Italo house

Infobox Music genre
name=Italo house
color=silver
bgcolor=black
stylistic_origins=House, Italo disco
cultural_origins=Italy
instruments=Piano
popularity=since the late 1980s in Italy
derivatives=
other_topics=

Italo house (often simply referred to as "Italo") is a form of house music popular in Italy, Britain and United States since the late 1980s. It fuses house music and Italo disco. The genre's main musical characteristic is its use of predominantly electronic piano chords in a more lyrical (yet still "clunky") form than classic Chicago House records. The best known example is Black Box's "Ride On Time".

Two of the genre's most notable characteristics are its liberal use of lyrical hooks from other compositions (usually by pairing phrases from unrelated compositions), and its translation of Italian lyrics into a gibberish form of English. While the 49ers records would display the best example of the former, the latter is epitomized by the Black Box record "Everybody Everybody". The resulting "gibberish" lyrics (whether sampled or translated ) have a vaguely impressionistic charm that has stuck with the genre as it cycles through musical fads ranging from disco to drum and bass.

Italo House was preceded by a movement called Italo Disco. Whereas Italo Disco is defined more by its early use of electronica and HiNRG in the musical backing, Italo House is defined predominantly by its lyrical oddities. Indeed, groups that spoke and wrote native English would intentionally imitate the lyrical goofiness of the genre. Today, house DJs and musicians around the world, such as Ewan Pearson and David Gilmore, are fusing elements of the 80s electro revival (US and Britain) with that of Italo House.

Artists

* Alex Gaudino
* 49ers
* Black Box (band)
* Cappella
* X-static
* DJ Lelewel
* DJ Manusss
* DJ Pierre Feroldi
* DJ Professor
* El Chico
* FPI Project
* Francesco Zappala
* Gigi D'Agostino
* Gino Latino (aka Jovanotti)
* Gino Latino II (aka Giacomo Maiolini)
* MIG-29
* Franc'O'Moiraghi
* Starlight
* Lee Marrow
* Albertino
* Fargetta
* Molella
* Joe T Vannelli
* Mauro Picotto
* Claudio Coccoluto
* Alex Natale
* Prezioso

Record labels

* BCM Records
* Discomagic Records
* Groove Groove Melody
* Italian Style Production
* Kutmusic
* Out
* Spectra
* Strike Record
* Takuma Records
* Underground
* ZYX Music

See also

* Italo Disco
* Italo Dance