HARD Recs

Bass house is a strain of house music that pairs a four-on-the-floor groove with aggressive, highly designed basslines drawn from UK bass, bassline, and electro house. It typically runs around 124–130 BPM, emphasizing tight drum programming, swung garage-influenced shuffles, and drops centered on modulated mid-bass riffs and weighty subs. Producers favor gritty synth timbres, call-and-response bass phrases, minimal vocals (often chopped one-shots or rap ad-libs), and DJ-friendly intros/outros. The result is club-focused, high-impact music that bridges UK underground sensibilities with North American festival energy.

Drum and bass (DnB) is a fast, rhythmically intricate form of electronic dance music centered on breakbeats at roughly 160–180 BPM and powerful, sub‑heavy basslines. It grew out of the UK’s early ’90s rave and jungle scenes, combining chopped funk breaks (most famously the Amen break), dub and reggae sound‑system aesthetics, hip‑hop sampling, and techno’s futurist sound design. Across its many substyles—liquid funk’s soulful harmonies, techstep and neurofunk’s cold, machine‑like bass engineering, jump‑up’s hooky bass riffs, atmospheric DnB’s pads and space—drum and bass remains a DJ‑oriented, dancefloor‑driven genre that prizes tight drum programming, deep low end, and precise arrangement for mixing.

Dutch house (often called Dirty Dutch) is a percussive, minimalist strain of electro-house that emerged from the Netherlands in the late 2000s. It is characterized by tight, tribal-leaning drum programming, syncopated rhythms, sparse arrangements, and distinctive high-pitched “bleepy” or squeaky lead synths that trade space with sub-heavy bass stabs. Tempos typically sit around 126–130 BPM, and grooves often emphasize swing and off-beat accents. Vocals, when present, are usually chopped, pitched, or used in short call-and-response phrases rather than full verses. The style became a club and festival staple thanks to its punchy drops, crisp percussion, and earworm lead hooks, and it served as a key bridge between electro-house and the later big-room EDM sound.

EDM (Electronic Dance Music) refers to the mainstream, festival-oriented wave of electronic dance styles that rose to global prominence in the early 2010s. It emphasizes high-energy drops, ear-catching toplines, and crowd-pleasing arrangements designed for large stages and mass audiences. Musically, EDM typically sits around 124–130 BPM with a strong four-on-the-floor kick, wide supersaw leads, bright plucks, and heavily sidechained pads and basses for a pumping feel. Tracks are structured around tension-and-release: intros and builds lead to explosive drops, followed by breakdowns that rebuild energy. Vocals and pop-style songwriting frequently appear, enabling crossover success on radio and streaming platforms.

Electro house is a high-energy branch of house music characterized by distorted, buzzing bass leads, crisp four‑on‑the‑floor drums, and dramatic, festival-ready drops. It typically runs around 125–130 BPM, favoring aggressive, sawtooth-based synth timbres, heavy sidechain compression, and big, riff-like hooks over lush chord progressions. Production emphasizes powerful low-end, gritty midrange textures, noise sweeps and risers, and tightly structured builds and breakdowns that set up explosive drops. While rooted in house and electro traditions, its sound design borrows from techno’s intensity and big beat’s punch, resulting in a bold, modern, and club-focused aesthetic.

Electronic is a broad umbrella genre defined by the primary use of electronically generated or electronically processed sound. It encompasses music made with synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, computers, and studio/tape techniques, as well as electroacoustic manipulation of recorded or synthetic sources. The genre ranges from academic and experimental traditions to popular and dance-oriented forms. While its sonic palette is rooted in electricity and circuitry, its aesthetics span minimal and textural explorations, structured song forms, and beat-driven club permutations. Electronic emphasizes sound design, timbre, and studio-as-instrument practices as much as melody and harmony.

House is a dance music genre that emerged in Chicago in the early 1980s, defined by a steady four-on-the-floor kick drum, off-beat hi-hats, soulful or hypnotic vocals, and groove-centric basslines. Typical tempos range from 118–130 BPM, and tracks are structured in DJ-friendly 16–32 bar phrases designed for seamless mixing. Drawing on disco’s celebratory spirit, electro-funk’s drum-machine rigor, and Italo/Hi-NRG’s synth-led sheen, house prioritizes repetition, tension-and-release, and communal energy on the dancefloor. Its sound palette often includes 808/909 drums, sampled or replayed disco/funk elements, filtered loops, piano/organ stabs, and warm, jazzy chords. Over time, house diversified into many substyles—deep house, acid house, French house, tech house, progressive house, and more—yet it remains a global foundation of club culture, known for emphasizing groove, inclusivity, and euphoria.

Jersey club is a high-energy, club-oriented dance music from Newark, New Jersey that evolved in the early 2000s. It is known for punchy three-kick patterns, chopped vocal stabs, stop‑and‑go drops, and a relentless, call‑and‑response party ethos. Typically around 130 BPM, the sound blends house and breakbeat drum programming with hip‑hop sampling aesthetics. Producers often flip R&B hooks, sprinkle in signature effects (notably the "bed squeak" timbre popularized in 2000s rap), and build arrangements around short, repeatable phrases designed for coordinated dance routines.

Moombahton is a dance music genre that fuses the high-energy, synth-driven sound design and build‑drop structures of Dutch/electro house with the slower, syncopated dembow rhythm of reggaeton and dancehall. Characteristically sitting around 108–115 BPM (often ~110), it emphasizes heavy, swung percussion, off‑beat stabs, and midrange lead synths, while retaining Latin/Caribbean groove and call‑and‑response vocal hooks. The result is festival‑ready EDM power at a slower, body‑rolling tempo that feels both tropical and club‑focused.

Neurofunk is a dark, technically intricate subgenre of drum and bass known for its surgically designed basslines, tense atmospheres, and highly engineered rhythm sections. Sitting around 170–175 BPM, it blends the relentless drive of techstep with futuristic sound design and a funk-influenced sense of groove. Producers sculpt evolving "neuro" basses using heavy resampling, modulation, distortion, and filtering, then weave them through precision-cut breakbeats and cinematic FX. The result is a high-pressure, sci‑fi aesthetic that feels both mechanical and organic—aggressive yet danceable, clinical yet funk-rooted.

Tech house is a dancefloor-focused fusion of techno’s precision and house music’s groove. It emphasizes stripped‑back, percussive rhythms, rolling basslines, and clean, punchy drums, typically in the 120–130 BPM range. Compared to straight techno, tech house is funkier and more shuffle-oriented; compared to classic or deep house, it is darker, more minimal, and more machine-driven. Tracks often feature long DJ‑friendly intros/outros, subtle automation, sparse vocals or chopped one‑shots, and a strong emphasis on groove continuity over big melodic moments. Sound design favors tight 909/808-style drums, crisp open hats, snappy claps, subby or mid‑bass riffs, and understated stabs or chords. Modern tech house has broadened from its 1990s underground UK roots to global festival and club contexts, retaining its core identity of percussive drive and streamlined arrangements.

Trance is a form of electronic dance music characterized by steady four-on-the-floor beats, long build‑ups and breakdowns, and euphoric, melodic progressions designed to induce a hypnotic or “trance‑like” state. Typical tempos range from about 130 to 142 BPM, with arrangements often stretching 7–10 minutes to allow DJs room for tension, release, and seamless mixing. The sound palette emphasizes shimmering pads, arpeggiated synth motifs, supersaw leads, and wide, reverberant spaces. Harmonically, trance tends to favor minor keys, modal mixture, and extended suspense before cathartic drops. Production hallmarks include sidechain compression (“pumping”), off‑beat open hi‑hats, rolling basslines, and lush delay/reverb tails. While largely instrumental, a major branch—vocal trance—features lyrical toplines and pop‑leaning structures without losing its club‑centric dynamics.

Trap is a subgenre of hip hop that emerged from the Southern United States, defined by half-time grooves, ominous minor-key melodies, and the heavy use of 808 sub-bass. The style is characterized by rapid, syncopated hi-hat rolls, crisp rimshot/clap on the backbeat, and cinematic textures that convey tension and grit. Lyrically, it centers on street economies, survival, ambition, and introspection, with ad-libs used as percussive punctuation. Production is typically minimal but hard-hitting: layered 808s, sparse piano or bell motifs, dark pads, and occasional orchestral or choir samples. Vocals range from gravelly, staccato deliveries to melodic, Auto-Tuned flows, often using triplet cadences.

Trap EDM (often called EDM trap) is a fusion of Southern U.S. hip hop trap rhythms with the build–up/drop architecture and sound design of electronic dance music. It typically runs at 140 BPM with a halftime feel (or 70–75 BPM), featuring 808 sub‑bass, crisp snare/clap on the third beat, rapid 1/16 to 1/32 hi‑hat rolls, brass or synth stabs, and big festival‑style drops. Unlike rap-oriented trap, Trap EDM is primarily instrumental and designed for large dance floors and festivals, emphasizing dramatic risers, tension–release dynamics, and heavy low‑end impact.