How progressive house sounds in 2009

How progressive house sounds in 2009

24 November, 2009 | 8.29AM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News: 20 years of dance music

To casual observers, dance music’s multitude of genres must seem amusingly pedantic. How many ways are there to describe electronic music that you can dance to?

House, trance, techno, drum & bass - it’s a confusing world with its own language, and that’s before they started chucking adjectives into the already dubious pot. Minimal techno? Psychedelic trance? Progressive house? Talk about splitting hairs.

And then when you consider that language develops over time, especially in electronic music which is intrinsically linked to technological change and the fickle trends of youth, you’re left with, well, meaningless drivel.

What does progressive house in 2009 mean exactly? Call us fools, but we’ll try to answer that.

In the early 90s when the term ‘progressive house’ was coined by Mixmag editor Dom Phillips, it described the kind of complex house music that Guerilla Records and Renaissance pushed in the UK.

The sound had a greater emphasis on emotion and subtly evolving compositions. Synthesized sounds changed incrementally over time, and basslines and rhythms gracefully attempted to keep your feet moving. Progressive house avoided the build ups, breakdowns, drum rolls, and continuous choruses of house or trance music.

And like progressive rock, it was characterized by classical influences, the use of keyboards, and lengthy compositions. It was innovative, and as such, ‘progressive’ was the perfect description.

Now progressive house describes the kind of 4/4 dance music in between house, trance, and techno, which more often than not, uses keyboards and subtle changes in melody and rhythm to wrought emotion.

In short, it’s a bastard description of a bastard. One arguably perceived change though, is that progressive house is no longer seen as ‘progressive’, in the innovative, reforming sense of the word. It’s old hat, basically. And anything that’s old, surely can’t be progressive. Remember Hypercolor tshirts? They were progressive.

But if you dig deep, you’ll find plenty of innovation in the progressive house sound, and that is why we’ve put together this list of artists. Each one of these producers we’d argue, are progressive house fundamentalists - firmly committed to the prog sound, both sonically and ideologically. Some of them might not be classified as progressive house in databases today, some of them might even resent being labelled as prog such is the dirty nature of the word, but that is merely a consequence of our shifted perceptions, fools that we are.

Damabiah

Damabiah is proof that progressive house can still offer the kind of beautiful dancefloor journeys into sound that once helped it rule the world. His soulfully sweet melodies are some of the finest life affirming moments to be found in progressive house in 2009.

Just take the Frenchman’s latest EP ‘Les Forets Boreales’ on Natura Sonoris, which offered blissful Spanish guitars over poetically synthesized harmonies and dancefloor friendly rhythms. The arrangement on ‘Sur Les Genoux D L’Automne’ is progressive in nature, with clever moments of surprise, whilst its tone offers corners of sadness and awe.

Backed up by the similarly mosaic B side ‘Eloann Et La Plume’, and inspiring artwork of a forest in Autumn, it’s clear that Damabiah sees more than just the dancefloor when composing in the tiny town of Cholet in Pays de la Loire. He sees the world around him, and attempts to reflect its emotion, and the wonder he feels, at its forever changing grace.

If you dig back into his discography, you’ll find that Damabiah has consistently offered moments of joy and enlightenment. A rare gem indeed.

What’s your approach/style to making dance music?

When I begin the composition of a piece, I do not ask the question to know if it is going to make people dance or not. I want to take the listener by the hand and lead him in a universe which is mine.

I see myself as a kind of guide in a museum. I don’t have the musical approach of a DJ because I am not one. I see myself rather as an agent of spiritual journeys! Seriously though, I create my music to arouse deep feelings.

The rhythm of a song allows me to structure time and vary intensities.  I can then portray the whole piece of music as the rhythm being a locomotive and the melody as the landscape in which the locomotive melts into.

Your tracks are very melodic, yet hypnotic and deep. It’s rare to find such intricate work in the progressive house scene these days. Why?

To be honest, I do not really know the progressive house scene. I was inspired by a multitude of different artists and composers of classical music, from Jeff Mills, to Jean Michel Jarre, Pink Floyd, Astral Projection, Laurent Garnier, and Agoria.

Curiously, I was also very inspired by the music of cartoons when I was a child and by groups such as ABBA and other disco artists.

The musicality of nature is also a source of inspiration for my work. Also when you mention the deepness in my music, I think that all this comes from my historical influences.

If there are some missing links in certain parts of progressive house, it maybe simply be because many people prefer the dancefloor side of a piece rather than its spiritual side. But then again, we are all free to conceive music as we hear it. Artists like Henry Saiz are capable of aligning both aspects with talent.

How has your sound changed over the years?

I evolved in a colder musical universe. I began my music by composing whilst influenced by the Detroit scene around ten years ago. I fell in love with ‘Zenith’ by Jeff Mills for its depth. Then I decided to add a supplementary touch to my compositions. I did not manage to settle into a particular musical style.

What does the term ‘progressive’ mean to you, in the context of prog house?

For me, a piece in the spirit of progressive house has to build around its soul. It is necessary to lead throughout the piece.

We leave a desert of sand, or contrary, a noisy street in New York. From the point of departure, we look for the first hills or for the mountains, we cross plains, we reach by foot the most majestic mountains, and then we climb them. Finally we reach summits, we touch the sun, or the moon, and we wake up. Here is just an example of the kind of thoughts that go into my pieces.

Which progressive house artists should we keep an eye on, and why?

There are so many artists, but my preference would go to artists like Guy J or Henry Saiz. Henry Saiz is, I think, one of the wizards of the spiritual wave of progressive house. 


Guy J

Undoubtedly at the front of the progressive house charge in 2009 rides Israeli Guy J, who has confidently risen to the challenge of sonic exploration in the genre.

From his earliest releases on Deep Records and Proton Music, Guy J played with frequencies and studio gadgets to create a sound that was as musically intricate as it was future leaning.

That made him a firm favourite with John Digweed, who released Guy J’s debut album ‘Esperanza’ last year. This year, his cutting-edge productions and remixes have touched some of prog’s most prominent labels including Audio Therapy, Global Underground, and Bedrock, as well as Tiga’s Turbo Recordings, who released the brilliant ‘Shaman’.

How has progressive house changed over the years?

I think progressive house has developed more in a technical way, sound wise.

It is also blending better with other genres and sounds. There is less music in it from before which is sort of the trend in general in electronic music these days.

The genre has got much better in the last few years, with more melody and great artists. I think it was in a black hole for the last few years and now it’s coming back.

Describe what the term ‘progressive’ means to you, in the context of progressive house.

What is considered today as prog, is very different to the past.

I guess music with a melody and progression in build up is considered progressive house today, and that is why I’m labeled like that, as I do love melodies, but I try to incorporate in my music many genres, especially house, without thinking of a genre.

I also see in the progressive charts music that is so different from each other, so I guess it’s something that is more uplifting than minimal but still has a variety of musical elements.

Is progressive house gaining in popularity?

Yes I would say so for sure. The progressive sound is coming back, but I’m not sure if it is because “real progressive” sounds are coming back, or if it is people who, for the last few years resented the term progressive, are now more open to artists that are labelled progressive.

Plus as production levels have gone up, the distance between all genres has narrowed so it is appealing to more people.

Which progressive house artists should we keep an eye on, and why?

Henry Saiz and Marc Marzenit. Both create an honest and real sound of their own, and each of their productions are properly done. Henry’s music is always amazing, and Marc’s grooves are just great. Keep an eye on both.

Daniel Portman

Hailing from the Swiss-made Helvetic Nerds axis of artists (which includes EDX, Chris Reece, and Dinka), Daniel Portman has developed a sound, that shares little in common with the progressive house movement of old, but his music still retains some of prog’s key elements thus pushing him towards that osmotic box.

Melody progression, subtly interchanging sound lines, and buckets of arpeggiated synths have bundled him as progressive in scope, albeit adrenaline-fueled and digitally smoothed.

He represents the new guard of progressive house producers, who value energy and explosive drops as much as delicate beat astuteness.

In 2009, Portman’s firecrackers have reached some of the biggest imprints operating in the murky grey between progressive house, trance, and commercial techno, including PinkStar Records, Enormous Tunes, Anjunadeep, and Unreleased Digital, who recently dropped his dancefloor destroyer ‘Virtual Suicide’.

How has progressive house changed over the years? 

Every kind of music has changed over the years, and so has progressive house. Back some years ago popular progressive house was mostly kinda tribal house beats, swinging hat loops, and deep basslines.

Over the past few years there was a progression of new sounds from deep house as well as from the trance genre that mixed with electro and house beats, and so progressive house became a new face. The progressive genre is certainly the most flexible genre, where it has allowed to combine with all kinds of dance genres today.

Describe what the term ‘progressive’ means to you, in the context of prog house. 

Well, it’s the word itself: it’s a progression, with alternative build ups. You don’t have to follow any structures or rules. As I already said, progressive means you’re able to combine forces from different styles of house music, to lead creativity out of bounds. There are no rules at all! I’m proud to be tagged as a progressive house artist.

Is progressive house gaining in popularity? 

Progressive house is always gaining popularity as the genre is changing often. The different influences always brings progressive house to a new and brighter audience.

Since I’ve followed this scene, I’ve been surprised by how much progressive house as grown. There was a time when house DJs didn’t give a shit about progressive house because it was too different to what they were playing in their sets. But nowadays, I figured out, DJs from all genres watch the progressive scene and also support and play this kind of music. 

Which progressive house artists should we keep an eye on, and why? 

There are a few great producers that I follow regularly. Let me pick a few artists who do progressive house the way I’d consider “progressive”.

Henry Saiz’ music is brilliant, it’s a bit trance influenced on the atmosphere with techy beats, and he’s always doing great mixdowns.

I’m a big fan of Dousk, as he’s able to combine progressive house and techno. I love his work.

Most of my DJ sets contain tracks or remixes from D-Nox & Beckers. Their stuff is continuously top quality, and it’s not only my crowd that dig their music.

Stan Kolev and Jerome Isma-Ae – What else do I need to say? They are progressive house. They’ve been both a big inspiration to how my music sounds today.

Cid Inc.

A rising star of Sweden’s electronic music scene, Henri Hurtig aka Cid Inc. brings technical expertise and supreme sound design to the ever-widening progressive house table.

A mastering engineer and mix professional for over a decade, Hurtig has helped fill the gap left by the mass exodus of studio talent from progressive house in the middle of this decade. His productions represent a return to the ideals of yesterday’s progressive scene, where audio quality and frequency perfection helped elevate it to a position that audiophiles and speaker geeks were proud of.

His recent outing ‘Shake Before Use’ on Proton Music (a long-serving online radio station and label dedicated to prog), was a fine example of the kind of brilliant compositions he’s capable of, and November’s ‘Cloudberries’ on Replug showed that the mongrel ground he operates in, is somewhere in between trance and progressive.

A technical genius might be a superlative too far, but his prowess at the desk is certainly near that of the mainroom master Eric Prydz.

How has progressive house changed over the years?

Progressive house has become quite a loose and scattered term, with lots of different types of genres involved. I can find good progressive tracks in all genres these days.

But in general, when looking at the past four to five years, it has in my opinion definitely gone from an electro house influenced sound into a more deep, dark, and even techno-ish direction with less elements. But the melodic side of it is still there.

Describe what the term ‘progressive’ means to you, in the context of prog house.

For me, it’s a matter of building and building a track, and adding new elements slowly. Simply put, it progresses towards a meaty climax.

Is progressive house gaining in popularity?

It’s lurking a bit in the shadows of the more popular genres at the moment, ready to break out once again. Then again, in my opinion progressive has always been quite popular for the masses anyway.

Which progressive house artists should we keep an eye on, and why?

Australian producer Luke Porter who lives in the UK is one to watch, because his clean and fat productions always deliver!
 
Also Marc Marzenit and Henry Saiz have impressed me a lot lately.

Hakimonu

At the lazy end of the tempo scale reclines Israel’s Hakimonu on a sunlounger, cocktail in hand. Those of you with database trigger fingers will point out that none of Hakimonu’s half dozen releases have so far been tagged as ‘progressive house’ on Beatport, but that is more a factor of the shifting bubble of perception than any wish to hide his roots.

The truth is Hakimonu’s music bears more than a kindly resemblance to the deep progressive house scene of yore, where rich textured beats, hypnotic dark house chords, and drifting waves of trance cascaded over dancefloors early on in the evening.

His recent ‘Irradiate Your Inner Move’ on Asymmetric Recordings’ ‘Sounds of South Tel Aviv’ EP contained subtly evolving rhythms and serene harmonies, that could well be described as trance at a deep house pace.

Similarly in May, ‘Jag House 1989’ combined warm synth chords with sunset keys, to create a unique progressive house journey that drifted effortlessly across an ocean of sound like a happy yacht, passing the odd techno undercurrent.

Hakimonu’s music ticks all the progressive house boxes - evolving, complex sound, dark and mysterious chords, and a smidgen of hypnotic trance - but it is only because of our times, that he has so far avoided being labelled as such.

M.O.D.E.

London-based duo M.O.D.E. have had an explosive start to their career despite only a year of experience producing music. Already a firm favourite with progressive house’s old guard - John Digweed, Steve Lawler, and Sasha all play their tracks - M.O.D.E. are well on their way to becoming the next big prog thing.

Dave Seaman included one of M.O.D.E.’s remixes on his recent compilation for his Audio Therapy label, and their latest EP ‘Butterfly’ showed how the pair can also deliver quality tech house and techno, albeit wrapped up in progressive synth transitions.

In June they also remixed ‘Robot Friend’ for prog greats Lexicon Avenue.

Why has progressive house changed so much over the years?

This is a conversation we have a lot about current electronic music. So many sounds can cross genres. If you listen to many songs out there, a techno track could be classed as progressive and vice versa. And some tech house could be classed as techno, and then some deep house as tech house.

We definitely have our roots in progressive as we grew up listening to Sasha, Digweed, Deep Dish, and Dave Seaman to name a few.

The early progressive days delivered some great music from some amazing artists and it was the ultimate in cool and intelligent dance music. Now it seems as though progressive house is a lot more uplifting and on the dreamier side of techno; it’s a natural evolution of the sound which was originally quite dark and moody at one point.

We certainly cross the boundaries of progressive, techno and tech house as our sound incorporates many elements from all three. Our music can be quite driving and percussive, but then it sometimes has some melodies and hypnotic grooves that are the fundamental elements of modern day progressive house.

And with the likes of Sasha, Digweed, Seaman, Laurent Garnier, Steve Lawler, and Carl Cox now playing our music, we sit nicely in the middle of all these sounds.

Describe what the term ‘progressive’ means to you, in the context of prog house.

To us, progressive means a constant progression in the layering of sounds. Listening to some techno numbers, there can be quite a lot of jumping around when it comes to incorporating certain elements into a track, which is very clever. It makes the track sound like almost two or three songs in one.

Progressive is more like a slow build up of various sounds. The sounds will start fairly quiet and muted, and over the course of the track they will build up and roll along in a clever combination; bouncing off each other almost like a mini symphony.

Progressive to us also means that the music is quite forward thinking and ahead of its time. This can certainly be said of some of the original progressive house tracks that landed on labels like Renaissance. When you listen to those early sounds, a lot of it still sounds fresh all these years later; it was definitely futuristic music and to an extent, it still is.

Is progressive house currently gaining in popularity?

So many more people are now starting to DJ and produce, plus the club scene is very, very healthy. This can only be good for progressive house.

There is such a huge demand around the world for people like Sasha and Digweed who rightly are the pioneers of what we all know to be the progressive scene. With so many people going to hear them play and being introduced to the progressive sound, it will naturally lead to an increase in the amount of people playing and producing prog.

For some people the word progressive is seen as a dirty word, but ask them why and they can’t answer. The 20,000 people at Creamfields Buenos Aires watching Hernan Cattaneo blow the roof off with his progressive gems would certainly disagree that the sound is outdated.

It’s one of the biggest dance music styles in the world and will be around for a long time to come. There’s always going to be a ‘cool’ sound, and currently it’s techno, but you can be sure that prog is holding its own and rightly so. Seeing as we play and produce both, we’re happy that both are popular!

Which progressive house artists should we keep an eye on, and why?

There are three artists in particular that we are currently supporting who are fantastic. Firstly Guy J, who for us is possibly the best dance producer at the moment. Like us he transcends various genres, but his progressive work is just unbelievable.

He is streets ahead of anyone else. We’re lucky to have just remixed his track ‘Shiver’ as part of a remix EP we’ve done for Audio Therapy; it’ll be released next month so keep an eye out for it!

Next up is a guy called Kei Mohebi. His music is superb and blows the roof off every time. And then there’s a guy called Tim Berg who released the massive track called ‘Alcoholic’ in September. Again another producer whose sound can be classed as progressive / techno, his productions are superb, and they are a regular fixture when we are on the road.

We’re really fortunate to be playing some music from some of the best new progressive acts out there, and hope to be doing it for a long time. Here’s to the next 12 months!

Charlie May

Charlie May was there right at the beginning as one half of progressive house pioneering duo Spooky, so it’s somewhat surprising (and impressive) that he is still breaking the genre’s boundaries today. His engineering tweaks behind Sasha’s biggest hits have been well documented - indeed May has become the poster boy for unrewarded producers-behind-the-stars, who seem to be coming out of the woodwork in droves in 2009. Now May is right at the forefront of the sound, where he belongs.

A sonic master who understands the complicated audio principles behind future leaning prog, May this year has unleashed a storm of club destroyers including the emotional ‘Apache’ on his newly launched label Mayhem, ‘Orange Glow’ on Audio Therapy (which included an eye-opening progressive dubstep rework), and ‘Demons Amongst Us’ on Pole Folder’s cutting edge label La Tour.

With a new hunger for recognition, a joint EP between Sasha and May due out on Emfire in December, a much-anticipated live show in London, and a tour of Australia and Asia in January, Charlie May might deservedly crack into the impenetrable big league of progressive jocks sometime next year.

Pole Folder

A true master of sound, Belgian Pole Folder aka Benoit Franquet is resolutely loyal to the dark hypnotism of progressive, but more than this, he’s an accomplished musician whose studio brims with synthesizers, guitars, and FX units.

Dedicated to pushing the musical intricacies of the genre more than any other, Pole Folder’s tracks drip with meticulous melodies and ethereal moments. Ever since John Digweed kick started Pole Folder’s career by opening his Global Underground Los Angeles mix compilation opus with the producer’s debut release ‘Apollo Vibes’ (co-produced with the artist CP), he has been widely praised as one of the brightest minds in the genre.

His passion for perfect progressive hasn’t dipped once - he continues to push enlightened prog today via his own productions and remixes, and through his label La Tour, which recently showcased how much Pole Folder’s sound has advanced with the magnificent ‘Hollow’, a melancholic dubby house trip full of beautiful vocals and huggable rhythms.

Majestic in every way, Pole Folder’s music is as pure as progressive gets.

Henry Saiz

Henry Saiz’ list of remixes reads like the who’s who of progressive house - John Digweed, Way Out West, Guy J, Jim Rivers, Ludovic Vendi, and even DJ Tiësto have asked the Spaniard to rework their tracks, and with a long-running residency at Madrid’s Cassette Club, he’s already one of the most popular progressive jocks in the country.

His sound is classic prog - soaring synthesizers, driving arpeggiated grooves, warm electronic house beats, and perfect harmonic movement - and with releases on Renaissance, Bedrock, and Global Underground, he’s gliding down the well beaten path with predictable style, following just behind artists like Guy J.

This year has been particularly fruitful for Henry Saiz - his ‘Madre Noche’ EP on Renaissance in October was one of the year’s best progressive house EPs, and the track ‘Hello Infinite’ was a curious blend of Eastern keyboards, bubbling bass, and sweeping pads.

How has progressive house changed over the years?

Some producers are trying to innovate within this style and others are doing something closer to the “original” sound. For example, I don’t think my style is strictly “prog house”, but obviously there’s a lot of similar elements and the concept around this is basically the same.

I think the “prog” sound is changing and this is always a good thing in order to keep refreshing the scene.

Describe what the term ‘progressive’ means to you, in the context of prog house?

I don’t think of it in terms of music styles, I just feel that this so called progressive house sound has many elements from electronic pioneers from the 70’s and all the progressive rock movement. I came from this sound so this is why I feel closer to this style.

For me progressive means in this context a certain way of composing around a concept, using melodies and progressions that take you to some point, basically using music for telling a history.

For me it’s about creating the most intense experience possible on the dancefloor.

Is progressive house gaining in popularity?

I think so. I can feel it in places like Spain where it was never something really massive. I think a lot of people are over all this minimal thing and they need more melody and substance.

Which progressive house artists should we keep an eye on, and why?

Again, if we think they are 100% part of this style I can say: Marc Marzenit, Guy J, Damabiah, 7thkey, Ryan Davis, Manuel Sofia, Soundexile, Cid Inc., Liz Cirelli, and many many more. There are a lot of great newer producers doing quality melodic techno music now.

Marc Marzenit

Marc Marzenit is the new face of progressive house in 2009 - a producer who is capable of turning out both throbbing techno or uplifting progressive house. Marzenit’s mish mash approach to making dance music is a result of the collapsing walls between the two genres - nowadays you’re just as likely to find superior audio and evolving complex melodies in techno as you are in progressive house.

Some say techno is the new progressive house, and when you factor in the minute differences between the softer, melodic side of techno, and the tougher, stripped back grooves found in prog today, you are practically in the same spot.

A perfect example of the merging worlds is the fact that Marzenit releases techno on John Digweed’s progressive house bastion Bedrock - his recent track ‘Unexpiritualized’ is a perfect blend of deep twisted progressive and warbling techno.

Article lead image by Terry Church

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