ostinato
3 tracksA pattern repeated persistently, often for a whole section, while other parts change above it. Minimal techno and much film music build tension from ostinatos.
Form and structure
loop
19 tracks.
What it is
A section of sound repeated seamlessly. Loops, from tape to software, are the building block of hip-hop, house and techno, where change comes from what is added or taken away.
Read more on WikipediaRelated concepts
sampling
25 tracksTaking a fragment of an existing recording and reusing it in a new one, as a loop, a chop or a texture. Sampling is central to hip-hop and dance music and raises questions of credit and copyright.
sequencer
3 tracksA device or program that records and plays back musical events in time, so a producer can program parts that repeat exactly.
Hear it in these tracks
WHTKD
Say to Me
WHTKD loops a soulful, pleading vocal over a warm, rolling deep house groove, a track that sounds like late afternoon turning into evening.
Mount Sims
Restless
Seven minutes of slow-burning tension, Restless loops a nervous synth figure and a stalking beat until the repetition itself becomes the thrill.
Infinity Ink
Infinity
Infinity Ink's Infinity is a bassline-led deep house anthem whose endlessly looped, half-whispered hook made it a platinum hit in Belgium and a club staple since 2012.
Future Forward, Mount Sims
Time for Livin
A long, strutting electro groove released on Kompute Musik, with Mount Sims' deadpan vocal riding a relentless machine pulse that barely changes and never needs to.
FKJ
Lying Together
The neo-house track that introduced FKJ: chopped vocals, warm filtered chords and an elastic bassline wrapped into four and a half minutes of slow-burning, sunlit intimacy.
Ed Sheeran
Shape of You
A plucked marimba-like loop, a dancehall bounce and a flirtation that starts at the bar: Shape of You is the minimal pop machine that took over the world in 2017.
Daft Punk
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
A chopped funk loop and a robot reciting a workout mantra: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger is Daft Punk turning a sample into one of the most quoted hooks of the century.
Daft Punk
Face to Face / Short Circuit
Recorded live at Bercy, Daft Punk fold the sunny house bounce of Face to Face into the jittery robot funk of Short Circuit, and the pyramid crowd goes up with it.
Daft Punk
Around the World
One phrase, one bassline and seven minutes of repetition: Around the World is Daft Punk proving that a loop can be a whole world on its own, and Michel Gondry's video turned its arrangement into choreography.
CLAAP!, S.A.N.T.A.N.A.
Dimanche
A slow Sunday-afternoon deep house cut from a Paris duo's debut EP on La Belle Records, all warm chords, an unhurried beat and Santana's soft vocal drifting in and out of the haze.
Camel Power Club
Ourson
Soft beats, sunny loops and a sampled Son House blues voice: Ourson is a short, cuddly piece of French chillout, first a 2015 single and later part of Sputnik II, that feels like a teddy bear rendered in warm sound.
Marbert Rocel
Hush Now
A soulful downtempo song from the German trio Marbert Rocel's second album Catch A Bird: Antje Seifarth's gentle voice over soft, slowly unfolding electronics, made for winding down.
Fort Minor
Remember The Name
'Remember The Name' by Fort Minor is an anthem of perseverance: Mike Shinoda and Styles of Beyond trade verses over a cello loop and a chorus that breaks success down into percentages, a song that became the soundtrack of sport.
Cardi B
WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion)
'WAP' is a bold and provocative hip-hop track by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion: a minimal beat, a looped Baltimore club chant and two rappers trading explicit, joyfully unapologetic verses about desire.
Sleaford Mods
Tweet Tweet Tweet
'Tweet Tweet Tweet' by Sleaford Mods is a gritty post-punk rant born on a dismal bus ride, aimed at people lost in their phones and at the politics of 2014 England, filmed here live for KEXP in 2023: one man pressing play, one man spitting fire.
Kutiman
Inner Galactic Lovers
'Inner Galactic Lovers' is Kutiman's 2015 song assembled from parts recorded by 24 freelance musicians in a dozen countries: an ethereal, funky collage in which every player was hired online and never met the others.
The Chemical Brothers
Star Guitar
'Star Guitar' is The Chemical Brothers' slowly blooming 2002 single, built on four bars of acoustic guitar sampled from David Bowie's 'Starman', and the song behind Michel Gondry's famous one-shot train-window video.
Gabriel Vitel
Burn It Down
'Burn It Down' by Gabriel Vitel is a dark, six-minute minimal track from the German songwriter and indie dance live act's 2014 debut EP on Ipoly Music, built for the dance floor rather than the radio.
Marcu Rares
Camimosa
An eighteen-minute minimal track by the Romanian producer Marcu Rareș, the title piece of his 2018 EP for the Romanian minimal techno label Welter Records.