Dirty House

Each conference brings a buzzword for the latest micro-strain. In 2004 it was grime, a hybrid of hip-hop and jungle with UK MC Dizzee Rascal as its poster boy. This year finds hipsters talking about dirty house, a more electro-leaning, rhythmically playful incarnation of good ol' fashioned house.

The music itself, propounded by artists such as Munk and Princess Superstar, is pretty good, but the terminology distances it from house's black, gay roots to appeal to a paler, straighter crowd. It's redundant: Early house was deliciously dirty both in lyrical content and raw groove.

"Dirty house? I've never heard of such an animal," says "Godfather of House" Frankie Knuckles from his Chicago home. "The only thing I know about dirty house is that I might not have much in common with people who reside in them.

"All joking aside, I'm not familiar with [it]. However I am familiar with the concept of the European and the British always being on the lookout for the next big thing. And I guess dirty house is it. I'll give it fifteen minutes."