Riparia Records

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.

Chillout is a broad, downtempo-oriented style of electronic music designed for relaxation, decompression, and after-hours listening. It emphasizes spacious atmospheres, gentle grooves, and warm timbres over intensity or virtuosity. Emerging from the “chill-out rooms” of UK and Ibiza clubs, the sound blends ambient pads, soft 4/4 or broken-beat rhythms, and melodic fragments drawn from lounge, jazz, bossa nova, and Balearic traditions. Typical tempos range from about 70–110 BPM, with extended chords, subtle basslines, and abundant reverb and delay to create a sense of depth and calm. Though often used as an umbrella for related styles (ambient, downtempo, trip hop, lounge), chillout retains a distinct focus on mood: it privileges texture, space, and gentle momentum, making it a staple for late-night sets, beach bars, and home listening alike.

Complextro is a subgenre of electro house known for its rapid-fire timbral changes, micro-edited fills, and intricately layered bass riffs. Rather than presenting a single lead sound, tracks cycle through many short motifs, each with distinct sound design, creating a kaleidoscopic, "patchwork" drop. The style typically runs around 124–130 BPM with a four-on-the-floor groove, bright digital textures, staccato chord stabs, and tight sidechain compression. Its palette often borrows from chiptune and glitch, while adopting heavier bass design techniques from dubstep. The result is high-energy, hook-dense dance music where arrangement complexity and sound design virtuosity are central.

Deep house is a subgenre of house music characterized by warm, soulful textures, jazz-influenced harmony, and understated, hypnotic grooves. It typically runs around 115–124 BPM, favoring subtle swing, syncopated percussion, and rounded, mellow basslines over aggressive peaks. Sonically, deep house draws on extended chords (7ths, 9ths, 11ths), Rhodes and M1 organ timbres, airy pads, and tasteful use of reverb and delay to create a spacious, emotive atmosphere. Vocals, when present, often reference soul and gospel traditions, delivering intimate, reflective themes rather than big-room hooks. The style emerged in the mid-to-late 1980s as producers fused Chicago house rhythms with jazz-funk, soul, and garage house sensibilities, resulting in a smoother, deeper take on the house blueprint.

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.

Drumstep is a hybrid of drum and bass and dubstep that keeps the high energy and bass design of dubstep while adopting the tempo and rhythmic vocabulary of drum and bass. Typically written around 170–176 BPM but felt in halftime, drumstep places the snare on beat 3, creating a loping, head-nodding feel while preserving the pace and tension of fast DnB. Sound design favors aggressive midrange basses (reese variations, growls, wubs), heavy sub-bass, crisp snares, and densely syncopated hi-hats and percussion. In DJ contexts, drumstep bridges 140 BPM dubstep and 174 BPM drum and bass, allowing seamless genre-switching within high-energy sets. It’s punchy, festival-ready, and often minimal melodically, focusing on impact, groove, and sound design fireworks.

Dubstep is a bass‑centric electronic dance music genre that emerged in South London in the early 2000s. It is typically around 140 BPM and is defined by a half‑time rhythmic feel, sub‑heavy basslines, sparse yet impactful drums, and a strong emphasis on space, tension, and sound system weight. Hallmark traits include syncopated kick patterns, snares on the third beat of the bar, swung/shuffly hi‑hats inherited from UK garage, and modulated low‑frequency bass (“wobbles”) shaped with LFOs, filters, and distortion. Influences from dub reggae (echo, delay, and minimalism), jungle/drum & bass (bass science and sound system culture), and 2‑step garage (rhythmic swing and shuffles) are central. The style ranges from deep, meditative “dub” aesthetics (often called deep dubstep) to more aggressive, midrange‑driven variants that later informed brostep and festival bass. Atmosphere, negative space, and subwoofer translation are as important as melody or harmony.

Electro is an early 1980s machine-funk style built around drum machines (especially the Roland TR-808), sequenced basslines, and a futuristic, robotic aesthetic. It emphasizes syncopated rhythms, sparse arrangements, and timbres drawn from analog and early digital synthesizers. Vocals, when present, are often delivered via vocoder or rap-style chants, reinforcing a sci‑fi, cyborg persona. Electro’s grooves powered breakdance culture, and its sonic palette—crisp 808 kicks, snappy snares, dry claps, cowbells, and squelchy bass—became foundational to later techno and bass music.

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.

Garage house (often called US garage or New York/New Jersey garage) is a soulful, vocal-driven strain of house music that coalesced around the Paradise Garage in New York and the Zanzibar in Newark in the mid-to-late 1980s. It blends the four-on-the-floor pulse of early house with the lush orchestration and harmonies of disco, boogie, Philly soul, gospel, and contemporary R&B. Typical tracks feature warm chords (piano, Rhodes, or the Korg M1 organ), call-and-response vocals, syncopated basslines, shuffling hi-hats, and rich, uplifting arrangements designed for extended club mixes. Where Chicago house often emphasized minimal drum-machine jack tracks, garage house foregrounded songcraft—hooks, bridges, key changes, and church-influenced vocal performances—giving the genre a deeply emotive, dancefloor-focused character.

Glitch hop blends the rhythmic foundations of hip hop with the sound-design ethos of glitch and IDM. It is characterized by half-time, head-nodding grooves, intricately edited drums, and meticulous digital processing such as stutter edits, bit-crushing, time-stretch artifacts, and granular slicing. Typically sitting around 80–110 BPM (often felt in half-time), the style emphasizes heavy, syncopated bass lines, swung percussion, and detailed micro-edits that create a "broken yet groovy" feel. While largely instrumental, it often incorporates vocal chops, turntable scratches, and foley textures to add human feel and narrative color.

Hardcore techno is a high‑tempo, aggressively produced branch of techno characterized by distorted, punchy four‑on‑the‑floor kicks, abrasive sound design, and relentless rhythmic drive. Typical tempos range from about 160 to 190 BPM (and can go even faster in some scenes), creating an intense, physically demanding dance experience. The style emphasizes saturated 909‑style kick drums with clipped/transient "click" and long distorted tails, industrial textures, harsh stabs (including classic "hoover" tones), alarming FX, and short shouted or sampled vocals. Harmony is sparse and often minor, with dissonant intervals or horror/industrial atmospheres. The overall aesthetic is raw, dark, and functional for large rave systems, designed to evoke catharsis and high energy on the dancefloor.

Industrial is an experimental electronic music tradition that uses abrasive timbres, mechanical rhythms, and transgressive aesthetics. Its sound palette often includes distorted drum machines, tape loops, metallic percussion, feedback, and found-object recordings alongside synthesizers and samplers. Emerging from late-1970s UK underground art and performance scenes, industrial foregrounds themes of dehumanization, technology, surveillance, and power. Releases frequently embrace anti-commercial presentation, stark graphic design, and confrontational performance art, treating the studio as a laboratory for sonic manipulation rather than a vehicle for conventional songcraft. While early industrial emphasized noise, tape processing, and avant-garde collage, later waves fused the style with dancefloor precision (EBM), rock and metal heft, and club-oriented production, giving rise to a broad post-industrial family that remains influential in experimental, electronic, and popular music.

J-core is a Japanese take on hardcore techno that fuses high-BPM club structures with otaku culture, game/anime sampling, and brightly melodic writing. It typically sits in the 160–200+ BPM range, using pounding four-on-the-floor kicks, gabber-style distorted low-end, or layered breakbeats. The style is defined by hyper-melodic leads (often supersaws), euphoric trance harmonies, and chopped/processed voice clips from anime, games, denpa songs, or Vocaloid. Aesthetically it leans kawaii/cute but can swing toward intense, chaotic, or even speedcore extremes. J-core flourished in Japan’s doujin scene and rhythm-game ecosystem, with circles and labels releasing compilations and event-driven tracks.

Melodic trance is a subgenre of trance that centers on emotive, memorable melodies, long breakdowns, and euphoric climaxes. It typically runs at 130–138 BPM with a steady four-on-the-floor kick, offbeat open hi-hats, and sweeping, sidechained synth leads. Hallmarks include lush pads, arpeggiated plucks, supersaw stacks, and chord progressions in minor keys that gradually build tension before releasing into an anthemic drop. Vocals are common but not required; instrumental arrangements often carry a strong narrative arc through motif repetition and evolving sound design. The style grew out of late-1990s Dutch and German trance, progressed through early-2000s anthem and progressive trance, and remains popular via labels and artists who emphasize melody-driven, emotionally resonant dance music.

Progressive is an umbrella aesthetic that prioritizes musical development—extended forms, evolving arrangements, sophisticated harmony, and conceptual ambition—over verse–chorus simplicity. Emerging from late-1960s rock and psychedelia, the progressive approach soon permeated multiple styles (rock, electronic, metal, pop, dance music), where "progressive" signals pieces that unfold gradually, introduce new motifs across long arcs, and use timbral and harmonic exploration as core drama. Across its variants, listeners can expect longer tracks, thematic continuity (sometimes across whole albums), expanded instrument palettes (from orchestral colors to synthesizers), odd meters, key changes, and a narrative sense of journey.

Progressive house is a melodic, long-form strain of house music known for gradual builds, evolving textures, and a strong sense of tension and release. It favors hypnotic grooves, lush pads, and emotive chord progressions over abrupt drops. Typically sitting around 122–128 BPM in 4/4 time, tracks unfold over six to nine minutes, introducing small changes every few bars to keep momentum. The sound balances club-focused punch with cinematic atmosphere, making it equally at home in late-night dancefloors and long-form DJ sets.

Progressive trance is a substyle of trance that emphasizes long-form development, subtle layering, and hypnotic momentum over sudden dramatic peaks. It typically features evolving pads, pulsating arpeggios, and rolling basslines that build gradually across extended arrangements. Compared to uplifting or anthem trance, progressive trance is more restrained and textural, trading overt melodrama for nuanced tension-and-release. The result is a deep, immersive sound that feels journey-like on the dancefloor while remaining lush and atmospheric in focused listening contexts.

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.

Hardcore (often called hardcore techno in its early form) is a fast, aggressive branch of electronic dance music characterized by heavily distorted, punchy 4/4 kick drums, tempos ranging from roughly 160 to well over 200 BPM, and a dark, high‑energy aesthetic. It emphasizes percussive drive over complex harmony, using clipped and saturated kick-bass sound design, sharp hi-hats, claps on the backbeat, and harsh synth stabs or screeches. Vocals, when present, are typically shouted hooks, sampled movie lines, or crowd chants processed with distortion and effects. Originating in the Netherlands in the early 1990s, the style quickly splintered into related scenes and subgenres such as gabber, happy hardcore, Frenchcore, terrorcore, speedcore, and later hardstyle. Its culture is closely associated with large-scale raves, specialized labels, and distinctive visual branding.

World music is a broad, industry-coined umbrella for traditional, folk, and contemporary popular styles from around the globe that fall outside the Anglo-American pop mainstream. The label emerged in the 1980s as a retail and marketing category to group diverse regional musics for international distribution. Musically, it spans acoustic and electric instrumentation; modal, pentatonic, and microtonal pitch systems; and rhythms ranging from cyclical grooves and polyrhythms to asymmetrical meters. While the term can obscure local specificity, it also facilitated cross-cultural collaboration, festivals, and recordings that brought regional genres to wider audiences.