Italo dance, also known as nu Italo disco, nu-Italo or just Italo, is an offshoot of the Eurodancemusic genre, which was especially popular in Europe in the late 1990s to the early 2000s.
Definition
The term "Italo dance" originates from its early counterpart Italo disco in the 1980s. Other than their names, origin, and categorization within dance music, Italo dance and Italo disco have little musical similarity. The genre became mainstream after the release of the single "Blue " by Eiffel 65. Italo dance is predominantly nightclub-oriented music and mainly produced in Italy. The genre never really became mainstream enough for the whole European market, but received much airplay on Italian radio, especially the danceradio stationm2o, and in southern parts of Europe.
Italo dance is characterized by synthesizer-riffs, vocals modified with vocoders with catchy and simple choruses and typically a bass with a 'metallic' sound often referred to as "Tuba-Bass".
Vocals
Italo dance is often positive and uplifting; the lyrics mostly involve issues of love, partying, dancing or expressing feelings. Most of the lyrics are in English but Italian lyrics are also common. Modifying the vocals with vocoders and pitch correction is also common.
Percussion
Almost all Italo dance involves percussion and rhythm like most other electronic uptempo genres. It usually has a metallic sound and a sound like that of the bass produced by a tuba except faster. The percussion is always produced by synthesizers, and the typical BPM is around 140 although it varies from 60–165 beats per minute.
Melody
Italo dance is often very melody-driven and is held together by the chorus and the main-theme. Some progressive derivatives of Italo is just driven by percussion and a male vocal.
History
The style was popular in Northern England around 1993/1994 where DJ's Jason Bushby, Adrian Street and Full Effect imported Italian vinyl which were played in raves such as Blue Monkey, After Dark, Club Fiesta and famously the Venue in Spennymoor. Tunes such TFO - Body & Soul and Phase Generator - Suicide were well played by many. One of the first countries to adopt the style was Germany where the label ZYX released much Italian-produced dance music. Da Blitz, Einstein Dr Deejay, Taleesa, Double You and Co.Ro were among the most notable and recognisable artists. The genre did not become mainstream in most European clubs until the late 1990s. 1999 saw the huge hits "Tell Me Why" by Prezioso and "L'Amour Toujours" by Gigi D'Agostino. The genre had its infancy from 1993 to 1995 and its golden age from 1999 to 2005. Although Italo hits by Eiffel 65, Prezioso, Gigi D'Agostino, Molella, Gabry Ponte and DJ Lhasa still receive substantial airplay, the genre is far from mainstream today where it has been replaced by mostly electro and house music. Prezioso and Molella now produce house and electro and many other artists have also changed their genre, however Gigi D'Agostino, Gabry Ponte and Luca Zeta still produce Italo.
Meaning "slow and violent" in Italian, Lento Violento is a subgenre of Italo dance developed by Gigi D'Agostino as a much slower and harder type of music. The BPM is often reduced to the half of typical Italo dance tracks. The bass is often noticeably loud, and dominates the song.
