Come On Into the House

House music, eh? Who would have thought that it would be still a talking point at the close of the millennium? Throughout 1999, house proved it was still the most popular dance music form, with tunes like Moloko's 'Sing It Back', 'Get Down' by Paul Johnson, Van Helden's 'You Don't Know Me', contributions from new French producers - Cassius, Kojak and Rinocerose - and Brother Brown, Michael Moog and New Vision's '(Just) You And Me' the successor to 'That Sound' proving that house music is still a force to be reckoned with.
Although the genre is now viewed by some as the new pop music and Basement Jaxx's Remedy as the Revolver house never had, the downside to this new-found world domination was the proliferation of second rate filtered disco sampling fodder, clogging up the charts and clubs - Phatts ... Small and Funkstar De Luxe take a bow. On the deeper end of the spectrum, labels like Toko, Paper and 20/20 Vision went from strength to strength, while the Afro house sub-sub-genre in the main avoided lapsing into Nescafé ad indulgence, instead producing Faze Action's long playing killer Moving Cities. With great albums dropping from Basement Jaxx, Presence, Rinocerose, Cassius, Chris Gray, Kojak and artists as diverse as Jon Carter and The Pet Shop Boys either making it or getting the remix treatment, it seems everyone wants to be part of the house nation nowadays.
While house music has made strong inroads into popular music, the other original dance music sound, techno, has failed to make an impression on the commercial market. However, the further splintering of techno into increasingly intriguing sounds compensated for this. For example, electro may have its roots in the body popping, lino obsessed '80s, but the last twelve months have seen the sound revived, revamped and re-invented during the final year of the millennium. Of all the new pretenders, I-F, DJ Hell's International Deejay Gigolos stamp - boasting artists like Kittin ... Hacker and the crazy Chris Korda - and Dopplereffekt tickle the Digital Beat palette the most, but there was also room for original, mythical breakers Drexciya to resurface with 'Neptune's Lair', and the dafter end of the sound as portrayed by DMX Krew and the Rephlex posse.
As electro tugged in one direction, the house-oriented grooves emanating from Mr. C's End niterie became a focus point for the tech-house phenomenon. Names like Asad Rizvi, Ravi MacArthur, Pure Science and Circulation mightn't have the same ring as yer Fatboy Slims or Paul Oakenfolds, but their floor-quaking, hip-wiggling credentials are unquestionable. Although Layo ... Bushwacka's Low Life debut album proved the duo have the Midas Touch, Digital Beat is tipping Circulation for great things in 2000. The duo's tunes have already crossed into the likes of Sasha and Digweed's sets, and their debut album, ready to drop in February, should bring them to a mainstream dance audience.
Remaining on the subject of trance, 1999 may have been kind to ATB, Matt Darey, Ferry Corsten and Paul Van Dyk, but their success is indicative of a lack of progression in the sound. Eye Q, Harthouse and Superstition all made classic trance music in the early nineties, with '9pm Till I Come' and 'Gouyerella' sounding like pale replicas. Hopefully DJs like Danny Howells, Lee Burridge and Dave Seaman will save trance from drum roll hell and push the sound into deeper, breakbeat territories.
The development of the breakbeat/nu-skool breaks (call it what you want) sound was a far more interesting proposition over the last twelve months. Fusing house and techno tempos to eminently funky breaks, electro bass and heads down floor sensibilities, Adam Freeland, Tayo and Rennie Pilgrem were the DJs to catch and the main perpetrators of the sound in '99. If you're looking for names and labels, then you could do worse than check Freeland's Marine Parade label and the TCR stamp and nu-skool playas like Freq Nasty, Ills, Pilgrem, Bushwacka and Beber. Ironically, it's the breaks scene that the techno and trance sounds are looking to for inspiration, with Matthew B and Layo making twisted 21st century techno-breakbeat hybrids, Hybrid delivering a stunning array of cinematic, intoxicating floor and mood music on 'Wide Angle' and BT's new album choc-a-bloc with breaks nuggets.
Remaining on the subject of the breakbeat, drum'n'bass didn't exactly experience the creative surge it has enjoyed in recent years, although it delivered a number of excellent debut long players ranging from the spunky, punky jungle of Breakbeat Era, chilling string laden feasts on Krust's Coded Language, Peshay's liquid funk blueprint, Miles From Home and the long overdue jump up mayhem of Aphrodite's Aphrodite.
Remixed by the don of cartoon drum'n'bass, The Jungle Brothers returned from years in the wilderness with the party aesthetic of VIP, only to be overshadowed by the debut Quanuum and Blackalicious releases on Mo'Wax and chilling nu-skool moves from The Arsonists, and, if beatz of an instrumental nature is more your flavour, then there was a huge increase in the amount of quality 'listening' dance music around. Most of it came from the German Jazzanova / Compost stable, but mention must also be made of the quality of everything on Memphis Industries - especially Blue States' Trainer Shuffle - Ian O'Brien and Carl Craig's Gigantic Days and Programmed works and quirky patterns and brooding sounds from Metamatics, Fridge, Two Lone Swordsmen, Fila Brazilia and Plone.
Last but certainly not least, the Irish dance scene finally began to deliver the kind of quality music we've suspected it long capable of. It may not have yet produced populist dance music like Daft Punk or The Chemicals, but nearly every modern style now has a representation.
From Galway's lazy beats general Hazo, Northern boshing trance courtesy of Agnelli ... Nelson via DJ Wool's funky breaks, Bassbin's well promising drum'n'bass outings, inspired house music from Mr. Spring, D1's burgeoning techno empire and Decal's new stonking electro sub-label Trama Industries, the Irish dance scene has never looked or sounded better.
1999 was the year when large scale open air larging it finally happened - Homelands Ireland - and the powers that be finally decided in their ultimate wisdom that, yes, it's probably not a bad idea to have a legal alternative to all those dodgy pirate radio stations. With The Smirnoff Dance Club Awards entering its second year, allowing the country's clubbers to vote for their favourite promoters, DJs, nights and venues - belated congratulations to Johnny Moy, Influx, Sweat, Temple Theatre, Abbey Discs, Agnelli ... Nelson and all the other winners - and with producers like Rob Rowland, Donncha Costello and everyone else with a passion for dance music setting up their own label or getting involved on some level, the last twelve months have proven that Irish dance is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.
The dance and clubbing scene has shown that it's a professionally run, profitable industry that contributes to the rich fabric of Irish society. Now all we need is a reform of the oppressive licensing laws and Ireland can take its rightful place as a true player on the international dance scene. Hopefully the positive developments during 1999 will help this cause. n