Electronic dance music is such a fixture of 21st century life that it’s not even differentiated as such anymore; to most young ears, it falls under the catch-all term “pop.” But canny producers and savvy remixers, keen to explore relatively uncharted territory, are revisiting the classic combo of cascading ivory chords and four-to-the-floor beats known as piano house.
In the past half year, those among us who weren’t yet born during the heyday of Derrick May’s Strings Of Life — the quintessential piano-and-synths anthem that capped many a warehouse party from 1988 to 1989 — have been offered a glimpse of rave’s zenith. In February, Nottingham-based producer Davidian gave Danish singer MØ’s Don’t Wanna Dance an uplifting piano hook. The resulting 4/4 time signature and chunky riffs bear a resemblance to those employed by High, an early ‘90s track by UK house act Hyper Go-Go, as well as those in John Newman’s Love Me Again and Katy Perry’s Walking On Air, both released in 2013.
‘90s EURODANCE
In May, Spanish remixer Playless retooled La Roux’s Let Me Down Gently, blending it with 2000s UK garage and late ‘80s hip-house elements. The English electropop duo’s latest album “Trouble In Paradise” dives back to the same early ‘80s escapism of their debut, 2009’s “La Roux,” and could use touches of classic house to, ironically, make it sound more innovative.
But perhaps it’s Kiesza (pronounced KY-za) who best embodies the move towards ‘90s Eurodance-inspired music. In January, the Canadian singer-songwriter’s first single Hideaway caught the attention of BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac, who played the song at clubs across the United Kingdom and on her radio show, allowing it to gain traction both critically and commercially. The 25-year-old performer says that her influences stem from her mother’s love for “big-throated” ’90s club divas such as CeCe Peniston and Robin S. The follow-up Giant In My Heart continues the tribute while sounding completely of the moment.
‘WOO YEAH’
When DJ E-Z Rock passed away in April, Austrian producer and musician DJ Schmolli paid homage by issuing a mashup of It Takes Two, the late rap pioneer’s 1988 hit single with Rob Base, and Aerosol Can by Major Lazer and Pharrell Williams. It Takes Two — which samples, among others, Lyn Collins’s Think, a funk song released in 1972 — is arguably one of history’s most groundbreaking records, described by Hip Hop Connection magazine as “the first palatable form of hip-house for hardcore hip hop fans.”
Hip-house, the dance subgenre, follows a template: a high-energy combination of a “woo yeah” beat over an Afrika Bambaataa sample, hi-hat loops and air raid sirens. London’s Fact magazine noticed its comeback as early as 2009: “In the last 12 months, the world’s biggest hip-hop artists have started making or sampling house records, the hipster electronica coming via A-Trak, Sinden, and Diplo has the spirit of old school hip-hop laid over new school 4/4 beats.”
RETRO CULTURE
According to music website Pitchfork, “retro culture’s weird sorcery is that most of it doesn’t even recapture an old moment, but constructs a new one that summarizes how we imagine the old one went.”
Since I wasn’t there to figure out exactly how you pumped up a jam (as Belgian group Technotronic would have), or if you really could ride on time (the way Black Box did), I’m glad the ‘90s house piano sound — no matter if it’s only a version of it — is around again. When it comes to classic club music, nothing is more euphoric and uplifting than a three-chord piano hook over a steady, thumping bassline in 4/4 time.
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