Microhouse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
This article is about music. For the human dwelling-structure, see List of house types.
Microhouse
Stylistic origins
Cultural origins
late 1990s, Europe, particularly Germany
Typical instruments
Synthesizer, Keyboard, Drum machine, Sequencer, Sampler, Music software, Hand-cutting and scratching of electronic devices
Mainstream popularity Low to Medium
Regional scenes
Cologne, Montreal, Paris, Barcelona(DC10)
Other topics
Raves - Nightclubs

Microhouse, Buftech or sometimes just minimal, is a subgenre of house and glitch music.

Contents

[edit] History

Microhouse has its roots in the minimal techno, glitch (both developed in the early 90's), and house (developed in the mid-80's) genres of music. Its first echoes appeared in the glitch album by German experimental artist Oval, in 1993. Like many contemporary electronic genres, Microhouse has many influences, most notably techno and the "click and pop" garage house that has emerged from Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass (or "Bleep"), glitch and minimal techno. Contrasting with tech house, which is often thought of as 'house with techno melodic elements', microhouse is more aptly described as 'housey minimal techno' - a marriage of the funky and groovy backroom house elements with glitch and the driving, repetitive sound of techno.

The first microhouse track to gain mainstream popularity by a non-glitch artist was Isolee's 1999 anthem, 'Beau Mot Plage'. However, microhouse did not begin to rapidly build in popularity until the early 2000s with the advent of record labels such as Kompakt, Perlon, Spectral Sound, Fabric, Telegraph and Force Inc. The term microhouse is usually credited to music journalist Philip Sherburne, writing for the magazine The Wire in 2001, to describe, according to Stelfox, "the spectral, hypnotic interpretation of classic Chicago grooves emerging on labels such as Perlon, Kompakt, Playhouse, Ongaku, Klang Elektronik and the Mille Plateaux family of imprints-most notably Force Tracks and Force Inc- at the turn of the millennium."[1]

[edit] Musicology

Microhouse strips house music down to a more minimal and sparse aesthetic, in the same vein as tech house. Its relationship to house and tech house music can be compared to the relationship between minimal techno and the harder techno genres. Like house and techno, microhouse is built around a 4/4 time signature. A noticeable difference between microhouse and house is the replacement of typical house kick drums, hi-hats and other drum machine samples with clicks, static, glitches, and small bits of noise. Microhouse artists often experiment with different forms of sampling to achieve this effect.

One characteristic feature of microhouse is the use of sampling: extremely short ('micro') samples of the human voice, musical instruments, everyday noises and computer created wave patterns are arranged to form complex melodies (such as can be heard in Akufen's "Deck the House"). Vocals in microhouse are often simplistic, nonsensical, and monotone in nature, although some artists, such as Matthew Dear, combine singing with microhouse production.

Microhouse is somewhat obscure when compared to other genres of house and techno, but several cities including Cologne, Paris, Montreal, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago and Portland have budding scenes, and with the minimal techno boom of the mid-00s, is now gaining great popularity in German, Canadian, Italian and Spanish clubs. Mainstream tech house records and CDs will occasionally have microhouse or minimal reworks of tracks. On top of this, several tracks have become major club hits over the years, and a few others have even gained European radioplay.

[edit] Notable Microhouse Records

 This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

1999

The very first microhouse record to reach the club charts. Isolee's 1999 album, Rest, containing the hit, was arguably[who?] the first microhouse full-length.
An early record by an artist who would later become one of the microhouse genre's (very small number of) superstar DJs.

2000

  • Bushes by Markus Nikolai
Another charting microhouse record, this time bridging the gap between microhouse and traditional house.

2001

  • Dias Grises by Dias Nublados
A minimal response of the genere.

2002

  • My Definition of Microhouse by Pepo Feelings
A nostalgic piecework from a talquinian talent music.
One of the Kompakt label's first forays into microhouse, which they would later bring (in a form) to European pop radio, and turn into one of Europe's major club genres.
One of the first microhouse records to be made by a minimal techno artist.
The first microhouse album to introduce elements of pop music to the genre, which eventually gave birth to a popular subgenre of microhouse, known as micropop.

2001

  • So Weit Wie Noch Nie by Juurgen Paape
The first microhouse track to gain (European) radioplay.
One of Kompakt's largest and most played microhouse records.
With this record, Farben crafted a more rubbery, liquid sound, a bizarre contrast to most of microhouse's (up to that point) precision.

2002

Another microhouse club anthem, notable through its extreme use of radio sampling. This was the precursor to Akufen's critically-acclaimed album "My Way", throughout which over 2000 different radio samples are used.
One of the most critically-acclaimed microhouse albums ever released. With this record, Farben continued the sound developed with his groundbreaking record "The Videoage."
  • Easy Woman (Robag Wruhme mix) by Metaboman
While not groundbreaking, this is considered by many[who?] to be one of the strongest "ambient microhouse" tracks ever created.
This track brought microhouse to the "indie rock" community, as the vocals were provided by Death Cab for Cutie's singer, Ben Gibbard. The style quickly becomes an underground favorite, and albums begin getting reviews in indie rock magazines and websites, such as Pitchfork, Stylus, and PopMatters. Also considered by many[who?] to be the absolute masterpiece of micropop.
  • Immer by Michael Mayer
Microhouse's most famous and arguably strongest DJ mix album.

2003

Again, while not groundbreaking, this club charting track is considered by many to be the ultimate perfection of club microhouse, and is quite notable regardless.
  • The Present Lover by Luomo
Luomo creates the first entirely "micropop" styled microhouse album. Every track is vocal, and many even feature verses and choruses.
  • Yes Sir, I can Hardcore (Michael Mayer mix) by Ferenc
With this record, the rave genre's aesthetic was applied to microhouse for the first time.

2004

With this album, Ricardo Villalobos generated a completely new subgenre of microhouse, now known as ketamine house, or ketaminimal, which has become a driving force in the "minimal" community.

2005

The first ketamine house dominated mix compilation to gain wide release.
  • Leuchtturm (Wighnomy's polarzipper mix) by Triola
One of ketamine house's first club hits.
Ricardo Villalobos furthers his (now much copied) "ketamine house" aesthetic.
The first ketamine house track to reach the club charts.
A more trance music influenced sound is introduced to microhouse.
The first microhouse record to sample a minimalist composer. While not incredibly groundbreaking, this is a beautifully circular innovation, as the stylistic roots (if traced far enough back) of microhouse are found in the orchestral form of minimalism. (The track samples Philip Glass's opera Einstein on the Beach, and his soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi)

[edit] Notable microhouse record labels

The following record labels release microhouse almost exclusively:

The following labels generally release minimal techno or other genres but also release microhouse:

[edit] Notable artists

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Stelfox, Dave (2002). Clicky Disco: Microhouse's Forward March.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
House
Other electronic dance music genres
v • d • e
Techno
Other electronic dance music genres
Languages