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theposp
Starting Member
United States
12 posts
Joined: Jun, 2005
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 Posted - 2006/01/20 : 00:56:11
I love our preferred style of music for so many reasons, let me (try to) count the ways...
The mood enhancement definitely tops my list. After a bad day, or a bad week, nothing can bring out my positive side like a good "personal anthem." I've tried to remain angry & upset while listening to a good mix, but before the hour is gone, I realize I just can't spend my energy on being negative when there are so many beautiful things in our world. I've also noticed that the longer I go without listening to any hardcore (when work prohibits it, for example), the more easily I can slip into a bad mood...which brings me to...
"the music is the drug." I've felt that music has been integral to my life ever since I was growing up. Maybe that's why I still get an adrenaline rush from listening to my favorite tracks, especially when they're mixed well with others. My theory is that people associate and use drugs like "ecstasy" along with happy hardcore and electronic music in general because they evoke similar feelings, like euphoria and a sense that all is well with the world. One main difference, however, is that listening to the music never gives you that "fake" feeling or leaves you regretting the previous evening. It's like the best addiction ever, though, because it's always easy to get your next fix and records are way less costly. Not to mention I don't seem to have developed a tolerance to hardcore...a classic banger still gets me off like it did the first time :)
However, similar to an addiction, I feel inclined to hide my insatiable love for the cheese from some of my more "jaded" friends who look with disdain upon pitched-up vocals and powerful synth lines. Luckily, it's definitely worth being made fun of occasionally, and I'm secure in the knowledge that I can enjoy music I truly love without having to feel like I'm listening to the "cool genre" at the moment. But...
I have to admit that there is a certain appeal in being into a style of music that not many people here (in the midwest US) appreciate. I wouldn't consider myself overly elitist, but I do get a kick out of feeling more "underground" than most partykids here. When someone's knowledge of "happycore" is limited to Shooting Star and Heart of Gold, I get a chance to feel more "hip" because I know what it's really all about. On the flip side, it's very rewarding to know that there's a loosely-knit international community who's into exactly the same styles as I am, and who share a lot of similar feelings and beliefs. Not many other genres have a devoted following who feel free to share their true emotions and feelings with like-minded individuals--this thread is a great example of that. Plus "e-hanging out" and chatting with euros and aussies makes me way rave-cool to my buddies ;)
Another aspect of hardcore that I absolutely love is the immense variety of styles that it's not afraid to represent. There's an almost overwhelming array of different sounds in all of the "hardcore original" tracks produced, but other genres are paid homage as well. "Cover" songs, re-done hardcore-stylee, have enjoyed more respect and popularity here than nearly any other genre--I've heard remixes from punk to trance to house to hip-hop to eurodance to disco to drum & bass to straight up "popular" music and everything in between. There will always be a producer willing to blur the lines, and that's incredible--not only does it make hardcore more accessible to people who may not have discovered their love for this style, but hearing an 80's remix always brings back fond memories for me.
In addition, hardcore is always changing and never afraid to innovate. Change will always be painful for some, but if any genre of music resists change at every opportunity, it will die. I don't like all of the trancy hardcore that has appeared recently, but there have been a lot of really great tunes from that side as well. Change and innovation doesn't always mean something completely unheard of, as I think Kniteforce and CLSM, amongst others, have done a great job of "re-inventing" and improving on the older breakbeat sound. There will always be new paths to explore in the hardcore world and new elements and patches and rhythms to be heard.
Another aspect that ensures my continuing love affair with our happy, bouncy sound is the "never say die" attitude that surrounds the scene. Labels may go broke and great producers fade away and parties might not always draw 10,000 people or even 100...but there will always be someone to drop the needle and someone to dance their ass off. The "beat goes on" and hardcore will never die. As long as we all hold fond memories of the past and a will to move forward, nothing can stop us. The success of our music is not dependent on selling millions of albums, and therefore the power to survive is the power of the people.
I may have only been listening to hardcore for 5 years or so, but I appreciate and enjoy the old school stuff from the mid-nineties just as much as I dig the newest records. I rarely feel unaccepted, "young" as I may be here, though, and seeing the "geriatric" ravers accept even the newest bees is really refreshing. That attitude is certainly not common across other styles, and goes back to how I know I belong here--Kindness, respect, togetherness, and peace are values shared by almost all of us, and it's truly heartwarming to know I'm amongst good people who are just like me in so many ways.
I can't say exactly what first drew me to the powerful vocals that tug at my heartstrings to this day, or why a racing synth line, piano melody, breakbeat, or kick drum makes my heart beat a little faster every time. I'm happy to be hardcore 'til I die, and really, that's what's most important.
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quote:
djDMS:
for most people, Happy Hardcore is a joke and always will be
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Leto
Advanced Member
United States
2,849 posts
Joined: Jun, 2005
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Posted - 2006/01/20 : 01:27:34
It invaded my life like a virus. It won't go away. It's all I listend too. I AM OBSESSED WITH IT.
I also like all other types of music, but with 788 of my 2500 songs all hardcore, and half of those songs electronic dance music...I must say I am obsessed.
Hardcore is a lifestyle as its been said. And I greatly accept it.
I personally thank Sharkey's mix on Bonkers 10 for opening me up to the scene. I also had been a fan of really slow breakbeat, trance, dub, and old stuff like The Orb and The Crystal Method. Not to say that my love for other genres hasn't waned, but breakbeat hardcore and freeform are at the top of my list.
When I listen to hardcore, I tend to enjoy the more musically comlicated things, but as I continue to listen, I find that having a good time is what counts. So, I end up DJ'ing more simplistic songs to get a party started.
I also don't understand people who don't get hardcore. It is incredible.
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