Electro house

Electro house (also known as dirty house, electrotech, and often shortened to electro) is a subgenre of house music that rose to become one of the most prominent genres of electronic dance music in 2004-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 125 to 135 bpm.

The use of the word "electro" to describe this style of modern house music is contentious, and creates an ambiguity between electro house and the 1980s electro movement, by which it was influenced.

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 electro, such as Mr. Oizo, 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.

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 TV advert 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,[citation needed] surpassing funky house in popularity,[citation needed][10] 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, and popular Ibiza club DJ Lisa Lashes who is most known for her work in hard dance.

Electro house has also introduced electronic music to the indie rock scene through its links to the new rave movement. Artists such as Digitalism, Justice, 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.