Electro house

Photograph of three DJs performing a set
Three genre-crossing representatives: Porter Robinson (left), Zedd (center) and Skrillex (right) at South by Southwest, 2012

Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass, prominent melodic riffs and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, including David Guetta, Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, Porter Robinson and Deadmau5. It is generally described in terms that contrast its energy, melody and appeal to party crowds with more restrained and serious tech house and minimal techno which it is closely related to.

Characteristics

Simon Reynolds described electro house's distinct style as having a "dirty bass" with "grinding and whirring sawtooth b-lines", noting this in artists like Zedd, Erol Alkan and Bloody Beetroots. That bass has often been cited as key to the sound; it is often in the form of buzzing basslines, such as those created with sawtooth waves with added distortion. It is also often in the form of large bass drum sounds in a four-on-the-floor pattern. The tempo of electro house is usually between 125 and 135 beats per minute. Electro house sometimes resembles tech house, but is more likely to prominently contain melodic elements including synth pop and electronic rock-influenced samples and synths. In contrast, Reynolds stated the genre had "little relationship with either house or electro".

History


The influences that came together to make electro house have been traced to the same turn of the millennium roots as electroclash. Early tracks that have been suggested as proto electro house include "Dark Invader" (1996) by Arrivers and "Raw Shit" (1997) by Basement Jaxx. Beatportal's Definitive History of House Music says "As a reaction against the slickness of trance and filter house, people started gravitating to... big, silly bangers" in the late 1990s, citing Zombie Nation’s "Kernkraft 400" (1999), The Timo Maas remix of Azzido Da Bass’s "Doom’s Night" (2000) and Mr Oizo’s "Flat Beat" (1999), as well as tracks specifically associated with electroclash like Fischerspooner’s "Emerge" (2001) and Green Velvet’s "La La Land" (2001), all as precursors to electro house. Simon Reynolds has particularly noted influence from Daft Punk's 2001 Discovery album via fellow French acts Justice and Digitalism.

Many critics including Andy Kellman of AllMusic and Carlos Lopez of EDM Identity have pinpointed "Satisfaction" (2002) by Italian DJ Benny Benassi as being the track which defined the sound which would become codified as electro house. The British promoter John Burgess, whose Bugged Out club was an early adopter of the sound and showcased acts like Erol Alkan, also refers to Ewan Pearson’s remix of Freeform Five's "Perspex Sex" (2002) as a key early track.

Get Physical, founded in Berlin in 2002 by DJ T., M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade, issued early records such as DJ T.’s "Electrofied" (2002) and M.A.N.D.Y.’s "No Stoppin’" (2003). DJ T. was later credited with helping create the label’s "electro-house sound", and Pitchfork retrospectively described "No Stoppin’" as one of M.A.N.D.Y.’s "best electro-house stormers". Cologne's Kompakt label, though generally described at the time as techno, minimal or microhouse also started incorporating more melodic riffs and hooks. Looking back in a January 2006 interview, Kompakt co-founder Michael Mayer described this as minimal techno having "learned something from electroclash in terms of discovering song structures, melodies and lyrics", characterising this as "more colourful in general", and the label’s single "Prototype" by Rex The Dog (2004) in particular has since been described as electro house.

There was no stable genre name through this period: John Burgess suggests "electro house" was used on flyers from 2003 but the records were described variously in record stores and reviews as "tech house", "electro tech" and other names. However by late 2005 the major dance music publications were consistently using "electro house" as a genre name.

2006 was the breakthrough year for electro house and in November of that year 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. The sound was hugely popularised by Deadmau5 in North America, with his tracks regularly being included in electro house playlists - forming a key influence on the birth of EDM. By 2011, the word "electro" had come to be seen as an adjective denoting "hard electronic dance music". Since then, electro house producers such as Feed Me, Knife Party, The M Machine, Porter Robinson, Yasutaka Nakata and Dada Life have emerged.

Subgenres

Big room

In the early 2010s, a type of electro house known as big room began to develop, thanks to artists like Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Martin Garrix, Blasterjaxx, Bassjackers, Hardwell, Ummet Ozcan and W&W, particularly gaining popularity through EDM-oriented events and festivals like Tomorrowland and Ultra. Big room songs resemble Dutch house, often incorporating drops, minimalist percussion, regular beats, sub-bass layered kicks, simple melodies and synth-driven breakdowns. The layout of a big room track is very similar to the layout of a typical electro house song.

Complextro

Complextro is typified by glitchy, intricate basslines and textures created by sharply cutting between instruments in quick succession. The term, a portmanteau of the words "complex" and "electro", was coined by Porter Robinson to describe the music he was making in 2010. He has cited video game sounds, or chiptunes, as an influence on his music, along with 1980s analog synth music.

While Robinson was the first to give the subgenre a name, he was not the creator of the general sound. No one musician can be solely considered the genre's progenitor, but its earliest origins can likely be attributed to Justice, who combined the French house style popularized by Daft Punk with the faster and more aggressive sounds emerging in electronic music in Europe. Songs like their 2005 Waters of Nazareth typify the sounds that would later become popular in complextro.

Like the sonically similar brostep subgenre, a precise definition of "complextro" is difficult to state, because of its initial popularity on the Internet (rather than in clubs) and several other factors. Notably, complextro gained popularity on YouTube gaming channels and was also used in commercials, exposing the genre to a broader audience that didn't otherwise listen to as much electronic music. Additionally, the term was often derided or used disparagingly on forums by fans of electro house or other electronic music who didn't like the new genre's sound or its fanbase. Further complicating the usage of the term was the fact that many artists who made "brostep" also produced complextro or sonically similar music, often using the same sound design techniques in both genres. A good example of this is Skrillex's Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP, which featured two complextro songs (Rock 'n' Roll and Kill Everybody) and two "brostep" songs (Scary Monsters and Scatta).

Other popular producers of the genre include Cash Cash, Adventure Club, Kill the Noise, Feed Me, Knife Party, The M Machine, Madeon, Mord Fustang, Savant, Virtual Riot, Wolfgang Gartner. However, the genre has recently been seeing a resurgence in the 2020s, mainly with smaller SoundCloud artists.[citation needed]

Dutch house

Dutch house, sometimes referred to as 'Dirty Dutch', is a style of electro house that originated in the Netherlands and found prominence by 2009, mainly pioneered by producers like Sidney Samson, Vato Gonzalez, Afrojack, The Partysquad, Alvaro, Hardwell 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.

Fidget house

Fidget house, or fidget, is "defined by snatched vocal snippets, pitch-bent dirty basslines and rave-style synth stabs over glitchy 4/4 beats." It contains influences from Chicago house, Detroit techno, Baltimore club, Kuduro and hip hop. Purveyors of the genre include Sinden, 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."

Melbourne bounce

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, sometimes also including elements of acid house or psytrance. 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. 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.

Further development

Jungle terror

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. 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, who made the style popular in the EDM scene between 2013 and 2016. Skrillex, Diplo and KURA are also associated with the genre.

Moombahton

Moombahton came as a mixture of slowed-down Dutch house and reggaeton. Its identifying characteristics include "a thick, spread-out bass line; some dramatic builds; and a two-step pulse, with quick drum fills", but it has "no real rules beyond working within a 108 bpm range." 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. Other producers of the genre include Dillon Francis, Diplo and Munchi.

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

See also

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 "Electro House". Beat Explorers' Dance Music Guide. Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. 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. 1 2 3 4 "Electro House". DI Radio. Digitally Imported. Buzzing basslines, huge kicks, party rocking drops. House music packed full of gigantic bass and massive synths.
  3. ↑ Edwards, Owen. "Skrillex". DJ Mag. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015.
  4. ↑ 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 ...
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. 1 2 Muggs, Joe (2 June 2021). "Beatport's Definitive History of House Music". www.beatportal.com. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
    1. ↑ From there, it was a short skip and a jump to Benny Benassi’s “Satisfaction”, Bodyrox’s “Yeah Yeah”, Fedde Le Grand’s “Put Your Hands up for Detroit” and a re-energised David Guetta on “Love Don’t Let me Go” at the populist end, and Tiefschwarz’s “Issst”, Vitalic’s “Poney”, Ed Banger hits like Justice’s “Waters of Nazareth”, Boys Noize’s “Volta82”, Kompakt releases like Rex The Dog’s immense “Prototype”, and any number of Erol Alkan remixes like Alter Ego’s “Rocker” for cooler kids, who provided a punkier, more energetic, unpretentious alternative to the Ibiza/Berlin minimalism of the mid ‘00s.
  7. ↑ "Beatport's Definitive History of Tech House | Beatportal". www.beatportal.com. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Burgess, John (25 November 2014). "Bugged Out at 20: electro-house, minimal techno and the first glow of new rave". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 Reynolds, Simon (2013). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (New and Revised ed.). Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0571289141.
  10. 1 2 Suhonen, Petri (11 October 2011). "How To Create Electro House Style Bass". How to Make Electronic Music. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  11. 1 2 "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.
  12. ↑ "Electro House". Beatport. Retrieved 15 December 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ↑ 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)
  14. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Benny Benassi". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  15. ↑ Lopez, Carlos (22 April 2018). "What We Like | Electro House". EDM Identity. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Castillo, Arielle (18 November 2009). "DJ T". Miami New Times. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  17. ↑ Finney, Tim. "Various Artists: 5 Years Get Physical". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  18. ↑ O'Neil, Tim (2 November 2005). "Various Artists: Total 6 » PopMatters". Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  19. ↑ Turenne, Martin (1 January 2006). "Schaffel Beat Resucitates Techno". Exclaim!.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ↑ P, Dave (18 November 2015). "Songs We Love: Rex The Dog, 'Musik Hypnotises'". WBAA. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  21. ↑ "Rex the Dog — Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
  22. ↑ "What We Like | Electro House | EDM Identity". 22 April 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  23. ↑ "Chris Lake Changes to an Alternative Route · News ⟋ RA". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  24. ↑ "UK Top 40 Hit Database". everyHit.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  25. ↑ Various Artists: Electro Hous... Tracks & Reviews | AllMusic, retrieved 15 October 2026
  26. ↑ 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.
  27. ↑ "Perfume Interview" (in Japanese). bounce.com. 7 February 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2009. (English translation)
  28. ↑ "Swedish DJs Daleri Mock EDM Cliche With Hilarious Viral Mini-Mix 'Epic Mashleg'". Spin. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  29. ↑ "EDM Will Eat Itself: Big Room stars are getting bored". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  30. 1 2 3 Barboza, Trenton. "What is Complextro? An Emerging Genre Explained". Voices. Yahoo!. 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  31. 1 2 Nutting, P.J. (21 April 2011). "Electronic Music... through 18-year-old eyes". Boulder Weekly. Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. 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') ...
  32. 1 2 "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
  33. ↑ "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.
  34. ↑ Hurt, Edd (28 June 2012). "Electro wunderkind and self-described 'complextro' Porter Robinson recognizes no technological constraints". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 28 July 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  35. ↑ Overtime (video recording) (YouTube video). Proximity. 7 January 2013.
  36. ↑ Style Never Goes Out Of Style (video recording) (YouTube video). Toyota. 6 September 2013.
  37. ↑ Golden, Ean. "DJ Tech Tools forums". DJ Tech Tools. Ean Golden. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  38. ↑ Liquid, Team. "Team Liquid". TLnet. TLnet. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  39. ↑ "Dutch House Music". Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  40. ↑ 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.
  41. 1 2 3 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.
  42. ↑ Stevo (14 November 2013). "10 Melbourne Bounce Tracks To Listen To". EDM Sauce. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  43. ↑ "10 Melbourne Bounce DJs You Need to Know". Complex. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  44. ↑ bgboss (28 May 2015). "Did Melbourne Bounce Really Start In Melbourne?". BassGorilla.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  45. ↑ "Why Melbourne Bounce Could Have Survived And Thrived". Stoney Roads. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  46. ↑ "Jungle Terror? Dark Disco? The Weird World of Dance Subgenres". Billboard. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  47. ↑ Plaugic, Lizzie (17 March 2016). "A conversation with Wiwek, the Dutch producer who invented 'jungle terror'". The Verge. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  48. ↑ 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.
  49. 1 2 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.
  50. 1 2 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 ...
  51. ↑ "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!
  52. 1 2 "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.