Philippe Renaud: Look it up in the dictionary - An alphabetical guide to electronic music

Philippe Renaud has worked as a journalist for La Presse in Montreal since 1999, and has written for the French SOCAN magazine, Paroles & Musique since the spring issue of the year 2000.

It's difficult for many people to navigate the various terms used in electronic music. Not only do the definitions sound incomprehensible, they often have more than one meaning, usually because all the different genres influence one another to the point where no term can precisely cover one style.

This short guide will serve to help you find your way through a field where new terms are constantly being invented. It will also, we hope, create a better understanding of the new music currently being developed in the underground music scene.

Acid Jazz: Introduced into the British scene in the late '80s; spread to the rest of the world in the early '90s, mainly via US3. Essentially Grant Green-like or Lou Donaldson-like jazz/funk pieces with underlying hip-hop rhythm. See Rare Groove. Exponents: Gilles Peterson, Incognito, Galliano. Labels: Acid Jazz, Talkin Loud.

Acid house: Coined in Chicago in 1987 to describe the sound of the Roland 303 bass machine, which made its first significant recording appearance on Phuture's Acid Trax (DJ Pierre) in that year. In the U.K., covers all electronic-music trends that developed from 1988 to 1991. Exponents: DJ Pierre, Phuture, Hardfloor. Labels: Trax, Hardhouse.

Ambient: Atmospheric music that can be traced back to the '70s and musicians such as Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulz - and even earlier to the music of Stockhausen or Debussy. Became an electronic-music trend in the '90s (see Chill). Features lengthy scramblings (with or without rhythm) that are more consistent and complex than those of New Age. Exponents: Mixmaster Morris, Global Communication. Label: Rising High.

Big Beat: Appeared in the mid-'90s, mainly in Brighton, England, thanks to Fatboy Slim and his Big Beat Boutique cohorts. A special blend of house and hip-hop with breakbeats (see Breakbeat) that are heavy, dynamic and, unfortunately, often superficial. Party music. Exponents: Fatboy Slim, Propellerheds, Chemical Brothers. Labels: Skint, Bolshi, Wall of Sound.

Breakbeat: First identified in the early '70s. Refers to the part of a funk (or jazz) song in which the music breaks to make room for the rhythm section only. Hip-hop DJs (starting with Kool Herc) began using several song breaks in a row, which is how hip-hop and breakbeat came into being.

Broken beat: A term created in 1999 by a Japanese journalist. A logical extension of acid jazz; merges downtempo house, breakbeats and jazz, Latin and Brazilian influences. Exponents: Jazzanova, Rainer Truby, IG Culture. Labels: Compost, Sonar Kollektiv.

Chill: See Jungle.

Dub: The mother of all electronic-culture trends. Derived from reggae; discovered accidentally by producer King Tubby; fully developed by Lee "Scratch" Perry. Dub is also an adjective: take a house title, strip it of most of its lyrics, add a lot of bass and some studio effects (echoes) and you'll have produced a dub version.

Electro: Created in 1981 with New York City DJ Afrika Bambaata's "Planet Rock." A fusion of hip-hop and techno featuring a frantic rhythm, more rigid than that of hip-hop, and a punctuated bass line. Influenced the originators of techno, and marked hip-hop production from 1981 to 1985 (e.g. LL Cool J). Enjoyed a revival in 1997. Exponents: Afrika Bambaata, DMX Crew. Label: Warp.

Garage: The name came from Paradise Garage, Larry Levan's legendary New York City disco. The genre itself originated in New Jersey with Tony Humphrey. Was renamed U.K. garage, then speed garage in England (see 2-step). Lots of gospel, soul and R&B-inspired vocal tracks. Exponents: Tony Humphrey, Roy Davis Jr.

Ghetto Tech: This most recent addition to techno terminology came into being in 2000 in Detroit, inspired by the DJ style of Jeff Mills (fast-mixed techno). A complex mix of rigid Detroit Techno, Electro, 2 Live Crew-style hip-hop and Miami Bass. Rappers spout insanities to rhythms that are often fast and frantic, with heavy bass. Exponent: DJ Assault.

Goa: See Trance.

Hardcore: The initial acid-house explosion in Britain (the 1988 "Summer of Love") produced this aggressive electronic-music offshoot, particularly influenced by the poor quality of drugs available from 1989. Hardcore begat Jungle and Gabba.

House: A 1986 term meaning "house music" or the music heard at the Warehouse, the legendary Chicago club where Frankie Knuckles officiated. Similar to disco, but produced with early drum machines (Roland 808 and 909). Includes Tech House, Deep House, Latin House, Hard House… Exponents and labels: take your pick!

Intelligent Techno: Broadly speaking, electronic music not primarily meant for dancing. Following the summer of 1988, the British refined the use of drum machines and sequencers. Exponents: Aphex Twin, U-ziq, Squarepusher, Autechre. Labels: Warp, Planet U.

Jungle: Hardcore-derived style that appeared in 1992. Features an abusive use of fast, heavy breakbeats as well as reggae/reggae-dub influences. In 1993, LTJ Bukem and A Guy Called Gerald (ex-808 State) used lighter rhythms to create a more airy atmosphere with jazz overtones. Exponents: Goldie, LTJ Bukem, Photek, Grooverider. Labels: Moving Shadow, Metalheadz, Ram Recordings.

Minimal: Generally short for "minimal techno." Came directly out of the Detroit tradition; has little to do with the definitions of musique concrete and electro-acoustic music theorists. Features bare rhythms interspersed with hypnotic sequences. Exponents: Plastikman. Labels: Chain Reaction, Plus 8.

Rare Groove: A popular genre in the early '60s in England (Northern Soul) and the prototype for the rave culture. Essentially comprised of obscure soul, funk, R&B pieces copied in England - hence the term rare - this genre has been an inexhaustible sampling source for contemporary music producers of all allegiances.

Techno: Created in Detroit in 1988, its originators, who were strongly influenced by the aesthetics of Arthur C. Clarke and Fritz Lang, described it as music with a pulse that drives your inner soul. Exponents: Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, Jeff Mills. Labels: Transmat, Underground Resistance.

Trance: A offshoot of Techno featuring rapid tempos, New Age-type, almost hypnotic atmospheres and dynamic musical progressions. When more psychedelic, it is called Goa (after the former Portuguese colony on the West Coast of India, where hippies used to congregate and where technophiles now organize endless festivities). A German specialty in the early '90s,Ttrance is now back in an extenuated version, with tempos and atmospheres reminiscent of Progressive House. Exponents: Sven Vath, Paul Oakenfold, Nuclear Ramjet. Labels: Hardhouse, Dragonfly.

Trip-hop: A term invented in 1995 in a Mixmag article about Tricky. Almost an English version of Hip-hop/Pop made up of Dub, Jazz and Breakbeat. These days, mostly used to describe English Hip-hop production of the mid-'90s.

2-step: One of the most recent Techno terms. British Garage style produced U.K. Garage; Speed Garage (1997); and then 2-step. A house style marked by Drum & Bass; Soul and R&B from (sung) Garage; a touch of Ragga Reggae; House-tempo breakbeats; and bass lines spiked with drum and bass. More sophisticated than Speed Garage, 2-step is still in the process of finding its way between Hip-hop, R&B, Breakbeat and House. Exponents: MJ Cole, Wookie, Artful Dodger. Labels: Talkin Loud, Locked.

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