Hardcore History

Introducing Hardcore Techno

2009-12-10T10:46:00.006+02:00

In the past 20 years electronic music created many genres that have fans all over the world. One of the most popular among them is Hardcore.

It emerged around the world (USA, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the UK), in the early-to-mid-1990s. What makes it different is that this kind of sound is typified by a fast tempo, above 130bpm(Beats per Minute) and the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal industrial-like beats and samples. Mainly, hardcore is composed using music sequencers, thus many earlier tracks were produced on home computers with module tracker software and virtual studio software like Fruity Loops Studio, Ableton Live, Cubase, Logic, Nuendo and Reason.

The hardcore scene, with all its sub-genres, constantly grew, and many labels, entertainment companies saw a need in organizing parties and festivals,that every year gather hundreds of thousands of fans.

Although it is an important genre of music in general , information about it are few. Thus the main purpose of this blog is to show, on one hand, a brief history of hardcore and, on the other hand, to describe an image about it and its sub-genres.

You will find here some bits of history, according to the location where it evolved, the artists index and the description of sub-genres like gabber, hardstyle, speedcore, digital hardcore, darkcore and more.

For more details about the hard styles of electronic music, please check the content on the right.

In the same time, comments for every article are enabled so that if you have more details about it, you can let us know. So, we invite you all, fans, producers, dj's to share with us your knowledge. We will greatly appreciate new details and information and we assure you that we will update the articles based on your comment.

Last, but not least, the information here are not ours. We do not take fully credit for it. The resources are listed below on this page.

When and where did it begin?

2009-12-06T20:40:00.001+02:00

1. Germany

By 1987 a German party scene based around the Chicago sound was well established. The following year (1988) saw acid house making as significant an impact on popular consciousness in Germany as it had in England.

In 1989 German DJs Westbam and Dr.Motte established UFO, an illegal party venue, and co-founded the Love Parade. After the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, free underground techno parties mushroomed in East Berlin, and a rave scene comparable to that in the UK was established.

But in 1991 a number of party venues closed, including UFO ,and the Berlin Techno scene centered itself around three locations close to the foundations of the Berlin Wall: Planet (later renamed E-Werk by Paul van Dyk), Der Bunker, and The relatively long-lived Tresor.
In the same period German DJs began intensifying the speed and abrasiveness of the sound, as an acid infused techno began transmuting into hardcore. DJ Tanith commented at the time that: “Berlin was always hardcore, hardcore hippie, hardcore punk, and now we have a very hardcore house sound. At the moment the tracks I play are an average one hundred and thirty five beats per minute and every few months we add fifteen more.”

2. United Kingdom

Early Hardcore producers such as SL2, Hyper-On Experience, DJ Jonny L and Sonz of a Loop da Loop Era, along with record labels such as Moving Shadow, Reinforced, XL and Formation evolved in a period where Techno was developing a harder edge, exploring the complex breakbeats that would later manifest themselves as Jungle and the subsequent development of Drum and Bass. The stylistic influence of techno including the movie, cartoon and media samples, and powerful synthesizer-based breakdowns characterized this earlier form of UK Hardcore, which some believed to have hit its first peak in 1992. For example, some fan websites go so far as to hyperbolically proclaim "1992 was the best year for music, EVER!"

With the diversity in sound available to producers rising with the onset of progressively more advanced computer and music production systems, electronic music was evolving at a rapid pace during this period. Hardcore, Techno, and Drum and Bass began split during this intense period of creativity, spinning off the genres Ragga and Darkside.

The United Kingdom-based rave hardcore scene of the 1990s encompassed several native styles through the years, techno and hardcore being the respective dominant genres in the North and South of the country for much of this period.

Through a combination of factors, hardcore had taken a new musical direction towards the latter half of the 1990s. It now had little musical resemblance to its origins, generally becoming more vocal-based and at times producing cover versions of popular songs. This sound attracted a younger audience in the UK. Elsewhere at this time, this particular sound had found a new worldwide audience in places such as Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States.
Producers looked to regenerate the United Kingdom rave hardcore music scene towards the end of the 20th century, taking influence from many different styles whilst trying to leave the late 1990s happy hardcore image behind. Their sound was called UK Hardcore; it has seen new producers enter the scene. This emerging sound is thought to have been influenced by Dutch gabber and Belgian hardcore; styles that were in their own perverse way paying homage to Underground Resistance and Richie Hawtin’s Plus8 Records. This current sound similarly has also found followers from all corners of the globe.

Hardcore also received its own special in 2004 on BBC Radio 1 entitled John Peel Is Not Enough named after a CLSM track of the same name.

3. The Netherlands

It was here where first gabber/hardcore track appeared - We Have Arrived (1990) by Mescalinum United.

Dutch Hardcore music is a fusion of techno and industrial blended in a dark atmosphere, experimental and hard. One of first Dutch hardcore tracks was Rotterdam Termination Source's Poing (1992) which became a major hit. The record shop Midtown in the Nieuwe Binnenweg of Rotterdam is considered one of the shrines of Gabber music.

During the early 90’s hardcore takes the rawest side of ‘acid’ and techno sound (including Belgian ‘new beat’ and some of Underground Resistance’s harder material) and pushes it to the furthest extremes of noise and speed. Frankfurt’s Planet Core Productions label and The Netherlands’ Rotterdam Records promote the sound in Europe, while Lenny Dee’s Industrial Strength label in NYC does it stateside (triggering the growth of the hardcore scene in Chicago, featuring DJ Delta 9, and the entire Milwaukee scene, represented by Drop Bass Network).
The mid 90s free festival scene represents the culmination of underground techno events in Europe, birthing such notable hardcore techno collectives as Spiral Tribe and Network 23. But as each country slowly latches down on party-goers, the scene is forced to retreat, and only really survives in France and Netherlands, where the hardcore scene delivers hard-hitting political critiques of the status quo through its devastating music.

After surviving underground for a number of years, in 2002 the style has became more popular again in the Netherlands, although the sound is more mature, darker and industrial. Around the world, it never lost its original grip, and music was evolving and creating new subgenres and approaches, from Digital Hardcore to Breakcore, from Noisecore to Speedcore.
Labels like Ant-Zen, Hands and other industrial/experimental ones use many Hardcore/Gabber elements and come close to what nowadays is called Darkcore. It was like if the "happy hardcore period" was overlooked, and Hardcore kept evolving from the oldskool times, maintaining the original industrial harshness and approaching other styles in a genre which is now one of the most rich and detailed in electronic music, due to its variety and broad range of talented artists.
As hardcore continues to grow, each different type of hardcore (each subgenre) begins to attract a larger fan base and more support from producers.

Gabber

2009-12-06T20:37:00.002+02:00

Most popular in The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Belgium, characterized by heavy bass drum sound, usually created with distortion, generally 150-220 bpm.
Gabber, gabba (pronounced gahba or gahbuhr in Dutch) is a subgenre of hardcore techno. The style was born in the Dutch city of Rotterdam in the early 1990s.

The essence of the gabber sound is a distorted kick sound, overdriven to the point where it becomes a square wave and makes a recognizably melodic tone. Gabber tracks typically also include samples and synthesised melodies with the typical tempo ranging from 160 to 220 bpm.

The term 'gabber' traces its roots back to the Hebrew word "khaver", meaning 'mate' or 'friend', the word is at this moment a normal word in the Dutch language. Apocryphally, one of these gabbers wanted to enter the Roxy in Amsterdam, where the bouncer said, "No, gabber, you can't come in here." Source of the Dutch term for the genre, "gabberhouse", was DJ "Hardy" Ardy Beesemer.

Gabber is characterised by its bassdrum sound. Essentially, it comes from taking a normal synthesized bassdrum and overdriving it heavily. The approximately sinusoidal sample starts to clip into a squarewave with a falling pitch. This results in a number of effects: the frequency spectrum spreads out, thus achieving a louder, more aggressive sound. It also changes the amplitude envelope of the sound by increasing the sustain. Due to the distortion, the drum also develops a melodic tone. It is not uncommon for the bassdrum pattern to change pitch throughout the song to follow the bassline.

The second frequently used component of gabber tracks is the "hoover", a patch of the Roland Alpha Juno synthesizer. A "hoover" is typically a distorted, grainy, sweeping sound which, when played on a low key, can create a dark and brooding bassline. Alternatively, when played at higher pitches, the hoover becomes an aggressive, shrieking lead. Faster gabba tracks often apply extremely fast hoover-patterns - gapping (changing the volume rapidly between the maximum and silence) is often used. Common elements also include guitar riffing (often done live at gabber parties) and MCing (more often than not also distorted).

Lyrics and themes of mainstream gabber usually deal with self-indulgence, sex, violence and anti-establishment. However, it must be noted that gabber songs usually carry a hint of irony in themselves - although some songs are meant to be taken seriously, this is by no means a trend. Lyrics in conscious gabber tracks usually you revolve around psychiatric behaviour to conspiracy theories, apocalyptic revelations and social criticism, albeit a large portion of these themes come from speech samples taken from movies and other songs.

Random track: Rotterdam Terror Corps - Gabber mafia

Nu style gabber aka Mainstream Hardcore

2009-12-06T20:35:00.003+02:00

There was a somewhat divisive split in the hardcore scene starting in the late 1990s. Some producers started embracing a slower style characterized by a deeper, harder bass drum that typically had a longer envelope than was possible in the traditional, faster style. This newer sound was referred to as "New Style" (or "Nu Style") and "New Skool" and as the tempo got slower and slower it began to become similar to hard house.

Many hardcore enthusiasts hated hard house and the club scene it typifies, and frequently DJs would be booed by one group of fans and cheered for by another at the same party, depending on the tempo and style of music they were playing. This is similar to the rivalry and mutual dislike that surfaced earlier between fans of "regular" hardcore and happy hardcore. Eventually the two styles met in the middle, and most gabber today is produced in a bpm range of 160-170. This is typically a little bit slower than the Rotterdam style of the mid-1990s and somewhat faster than the slowest Newstyle tracks that emerged.

The difference between nu style gabber and the old skool one(presented in an earlier post)essentially consists in one thing: the tempo.

Oldskool gabba, staying true to its mentality, defines "hardness" in speed: tracks rarely go under 160 BPM, and bassdrum rolls often go up to a speed where the beats themselves are hardly distinguishable from each other.

Nuskool gabba, however, slows the speed down to 150 BPM, but extends the length of the bassdrum so the bass-frequency resonation keeps on longer. (In this aspect, "nugabba" obviously cannot be considered less powerful than its precursor, although slower hardcore is often less energetic.) A typical style is a style best made known by Rotterdam Terror Corps: the beats are divided into triplets and all hoover notes are played in a short, staccato-like fashion, giving the song a march-like feel.

A common misconception about gabber is that it is loud but primitive music. The style (somewhat limited by the fans' taste) evolved during the years into a creative genre, where complex rhythmic and melodic combinations are more and more common. In more recent gabber, melodies and drums are overlayed with various effects, which add richness to the music. Gabber has grown into a serious style of music where producers are encouraged to experiment, largely because the limited characteristics of hardcore, which force artists to approach several different music styles to create memorable music.

Because of the extreme tempo and aggression of the music, and the shaven heads and clothing preference being associated with skinheads or neo-nazis, some generalize that gabber fans are all members or supporters of neo-rightist or neo-Nazi groups. For example, in the early 1990s, gabber gained a following in the very small neo-fascist rave scene in the American Midwest and in Germany. Most gabber fans do not belong to the aforementioned groups, and many producers has released tracks that vocally speak out against for example, racism.

Random Track: Nitrogenetics - Pledge Of Resistance

Hardcore Breaks

2009-12-06T20:34:00.001+02:00

Written in the style of old-skool rave music or breakbeat hardcore using modern technology and production techniques.

Hardcore breaks is a genre of electronic music written in the style of old skool rave music or breakbeat hardcore using modern technology. The music is composed of from looped, edited and processed breakbeat samples, intense bassline sounds, melodic piano lines, staccato synthesizer riffs, and various vocal samples (frequently taken from old house records).
The speed of this genre typically falls between the range of 145-155 BPM, although there are exceptions within a 10 BPM buffer on each side, and the DJ will often change the speed when playing at a rave. Originally being produced by a small group of artists with the vision of carrying on where oldskool hardcore left off before the jungle/happy hardcore split using new production techniques and technology, its appeal has now expanded to include artists from the original breakbeat hardcore scene creating new productions. Many large rave promotions now include hardcore breaks on the line up and it is recognised as its own entity. Hardcore Breaks together with Rave Breaks and J-tek is considered to be part of the Nu-Rave scene.

Random Track: DJ Fuzzbuzz - Tune Ruff`n`Tuff

Breakbeat hardcore

2009-12-06T20:30:00.002+02:00

This retrospective term is usually reserved for tracks produced in the early 90's, a large period of growth for hardcore. Lots of piano rolls, bouncy basslines, breakbeats, plenty of female vocals and classic "rave" sounds are some of the defining characteristics of this subgenre. Breakbeat hardcore (Rave music) is a derivate of acid house that combines 4-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with UK Rave scene.

Random Track: Hackney Hardcore - Dancehall Dangerous (1992)

Hardstyle

2009-12-06T20:27:00.005+02:00

Originated from hard trance, gabber and rave music with influences from UK hard house and jumpstyle. The place of origin is believed to be the Netherlands, where the first hardstyle events started near the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000. Persons accredited in the development of the style is Dov J. Elkabas aka The Prophet, Raoul Van Grinsven aka Dj Zany, Wouter and Sjoerd Janssen aka Showtek and Dana van Dreven aka Lady Dana.

In 2007 the style started becoming popular in several countries in the world, including: Belgium, Poland, Estonia, Denmark, Australia, South Africa and United Kingdom.

The English sound was very popular in the Netherlands for a short time, but it soon appeared that the Dutch public preferred a harder bassline. Artists like Dana, and Pavo & The Prophet combined the English sound with new productions. This sound also gained some popularity in Germany, where it was picked up by the German label Tracid Traxxx (who defined their own sound as a combination of trance and acid), and later also by Blutonium Records and Resident E Recordings.

Afterwards, hardstyle productions briefly became popular in Italy, and later in Germany. This led to the emergenece of new hardstyle which eventually arrived at and became popular in the Netherlands. Q-Dance organised a monthly event in the (known today as the North Sea Venue) under the name Qlubtempo, an event which could be called the melting pot of the Hardstyle. Nowadays hardstyle events are very common in Dutch clubs. Artists who had never performed in the Netherlands before were flown over to bring there the new sound. Artists such as Technoboy, Super Marco May, and Gary D acquired a large reputation in the Netherlands this way.

Hardstyle is a rising star the same way house music was, with events like Qlimax, Hardbass, Defcon.1 and many more the hardstyle sound gathers tens of thousands of fans from all over the world.

Random Track: Headhunterz & Wildstylez "Project One" - Fantasy or Reality

Frenchcore

2009-12-06T20:25:00.003+02:00

Originated in the French rave scene of the early 90's, influenced by old school gabber, has a bouncy feel created by the bassdrum that is influenced by 909 kick, but is made with synths. Frenchcore achieved wider recognition in 1998 with the release of Micropoint's first album Neurophonie. Today the frenchcore scene is expanding all over Europe with artists like Radium, The Speed Freak, The Sickest Squad, Sirio, Androgyn Network, Dcybl, X-Fly, Randy, Frazzbass and many others. You can listen this music at free parties all over Europe.

Random Track: The Sickest Squad Ft Lenny Dee - Frenchcore Killah

Speedcore

2009-12-06T20:20:00.003+02:00

Speedcore style of techno music, characterised by high of beats per minute and aggressive themes. The name originates from the high BPM, which is always higher than 200 BPM. Earlier Speedcore tracks averaged at about 250 BPM, whereas more recent track sometimes exceed 1000 BPM. Some people classify higher BPM tracks (around 500-600 BPM), as splittercore, and upon reaching 1000 BPM and beyond, the music becomes known as extratone. Whether these terms are necessary or widely used is debatable, partial because of the human ability to perceive differences in BPM at these speeds.

Aside from the very fast tempo of speedcore, which rarely drops below 240 BPM, speedcore can often be distinguished from other forms of hardcore techno by an aggressive and overridden electronic percussion track that is often punctuated with hyperactive snare or tom-tom fills. The Roland TR-909 is often the drum machine of choice for speedcore producers due to its ability to generate heavily distorted bass-drum kicks that anchor the percussion tracks. Most producers will often overdrive their kicks so much that they become square waves, much like in Gabber, giving Speedcore its distinctive pounding sound. As with many other forms of techno, synthesizers are also heavily used, often producing heavily distorted and/or disharmonic melodies to complement the underlying drums. Although any analog or hybrid synth can be used, the analog/digital hybrid Roland Juno-106 is a common favorite with speedcore artists.

Random track: Lord Lloigor - Ray Of Darkness Roomush Remix

Doomcore aka Darkcore

2009-12-06T20:18:00.003+02:00

The speed of doomcore tracks (with few exceptions) ranges between 130 and 160 BPM, which makes it the slowest hardcore techno genre. The trademark TR-909 kickdrum is used differently than in other hardcore genres: it usually employs less distortion, and less decay. However, a reverb effect is added on it sometimes. Offbeat cymbals are usual. The atmosphere of the tracks is often similar to industrial music, doom metal and dark ambient.

Producers reach this impression by using spooky ambient pads, different scary or screaming samples, and industrial noises. While there are melodic tracks, melodies are not requirements of doomcore tracks. When used, repetition of the main melody is a common practice, often to the point of repetitiveness.

The first doomcore tracks (released in early '90s) continued the same style that first hardcore techno tracks like Mescalinum United's (Marc Trauner's) We Have Arrived had, keeping the dark industrial atmosphere, while newer elements (like Juno hoovers) added from the standard hardcore techno music. A lot of earlier doomcore tracks were produced by Marc Trauner (better known as Marc Acardipane) under different aliases. In the early 2000s a new wave of artists appeared whose music can be considered as doomcore. The trademark TR-909 kick is also changed to more recent variations. Some recent music such as Dr.Strange or Joshua is usually referred as doomcore, but it should be noted that their style is a lot different in sound than earlier doomcore, although still following the basic slow and dark hardcore image.

Some people use Darkcore as an umbrella term for darker hardcore tracks, however it actually has a history of its own. The term Darkcore started with DJ Ruffneck's label "Supreme Intelligence", which defined the sound. Supreme Intelligence is now defunct, but the sound continues on labels such as Enzyme X and Genosha. It is one form of Industrial Hardcore, typically 150-180 bpm, whereas Doomcore is generally slower.

Another difference between Doomcore and Darkcore is that Darkcore tracks of today usually have rougher and more distorted kicks. There is also a Dutch CD compilation series called "Darkcore", but the releases also contain some faster and some more mainstream tracks that have nothing to do with the genre itself. It should also be noted that there is another Darkcore term referring to a subgenre in Jungle music so these 2 shouldn't be confused with each other. Some known Darkcore artists (note that most of them are not only limited to Darkcore): Armageddon Project, Meagashira, Hamunaptra, Ophidian, The Outside Agency, Petrochemical, Chaosbringer.

Random Track: Marc Acardipane - One World No Future

Terrorcore

2009-12-06T20:13:00.003+02:00

Refers to a more extreme version of 'regular gabber', with a highly aggressive theme, modern tracks using same bass drum sound as nu-style gabber. It has a fast tempo of 180 to 600 beats per minute with pitch of varied low sounds. Most commonly, terrorcore is described as many sounds synthesized to create a 'terror effect' on the music, with regular, and slightly louder sounds.

Random Track: DJ Plague - Pure Terror

Noizecore

2009-12-06T20:10:00.003+02:00

Power noise (also known as rhythmic noise, noize and occasionally as distorted beat music) is a fusion genre among noise music and various styles of electronic dance music. It should not be confused with "power electronics", which lacks rhythmic elements and is closer to harsh noise. Its origins are predominately European. The fan base for the style tends towards the cybergoth and rivethead subcultures.

Random track: Government Alpha - Cryptic Cave

Noisecore aka Industrial hardcore

2009-12-06T20:09:00.001+02:00

Hardcore influenced by industrial music, characterized by harsh beats.

Random Track: Goth Von Core - Cheery Tale 2009

Digital Hardcore

2009-12-06T20:05:00.000+02:00

Digital hardcore is a music genre fusing elements of hardcore punk and various forms of electronic music. Digital hardcore music is typically high-tempo and abrasive, combining the speed, heaviness and attitude of hardcore punk and riot grrrl with electronic music such as hardcore techno, jungle, and industrial rock. The music was first defined by the band Atari Teenage Riot, who formed in Berlin, Germany in 1992. The use of the electric guitar is retained and it is played in conjunction with samplers, synthesizers and drum machines. While the use of guitar and electronic instruments is a requirement, traditional bass guitars and drum kits are optional. Vocals are more often shouted than sung by more than one member of the group. Typically, the lyrics are highly politicised and espouse left-wing or anarchist ideals.

Random Track: Atari Teenage Riot - Revolution Action

Happy hardcore

2009-12-06T20:03:00.001+02:00

A form of dance music known for its very quick tempo (usually around 165-180 bpm), often coupled with male or female vocals and sentimental lyrics. Popular in the UK, Australia and Spain, amongst other countries. Generally has a large cult following known as "Candy ravers".

Happy Hardcore grew out of the early 1990s rave scene as the music became faster and adapted more cheesey 'fairground' style and breaking away from Jungle which was built around heavy breakbeats & basslines. Some artists started to take the Jungle sound further and turned their back on the happier sounds which had been blamed for the 'commercialism' of the scene which would see the scene split into two different styles.

It is often argued which was the first 'Happy Hardcore' track but it is often stated that DJ Slipmatt's SMD#1 being thought of as one of the first attempts at a Happy tune which although being breakbeat had a mixture of piano and techno stabs. A number of artists such as Slipmatt, DJ Vibes and Wishdokta, Force & Evolution & Billy 'Daniel' Bunter started to follow this formula and thus by 1994 the scene broke in two, Happy Hardcore & Jungle (later becoming Drum and bass).

In the UK, happy hardcore was at its peak between 1994 and 1997. The London pirate radio station Dream FM was instrumental during this period in both the development and support of the scene. For a while, the station also produced a monthly high-street music magazine dedicated to the music. By this time there was little breakbeat left although there were a number of verities in style. In 1995, a number of German and Dutch artists started to put out a more vocal centred commercial sounding type of Hardcore which became a big hit in the UK & not too dissimilar to the early 90s Eurodance.

In The Netherlands, Gabber had grown out of Rotterdam around 1992 and was becoming harder by the mid 90s although a happier sound had also been put out also known as 'Happy Gabber'. Scottish Hardcore, usually known as Bouncy Techno, had a big impact on both the English Breakbeat & Dutch Gabber scenes which led to Dutch artists producing a number of happier tracks & English artists moving away from breakbeat towards a more kickdrum centred, harder yet still bouncy sound.

In 1996, it was suggested these two styles had merged although Bouncy Techno had different origins, by the late '90s the style had given way to Happy Hardcore or Gabber which would take a darker route by the end of the decade. By the late '90s, Happy Hardcore was being produced in a number of countries, mostly the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (where although there was a more commercial aspect, there were often many harder releases), Australia, United States, Canada and Germany. A number of compilations also started to come out including the German Happy Rave series & the highly acclaimed Bonkers Series which started in July 1996 & continued through the late '90s and revived in the 2000s.

Although a number of Happy Hardcore artists, producers, and record labels left Happy Hardcore for other genres of music, Happy Hardcore had a moderate period of growth and popularity from 1998-2001.

Popularity started to drop later in the 90s, and by 2000 the rave scene was considered 'dead' by many people. In the more recent past happy hardcore has made a large re-emergence into the mainstream, more specifically it has received coverage in Mixmag. It has spawned various new record labels in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Japan and continues to grow in popularity.

In 2002, the compilation series Bonkers was relaunched after a three-year hiatus and have proved to be successful, releasing eight compilations between 2002 and 2005.

The 21st century sound of the genre is notable by the lack of the bouncy synths and piano lines that were trademarks of the genre in the 90s. The genre now has a more euphoric trance feel to it not too dissimilar to the sound of the late 90s trance that was popular in Ibiza at the time, albeit at a higher tempo.

The music now has more ties between mainstream dance music and genres such as 'Bouncy House' than the original rave music that it grew out of. In recent years some artists have taken an Electro House/ Bassline feel toward Hardcore which is seeing it steadily move away from the Trance sound which is fast becoming dated.
2001-2003 saw a revival of a more Trance oriented sound.

New clubs (In the UK) and DJs including the famous HTID, and later the BBC featured, the new sound. Most was really made within the bedrooms and studios of 2000-2001's DJs and producers.

During the revival, the original sounds of Happy Hardcore were somewhat lessened, as some of the music had transformed to be strongly Trance-influenced music under the name of Hard Trance. By mid 2003 however there were elements of Happy Hardcore returning into the genre & remixes of older tunes in the new style & even some 'Old Skool' Style tunes. New genres such as Freeform & Hardcore Breaks broke off the mainstream leading to even more new styles of Hardcore. A large number of compilations have emerged such as the return of Bonkers (as of 2009, reached its 17th installment), Clubland X-Treme Hardcore (which was an off shoot to the already established Clubland series which was originally based on commercial dance & club music), Hardcore Heaven (another return series), Hardcore Nation, Hardcore Adrenaline, True Hardcore & Hardcore Underground to name a few. A number of Old Skool style compilations have also come out in recent years featuring mixes of classics from the 1990s which has also brought a number of younger people into older style of Hardcore & in some ways, old tunes are as popular now as they were during their heyday. The Helter Skelter CD series has seen a number of Old Skool mixes as well as Hardcore Breaks mixes of new versions of old tunes and old style mixes of other well-known tunes. Best of Bonkers from 2007 wasn't actually just the best tracks on Bonkers but had a number of classic tracks that even predated the first Bonkers!

Happy Hardcore has not only been influenced by Trance however. More recentl, around 2002, some Happy Hardcore has grown more similar to Hardstyle with its harder stompy sound. In other countries besides the US and UK there have been many new Happy Hardcore anthems and artists coming out after 2002.

Random Track: Scott Brown - Elysium

Makina

2009-12-06T20:00:00.000+02:00

Fast electronic dance music from Spain, fairly similar to happy hardcore.
Mákina, "Bakalao", and "Poky" are electronic music genres originated in Spain, similar in sound to UK Hardcore, but with certain elements of bouncy techno among other differences.

The Spanish electro sound is usually characterized by its synthesized pads and has a weaker yet higher octave, a punchier kick drum than the similar UK produced tracks. There are two main areas for electronic music production in Spain:

1.The Central Plateau (poky), and
2.the Mediterranean shoreline (bakalao and makina) in Catalonia and the Valencian Region.

Poky comes from the Central Plateau. "Radikal", a very popular disco for all the people living in the central areas of Spain, is located in a small town in the province of Toledo. "Radikal" gathers thousands of ravers called "bakalas" every weekend, eager to listen to their favourite tunes all night long. Bakalao music and Makina, whose origins are disputed, are produced all the way through the Mediterranean shores. They are quite complex in sound and composition, and boast more agude tones. It is also the one that has always traditionally had more elements "imported" from other kinds of techno, due to the proximity of Ibiza, (Balearic Islands, Spain). Pont Aeri, in Barcelona has the same social effect amongst the makineros as Radikal in Madrid and La Mancha. Its commonly accepted that bakalao was born in Valencia in the 80's, and since then has spread all over Spain, evolving in the makina subgenre and the poky.

Makina is also very popular in North-East England, since DJ Scott started his distribution company MakinaUK back in 1999. Past clubs After Dark 2, New Monkey, The Darkside, and Powerhouse promoted the style. Present clubs The Beginning, and Hanger 13 still hold monthly over 18's makina party's with Eclipse at the Cube nighclub in Spennymoor providing the under 18s ravers with a monthly dose of makina anthems. Eclipse is the biggest event for the under 18s makina maffia in England. The genre remains to one of the most popular styles in the North East, with young talent breaking through in both Dj'ing and production.

Makina has also managed to find its way to Scotland with a club called Dimensional in Glasgow, which is the same style as in the North-East of England, with many of the MCs and DJs who are based in the North East of England travelling to Glasgow to play at Dimensional.

The Ruta del Bakalao was a virtual itinerary made by the "bakalaeros" from Madrid to the discos at Catalonia but Valencia region preferently. It was suppressed by the national and regional authorities due to the high number of car accidents caused by drug and alcohol consumption.

UK hardcore

2009-12-06T19:55:00.002+02:00

Modern form of happy hardcore, less childish feel with supersaw leads.

Jumpstyle

2009-12-06T19:47:00.003+02:00

Jump was the original music genre that created the now known Jumpstyle which is both a Dance subgenre with hard & deep bass lines as well as the dance style you usually dance to the Jumpstyle music. Its origin comes from Hardcore but it is a bit slower and from Oldschool. This was back in the early 1990’ies and since then the genre has changed significantly. When the style started getting popular in The Netherlands in early 2003 it quickly got associated with the harder genre Hardstyle and from that the new name Jumpstyle was created.

In 2007 this genre spread from The Netherlands & Belgium to France, Germany, Spain, England and now also the Nordic Region which includes Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania & Latvia. Even though some people claim Jump to be dead the past year has proven that Jumpstyle is growing stronger by the minute and conquering new territories via outlets such as YouTube.com where people upload their own Jumpstyle dance videos frequently. The current Jumpstyle tracks have a BPM around 140-145. It is characterized by a 909 kick drum used in a four on the floor beat. It also has influences from Chicago House.

Random Track: The Playboyz - Rockin' (Dark-E Remix)

Extratone

2009-12-06T19:47:00.002+02:00

In a nutshell, Extratone is Speedcore intensified. Whereas most Speedcore tracks commonly reach speeds ranging from the high hundreds to a 1000 BPM, Extratone takes it one step further - all tracks are beating at a bare minimum of 1000 BPM. Listening to Extratone, one can easily discern the extreme harsh sounds - screams, total static noise and layer-upon-layer of beats.

Random Track: Totenkopf Records - Holocaust

J-Core

2009-12-06T19:44:00.000+02:00

Originated in the mid/late 90's in Japan. Very influenced by Otaku culture and contains many anime samples in songs. Speed is often in excess of 160-180 BPM.

Random Track: t+pazolite vs RoughSketch - Bloody Serenade

HardTek aka Free Tekno

2009-12-06T19:40:00.002+02:00

Free tekno is the name given to the music predominantly played at free parties in Europe. The spelling of the word tekno is made to deliberately differentiate the musical style from that of techno. The music is fast, normally 180 to 200 bpm and characterised by a pounding repetitive kick drum.

Tekno evolved in tandem with the teknival movement in the early 1990s since many of the teknival organisers and DJs were also making music. The music drew on influences such as hardcore, rave, jungle, gabba and techno, with the producers taking the sound in a darker, more organic direction. An emphasis is placed on samples from TV shows, films and popular culture which are placed at strategic moments in the tracks. The music was produced with whatever was available: drum machines, synthesisers and keyboards as well as computer programs such as Cubase. In recent years there has been a trend using laptops for live performances, because the capabilities of both the hardware and software are improving very fast.

Tekno producers come from different places including Great Britain, The Netherlands, Italy, France, and the Czech Republic. Since the free party movement is very large in France in terms of numbers, there are many French artists and records labels. As the genre evolved it has come to be known by a number of names, including spiral tekno, hardtek, enimatek and tribetek.

Random Track: NarkoTek Soundsystem - Guigoo - Adieu

Hard House

2009-12-06T09:03:00.006+02:00

The Starting point Chicago early to mid 80's

House was first and foremost a direct descendant of dance. Dance had already been going for about 10 years. But the underground scene was beginning to develop a new style that was deeper, rawer and designed to make people dance. Dance had already produced the first records to be aimed specifically at DJs with extended 12" versions that included long percussion breaks for mixing purposes and the early eighties proved a vital turning point.

But it wasn't just American music laying the groundwork for house. European music, spanning English electronic pop like Depeche Mode and Soft Cell. One of the reasons for their popularity was two clubs that had broken the barriers, two clubs that were to pass on into dance music legend - Chicago's Warehouse and New York's Paradise Garage. when the Warehouse, opened in 1977 and presided over by Frankie Knuckles and the Garage where Larry Levan spun, the emphasis was on the music. The music was as varied as the people - r'n'b based Black dance music and disco mixed with things as different as rock. For most people, these were the places that acted as breeding grounds for the music that eventually came to be known after the clubs - house and garage.

The British connection: late 1980s - early 1990s

In Britain the growth of house can be divided around the "Summer of Love" in 1988. House had a presence in Britain almost as early as it appeared in Chicago; however there was a strong divide between the House music as part of the gay scene and 'straight' music. House grew in northern England, especially Manchester, as an extension of the 'Northern Soul' genre. The key English club was the Hacienda in Manchester, founded in 1982 by Factory Records. But until 1986 the club was a financial disaster, the crowds only started to grow when the resident DJs (Pickering, Park and Da Silva) started to play House music.

House was boosted by the tour in the same year of Knuckles, Jefferson, Fingers Inc. (Heard) and Adonis as the DJ International Tour. Amusingly, one of the early anthemic tunes, "Promised Land" by Joe Smooth, was covered and charted within a week by the Style Council. The first English House tune came out in 1986 - "Carino" by T-Coy. Europeans embraced House music, and began booking legendary American House DJs to play at the big clubs, such as Miss Moneypenny's and Ministry of Sound, whose resident, DJ Harvey brought in Larry Levan.

The combination of house and techno came to Britain and gave House a phenomenal boost. A few clubs began to feature specialist House nights - the Hacienda had "Hots" on Wednesday from July 1988, 2,500 people could enjoy the British take on the Ibiza scene, the classic "Voodoo Ray" by A Guy Called Gerald (Gerald Simpson) was designed for the Hacienda and Madchester. Factory boss Tony Wilson also promoted acid house culture on his weekly TV show. The Midlands also embraced the late 80s House scene with many underground venues such as multi storey car parks and more legal dance stations such as the Birmingham Institute (now Sundissencial's 'The Sanctuary').

Social aspects of raves

Rather than be confined in the clubs ambitious promoters took the music to large temporary sites such as fields, handling up to 30,000 people in a single illegal event, called a rave. Promoters like Sunrise, Energy, Biology, Fantasia and World Dance held massive events in defiance of the police and music industry. Unlike many nightclubs they were open to all ages and races.

The press lead the general public to believe that the events were shaped solely by the consumption of ecstasy, but others pointed out the music was refreshing and intoxicating enough without consumption of drugs. The British tabloid press helped publicize the scene, generally portraying rave parties in a negative light, which tended to alarm institutions such as the government and the police. Many tunes became hits from these events such as "Everything Starts with a E" by the E-Zee Possee," which was created by a savvy music producer rather than a band, "The Trip" by S'Express and "NRG" by Adamski who became the first rave superstar.

The publicity and the knowledge that these events could make significant amounts of money led more professionally criminal groups to take an interest in raves. The police became more active in preventing or closing down raves. As the second "Summer of Love" arrived in 1989 the police became even more oppressive, culminating in a 1990 Act of Parliament. This was counter-productive, it both forced raves back underground and increased the criminal presence in organising raves. But the music continued, one of the longest lasting and influential groups grew out of the rave scene, named Orbital after the M25 motorway. Their British hit "Chime" was snapped up by Pete Tong's FFRR label. By the end of 1989 House was mainstream music in Britain, it charted regularly with "Ride on Time" from Black Box being at number one for six weeks.

After the "Summer of Love": early 1990s to mid 1990s

In Britain, further experiments in the genre boosted its appeal (and gave the opportunity for new names to be made up).

House and rave clubs like Lakota, Miss Moneypenny's and the original C.R.E.A.M. began to emerge across Britain, hosting regular events for people who would otherwise have had no place to enjoy the mutating house and dance scene.

The idea of 'chilling out' was born in Britain with ambient house albums like the KLF's Chill Out. A new indie dance scene was being forged by bands like the Happy Mondays, The Shamen, Meat Beat Manifesto, Renegade Soundwave, EMF, The Grid and The Beloved. Two distinctive tracks from this era were the Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds" (with a distinctive vocal sample from Ricky Lee Jones) and the Happy Mondays' "Wrote for Luck" ("WFL") which was transformed into a dance hit by Paul Oakenfold.
The rise of the UK "superclub"

During this time many individuals and particularly corporations realized that house music could be extremely lucrative and much of the 1990s saw the rise of sponsorship deals and other industry practices common in other genres.

To develop successful hit singles, some argued that the record industry developed "handbag house": throwaway pop songs with a retro disco beat. Underground house DJs were reluctant to play this style, so a new generation of DJs were created from record company staff, and new clubs like Miss Moneypenny's, Liverpool's Cream (as oposed to the original underground night, C.R.E.A.M.) and the Ministry of Sound were opened to provide a venue for more commercial sounds.

By 1996 Pete Tong had a major role in the playlist of BBC Radio 1, and every record he released seemed to be guaranteed airplay. Major record companies began to open "superclubs" promoting their own acts, forcing many independent clubs and labels out of business. These superclubs entered into sponsorship deals initially with fast food, soft drinks, and clothing companies and later with banks and insurance brokers. Flyers in clubs in Ibiza often sported many corporate logos.

Many UK clubs were playing much the same music as the commercial dance shows, as were many bars, supermarkets, and television advertisements. Dance music was perceived by many young people as being increasingly outmoded. Many older DJs seemed to be playing year after year, leading to the term "Dad house". House music became racially segregated, in contrast to its inclusive beginnings; some major UK clubs were reportedly refusing to book black DJs. MDMA became less popular than cocaine but created an entirely different atmosphere. Ketamine and GHB also appeared on the club scene during this time.

As of 2003, a new generation of DJs and promoters were emerging, determined to kickstart a more underground scene and there were signs of a renaissance in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and other racially-mixed cities, as well as in Canada, Scandinavia, Scotland and Germany. The key to house music was re-invention. A willingness to steal or develop new styles and a low cost of entry encouraged innovation.

PS: this article was entirely taken from ukhardhouse

Random track:DJ Dark-E - Hardhouse

Artists

2009-12-05T19:22:00.023+02:00

A	B	C	D	E
Advanced Dealers	Bartoch	Catscan	Dana	Ear Terror DJ Team
Akira	Beastmachines	Cemon Victa	Dark Twins, The	Earmack
Alec Empire	Bertocucci Feranzano	Charlie Lownois e	Darkraver	Emphasis
Alex Smoke	BoneHead	Chlorophyll	Dave Dope	Endymion
Alex Tune	Brain Driller	Coone	Day-Mar	Enzyme X
Amnesys	Brainwash	Core Pusher	D-Ceptor	Esbjörn Svensson Trio
Angerfist	Brennan Heart	Counterfeit	Delirium	Evil Activities
Anon	Brian Fury	Creative Union	Delta 9	Evil of Pain
Art of Fighters	Broken Rules	Crypsis	Destroyer, The	Eye-D
Artemistic	Brutal Tactics		Devillien
			Dione
			Distortion
			Divato
			D-passion
			Dr. Macabre
			D-spirit
			D-Tox
			Dual mecanism
			Dynamite
			Dyrodium
F	G	H	I	J
Foresaken is Dead	Gabba Front Berlin	Hardcore Masters Vienna	iGoa	Javi Boss
Fracture 4	Genesys Project, The	Hard Creation	I:Gor	JDA
FrazzBass	Goetia	Headbangger, The	Igneon system	Jimmi X
	G-Shock	Headfucker	Illuminati, The	Juanma
	G-Town Madness	HekTek, DJ	Imperfect Toy
		Hellfish	Injured Rezz
		Hellseeka	Inyoung
		Hellsystem	Isaac, DJ
		Heretik
		Horrorist, The
K	L	M	N	O
Kasparov	Lenny Dee	Mad Dog	Na-Goyah	Obscurity, Dj
Kold Konection	Lord Lloigor	Mainframe	Narcotic	Omar Santana
Kompressor		Manga Corps	Necrid	Ophidian
Kosarkoff		Manu le Malin	Negative A	Outblast
Kristof		Master Mind	Negative Network	Outside Agency, The
Kurwastyle Project		Masters of Ceremony	Neophyte
		Matt Green	Nico&Tetta
		Meccano Twins	Nitrogenics
		Megashira	Noise Controller
		Menace To Society	Noisekick
		Mental Wreckage	Noize Surpressor
		Mindustries	Noizmash
		Moleculez	Nordcore GMBH
		Mr Sinister	Nosferatu
			N-Thrax
			Nuclear Age
P	Q	R	S	T
P1p3rDr34m	QantiumBasse	Radium	Sandy Warez	T-31
Pain Generate Sperm		Re-Style	S'Aphira	Tatanka
Painbringer		Riotek	Satronica	Technological Terror Crew
Painstalker		Roland	Scott Brown	Terrorists
Panic, Dj		Rotterdam Terror Corps	Scythe	Terrormasta
Paranoizer		RudeBoy	Sei2ure	Tha Playah
Partyraiser		Ruffneck	Sickest Squad, The	Tieum
Paul Elstak			Slave Friese	T-Junction
PCP			Soul Murderz	Tomcat
People Republic of Europe, The			Source Code	Tommy Rulez
Phobos			Speed Freak, The	Tommyknocker
Placid K			Spookane	Triax
Prankster			Squaresoundz	Tripped
Predator			State of Emergency
Producer, The			Static
Promo			Stormtrooper
Prophet, The			Strobcore
Proto X			Stunned Guys
			Synapse
U	V	W	X Y	Z
Unexist	Viper	Weapon X	X-Fade	Zany
Unnatural Selection	Virus Factory	Wishmaster, The	Xeno	Zoit
			Ybrid

Deathcore

2009-06-21T12:44:00.000+03:00

Kotzaak Unltd. label calls its sound Deathcore.

The style is similar to Terror in its speed, but not as distorted. Blastbeats and dark atmosphere are often used. Artist recommendations: Stickhead/Jack Lucifer, Joe Cocane and The Kotzaak Klan.

Free Party Concept

2009-06-12T13:56:00.004+03:00

Free-Party

The Free Party concept was born in the UK. It was the result of a synergy between New Age travelers (an alternative movement of nomads), squatters encouraged by Thatcher's repression to leave the cities, along with clubbers frustrated by the closure of clubs.

However, few would contest that the drug Ecstasy was a major catalyst for what quickly grew into a strong social movement. Ecstasy (MDMA being the active compound) was first introduced to the UK in the mid-1980s. It’s use soon became endemic in the UK's nightclub circuit and, fuelled by this new social lubricant, huge parties began to take place outdoors and in unlicensed premises, often attracting many thousands of travelers at a time. The term 'Rave' was born.

Between 1988 and 1990, acid house becomes ever more popular and clubs are targeted for repression. The first rave sound-systems leave the cities and their raver-followers meet the travelers at the big summer festivals. The first collaboration takes place at the Glastonbury festival in 1989.

Although at the time they were the crew to receive the most public attention and recognition for their free party activities, the faceless collective known as Spiral Tribe were shrouded in mystery (in fact, they still are today). The group spearheaded the movement in the early 1990s, with their mantra emblazoned on their music recordings: 'free party, free people, free future'. Following the infamous Castlemorten festival (see below), for which they admitted accountability, the Tribe were 'run out of town' by the authorities, with many members relocating abroad spreading the free-party movement across Europe. (in ’94 they founded the label Network 23 ).

Spiral Tribe were just one piece of the chaotic jigsaw. At the same time Nottingham's DiY collective were running huge outdoor parties in the Nottingham and Derbyshire countryside, with their policy of playing house music providing a contrasting angle to the militant techno stance of Spiral Tribe. Other pioneers at the time included London's Bedlam and Liberator crews, Luton's Exodus and Scotland's Desert Storm. Desert Storm, who created nodes of resistance in Glasgow, Manchester and Nottingham, became well-known in the underground media, having taken their sound system - along with aid - to war-torn Bosnia. The Exodus collective, formed in Luton in 1992, encapsulated the community ethos of the scene directly by not only putting on massive free parties locally but also kick-starting social initiatives in the area, such as shelter for the homeless and community farming projects.

In May 1992 a week-long free festival at Castlemorten in Worcestershire became a pivotal point in the history of the free party movement. Later to be dubbed the first ever Teknival, 25,000 people partied at the foot of the Malvern Hills, hitting the headlines and driving the whole counterculture into the consciousness of the populace. The ramifications of the gathering soon became apparent: responding to complaints from residents and landowners both in the Castlemorten area and other places that had played host to similar events, the government passed legislative action in the form of the 1994 Criminal Justice Act (CJA).

Civil liberties groups were outraged as the bill was being passed - legislation that not only outlawed the practise of throwing free parties with modern, amplified music, but also severely quashed the rights of travellers and squatters. The act made history by effectively banning unlicensed public amplification of music 'wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats', with sections 63-65 giving police powers to break up small gatherings of people they believed to be preparing for, waiting for or attending a rave.

Post implementation of the CJA, sound system culture spread like wildfire to the continent, with many pioneering party crews uprooting to Europe. In Britain the scene was driven deeper underground, as debatably heavy-handed tactics and the adoption of 'zero tolerance' policies from the police and authorities made putting on a party more difficult. Subsequently, many sound system members took to putting on events in nightclubs, raves crossed right over into the mainstream and the term 'raver' was surreptitiously replaced by 'clubber' (thanks to the commercially-led media). Festivals like Glastonbury - once strongholds of counterculture, and a significant factor in the party scene's evolution - became sanitised by the intervention of the media and corporate entities. A scene defined through breaking down the stereotype became bogged-down in inverse snobbery ('hey, you, with your nice new trainers') and elitism.

Throughout the last decade the free party scene continued to expand across Europe, with teknivals becoming annual events in places including Czech Republic, Holland and France.

Spiral Tribe

Spiral Tribe was a free party soundsystem which existed in the first half of the 1990s. The group originated in west London and later travelled across Europe and North America. According to one member, the name came to him when he was at work, staring at a poster of the inter-connecting spirals in an ammonite shell. The group had a huge influence on the emerging free tekno subculture. Members of the collective released seminal records on their label,

Network 23.

Spiral Tribe was responsible for numerous parties in squatted locations and around the South of England including:

- October 1990 - first party organised by Spiral Tribe.
- July 1991 - displaced Stonehenge Solstice Free festival at Longstock
- August Bank holiday 1991 - a rave (the White Goddess festival) for 2 weeks on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, where they combined their sound system with Circus Normal (to achieve a sound system of over 25,000 watts RMS) receiving complaints from over 14 miles away. Despite police pressure they partied on until all of the partygoers went home. The event was organised along with a number of other soundsystems including Bedlam, Circus Warp and DIY.
- Christmas and New Years Eve 1991 - The Camden Round House, North London.
- February 1992 - Numbers Farm, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire.
- The Uni-Chem warehouse party Uxbridge - the police had to enter through the wall using a JCB digger as all the doors were locked at 9am Sunday morning to allow the party to continue for as long as possible. This was one of the stories contributing to their fame as a sound system.
- May 1992 - Castlemorton Common Festival free party.
- June 4 1992 - Party in Canada Square, next to Canary Wharf, London. About 1,000 people manage to dance for a little over an hour before 300 police seal off roads and move in to make arrests.

Twenty three members of the group were arrested immediately after the Castlemorton event and were subsequently charged under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Their trial became one of the longest running and most expensive cases in legal history, lasting four months and costing the UK tax payer £4 million.

In March 1994, after being acquitted of all charges relating to Castlemorton, the group moved to Europe, doing parties in cities such as Rotterdam, Paris and Berlin. Over the next few year, the collective organised parties and teknivals throughout Europe, then it slowly dispersed with some members taking up residence in Germany and Holland and releasing work on Labworks and many other techno labels. Individual members of the collective joined other sound systems, did squat art events or pursued other interests.

From the summer of 1994 a number of free parties were organised by Spiral Tribe members throughout Europe. When the parties were large festivals with an open invitation to other sound systems and artists to participate, they came to be known as teknivals. In tribute to this collective, the type of music predominately played at early teknivals came to be known as spiral tekno.Parties included the following:

- Montpellier, France. May 1, 1993.
- Paris, France. June 19, 1993.
- Berlin, German. June 26, 1993.
- Berlin, Germany. December 31, 1993 at the Tacheles squat.
- Hostomice, Czech Republic. July 28, 1994. First year of festival later known as CzechTek.
- Vienna, Austria. August 27, 1994.
- Vienna, Austria. December 31, 1994.
- CzechTek, Czech Republic. July 26, 1995.
- Rome, Italy. December 31, 1995.
- Milan, Italy. May 11, 1996.
- CzechTek, Czech Republic. July 26, 1996.
- Vienna, Austria. September 14, 1996.
- Prague, Czech Republic. November 30, 1996 at the Cibulka squat.
- Vienna, Austria. April 11, 1998.
- United States of America
Some members of Spiral Tribe toured the United States of America in 1997.

The number 23

From its inception, the group was obsessed by the number 23. Images for musical releases, posters, backdrops and flyers featured the number 23. Parties were often organised on the twenty third day of the month. Members sometimes recorded under the moniker of SP23 and of course the record label itself was called Network 23.

Music

In 1992, some members of the collective signed to the major label Big Life, as a result of the publicity generated from their involvement in the organisation of the Castlemorton Common Festival. Three EPs were released and two albums, one merely a compilation of the tracks from the EPs, the other a full album entitledTekno Terra.

Members of Spiral Tribe also released records on their own highly influential label Network 23.

In 1997, Network 23 brokered a deal with Techno Import, a commercial distributor. A CD entitled Spiral Tribe The Sound of Teknival was advertised on television and sold at least 30,000 copies. This deal was not approved by members of Spiral Tribe, who made a statement which began ‘’F**k Techno Import’’ and had to take quick action to ensure the name Spiral Tribe was not copyrighted by Techno Import.

Quotations

* It is our purpose to destroy the inertia that has been responsible for the demise of the life force on our planet. It's time to wake the planet up! (from Tekno Terra)
* Make some f**kin' noise! (from Breach the Peace)
* Spiral Tribe in the area (from numerous flyers)
* You might stop the party but you can't stop the future (from Forward the Revolution).

Recent news

A DVD has been released called World Traveller Adventures in an echo of a track (World Traveller Adventurer) on an early Spiral Tribe record, Forward the Revolution. One of the four films, 23 Minute Warning (the name again taken from an early Spiral Tribe record, this time Breach The Peace features interviews with several members of the collective

In 2005, the label Network 23 Repress was set up to rerelease sought-after and still-played tracks from the Spiral Tribe back catalogue. Six records have so far been brought out in the series.

TEKNIVAL

Teknivals (the word is a portmanteau of the words tekno and festival), are illegal free parties which take place in locations across Europe every summer. They vary in size depending on factors such as accessibility and reputation, with most increasing in fame (and therefore size) every year. The parties normally take place in venues far away from residential areas such as squatted warehouses, empty military bases, forests or fields. The teknival phenomenon is a grassroots movement which has grown out of the rave scene and spawned an entire subculture.

Teknival was started by the Spiral Tribe in the summer of ‘93, the first being held on the 23rd of July at Beauvais in northern France. The idea behind it , as the name suggests, is an independent free festival of techno music & art. The out-door - no door-policy means an open invitation for all to participate. As you would expect such a party principle proves very popular & the concept has spread Europe-wide, escalating on all fronts. Now across the summer you can find (if you know where to look) large numbers of sound systems hidden in the wilds, from Holland to Portugal, Wales to Czech.

Now as in the future, with the EEC’s new monolithic burocracy poised to take control & the power drunk capitalist system holding the world to ransom, Teknival has become something of a haven and testing ground for new ideas. It is a source of originality & potential as well as much needed point of multi-racial contact. Hounded by right-wing governmental policies it has, so far, survived, conceiving & nurturing many creative directions, Teknival is one of the very few free spaces left.

The teknival is a good example of what Hakim Bey has termed the Temporary Autonomous Zone. Anyone is welcome to enter the site, there is no ticket or fee. Normally any artist who turns up is encouraged to participate. Over the course of a few days the site can grow into a confusing village of sound systems, cafes, tents and vehicles.

Recreational drug use is common but by no means a prerequisite for entry. Drugs used include marijuana (weed, joints, chronic), ketamine, MDMA (esctasy), alcohol, amphetamine (speed), LSD and magic mushrooms.

At the teknival site one finds a mixed group of young people which may include students, tekno travellers, squatters and hippies, bonded together by their love for listening to free tekno 'sous les etoiles' (translation: 'under the stars') - as an early flyer proclaimed.

There is no coherent politics or philosophical stance represented by the teknival subculture, mainly due to the fact that emphasis is placed on individual freedom. Many young teknival goers are disillusioned with mainstream politics. Nevertheless, the parties themselves can be seen as a political statement and clashes with the police have mobilised some people to action. In April 2006 there was a march followed by a small teknival in Strasbourg, France to protest against police repression generally and more specifically against the closure of Czechtek in 2005.

As is normal in any subculture, a dress code has developed. This 'underground look' involves dark, baggy clothing (often ex-military) and extreme haircuts, such as dyed hair, dreadlocks or a shaved head (or a combination of the above). Body piercings and tattoos are common. People often buy large vehicles second-hand such as decommissioned , coaches or trucks. The vehicles are often primarily homes, lived in permanently or for a few months while travelling (see Irish Traveller). They are also used to transport sound equipment. The tekno traveller is also known as a New Age traveller.

As the teknival movement has grown bigger, attention from the police has increased. Teknivals will sometimes be stopped; each country has different attitudes and laws concerning teknivals. To stop a teknival, police will usually begin by asking the organisers to move on but they can resort to measures such as using tear gas and impounding sound systems, for example at Czechtek in 2005.

Teknivals still happen in Canada, Italy, Spain,Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria, Austria and Slovakia. In France amendments to a Public Safety bill were passed in 2001 giving the police similar powers to those exercised by the police in the United Kingdom under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 but the large size of the free tekno movement compels the government to permit three large teknivals every year: Paris (May), West (July) and South (August). Organisers have also used innovative tactics to allow the party to proceed, such as organising the party just over the border into other countries.

Acidcore/Hard Acid

2009-06-12T12:40:00.001+03:00

Acidcore is uptempo Hardcore with a TB-303 synthesizer. Hard Acid is rougher Techno/Acid. One of the most known Acidcore producers was DJ Choose (aka Lasse Steen).

Drum'n'Core

2009-01-21T13:26:00.000+02:00

There is no set term for this, but it is quite popular these days. Using amenbreaks samples (typically used in Jungle music) on the background of a bassdrum has been common at least since the second half of the 90's. In recent years producers have started combining modern DnB styles with Hardcore and these modern DnB styles have also gotten influence from Hardcore.

Most known styles of the latter are Skullstep/Crank (subgenre of Techstep), which is produced by artists such as Current Value, Donny and Limewax. The fast, aggressive and repetitive breaks and dark soundscapes are very similar to Hardcore Techno. The Outside Agency, a duo of DnB and HC producers DJ Hidden and Eye-D, have recently become known for their Hardcore style that takes a lot of influence from Darkstep and Skullstep. They have developed this drum'n'core sound since the amenbreak+hardcore times of the 90's.

"The Way of the Exploding Fist” was the duo's first release where influence from modern DnB can be heard. Other examples of DnB influenced Hardcore releases: The DJ Producer's ”Breaks the Unbreakable” and Sadistic label's third release with tracks by Fiend and Deathmachine.

Flashcore

2009-01-21T13:17:00.000+02:00

In 1998 Laurent Mialon (aka La Peste) founded a label named Hangars Liquides. It started out with traditional Speedcore, but soon the label's sound became more experimental.

Many artists on the label produced a style that was named Flashcore. The style could be described as some sort of fusion of IDM (aka "braindancemusic") and Speedcore. The tracks contain complicated subconscious-stimulating experimental patterns and barrages of bassdrums. The speeds are not exactly compareable to those of Splittercore and Extratone and the BPM can change radically within a track.

At special Flashcore events surround soundsystems and strobes are used to put the crowd in a trance with only the music (no drugs necessary). Listening plays a bigger role at these events than dancing. Besides the Hardcore scene, Flashcore can also be heard at art events etc. Artist recommendations: La Peste, Neurocore and Atomhead.

Trancecore

2009-01-21T13:07:00.000+02:00

This term is often used when talking about modern day Happy Hardcore and Freeform. The term also has a different meaning. Trancecore from Holland is a combination of Psytrance, Acid and Hardcore. The tracks have more drive than Mainstream Hardcore tracks. Trancecore strives to be melodic and it does not only concentrate on the bassdrum.

Artists on Cenobite Records were the first who were focusing on this subgenre. Cenobite didn't make it past the recession period of hardcore in Holland, but it came back in 2005. As of the year 2001 Ferox and Ki-Real continued and developed Trancecore further. They combined more modern Hardcore sounds with the old concept.

After Cenobite came back they have continued to develop it as well, however compared to Ferox some of the contemporary artists produce Trancecore closer to Mainstream Hardcore.