Electronic/Dance music of Netherlands

During the early 90s, Dutch DJ’s built a style of electronic dance music known as gabber. The style was built in reaction to the commercialization of house music and it was largely influenced by the early hardcore from Frankfurt and New York. The DJs exposed the music which they see as the excess sounds, songs were contracted to a high-speed monotonous beat while sometimes over 260 beats in per minute. Amsterdam waar lech dat dan was the first ever record to labeled gabber. It is noted that Amsterdam-based D-Shake was possibly to be the first to use the term gabber in a 1990 Dutch television program. Well-known gabber groups and DJs include The Dark Raver, Neophyte and Rotterdam Terror Corps. Gabbers differentiate themselves through their hair (bald heads) and their dressing (Australian and Cavello). Presently, gabber is usually known as hardcore. Gabber also produced happy hardcore which is an outgrowth of gabber. Renowned groups and DJs in the happy hardcore include Mental Theo, Party Animals, Charly Lownoise, Scooter and Flamman & Abraxas.

source of picture: www.theguardian.com 

Netherlands has also produced many Eurodance acts such as Alice Deejay, the Venga Boys, 2 Unlimited, Twenty Four Seven and Two Brothers on the 4^th Floor. Many of the top world’s trances DJs are from Dutch and they include DJ Tjesto, Ferry Corsten and Armin van Buuren. The DJ Magazine of the top 10 has been dominated by the Dutch for many years. In the year 2012 five of the 10 DJs were from Dutch. DJ Tjesto was awarded as the best DJ for three consecutive times in a row by DJ magazine and is still the top 10.  Armin van Buuren who is also from Dutch has taken the first place during this for four years in a row. Many foreign DJ also live in and operate from Netherlands. Drum and bass is also renowned in Netherlands, musicians include Black Sun Empire and Noisia. Netherlands is place to many of the biggest trance occasions on earth, including Trance Energy and Sensation.

Afrojack, Fedde Le Grand, Nicky Romero, Laidback Luke, Hardwell and Sander van Doorn were other famous DJ’s from Netherlands.

Dutch through the years have also made quite a reputation for themselves with their flourishing underground scene. Large numbers of small independent record labels, events organization and musicians have cropped up through the years. Musicians such as Acid Junkies, Miss Djax, Orlando Voorn, Speedy J, Unit Moebius and I-F have achieved international respect making the way for several of the upcoming electronic musicians from the Lowlands.