elecTONIC

In This Post I Talk About Hardcore

// September 9th, 2009 // Uncategorized

I know a lot of you might hear the term “hardcore” and immediately think of the “happy” style that initially earned the genre it’s perpetual stigma in the mid 90′s. I’m inclined to think it did so because it turned cheesiness into a crusade, causing ravers and clubbers who projected a tougher image to become ludicrously defensive and insecure (Read any thread on the subject at ravelinks.com and you’ll start to see a lot of douchebags come out of the woodwork with the sole purpose of making sure everybody in the thread knows that they hate Kandi Kids).

I personally think happy hardcore was awesome because it was often shamelessly inane and, at times, somewhat subversive as a result. However, most people won’t bother touching the greater hardcore genre with a ten-foot pole because of happy hardcore’s enduring legacy.

Since the death of happycore, hardcore has diversified itself immensely, yet this phenomenon has been largely ignored in the states. What is now called UK Hardcore has been successfully exported from the United Kingdom to Australia, which is currently brimming with its own fresh talent and a vibrant scene. Many of SKILLS’ larger events have started to feature top UK Harcore DJs in recent years. The most recent POP featured Raverbaby Records boss DJ Hixxy and MC Storm, alongside other prominent DJ’s associated with the label. ETD Love featured Scott Brown, one of the most consistently lauded producers and DJs in the scene. 2008′s POP introduced Sharkey, the original pioneer of the freeform hardcore sound, to a handful of U.S. ravers. Youtube these names; you might be pleasantly surprised at what you’ll find (Just keep in mind that all of the guys I mentioned were immensely prominent in the 90′s, when happy harcore was the dominant sound).

It’s good to know who these guys are, but I intend to use this blog as an opportunity to write about artists who I think of as doing especially interesting things with the UK Hardcore sound. Relatively speaking, I’m a bit of an outsider and I definitely wrote the above blurb from the narrow perspective of an American raver. This blog isn’t the place for an in-depth discussion of hardcore’s roots and development, and I don’t think I’m in a great position to lecture anyone nor is it likely that any of you want to hear about it anyway. However, I feel that I’m in a unique position as a relatively new and young fan of the music because I’m exempt from what I perceive as a lot of bitterness and inertia bogging down the scene in the UK. I’m not going to indulge in nostalgia and yearn for the scene of yesteryear. Instead, I’m going to focus on guys like Oli G, Darwin and Jon Doe and hope that you Berkeley electronic music enthusiasts are at least marginally entertained by my latest obsession: kick-drum driven dance music that happens to be really fucking fast.

Here’s a teaser. The track is called “Mood Music;” the artist is Devastate, the remixer is Oli G.
Keep your eyes peeled for it’s release on www.hardbeatsdownload.com, and while you’re there, check out the other tunes from the ReBuild Music catalog. It’s currently one of the freshest and most exciting labels in hardcore.

-DJ Koolkat