Electro house
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Electro house is a subgenre of house music that rose to become one of the most prominent genres of electronic dance music today. Stylistically, it combines the four to the floor beats commonly found in house music with harmonically rich analogue basslines, abrasive high-pitched leads and the occasional piano or string riff. The tempo of electro house ranges approximately from 120 to 135 bpm. Electrotech is a darker variation of electro house mixed with the sound of tech house.
The use of the word "electro" to describe this style of modern house music is contentious, and creates an ambiguity between electro house and classic electro, with which it bears little resemblance.
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History
Roots
The most obvious precursor to the modern electro house scene is the electroclash movement of the early 2000s; largely a re-run of the early 1980s synth pop sound, but deliberately made cruder and more raw-sounding than the primitive records on which it was based. More recently, some of the artists and labels involved with the sound, such as Crosstown Rebels, have found a new direction in electro house. Some artists associated with the electroclash movement, such as Felix da Housecat, noticeably used elements of house in their music at the time and have since come to be seen as highly influential. French house has also been considered an influence.
Previously and concurrent to electroclash, tech house was developing. Traditionally, the most noticeable influences of tech house were from Detroit techno, such as sweeping strings and 909 beats, but it developed a dirtier sound in the early 2000s, owing largely to a trend of acid house revival, shown by artists such as David Duriez and the Brique Rouge label. Another profound house artist from the past, Satoshi Tomiie, has helped to shape the typical sound of electro house by adding his own blend of NY-groove styled musical elements to further influence and enhance the musical sound of this genre. His influence on electro house begins back in the 1989 with the affiliation to the famous high-society DJ Frankie Knuckles and Satoshi Tomiie is still currently playing a substantial role in the composition of the electro house sound.Template:Fact
In 2003 some tribal house DJs such as Steve Lawler, while previously associated with the darker-hued sounds of progressive house, began to use analogue basslines, starting a sound dubbed 'dirty tribal'. Concurrently, the breakbeat scene was creating similar sounds with the popular tech-funk style. It was around this time that electro house properly began to emerge.
Electro house today
The sound became steadily more popular throughout 2006. Bodyrox's single "Yeah Yeah" featuring Luciana was labelled by several BBC Radio 1 DJs "the biggest tune of the summer of 2006", and the remix by D.Ramirez gained worldwide popularity, particularly in the Ibiza clubbing scene. Another key point was when Tocadisco's remix of "Walking Away" by The Egg gained significant media coverage after being featured on a television advertisement for the Citroën C4. A mashup of the track with "Love Don't Let Me Go" by David Guetta was also later released as a single, which reached #1 in the charts in Spain and #3 in the UK.
As of 2007, the sound has been recognised as one of the most dominant movements in house music, surpassing funky house in popularity, with a large range of DJs and producers finding an interest in its dancefloor sensibilities and sense of fun, such as Dave Seaman from the progressive house scene; Tiefschwarz and Ben Watt who previously played deep house, Steve Lawler from the tribal sound, Wutam & J-Break from the breakbeat scene, and popular Ibiza club DJ Lisa Lashes who is most known for her work in hard dance. Dave Spoon and Lisa Maffia also proved electro house could be well received by the mainstream audience with the song "Bad Girl at Night". Electro house has also introduced electronic music to the indie rock scene through its links to the new rave and disco-punk movement. Artists such as Digitalism, Justice, Soulwax, The Whip, and MSTRKRFT have pioneered a new sound in electro house which crosses over with new rave and alternative and indie rock, as well as its electroclash roots.
Proponents of this genre
Some artists and disc jockeys that support this type of music include: Robbie Rivera, Maurizio Gubellini, Spencer&Hill, Erick Morillo, Steve Angello, Joe Shiba, Joachim Garraud, David Guetta, Bob Sinclar, Victor Magan, Sebastian Ingrosso, Arno Cost, Karim Mika, Luca Peruzzi, Dim Chris, Bodyrox, Axwell, Martin Solveig, Deadmau5, Eric Prydz, Bart B More, Niche Line, Mason, Mickey Slim, Kurd Maverick, Dirty South, Chris Lake, Laidback Luke, Justice and many more.
