Microhouse
Encyclopedia
Microhouse, buftech or sometimes just minimal, is a subgenre of house and glitch music.
, glitch
(both developed in the early 90's), and house (developed in the mid-80's) genres of music. Its first echoes appeared in a 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 Isolée
'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 and DJ 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."
. 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-hat
s 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 Melbourne, Berlin, Cologne, Paris, Montreal, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago, DC and Portland have budding scenes, and with the minimal techno boom of the mid-00s, is now gaining great popularity in German, French, 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.
The following labels generally release minimal techno, deep house or other genres but also release microhouse:
History
Microhouse has its roots in the minimal technoMinimal techno
Minimal techno is a minimalist sub-genre of techno. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition, and understated development. This style of dance music production generally adheres to the motto less is more; a principle that has been previously utilized, to...
, glitch
Glitch (music)
Glitch is a term used to describe a genre of electronic music that emerged in the mid to late 1990s. The glitch aesthetic is characterized by a deliberate use of glitch based sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted disturbances reducing the overall sound quality and are thus...
(both developed in the early 90's), and house (developed in the mid-80's) genres of music. Its first echoes appeared in a glitch album by German experimental artist Oval
Oval (band)
- Work history :The band's original members were Markus Popp, Sebastian Oschatz, and Frank Metzger, although Oschatz and Metzger left the group in 1995. All three are regarded as pioneers of glitch, a genre of music that embraces the sound of damaged audio produced by the failure of digital...
, in 1993. Like many contemporary electronic genres, Microhouse has many influences, most notably techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
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 Isolée
Isolée
Isolée is microhouse artist Rajko Müller. Isolée is a minimalist house producer whose music is reminisent of indie electronic pop music of the early eighties and ambient techno from a decade on. Isolée is credited with creating the very first microhouse record to reach the club charts...
'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
Kompakt
Kompakt is a Cologne-based electronic music record label and vinyl/CD distributor, owned by Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. They specialize in microhouse and minimal techno, and are known for their Total compilation series which reached its eleventh installment in 2010.Kompakt...
, Perlon
Perlon
Perlon is an electronic music record label founded in Frankfurt, Germany, based in Berlin, and run by Zip and Markus Nikolai. It is a minimal techno and microhouse label whose sound features vocals and crispy sounds. Producers such as Ricardo Villalobos, Baby Ford, Stefan Goldmann, Luciano, Matt...
, Spectral Sound
Spectral Sound
Spectral Sound is a record label that was originally an offshoot of the more cerebral Ghostly International, but has since gained similar notoriety thanks to successful records by Matthew Dear and other techno producers...
, Fabric
Fabric (club)
Fabric is a nightclub in London, United Kingdom. It was voted number 1 in DJ Magazine's "Top 100 Clubs in the World" poll in 2007 and number 2 in 2008, 2009 and 2010...
, Telegraph and Force Inc. The term microhouse is usually credited to music journalist and DJ Philip Sherburne
Philip Sherburne
Philip Sherburne is an American journalist, musician and DJ based in Barcelona. He coined the term "Microhouse" and appeared in the film Speaking In Code.-External links:* *...
, 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."
Musicology
Microhouse strips house music down to a more minimal and sparse aesthetic, in the same vein as tech houseTech house
Tech house is a subgenre of house music that mixes elements of minimal techno into simple, 4-to-4 beats found in soulful deep house. The genre came to prominence in the late-1990s atmosphere of American clubs as soul influenced Detroit-style techno that also borrowed elements from house before...
. 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-hat
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
s and other drum machine samples with clicks, static, glitches, and small bits of noise. Microhouse artists often experiment with different forms of sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
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
Akufen
Marc Leclair, better known by his stage name Akufen, is a Canadian electronic musician. His music is electronic music that is often described as minimal house, minimal techno, glitch, or microhouse....
's "Deck the House"). Vocals in microhouse are often simplistic, nonsensical, and monotone in nature, although some artists, such as Matthew Dear
Matthew Dear
Matthew Dear is an American music producer, DJ and electronic avant-pop artist.-History:Texas- born Dear moved to Michigan as a teenager, where he was inspired by the sound of Detroit Techno...
, combine singing with microhouse production.
Microhouse is somewhat obscure when compared to other genres of house and techno, but several cities including Melbourne, Berlin, Cologne, Paris, Montreal, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago, DC and Portland have budding scenes, and with the minimal techno boom of the mid-00s, is now gaining great popularity in German, French, 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.
Notable microhouse record labels
The following record labels mainly release microhouse:- CynosureCynosureCynosure is a fictional pan-dimensional city that exists within the First Comics multiverse. It is described as floating in a "bubble" in the "pan-dimensional vortex." Because of its unique situation, Cynosure is an important center of multi-versal commerce and much of the city's government is...
- MinisketchMinisketchMinisketch is an electronic dance music label, who produce mainly minimal, microhouse, techno and tech house. Minisketch count on three different catalogue: the main and homonymous Minisketch, the VIR and the M500....
- PerlonPerlonPerlon is an electronic music record label founded in Frankfurt, Germany, based in Berlin, and run by Zip and Markus Nikolai. It is a minimal techno and microhouse label whose sound features vocals and crispy sounds. Producers such as Ricardo Villalobos, Baby Ford, Stefan Goldmann, Luciano, Matt...
- Telegraph RecordsTelegraph RecordsTelegraph Records is a Montpellier, France based record label founded in 1995 by Alexandre Petit and Éric Dalbin....
- Traum SchallplattenTraum SchallplattenTraum Schallplatten is a Cologne-based minimal techno record label run by Jacqueline Reinhold and Riley Reinhold...
- MicrocosmMicrocosmMicrocosm may refer to:* Macrocosm and microcosm, a philosophical idea* Microcosm , a museum near Geneva, Switzerland* Microcosm , a 1993 shoot 'em up by Psygnosis* Microcosm Ltd, a UK software protection company...
- WareWareWare is a town of around 18,000 people in Hertfordshire, England close to the county town of Hertford. It is also a civil parish in East Hertfordshire district. The Prime Meridian passes to the east of Ware.-Location:...
The following labels generally release minimal techno, deep house or other genres but also release microhouse:
- BPitch ControlBPitch ControlBPitch Control is a German techno record label founded in 1999 in Berlin by DJ and producer Ellen Allien. In 1992 she became resident DJ at the legendary Tresor club in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz...
- CadenzaCadenzaIn music, a cadenza is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display....
- CocoonCocoon RecordingsCocoon Recordings is a record label founded in 2000 and operated by DJ and electronic music producer Sven Väth. Based in Frankfurt, Germany, Cocoon is a division of the Cocoon Music Event GmbH....
- Ghostly InternationalGhostly InternationalGhostly International is an American independent record label. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye , Mobius Band, and Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys, all of which are innovative contributors to the world of music....
/ Spectral SoundSpectral SoundSpectral Sound is a record label that was originally an offshoot of the more cerebral Ghostly International, but has since gained similar notoriety thanks to successful records by Matthew Dear and other techno producers... - KompaktKompaktKompakt is a Cologne-based electronic music record label and vinyl/CD distributor, owned by Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. They specialize in microhouse and minimal techno, and are known for their Total compilation series which reached its eleventh installment in 2010.Kompakt...
- MacroMacro RecordingsMacro is an electronic music label based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 2007, it is run by Stefan Goldmann and Finn Johannsen. Macro has released music by Stefan Goldmann, Elektro Guzzi, Peter Kruder, Santiago Salazar, Patrick Cowley and Raudive...
- Mille PlateauxMille PlateauxMille Plateaux is an influential electronica record label founded 1993 by Achim Szepanski in Frankfurt, Germany. It is known for mostly releasing minimal techno, glitch music and other experimental electronic music.-History:...
- M nus
- Truesoul
- Raster-NotonRaster-NotonRaster-Noton is a German electronic music record label founded in 1996 by Olaf Bender, Carsten Nicolai and Frank Bretschneider. Based in Chemnitz, Germany, Raster-Noton merged in 1999 from separate labels Rastermusik and Noton .The collective label's aesthetic focus is rhythmic, minimal electronic...
Notable artists
- AkufenAkufenMarc Leclair, better known by his stage name Akufen, is a Canadian electronic musician. His music is electronic music that is often described as minimal house, minimal techno, glitch, or microhouse....
- Anders IlarAnders IlarAnders Ilar is a Swedish electronic musician and producer.Born in Ludvika, Ilar grew up in the little town that is surrounded by woods and lakes, and started playing the piano when he was six. However, he gradually lost interest after he started taking lessons...
- Andreas TillianderAndreas TillianderBerndt Andreas Tilliander is a Swedish producer who significantly contributed to the evolution of the 'clicks & cuts' genre with his first albums 'Cliphop' and 'Ljud' . He has recorded several albums under just as many names and worked with some of Europe's influential electronic music labels...
- Aril BrikhaAril BrikhaAril Brikha is one of the world leading Assyrian Techno musicians, he is nominated for the Best Dance album in the Swedish National radio Gold Gala award in his adopted country of Sweden.-History:...
- Deadbeat
- Decomposed SubsonicDecomposed SubsonicDecomposed Subsonic is the alter-ego of musician Hartmut Wessling. He performs minimal house that uses static, and found noises to create a variety of different sounds...
- DettingerDettingerDettinger is a German record producer signed to Cologne, Germany's based Kompakt label.His releases include 1998's Blond 12", 1999's album Intershop , Puma 12" and Totentanz 12", and 2000's album Oasis.Dettingers tracks have appeared on a range on compilations, including Kompakt's Total and Pop...
- Dominik EulbergDominik EulbergDominik Eulberg, born in 1978 in Westerwald, Germany is an electronic music artist and DJ who has released numerous singles as well as full-length albums on labels such as Cocoon Recordings and Traum Schallplatten...
- Farben
- The FieldThe Field (musician)Axel Willner, better known by the stage name The Field, is a techno artist based in Stockholm, Sweden.-Background:In 2005, Willner submitted a demo tape the German indie label Kompakt and was subsequently signed. He released his first 12", a demo mixtape of Annie's "Heartbeat" in 2005 as well as a...
- Gui BorattoGui BorattoGui Boratto is a Brazilian electronic music producer. In the 1990s he was a member of Sect.His album Chromophobia was awarded the title of Mixmag Album of the Month. Regarding why he chose the name Chromophobia, Boratto said: "The same meaning as monochromatism in architecture, which means...
- IsoléeIsoléeIsolée is microhouse artist Rajko Müller. Isolée is a minimalist house producer whose music is reminisent of indie electronic pop music of the early eighties and ambient techno from a decade on. Isolée is credited with creating the very first microhouse record to reach the club charts...
- Jackson and his Computer BandJackson and his computer bandJackson and his Computer Band is the pseudonym of Parisian IDM artist Jackson Fourgeaud. Fourgeaud released his debut album Smash with Warp Records in 2005.- History :Jackson Fourgeaud began making music at the age of 15...
- John TejadaJohn TejadaNormally associated with his peers in techno from Detroit, Europe and elsewhere, John Tejada has embraced electronic music as a personal frontier, expanding on his resume as a techno recording artist as producer, remixer, DJ, and label owner...
- Kit ClaytonKit ClaytonJoshua Kit Clayton, better know by his stage name Kit Clayton, is a San Francisco-based electronic and digital musician and computer programmer...
- Vladislav DelayVladislav DelayVladislav Delay is one of the pseudonyms of Sasu Ripatti , a Finnish electronic musician. He has also recorded as Luomo, Sistol, Uusitalo and Conoco.-Background:...
- Matthew DearMatthew DearMatthew Dear is an American music producer, DJ and electronic avant-pop artist.-History:Texas- born Dear moved to Michigan as a teenager, where he was inspired by the sound of Detroit Techno...
- Matthew HerbertMatthew HerbertMatthew Herbert , also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician...
- Nicolas JaarNicolas JaarNicolas Jaar is an American-Chilean musician. He is currently studying comparative literature at Brown University, Rhode Island.-Biography:Jaar was born in New York on January 10, 1990 as the son of Alfredo Jaar and Evelyne Meynard, but moved to Chile at the age of two...
- Pantha Du PrincePantha du PrinceHendrik Weber, better known as Pantha du Prince, Panthel and Glühen 4 is a German electronic music producer and DJ affiliated with Hamburg's Dial music label and British label Rough Trade.-Career:...
- Ricardo VillalobosRicardo VillalobosRicardo Villalobos is a Chilean-German electronic music producer and DJ. He is well-known for his work in the minimal techno and microhouse genres, and is one of the most significant figures in today's minimal techno scene....
- SpoonbillSpoonbillSpoonbills are a group of large, long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, which also includes the Ibises.All have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly opened bill from side to side...
- StimmingStimmingStimming is a repetitive body movement, such as hand flapping, that is hypothesized to stimulate one or more senses. The term is shorthand for self-stimulation. Repetitive movement, or stereotypy, is often referred to as stimming under the hypothesis that it has a function related to sensory input....
- SuperpitcherSuperpitcherAksel Schaufler better known by his stage name Superpitcher, is a German producer affiliated with Cologne's Kompakt music label.-Background:Superpitcher made his first appearance on Kompakt's Total 2 compilation album in 2000 with the song "Shadows"...
- Xavi Zeta
External links
- minimal board
- [ Allmusic article on microhouse]
- An article on the Minneapolis minimal/microhouse scene
- An article on the click-hop subgenre of microhouse, with some discussion of microhouse as a genre
- FWD – Minimal House podcast
- Hyperdub article
- Electrofied – Electrofied Radio Show – Electro / tech/ fidget & minimal house podcast