What is Progressive House? | Progressive House Classics | Episode 001

For the first episode of our Progressive House Classics series, we asked the question "What is Progressive House?" For the answer, we were guided straight to the source...
In the June 1992 issue of Mixmag, journalist Dom Phillips published an article titled "Trance Mission" which mentions the term "progressive house" for the first time and explores the origins and pioneers of the groundbreaking sound.
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Special thanks to the admins at Progressive House Classics, Jay Dobie, Wasim Afzal, and Marcus Harriman, for connecting us with Dom and for the guidance on future episodes.
Progressive House Classics is a UK-based blog that preserves the history of progressive house by revisiting the articles, releases, and sets that built up the progressive scene.
Website: www.progressiv...
Music by: Ryan Sassouni
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[@oldschoolprogressive2100]

I think biggest problem in progressive house nowadays is slower bpms. I remember when I started my djing careed in late 2007, we used to play more tribal progressive sounds almost whole night and trancey progressive tunes at the end of the night in the club but what I see right now is 120 bpm-ish boring tunes, looooooooooooooooooong break downs that turns people quickly down. Key difference is the groove between old (gold) and new tunes . New producers never understand the soul of progressive house.
What people call Progressive House nowadays is just a pop genre,which is suitable for the ones who haven't got balls to listen a 130 bpm song for 8-10 minutes. Somebody should bring back the trancey British Progressive House back.

[@schnidelwutz333]

Check out: Spray, Bliss Inc., Vitess, Guy Contact.. Lot of good faster stuff out there.

[@johnkearns]

RIP Dom Phillips... Great work, Will 👏

[@defaultoperation7986]

Thank you for not associating progressive house with the modern EDM movement, which is just manufactured festival pop music.
When progressive house started in the 90s, it was practically a break from the Chicago sound which some people got tired of and wanted something new. Sometimes they would sneak in some of house's disco/funk/soul origins but ultimately progressive house just took the genre and started doing different things at the time, which often gets lumped in with trance music as both genres would feature pulsating arpeggios, atmospheric strings/pads, and uplifting vocals with the only difference being that trance usually has a faster tempo than prog house.
In a nutshell, what progressive house is to chicago house is what 90s alternative rock is to 50s/60s rock n roll.

[@SuperProgressive]

This is such a great breakdown

[@cyberwolf1998]

Modern EDM movement is so much deeper when you get past the surface level DJs

[@defaultoperation7986]

@@cyberwolf1998 That's true, I'm sure there are. But unfortunately a lot of them are overproduced, like super compressed and loud. Anything that has those big festival vibes I don't care for. I like some simple grooves and atmospheric textures.

[@jchristopher4166]

Agree but also disagree.
a lot of the modern progressive house acts are still progressive house it's just evolved into the something different. Obviously they're acts that are "commercial" when it comes to the sound, but the format is still progressive house. I think people usually just lump Big Room and Progressive House together and think they're both the same, especially since Big Room was designed for the festivals. Same thing with Rock and Roll, when you look at rock back in the day and now it's nothing like the original sound at all.

[@defaultoperation7986]

@@jchristopher4166 Yeah, usually it's the deep / dark progressive house mixes that are close to sounding like something Sasha and John Digweed would mix.

[@rjeption]

Love me some build up

[@moonbeam_base]

Is "progressive house" the same as "progressive trance? "

[@Digitt6]

no. progressive trance has trance type of synths (primarily saw waves) but has alot slower tempo than regular trance and some housey type of kick drums. they can sound similar. but prog trance has more trancey elements including rolling basses

[@captaincurd2681]

​@@Digitt6I thought they were the same.

[@BlackPartyFilms]

Hmm colonization 😂

[@MP3RMusic]

Thanks, but already saw this on Wikipedia

[@MP3RMusic]

@@AlanCarson726 Hell yeah! XD 👌

[@oskarhinojosa]

Could you please talk about GU locations, GU Arrivals and GU departures. Which were compilations of the best GUs At the time. They were mixed by The Forth. Which I never knew who he was. Great compilations though !

[@windythedeer7884]

I took a listen to Leftfield and Gat Decor, expecting the early sounds of my favorite genre to sound crazy different, but I was blown away that it sounded basically the same as it does today.
I guess I should have remembered that in this genre, it takes millennia for any patterns to change.
Thanks for the vid!

[@SuperProgressive]

Thanks for the comment! And happy you enjoyed. Electronic music evolves in cycles, and I guess we’re at a pretty parallel moment musically

[@refraktr6223]

I don’t agree that modern progressive house sounds the same as it was back then. It was definitely more tribal, dark and in-your-face than it is now

[@micrill50]

Progressive house has been hugely mislabeled with Big Room. But the genre definitely had a different persona with Swedish producers like Eric Prydz.

[@diamondspear3328]

Why British have to flag drop!Jack said this is everybody's house!

[@psmaia82]

British pro-house is the answer to American house. and a mix of breakbeat, techno, chill out melodies with vocals. nothing to do with house made in USA. In the end, the best name will be Uk Trancey!

[@charlespinner2963]

Sasha and John Digweed went on tour with Northern Exposure and was the pinnacle of Progressive House. I got to see them all across the country. The best of all the nights was the tour at Cream Liverpool. Nothing had ever come close to that night

[@saab9387]

I heard real progressive house ended in 1995 and after that, the true meaning of progressive house was bastardized

[@Rainborn]

I think it's healthy to realize that the topic of genres and music styles is perforce difficult. I suppose the closer you are referring to the source of a term (e.g. Dom Phillips and progressive house), the more true you will be - but this will still be subject to how people interpret him in the first place, unless they want to absolutely copy paste his words rather than write in a novel way about it themselves.
Progressive House to me is very, very broad and is sometimes interchangeable with progressive trance. The proximity to tribal house and other relatives is also tangible, and can often explain the synchronicity between them.
I realize that "actual" progressive house might have had a rather short and defined existence between 90-96 or so, much like brit pop - a term which, to the unseasoned ear, might come across as just british pop. However, it is many times restricted to the mid-90s with Oasis, Blur, Suede, Supergrass and other prominent bands working in their adolescent but arguably strongest years. Their legacy was answered by bands like Libertines/Babyshambles, Razorlight, Hard-Fi and whatnot, and separating these two clusters of bands seems quite unnecessary really. The same can be said about progressive house.

[@jaylove7133]

nah it was perfected 2000-2005 now its bastardized into pure fluff trance for this horrible new generation

[@rufusjohngoa]

@@jaylove7133 what do you mean?

[@zWaKez]

naw it died after early 2000s

[@basehead617]

React 2 Rhythm - Rhythm Addiction (Mustang Mix [by William Orbit]) is the best progressive house track of all time and it’s from 1990, the 2nd record on Guerilla!

[@rocket_4584]

thanks a lot!

[@Luckzdj]

Gostaria muito que existisse esse video em portgues, mds. aqui nao se tem quase nada sobre progressive house!

[@culturadelgroove]

Rest in peace Dom