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Elys1um
New Member
Finland
39 posts
Joined: Apr, 2017
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 Posted - 2017/04/12 : 18:41:01
Hey yall. Relatively long time fan of the genre here, been a fan since late 2006 or so, but haven't really followed the scene for a long while. Basically the era I hail from is DJ Ravine's early videos on youtube, Di.fm hardcore channel in 2007-2009 and CD collections like "Xclusive Happy Hardcore", Bonkers 16 and Clubland X-treme hardcore 4. So not an OG fan from the 90s, but a fan of 2000-2008~~ period of HHC and UKHC. Dougal, Hixxy, Gammer, Scott Brown, Sy&Unknown, S3RL, CLSM, Brisk, Ham, Vagabond, Darren Styles, enVias, Fracus, Re-Con, Darwin etc.
Back in those days, I was too young to attend raves/parties. Now that I'm grown up and have the funds to travel to Holland etc, I'm majorly bummed about about the fact that the music I spent my formative years listening to doesn't really get played out anywhere. Not a fan of techno and house genres, but anything with euphoric, uplifting and energetic melodies I dig, which places most of the genres I'm most fond of under the trance and hard-dance umbrellas.
Sadly many of those genres are languishing/dead now it seems. Hard trance&hard-dance stuff (freeform/hard nrg) is dead (gets produced but very niche, where as Q-dance events have become strictly Hardstyle&Gabber it seems), Hardstyle has transformed into something I don't really connect with anymore, many Trance artists are churning out Trouse/EDM (but seems like the situation is starting to improve now). I recently started following Gammer on Facebook and... I'm relieved that you guys seem to be on same wavelength as me on the subject, based on this thread.
So, has the same thing happened to the happy hardcore that happened to Trance, or is Gammer a bad example?  If so, are there some great new talents carrying the torch of those guys? I recall listening to DI.FM hardcore a bit back in 2013/2014ish, and I noticed that the sets were moving more in the direction of songs like "DJ Hixxy. Sy & Unknown - The 'C' Commander" and "Riddy & Niddy - Chop Yer Dick Off" (lol just picked a random "new" song from my HHC folder...). Basically, lots of bass, usually lewd or "funny" lyrics and very little melody to speak of. So in other words, the songs were starting to move away from what I was drawn to in HHC...
And are there any "pure" or classic events for HHC like for Trance (Luminosity, Pure Trance etc)? I've been to big trance festivals, but I've never managed to find any bigger festivals that play HHC/UKHC (and other hard dance genres). Are there any? I've read that there's some HTID event in Spain, any others like that (and is that HTID event any good?).
Sorry about not doing my own research etc, I'm just glad to be able to talk to like-minded HHC lovers :) I didn't mean to come off as overly negative either, it's just sad to me when the music I hear in parties doesn't evoke the same kind of feelings of happiness, bliss, euphoria etc that older Trance/HHC/[Insert genre here] used to do (and still does! constantly finding out classic songs I hadn't heard!).
I feel like I missed out on the golden years of the scene. And if you complain about the direction the music is heading, some one says that the music needs to keep evolving and yada yada (decline/abandoning all the core characteristics of the genre isn't a good kind of "evolution") .
Luckily trance is starting to make a come back and I've got tickets to Luminosity where I can jam to classics to my hearts content, so I'm not as concerned about the state of trance (no pun intended), I'm just worried if the HHC scene that has brought so much happiness to us all is heading in the same direction (or has already done so).
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trippnface
Advanced Member
United States
1,654 posts
Joined: Jan, 2010
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Posted - 2017/04/12 : 21:58:52
best era was best era!
doesn't this crew throw hardcore parties in Finland?
https://soundcloud.com/finfullthrottle
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(A)☮(E)
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Elys1um
New Member
Finland
39 posts
Joined: Apr, 2017
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Posted - 2017/04/12 : 22:27:54
^ Thanks for the heads up, had no idea! Though I'm also interested to know what are the big festivals for UKHC, ones people all over the globe make a pilgrimage for. Are there any? :)
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Elliott
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,137 posts
Joined: May, 2012
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 10:52:11
'00-'09 (or subsets thereof) is considered the golden era of hardcore by a lot (probably most?) around here. Indeed it was!
Sadly, Gammer is not a bad example. Hardcore has changed a lot and the only big name still producing recognisable stuff is Scott Brown. Everyone else slowly switched over to producing new style or "EDM style" hardcore including the overwhelming majority of up-and-coming producers.
To understand why, you have to understand a bit of scene politics. Between them, the top tier, made up of a dozen or so guys, have always had the ability to control who gets booked at every hardcore event that matters. They've also historically had the run of compilations etc. and the ability to decide who gets their music exposed to the public. As a result, there has always been an immense pressure on hardcore producers at all levels to follow along with what the big names are doing. These days, there are no bigger names in the scene than Styles and Gammer, who arguably form their own super-tier now. For that reason, the overwhelming majority - long since a critical mass - of producers have been pulled in the direction of Gammer and Styles and most hardcore sounds like, uh, whatever it sounds like now ("squelchy" big room kicks, clean bass sounds and weak, whiny, "monolayer" leads with a lot of portamento or tape-stop style effects on them -- as I said in the other thread).
Sorry to be the one to break the news but even those of us who loved hardcore enough to stick around through the most extended dark period in its history have largely given up on it. The hardcore that you're referring to is dead: dead in terms of events and in critical condition in terms of new music releases.
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old soundcloud
i gave up producing
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PecheyTheLizard
Average Member
United States
172 posts
Joined: Apr, 2016
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 11:16:59
quote:
Originally posted by Elliott:
'00-'09 (or subsets thereof) is considered the golden era of hardcore by a lot (probably most?) around here. Indeed it was!
Sadly, Gammer is not a bad example. Hardcore has changed a lot and the only big name still producing recognisable stuff is Scott Brown. Everyone else slowly switched over to producing new style or "EDM style" hardcore including the overwhelming majority of up-and-coming producers.
To understand why, you have to understand a bit of scene politics. Between them, the top tier, made up of a dozen or so guys, have always had the ability to control who gets booked at every hardcore event that matters. They've also historically had the run of compilations etc. and the ability to decide who gets their music exposed to the public. As a result, there has always been an immense pressure on hardcore producers at all levels to follow along with what the big names are doing. These days, there are no bigger names in the scene than Styles and Gammer, who arguably form their own super-tier now. For that reason, the overwhelming majority - long since a critical mass - of producers have been pulled in the direction of Gammer and Styles and most hardcore sounds like, uh, whatever it sounds like now ("squelchy" big room kicks, clean bass sounds and weak, whiny, "monolayer" leads with a lot of portamento or tape-stop style effects on them -- as I said in the other thread).
Sorry to be the one to break the news but even those of us who loved hardcore enough to stick around through the most extended dark period in its history have largely given up on it. The hardcore that you're referring to is dead: dead in terms of events and in critical condition in terms of new music releases.
I wouldn't exactly say that the style of hardcore mentioned is dead. There are still many small time producers or unknown producers that still produce the 07-09 sound. TrippleStar for example still producers the oldschool sound. I myself may like all styles of hardcore, but I would never produce much of the EDMcore sound. I produce (every now and then) a track in that style but it's rare. You gotta look for the good producers. Not everyone is shite or following a trend.
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Edited by - PecheyTheLizard on 2017/04/13 11:33:35 |
Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,073 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 11:26:32
Sorry, but I'm going to use Comic book logic here. the 00-09's is/was the Silver age of UK Hardcore (the 95-00's was the Golden age, the first real success of the genre). Nowadays it's just a dumpster, where foremost the Toptier of artists/mcs are triying to keep the better piece of garbage for themselves, while buttomfeeders (sorry for that analogue CDJay :P) are trying to grawl themselves OUT of the dumpster instead of trying to reign supreme in it.
Anyways, I was going to ask if we have possible meet at the Full Throttle parties, as when trippnface mentioned it and you didn't know, I guess you haven't been to them :P So far I've been to 2 of them, but for being a country so close, it's EXPENSIVE to travel to Finland. Heck, it's much cheaper to travel to the UK, especially London.
and continuing what Elliott was saying, except for maybe Hardstyle parties, and UK Hardcore raves are almost out of the picture :(. I've been wanting to travel to the UK again, but there is nothing that seems to interest me anymore.
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Edited by - Samination on 2017/04/13 11:28:58 |
ViolonC
Average Member
Germany
243 posts
Joined: Sep, 2014
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 12:12:57
You will get a rather varied response from this forum so it is very important that you make up your own mind.
I think Hardcore is in a good place at the moment if you like variety. That of cause means one has to dig a little further than the "top 5" artists.
The Trance era is gone more or less. The lads from Trackmaster Music are still doing their thing though and there are the occasional tracks from Stu Infinity and others, then ofc there is Scott Brown doing his thing. Melody wise Hardstyle is the biggest influence at the moment, so less riffs and more melodies but the riffs are coming back slowly. Artists in this direction would be Stonebank (though he does all kinds of stuff), Darren Styles, MOB, Klubfiller, Eufeion, Chlarky etc. You should check if you like Macks Wolf; his sound is more EDM but production is spot on and he knows how to tick the right boxes.
Gammer has gone full EDM and is rather successful with it. Others from the new breed like Callum Highby as well, as well as (unsurprisingly) some of the emerging US Artist.
J-Core has also turned towards EDM putting guys like Relect on the UK Hardcore map. If you don't know him check out M-Project. Stuff is always rather melodically.
Australia has become a serious player. You should check the OneSeventy stuff (Technikore, JTS), also very varied stuff on Scarred Digital and S3RL is still there though has changed his style as to be expected (check the "Remastered" Album on the Executive Records Bandcamp!).
And then there is Freeform, probably the closest to trance still. Check out Stamina Records still rocking the place. Their latest Album WGTS Vol.2 probably has the current who-is-who of freeform artists on it.
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https://soundcloud.com/violonc
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,073 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 12:56:14
quote:
Originally posted by ViolonC:
You will get a rather varied response from this forum so it is very important that you make up your own mind.
I think Hardcore is in a good place at the moment if you like variety. That of cause means one has to dig a little further than the "top 5" artists.
The Trance era is gone more or less. The lads from Trackmaster Music are still doing their thing though and there are the occasional tracks from Stu Infinity and others, then ofc there is Scott Brown doing his thing. Melody wise Hardstyle is the biggest influence at the moment, so less riffs and more melodies but the riffs are coming back slowly. Artists in this direction would be Stonebank (though he does all kinds of stuff), Darren Styles, MOB, Klubfiller, Eufeion, Chlarky etc. You should check if you like Macks Wolf; his sound is more EDM but production is spot on and he knows how to tick the right boxes.
Gammer has gone full EDM and is rather successful with it. Others from the new breed like Callum Highby as well, as well as (unsurprisingly) some of the emerging US Artist.
J-Core has also turned towards EDM putting guys like Relect on the UK Hardcore map. If you don't know him check out M-Project. Stuff is always rather melodically.
Australia has become a serious player. You should check the OneSeventy stuff (Technikore, JTS), also very varied stuff on Scarred Digital and S3RL is still there though has changed his style as to be expected (check the "Remastered" Album on the Executive Records Bandcamp!).
And then there is Freeform, probably the closest to trance still. Check out Stamina Records still rocking the place. Their latest Album WGTS Vol.2 probably has the current who-is-who of freeform artists on it.
You make it sound like J-core just recently have bcome EDM'ish. Artist like DJ Noriken and Minamotoya has been making that stuff for years now
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Elys1um
New Member
Finland
39 posts
Joined: Apr, 2017
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 14:29:20
Technikore is nice! I think I heard him the first time when I purchased the aforementioned Xclusive Happy Hardcore CD collection back in early 2008. I still listen to it when driving, lots of nice tunes there! https://www.discogs.com/Various-Xclusive-Happy-Hardcore/release/1253542
Funny thing reading about the scene politics, because I still remember reading from Ishkur's guide to electronic music how "all the happy hardcore music in the world is producer by a dozen guys who have more aliases than a shark has teeth" or something along those lines :D
quote:
Originally posted by Elliott:
Sorry to be the one to break the news but even those of us who loved hardcore enough to stick around through the most extended dark period in its history have largely given up on it. The hardcore that you're referring to is dead: dead in terms of events and in critical condition in terms of new music releases.
That's sad to hear :/ Some of my best memories come from listening to Happy Hardcore while playing World of Warcraft/Counter Strike Source/Half Life 2 deathmatch/CoD: Modern Warfare back in 2007-2008
It's a smaller genre and this is a small forum, but has any one here thought of trying to set up a similar event for HHC&UKHC as Luminosity Beach Festival is for trance? For those unfamiliar with it, it's a small event held annually in Holland that's been growing every year. Now's the 10 year anniversary. Given their size and how cheap the tickets are, the line up is absolutely insane:
http://www.thetranceproject.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/15442278_1272644139448247_866971471935573980_n.jpg
80+ trance artists, more than half of them are legends of the genre.
+ After party (SHOKK&Scot Project hard trance classics set, Andrea Ribeca Nu NRG classics set, 4 Strings classics set etc...)
Basically legends playing classics/producer sets mixed in with newer, up and coming producers who are staying true to the old sound (or newer DJs spinning classic records). The tickets are affordable because, as I understand it, many producers play there for very small fees.
Of course doing something like that is a tall order, but I believe if you held the event in UK (or better yet, touristy area in Southern Europe that's popular amongst brits), you could draw in a lot of the old guard. Fans who are now older, more wealthy and don't go out as much anymore, so they're willing to spend more money to hear the music of their youth :P
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
Anyways, I was going to ask if we have possible meet at the Full Throttle parties, as when trippnface mentioned it and you didn't know, I guess you haven't been to them :P So far I've been to 2 of them, but for being a country so close, it's EXPENSIVE to travel to Finland. Heck, it's much cheaper to travel to the UK, especially London.
You can send me a PM if you want to add me on Facebook, whenever they'll host another party I'll be there! :)
Isn't it quite cheap to travel between Sweden and Finland if you go by a cruise boat? Then again, if you don't live in a port city I imagine it might end up being just as expensive as flying.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,073 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 14:56:24
I live on the southern parts of sweden, so while the CRUISE ships (the regular boat tickets costs as much as flight tickets...) are dirty cheap, the train ticket are expensive to Stockholm. And that would be a 14+ hours trip for something that takes 2 hours from Copenhagen by air :P
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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CDJay
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,049 posts
Joined: Nov, 2001
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 15:22:39
Ignore the doom and gloom, I offer hope!
We've got a sale on our site atm. This enables easy catch up without trawling the horrors of the major digital vendors.
www.hardcoreunderground.co.uk
Go and get the Hardcore Heaven digital album from late last year, Brisks album, and the Dougal & Gammer album.
Listen, report back. 
CDJay
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Http://www.hardcoreunderground.co.uk
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ViolonC
Average Member
Germany
243 posts
Joined: Sep, 2014
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Posted - 2017/04/13 : 17:36:06
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
You make it sound like J-core just recently have bcome EDM'ish. Artist like DJ Noriken and Minamotoya has been making that stuff for years now
I'm not super deep into J-Core territory. Sure there are some that have been doing it for a while, but there has been a recent shift afaik that moved more in that direction. On the other hand lads like XIO have stayed on the euphoric side of things. Always telling me i need to have a closer look.
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https://soundcloud.com/violonc
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