Acid House
A raw house style built on the squelchy sound of the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer.
History
Acid house began in Chicago with a small bass synthesizer called the Roland TB-303 s1. The machine was meant to replace a bass guitar, but it made strange, sliding, squelchy sounds instead. DJ Pierre and his group Phuture experimented with it and released 'Acid Tracks' on Trax Records in 1987 s2. Sleezy D's 'I've Lost Control', released in 1986, is often named as an earlier record with the same sound s1. The style was named acid house, though the name had nothing to do with the drug LSD at first s1. In 1988 the sound travelled to Britain and became the centre of the Second Summer of Love s3. Large, illegal parties called raves were held in warehouses and fields, and the music became linked to the drug ecstasy s3. A Guy Called Gerald's 'Voodoo Ray' was released in 1988 and became a British acid house anthem s1. By 1990 the style had faded, but its 303 sound stayed important in dance music s4.
Sound
- A squelchy, sliding bassline from the Roland TB-303
- Simple, heavy drum machine patterns
- Hypnotic, repeated loops
- Little or no singing, sometimes short spoken words
- A raw, unpolished feel
Key figures
- DJ Pierre — Member of Phuture; pioneer of the acid sound
- Phuture — Group that released 'Acid Tracks'
- A Guy Called Gerald — British producer of 'Voodoo Ray'
- Marshall Jefferson — Chicago producer who helped shape early acid records
Labels
- Trax Records — Chicago , 1984
- Rham Records — Manchester , 1988
Defining tracks
Connections
Came from: Chicago House , Hi-NRG
Led to: New Beat , Acid Techno
Sources
- Acid house — Wikipedia
- Acid Tracks — Wikipedia
- Second Summer of Love — Wikipedia
- The Second Summer of Love — BBC Radio 2 (2018)