House Music: A Little Primer!!!(*)



[Note: This is an updated posting of my original posting a few years back...i'm bringing it back for the benefit of new members in this forum]
I've decided to undertake the task (to the best of my ability) to give a somewhat decent (but rough) breakdown of House Music and it's related Genres/Sub-Genres. Note: This is by no means definitive or 100% accurate, nor is this a historical account....this is what i've culled from my memories and music collection....


We'll start with....

*Garage: Garage was basically born from the legendary New York Night Club the " Paradise Garage " (Hence the name) where they played R&B, Funk & Rock, and they mixed it up creatively. The Garage sound (in reference to House) is characterized by its typically R&Bish soulful sound, with Rock influences. As time went by, the DJs began to incorporate more of the typical House sounds (primarily the 4/4 beats), while still remaining soulful and thereby creating what was typically refered to as the "Garage" sound.

Tracks to listen to:

Reel People - Butterflies (Phil Asher Remix)

Deep Sensation - Don't Stop

Shawn Christopher - You Can Make It (Jamie Lewis Classic Mix)

Cunnie Williams - A World Celebration (Mousse T.'s Party Lick)

Meanwhile back in Chicago... "Jack was viciously throwing down on his box, and Jack boldly declared...let there be House, and House Music was born..."(to paraphrase the famous vocal sample from the track "Can You Feel It")...in the Legendary club called the " Warehouse ". I won't get into the actual history of House (there are books on the history out there written by people who know it WAY better than I). For now i'll concentrate on what House is and it's many flavours. [Note: Even though Garage is firmly in the House family, and obviously mixes well with it, it deserved it's own mention due to its very particular sound].

*House: House is Dance music born from Disco and Funk Classics, as well as Rock and the original Electro. House is identified by its ubiquitous 4/4 (four to the floor) beat pattern, usually generated with a Drum Machine (like the typical Roland 909) which gives it a hard kick sound (that's the pounding you feel in your chest in a proper club sound system ). It's interesting to note, that House came around the same time that Rap did, and has the same pedigree as far as sources go (a lot of the tracks that got sampled for Hip-Hop were also sampled for house).

Tracks to listen to:

Farley "Jackmaster" Funk - Love Can't Turn Around

Aly-Us - Follow Me

Steve "Silk" Hurley - Jack Your Body

Earth People - Dance

Sax (a.k.a. Todd Terry) - Give Yourself To Me (Club Mix)

MD X-Spress - God Made Me Phunky

Eddie Amador - House Music (Vocal Mix)


Eventually House began to splinter, usually when somebody infused something new to it... so began the confusion and debates...as well as some great tracks (and even greater times) for the party people. So here are some of the other sub-genres/flavors of House (In no particular order):

*Acid House: Acid added the trippy sounds of heavily filtered synthesizers (in particular the Roland TB303).

Tracks to listen to:

Phuture - Acid Trax

Maurice - This is Acid

Steve Angello - Acid (Original Mix)

*Hip-House: Basically, House with Rap Vocals or major R&B stylings.

Tracks to listen to:

Mr. Lee - Pump That Body

Lidell Townsell - Nu Nu

Jungle Brothers - I'll House You

Mr. V - Da Bump

Miguel Migs feat. Sadat X - Shake It Up

*Italo-House: Italian flavored House (they were producing massive quantities back then in Italy and in the States).

Tracks to listen to:

Black Box - Ride On Time

Mali Carvalho - Fuego

Hypnoteck - Pump Pump It Up


*Euro-House: This is the type of House that basically broke through onto the Mainstream and is rather commercialized (listen to KTU in New York and that's the sound you'll hear more often than not...although the American sound is just slightly different...sometimes reffered to as Guido House because of that American-Italian influence). The sound is very much based on House rhythms mixed with pop/Synthpop melodies (like the New Wave sounds of the 80s). Euro-House is not exclusive to Europe (but is typically more popular there and around the world because of its accessible sound). It's also a rather big room type of dance music.

Tracks to listen to:

La Bouche - Sweet Dreams

Captain Hollywood Project - More And More

Amber - This Is Your Night

Rozalla - Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)


*French House: House with a French-Disco twist to it.

Tracks to listen to:

Bob Sinclar - Champs Elysées

Dimitri From Paris - Ca Chauffe (Cosmic Dub)

Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You


*Gospell House: Garage/Deep House with Gospell lyrics or very spiritual messages (which takes it back to the original roots of Vocal House tracks).

Tracks to listen to:

Kenny Bobien - Father (Frankie Feliciano's Ricanstruction Vocal)

Jasper Street Company feat. Ann Nesby - Praise His Name (DJ Spen Full Vocal Mix)

Lady Alma - Lift Your Voices (Peter Tyrone's 83 West Vox Mix)

Jack In Da Box - Keep The Faith (Soulful Mix)

*Deep House: Similar to Garage, Deep House tends to be more chilled, with sleeker grooves, can be vocal or instrumental. It also tends to de-emphasize the typical R&B bass sound that's native to Garage [Note: After House started to mutate and become more energetic/frenetic, Deep House became the designation given to the dance music which more closely resembeled it's original past as just straight up House].

Tracks to listen to:

Sunday Brunch - Midsummer Night

Dubtribe Sound System - Freeway

Dr. Sparkle feat. The Loobie Bros. - Massage Parlor

A Man Called Adam - Love Forgotten (Ray Roc's Latino Soul Mix)

Alexkid feat. Ian James Whitelaw - Love We Have

Blue Six - Music and Wine (Original Funkaphonic Vocal)

*Disco-House/Filtered-House: You take your basic 4/4 House beats and add plenty of Disco melodies (which can and often does include Disco samples), construct it so that it sounds like a pure Disco track, and filter the hell out of those samples...and there you have it (this basically takes the music back to one of its original sources, and in a way, pays homage to it by creating an exagerated form of it).

Tracks to listen to:

Bob Sinclar - I Feel For You (Original Club Mix)

Joey Negro feat. Taka Boom - Must Be The Music (Club Mix)

Hardsoul feat. Soul Hustlers - Never Gonna Stop (Original Filter Mix)

Anthony Acid - Big Time Disco

B.O.A.N. - See Me Now

Bucketheads - The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)

DJ Funsko - Let's Boogie (Remix)



*Tech-House: This is basically stripped down or minimal House with Techno flourishes, which creates a sound that's so lush and cool that it doesn't really resemble typical Techno (Where Techno tends to be more cold & purely mechanical). Tech-House comes in two particular flavors: The more energetic type (which mixes with House/Progressive/Tribal and such), and the more deeper melodic type (which mixes best with Deep House & Garage).

Tracks to listen to:

Dub Taylor with Per Fourier - Under My Skin

Terry Francis & Eddie Richards - Breakfast At Tone's (Late Nite Overdose Mix)

David Duriez - West Way (DJ Buck Remix)

DJ Touché - The Paddle (Original Mix)

Cristian Paduraru - Right Side Up

Eriko Tanabe - Alone On The Way

Franck Roger - U Tropic

Fred Everything - Revolution



*Electro-House or Electro: Like Disco-House, the modern day Electro-House derives its sound from its original inspiration, Electro (Think Kraftwerk and the like). Current Electro tracks contain influences of Old School, Tech-House, New Wave sounds. Of course, what keeps Electro within the House family is that ubiquitous 4/4 drum kick (although sometimes it's accompanied by a breakbeat style pattern).

Tracks To listen to:

Fedde Le Grande - Put Your Hands Up For Detroit

Simone De Nauw - Luv (Luv Electro)

Justin Xara feat. Julia Fedotova - La Discotheque (OrtzRoka's Electro Break Bonus Beats)



*Progressive House: Progressive is what Trance used to sound like in its early incarnation (until it became more defined and went in a different direction). It has a pounding 4/4 rhythm, but it's more melodically repetative, with an edgier sound than standard House.

Tracks to listen to:

Dope Smugglaz - The Word (Hernan Cattaneo Remix)

Golden Girls - Kinetic '99 (Commie's Mix)

Morel - True (The Fa**ot is You)(16B Remix)

New Disco Science Alliance - Break Even (Deep Dish Dishy Dubby Dub)

Finger Fest Inc. - Auto Porno (Harry 'Choo-choo' Romero Remix)

Flip Flop feat. Faith - In Stereo (Superchumbo Leadhead Dub)


*Tribal House: Take the Progressive House sound, but instead add ethnic percussion rhythms (Lots of Conga Slaps, Cowbells, Timbales and more) and you get Tribal (it's a bit oversimplified...but this is the basic concept).

Tracks to listen to:

The Good Men - Give It Up (Batucada Refrescante)

That Kid Chris - Dirty Sex

Robbie Rivera - Feel This (Tribal Sessions Mix)

Marcello Castelli - Aborigen

Peace Division - Seriously Twisted

Jesse Garcia - Kulu Ngile (Side A)

JJ Flores & Steve Smooth - Discoteca (Original Mix)

*Speed Garage/UK Garage/2-Step: Armand Van Helden is typically credited with the start of this sound, which is known for it's slower, drawn out Deep Bass. Eventually it incorporated elements form Hip-Hop, R&B, Breaks, and Reggae to give it a more urban sound. 2-step has a stutter step to its rhythm which is reminiscent of Jungle/Drum & Bass. This style is very big in Europe, especially in the UK (although nowadays it's starting to lose its hold on people a bit). [Note: the closer it sounds to R&B, the less frequently it is used in House mixes, unless the track is remixed to make it more danceable or club friendly].

Tracks to listen to:

Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar (Armand's Dark Garage Mix)

Another Level - Be Alone No More (Doublee 99 Speed Garage Mix)

Boswick Gates - You Are The Reason

Zed Bias - Neighbourhood (Radio Mix)



*Hard House: You take Hi-NRG, Progressive, and elements of Trance (with shorter break downs) and this is what you get. Hard House tends to be somewhat faster paced, with minimal vocals (usually pitched up or modified), with a bigger thumping sound (not for the faint of heart).

Tracks to listen to:

Rob Tissera & Nathan D'Amour - Bring the Lights Down

Prime Mover - Perfect Orgasm


(*)This is far from complete (I know i've missed a few things somewhere)...but it's a good start....If you think I got something wrong, or seriously forgot something important (like a seminal track that must be included as a track to listen to), send me a PM or email, and i'll see about updating the info.

Twisted Rook
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