a heavy bassline, and frequently includes melodic elements to help establish cohesion within the track.
  2. ^ Edwards, Owen. "Skrillex". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015.
  3. ^ Lester, Paul (1 September 2011). "Skrillex (No 1,096)". New band of the day. London: The Guardian. Retrieved 25 August 2012. ... Skrillex, a 23-year-old electro-house/dubstep producer ...
  4. ^ Roullier, Ian. "Steve Aoki". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2015. Steve Aoki's stock has risen once again over the past 12 months as he continues to perform the biggest, most audacious EDM sets across the globe and pump out his stomping, strutting electro house productions.
  5. ^ a b c d Reynolds, Simon (2013). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (New and Revised ed.). Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0571289141.
  6. ^ a b c "Electro House". DI Radio. Digitally Imported. Buzzing basslines, huge kicks, party rocking drops. House music packed full of gigantic bass and massive synths.
  7. ^ a b Suhonen, Petri (11 October 2011). "How To Create Electro House Style Bass". How to Make Electronic Music. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Music Definitions – House music : styles". DJ Cyclopedia. 3345. Archived from the original on 10 July 2005. Electro house : Sometimes resembles tech house, but often influenced by the 'electro' sound of the early 1980s, a.k.a. breakdancing music, via samples or just synthesizer usage.
  9. ^ Lopez, Korina (13 December 2011). "Electronic dance music glossary". USA Today. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2012. Electro: 'It's meant so many things in the last 30 years. Originally, it meant futuristic electronic music and was used to describe Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaataa. Now, it means hard electronic dance music.' Electro can be used as an adjective, such as electro-house and electro-pop.
  10. ^ "Electro House". Beatport. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Flat Beat". Beatport. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  12. ^ music2electro. "Electro House of Style Music". HubPages. Many people want to find out exactly where did this style of music emerge from. There isn't any factual evidence to prove anything. As with most music history, it isn't certain. ... It is noted that about ten years ago there was a large revolutionary time in electro music being mixed with pop. At the same time tech house was gaining popularity. When the two were mixed that is when Electro House came to be the way it is now. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ David Jeffries. "Benny Benassi". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  14. ^ "UK Top 40 Hit Database". everyHit.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  15. ^ "Perfume Interview" (in Japanese). bounce.com. 7 February 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2009. (English translation)
  16. ^ "Swedish DJs Daleri Mock EDM Cliche With Hilarious Viral Mini-Mix 'Epic Mashleg'". Spin. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  17. ^ "EDM Will Eat Itself: Big Room stars are getting bored". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  18. ^ a b c Barboza, Trenton. "What is Complextro? An Emerging Genre Explained". Voices. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2012. The genre's name is a combination of the words 'Complex' and 'Electro' creating 'Complextro.' Producing this form of music is incredibly intricate and often requires a large amount of instruments that are layered close to each other within a piece of music sequencing software. This often results in a glitch, giving the genre its unique feel. ... Complextro is slowly gaining worldwide popularity due to high profile electronic producers such as Skrillex, Porter Robinson, and Crookers.
  19. ^ a b Nutting, P.J. (21 April 2011). "Electronic Music... through 18-year-old eyes". Boulder Weekly. Retrieved 25 June 2012. It is said to have elements of dubstep and fidget house.Like conducting for a punchy electro orchestra, each 'instrument' gets a moment of focus before leaping to another, uniting them all in a compelling way. YouTube generation musicologists have dubbed this sound 'complextro' (a mash-up of 'complex' and 'electro') ...
  20. ^ a b "Tweet by Porter Robinson". when i made [the word 'complextro'], i wanted a portmanteau to describe my sound. complex+electro=complextro. it has since become the name of the style
  21. ^ "Porter Robinson: Skrillex's Best Advice – Lollapalooza 2012 – YouTube". YouTube. 6 August 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  22. ^ Hurt, Edd (28 June 2012). "Electro wunderkind and self-described 'complextro' Porter Robinson recognizes no technological constraints". Nashville Scene. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  23. ^ "Dutch House Music". Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  24. ^ Dirty Dutch (17 July 2012). "Dirty Dutch moves from RAI to Ziggo Dome". Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2012. Known for their fusion of musical genres such as house, hip-hop, electro, urban and techno showcasing both Dutch and internationally acclaimed artists alike, the Dirty Dutch events have escalated to accommodate the huge demand, consistently selling out to tens of thousands of partygoers.
  25. ^ a b c McDonnell, John (8 September 2008). "Welcome to the fidget house". Music Blog. London: The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2012. ... fidget house – a joke term made up a few years ago by Switch and Jesse Rose... Fidget producers like to think of themselves as global music connoisseurs, hand-picking bits from genres such as Chicago house, rave, UK garage, US hip-hop, Baltimore club, Kuduro and other "authentic" world music genres.
  26. ^ Stevo (14 November 2013). "10 Melbourne Bounce Tracks To Listen To". EDM Sauce. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  27. ^ "10 Melbourne Bounce DJs You Need to Know". Complex. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  28. ^ bgboss (28 May 2015). "Did Melbourne Bounce Really Start In Melbourne?". BassGorilla.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  29. ^ "Why Melbourne Bounce Could Have Survived And Thrived". Stoney Roads. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  30. ^ "Jungle Terror? Dark Disco? The Weird World of Dance Subgenres". Billboard. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  31. ^ Plaugic, Lizzie (17 March 2016). "A conversation with Wiwek, the Dutch producer who invented 'jungle terror'". The Verge. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  32. ^ Yenigun, Sami (18 March 2011). "Moombahton: Born In D.C., Bred Worldwide". The Record. NPR Music. Retrieved 25 August 2012. ... Moombahton is a cross between Dutch house music and reggaeton.
  33. ^ a b Fischer, Jonathan L. (24 December 2010). "Our Year in Moombahton: How a local DJ created a genre, and why D.C.'s ascendant dance scene couldn't contain it". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 17 November 2011. The sound has a few basic identifying characteristics: A thick, spread-out bass line; some dramatic builds; and a two-step pulse, with quick drum fills.
  34. ^ a b Patel, Puja. "Hot New Sound: Moombahton Goes Boom!". Spin. Retrieved 16 February 2012. Nada says Moombahton has 'no real rules beyond working within a 108 bpm range.' ... Munchi, a 21-year-old Dutchman who released heavily club-influenced Moombahton tracks ...
  35. ^ "EDM king Dillon Francis is MTV's latest Artist to Watch". Rachel Brodsky. MTV News. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017. Yep, Dillon remixes ultra-famous songs (uh, hello Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie"!), DJs, creates original work, helped found two little movements called "moombahton" (a fusion of house and reggaeton) and "moombahcore" (a variation of moombahton only infusing other weird phrases like gabber (newstyle hardcore), breakcore, techstep, and brostep), and he was our special correspondent at last spring's Hangout Fest!
  36. ^ a b "Moombahcore". Freaky Loops. Loopmasters. Retrieved 25 August 2012. The sound proved irresistible on the dance floor – slow and sexy like reggaeton, but hard-edged like electro house even dubstep at the same time. ... Characteristics of the Moombahcore; chopped vocals, monster dubstep basses, extended and enhanced build-ups and the introduction of fat kicks and percussion elements.