Microgenre Moment: Skweee

Ever wanted to throw down some obscure music knowledge to impress friends and strangers alike?  In Microgenre Moment I try my best pass along some basic Wikipedia overviews and links to relevant videos to get you up to speed on a specific sub-sub-genre of music.  I guarantee these posts will grant you the intellectual high ground in your next music-centered conversation.

"Skweee is a musical style, with origin in Sweden and Finland. Skweee combines simple synth/chiptune leads and basslines with funk, R&B or soul-like rhythms, overall rendering a stripped-down funky sound. The tracks are mostly entirely instrumental, though there are exceptions. The name Skweee was coined by Daniel Savio, one of the originators of the emerging sound. The name refers to the use of vintage synthesizers in the production process, where the aim is to "squeeze out" the most interesting sounds possible."

"The current producers are both newcomers and old, experienced producers from the Scandinavian Electro and electronica environment. The preferred media format of skweee enthusiasts is the 7" vinyl record. Early releases were exclusively released in this format. More recently, however, a series 12" vinyl records, digital releases and CD compilations have been released through these outlets as well."

"Skweee has during late 2008 and early 2009 started to influence the sound of dubstep. A thread started on the dubstepforum made the scene aware of skweee. Producers such as Rusko, Gemmy, Joker, Zomby, Rustie, Jamie Vex'd among others, have given their take on the sound resulting in several interesting releases on the boundary between skweee and dubstep."