Style definitions

Here’s a small list with definitions of the styles in music as we see it.

We know that everybody has his own vision on how to define certain styles, and that it is as much diverse as

the styles of music which excist.

This list is just a guide, and many artist have made various styles of music ,for instance Donna Summer,

she has made Disco , High Energy , Soul and R&B/Soul in her carreer, so don’t hold it against us if certain records

are not placed in the style that you would like to see.

Style	comment	sample
2 step/uk garage	catchie offbeat soulful garage	artful dodger / wideboys /
acid	house and/or techno with the strange acidic sounds in it. started around 1988	baby ford/acid junkies/stakker humanoid/phuture/hardfloor/random xs
african	music from africa.	fela kuti/manu dibango/sunny ade/afric simone/unknown cases
ambient/dub	trancey space without beats/or with slow dubby beats. chill out music	the orb/pete namlook/fax records/apollo records/biosphere/klaus schulze
asian	music from asia.
beats/dj tools	records with only beats or breaks or sounds, specially for djs to mix	beats for jeeps/dmc grooves/beats, breaks+scratches/fat acapellas/bird sounds
belgium techno	techno from belgium. started in 1990 when new beat ended	frank de wulf/b sides/outlander/liaisons d/rhythm device/spectrum
big beatz	big beatz/chemical beatz. combines techno + rock + triphop	prodigy/chemical brothers/eboman/junkie xl/basco/crystal method
blues	like soul music, but mostly very sad songs	john lee hooker/robert cray/bb king/muddy waters
breakbeat	fast instrumental hiphop breaks combined with house and techno	old prodigy records/acen/altern 8/nu matic/nrg/sl 2/zero b/manix
caribbean	tropical happy music from the caribbean	lobo/byron lee/mighty sparrow/20th century steel band/johnny ventura
chicago	house/techno from chicago, where it all started around 1986	lil louis/steve poindexter/armando/dj pierre/robert armani/adonis
club	club house / disco house, the disco music of the 90s.	george morel/masters at work/boris dlugosch/junior vasquez
disco	dance music from the disco era 1973-1983	saturday night fever/kc & the sunshine band / frank stallone
dance italo	happy dance music from italy. mostly from 1983-1990	koto/den harrow/fun fun/kano/kasso/taffy/laser dance/miko mission
electro newschool	like modern techno/house music but with influences from old (1983-1986) electro music	cybotron/drexciya/jedi knights/dopplereffect/tiga&syntherium
electro oldschool	rap/hiphop music with electronic influences. used for breakdancing/electric boogie, mostly 1983-1986	man parrish/newcleus/hashim/jonzun crew/afrika bambaataa+soul sonic force
euro techno	european techno, mostly from 1990-1994. also called old style	ultimate seduction/go bang records/fierce ruling diva/dhs/apotheosis
freestyle	freestyle house, mostly from 1989-1991. mostly from new york	royal house/black riot/minument/bonesbreaks/looney tunes/casanovas revenge
funk	like disco and soul, but more funky. eehh.	funkadelic/bootsy collins/george clinton/zapp/fred wesley/parliament
garage	house, slow, soulful vocals, moody pianos. the disco music from the 90s	robin s/ce ce peniston/robert owens/mk/adeva/urban soul/dajae/also 2 step music
german tekno	euro techno from germany. mostly 1989-1994	westbam/hypnotist/mark nrg/alec empire/hardsequencer/biochip c/cellblock x
gogo	a blend of speed up soul / jazz / blues / rap / african beats	trouble funk/tted records/dett records/little benny and the masters
hardcore	hardcore euro techno. started in holland around 1992. also called gabber	mokum records/omar santana/charly lownoise/chosen few/rotterdam records
high energy	fast disco music, almost trancey	donna summer/patrick cowley/giorgio moroder/boys town gang/bobby o/sylvester
hiphouse	house with rap vocals. started in chicago around 1988.	fast eddie/tyree/2 in a room/mr lee/kc flightt/ka posse/doug lazy/deskee
hollands	music in our own easy to learn dutch language. also called nederlandstalig	doe maar/andre hazes/andre van duin/herman van veen/de kast/normaal
house	all styles of house music we couldnt define in any of the other styles.	fortran 5/nicolette/da juice/electronic voodoo/t cut f/t coy
house jazzy	house music with a big jazz influence in it, mostly very soft music.	pal joey/urban knights/tympanum/loop dloop records/future minds
house top 40	very commercial house/techno music. top 40	2 unlimited/c+c music factory/deeelite/cappella/49ers/rozalla/black box
IDM/electronic listening	Intelligent Dance Music	plaid/to rococo rot/fennesz/herbert
industrial	industrial, very chaotic techno with lots of industrial noises.	most aphex twin/caustic window/unit moebius/spiral tribe/afx
italo techno	euro techno from italie, mostly from 1990 to 1994	cappella/ramirez/datura/digital boy/antico/dirty mind/raf/pwm
jazz	very hard for me to explain. help would be appreciated	ella fitzgerald/miles davis/nina simone/blue note records/bob james
jazz dance	modern version of old jazz music. mostly mixed with modern hiphop beats.	jestofunk/spank da monkey/talking loud records/incognito/jamiroquai
jungle/d&b	started as breakbeat, later became faster and less samples + noises	roni size/ed rush/ltj bukem/alex reece/dj die/aphrodite/movin shadow records
klassiek	classical music from the old days.	bach/beethoven/strauss/verdi/vivaldi/mozart
latin		tito puento/joe loss/celia cruz/sergio mendes/some herb alpert/da lata
latin hiphop	disco music from around 1985-1991. has latin, freestyle and hiphop influences	nocera/cover girls/safire/cyre/latin rascals/trinere/tka/johnny o/debbie deb
mellow/deep house	mellow house is the slowest house style. mostly instrumental. also called deep house	mr fingers/ron trent/pal joey/keytronics ensemble/upi/sueno latino/lectroluv
meringue		kaoma/armais camilo
mixes	lps or 12inch singles with remixes and/or megamixes	disconet/dmc/hot tracks/wicked mix/ultimix/hot plate/razormaid
new beat	belgium style house music 1988-1991. called new beat because you can change the speed	confettis/neon/bizz nizz/jade 4 u/taste of sugar/plaza/erotic dissidents
new jack swing	invented by teddy riley in 1984, same as r&b/soul but with a jazz flavour en more hiphop beats	guy/today/basic black/livin/wrecks n effect/good girls/teddy riley
new york	new york style of house music. mostly very slow and mellow with little latin touch	nugroove records/old strictly rhythm records/lb bad/phenix/earth people
nu skool breaks	modern breakbeats, slower than d&b but better produced than old ragga style	adam freeland/akasha/rennie pilgrem/meat katie/freq nasty
pop	blah blah blah style of music, with a touch of blah blah blah	for rolling stones/abba/stereo mcs/madonna/britney spears/nik kershaw/toto
pop house	records with house remixes from songs from pop artists	house mixes of madonna/house mixes of rolling stones/house mixes of front 242
pop synthesizer	pop music made almost completely from sythesizers	jean michel jarre/kraftwerk/riuichi sakamoto/art of noise/tangerine dream
progressive	progressive house/trance. english style with pop music instruments, mostly 1993-95	limbo records/boomshanka/cowboy records/leftfield/gipsy/aloof/lionrock/havana
psy trance/goa	tribal and trippy trance consisting of mostly organic sounds	hallucinogen/astral projection/total eclipse/koxbox/transwave
r&b	same as r&b/soul but since end of the 90's called r&b as the style went crossover	mariah carey/destiny's child/justin timberlake/
r&b/soul	old style soul mixed with a touch of modern hiphop	destinys child/tlc/total/new edition/mary j blige/toni braxton/aaliyah
rap	hiphop. take an old soul/funk song, loop the break, talk over it, and voila !	beastie boys/gangstarr/mantronix/audio 2/lord finesse/2 pac/grandmaster flash
reggae	slow dubby relaxing music from jamaica. sounds best with a fresh joint	bob marley/ub 40/peter tosh/king tubby/shabba ranks/aswad/beenie man/third world
rock	pop music, but much harder, with loads of heavy guitars and heavy vocals	iron maiden/kiss/sepulatura/ac dc/guns n roses/torhead/metallica/tool/def leppard
salsa		edsel juliet&orchestra sal juco
ska	upbeat whiteboy reggae with lots of horns	madness/specials/special aka/selector/the beat/the english beat
soca		machel montano
soul	jazz/blues/rhythm & blues mix of music ,sung more from the heart ( many styles )	james brown/marvin gaye/lou rawls/barry white/freddie jackson/anita baker
speed garage	speeded up version of garage house. with reggae influences	double 99/tuff jam/funkjunkeez/187 lockdown/serious danger/satellite records
surinam	tropical music from surinam. very happy.	trafassi
swingbeat	the english word for new jack swing ( see: new jack swing )
techno	very monotone house music. instrumental. very industrial. very pure and clean sounds	derrick may/underground resistance/steve rachmad/juan atkins/cari lekebusch
trance	instrumental house music, faster, and with spacey psychedelic sounds in it	visnadi/paul van dyk/underworld/sven vath/secret knowledge/total eclipse
tribal	house, trance or techno music with lots of percussion	goodmen/rene et gaston/jambo/astrospider/pascals bongo massive/mackino
triphop	instrumental slow hiphop beats with some reggae, dub and ambient influences	moloko/mo wax records/unkle/clubbed to death #1 + #2/cup of tea records
uk techno	techno from the u.k. started around 1989	warp records/lfo/black dog/orbital/irdial records/eon/tricky disco
uptempo	fast club house music. very happy and danceable. started around 1992	fresh fruit records/felix/dimitri+jaimy/sil/outland records/exposure
world		heera/las chicas del can/erasmo carlos/biguines/herbie hancock&foda musa suso
zouk	french african music	kassav/fitzroy williams/zouk time