Arpy Brown: 10 Tracks that Define the Enduring Legacy of Piano House
Arpy Brown
The London-based producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Arpy Brown (formerly known as one half of Athlete Whippet) brings us a more personal and expressive sound with his newly released Fantasy EP on Toy Tonics. Performing his own vocals, keys, and guitar across each track, this colorful, groove-rich body of work blends house, soul, and indie elements into something uniquely his.
To celebrate the arrival of this fresh four-track EP, we asked Arpy Brown to embark on a journey through the sound and history of "piano house," selecting ten tracks that demonstrate the groove and grandeur of keys on the dance floor.
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Is it even really a genre? I’m not sure, but fact is that I, as so many others, love the euphoria that a good piano riff brings in the right moment in the club. Of many nights, that one breakdown where a big piano riff suddenly enters the dance floor, is the key moment I remember, sometimes years later still. And maybe the beauty of it is exactly that really the only ‘rule’ to the so-called ‘genre’ is that it gives the piano a moment to shine.
Maybe I have a soft spot for it because as someone who comes from playing in bands most of my life, I always crave musicality, playfulness, performance, emotionality, harmony and melodies in dance music.
"Move Your Body" by Marshall Jefferson from 1986 is often mentioned in context of the ‘birth’ of piano house. Many associate the term piano house with the early '90s and yes, there are indeed many absolute gems from that time that defined the sound. But it’s also a sound that lives, breathes, changes, develops and has an enduring legacy. Especially in the last five years or so, there have been countless beautiful, emotive, energetic, iconic and memorable tracks released. So here are a handful of songs that have made me fall in love with those musical moments, from the '90s through to recent years, which have been just as exciting and fruitful. — Arpy Brown
This is one of the early defining tracks for me. I don’t think it was a global hit at the time, more of an underground favorite, but it has definitely stood the test of time and very few tracks channel what I feel is core to the sound as well as this one. I feel like I’ve known this piano riff for much longer than I’ve consciously known the track itself. It’s just so iconic. So light, almost tropical. In fact, I often play the Zaq Erlag flip of it which mashes it up with the Brazilian classic "Mas Que Nada" by Jorge Ben. But this is far far down the decades so first things first.
While we’re on the topic of "Mas Que Nada" though, I have to mention this gem. I actually have no idea how much impact it had at the time, but have a listen at how unbelievably fun this is with all its whistles, percussions and of course the piano. Going off the title I guess it must have been released around the football world cup 1998. I personally hope it was in response to Brazil’s lost world cup final (coincidentally the first football match I consciously remember) which famously Ronaldo had played (and lost) after spending the afternoon unconscious in hospital. If anybody knows more about this, please slide in my DMs. Very curious!
Now, this is a real classic of course… A true hit back then and the way people react to this day when they hear this piano hook… I’m sure it’s done its fair share at Ibiza cocktail bars, but especially this Knee Deep mix hits on a deeper level too and I’ve seen it go off in clubs countless times. It’s one of those smash hits for a moment deep into the night when everybody has deserved to hear a song they all have memories of.
Let’s take it into recent years. As said, the '90s were an amazing time for piano house, but the legacy is enduring and the output over the last few years has been really inspiring (more to come below). To me this song is almost a cartoon or a caricature (in the good sense) of a gospel piano house tune, but the humour doesn’t take anything away from the impact - it absolutely SLAPS.
Speaking of euphoria... This tune really encapsulates that feeling perfectly for me. It’s a great example of a modern twist on piano house since it’s less of a steady groover but much more about building up towards those really impactful hands-in-the-air moments. I always have a lot of time for Cinthie!
I also have a big place for these two guys in my heart. They’ve released a range of piano-driven bangers so it was really hard to pick. "Voyager (Piano Mix)" and "Nostalgia" were very close contenders but I went for this one, probably because it changes up the energy of the previous songs a little with its garage-infused bounce and the sexy saxophone. Super uplifting.
Not sure if this counts as house… maybe it’s progressive house or maybe even trance? Whatever, no-one cares at the end of the day how we call it. It’s certainly emotive, energetic, iconic and has a massive piano riff at its centre, so much to my point at the top of the article. It dropped 1994 in the hay day dance music days of XL Recordings.
So this is a club-friendly flip of the original track from Soichi’s album Asakusa Light. First of all - love the concept to collaborate with another producer (Masalo wasn’t on the original) to make a club mix. Kind of half-way towards a remix, but also an alternative version by Soichi himself. This club mix is really driving and builds for quite a while until the big piano riff comes in as a massive relief.
I reckon this track has to be mentioned here. For one because it’s amazing, but also because it just made such a massive impact in clubs when it came out a couple years ago. I was hearing it left right centre at parties and also definitely played it out quite a few times. It’s extremely stripped down, basically just a piano and a four-to-the-floor beat and of course those huge gospel vocals, but not even really a bass line. Super effective!
The most recent one to wrap things up! This is an amazing mix of a club track and a proper song with verse and chorus, and of course a great piano hook. It’s pretty fresh still, having been the lead single from Honey’s DJ-Kicks at the end of 2024. A really nice piece of collaboration between Honey, Ben Westbeech and Luke Solomun. I’ve been a huge admirer of Honey for many years, I think my favourite DJ set to date was seeing her in the basement of Dalston Superstore 10 years ago. That’s a 150 capacity dance floor! Then I saw here at the end of 2024 at Drumsheds on a 10.000 cap dance floor…
