French house usually features various special effects, such as phasers and has heavily sample-based production, compared to the usually programmed or live original instrumentation that nu-disco relies on.
For example, Todd Terje's edit of the Bee Gees hit "You Should Be Dancing" does exactly that, downplaying the old-school vocal riffs in favour of driving bass, lively percussion, and an overall sense of space.
[8] However, the scene's activity didn't fade away, it went underground, where many disco edit labels continue to exist today, such as Brooklyn's influential Razor-N-Tape.
[10] The early developments of the genre are linked with the Black Cock Records, disco edits label, primarily active in 1993–1998, founded by DJ Harvey and Gerry Rooney.
[11] In the mid-1990s Nuphonic Records was the house label for British artists Idjut Boys, Faze Action,[12] Raj Gupta and Crispin J Glover,[11] which are considered to be the pioneers of nu-disco.
[3] The Idjut Boys, best known for pioneering a house music style called "disco-dub" were heavily inspired by the freestyle and dub-influenced, post-disco dance sounds of the early 1980s.
[15] In the early 2000s the genre was a dance music mainstay,[12] right until the mid-2000s when electro house gained commercial success, leaving nu-disco in decline from mainstream and pushing it to further development.
[1] Originally, service associated it with re-edits of classic disco records and a handful of European electronic producers who made music in that style.
[3][12] Nu-disco artists Aeroplane and Soulwax became massively influential and have been released on major labels, while other producers are commissioned anonymously to work for pop acts.
[3] Steve Kotey, a member of cult band Chicken Lips, said in 2012: "30 percent of music in the charts have the feeling of this left-field disco production style in it.
They often feature four-on-the-floor beats with an organic, lively feel based on the sounds of classic disco recordings by Chic, Sister Sledge, and others.
While modern production is abundant with synthesized sounds, many nu-disco records are, in the disco tradition, driven by guitar or bass licks.
As with other electronic genres, nu-disco producers use both digital and analog synths to create melodic and harmonic lines, and add ambiance and color to their records.
Rather than following the traditional verse-chorus model, nu-disco tends to take after its electronic cousins, with more drawn-out, repetitive sections that slowly ramp up to the chorus and back down again.
Otherwise monotonous lines are brought to life with the use of filters, samples, and other subtle changes in the sound or groove over time in ways that make people want to keep dancing.