Hithouse Records Tribute: 10 Techno-Rave hits from the Hithouse!

Hithouse Records was a techno and house label founded in 1990 by Peter Slaghius (1961-1991). Although its parent label was from Belgium (ARS Productions), Slaghuis and his associate producers under the Hithouse banner were Dutch house/techno pioneers like Paul Elstak and Speedy J. The most famous acts from this label were Meng Syndicate and Holy Noise, responsible for several rave hits of the era.

This label had a considerable output in a wide range of styles, from house, breakbeats, and bleep techno to the hardcore-ish techno-rave style hallmark of 1991. Through this early hardcore output, the seeds were sown for the gabber scene to take the mantle after the tragic death of Slaghuis in a car accident in September 1991. Producers like Paul Elstak and Speedy J, among others, would carry this legacy forward to form the Dutch gabber scene.

Within the techno-rave trend of 1991, Hithouse's output was characterized by being very raw compared to the Belgian, UK, German, and Italian tracks of the same style. This can be appreciated in their more explicit references to horror topics and the grittier use of stabs, something that was also shared by other Dutch techno-rave tracks from 1991-1992.

Here, we list some of their hardest hits in their later techno-rave style.

1. Problem House - Syncage Trouble [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ako7mkAj710

2. Holy Noise - Father Forgive Them (The Truth Mix) [1990]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyWFvUPp-kU

3. Roundabout - The Guillotine [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh05CwmKdy8

4. Meng Syndicate - Luminary (1991)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EPBFYaydHU

5. Holy Noise - The Nightmare (Freddie Krueger's Message) [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AokOrNhIWVY

6. Hithouse - Epilepsia [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnOlbi6T6MU

7. Problem House - Dayner Overload [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG8Lec7MlQs

8. Spirit of Adventure - L'Hysterie [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF63C08AIf4

9. Meng Syndicate - Sonar System [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Hh0BhTxb4

10. Holy Noise - James Brown is Still Alive!! [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THyI8GGLykE

Bonus horror track:

• Holy Noise feat. The Unknown - Psycho (N. Bates Mix) [1991]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBIgkxWvItw

Bonus video mix:

• Problem House - The Party Mix (1991)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un6zP1WuY6s

From Wikipedia: "In 1990, Slaghuis founded his own label, Hithouse Records. As the manager of Hithouse Records, he discovered young talented producers such as Ferry Corsten, Paul Elstak, Michel de Hey and Speedy J, who released some of their first records on the label. He also worked with some of them under the name "Problem House", released the singles "A Bright Day" (featuring Dave D.M.D.) and "I've Been Waiting for Your Love" (made with Réjane Magloire from Indeep), and was part of electronic dance music group Holy Noise, consisting of Elidio Gomes, Elstak, Richard van Naamen and Rob Fabrie, with vocals by MC Alee. In 1991, they released the album Organoised Crime and the single "James Brown Is Still Alive!!" (in response to "James Brown Is Dead" by L.A. Style), which reached the top 10 in the Dutch Top 40. Slaghuis also worked on an album called "Acute Sense Of Hearing"." [Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Slaghuis]