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| Hardcore | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1980s – early 1990s,[1] Netherlands (Rotterdam), Belgium, Germany (Frankfurt) |
| Subgenres | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Local scenes | |
| Other topics | |
Hardcore (also known ashardcore techno)[4][5] is a genre ofelectronic dance music that originated in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany[6] in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by fastertempos (160 to 200 BPM or more[7]) and a distortedsawtooth kick, the intensity of thekicks and the synthesized bass (in some subgenres),[8] therhythm and the atmosphere of the themes (sometimes violent),[9] the usage ofsaturation and experimentation close to that ofindustrial dance music. It would spawn subgenres such asgabber.
Hardcore is rooted in the 1970s and early 1980sindustrial music, specifically the elements of hardelectronic dance music. Groups such asThrobbing Gristle,[10]Coil,Cabaret Voltaire,SPK,Foetus andEinstürzende Neubauten produced music using a wide range of electronic instruments.[11] The message diffused by industrial was then very provocative. Some of the musical sounds and experimentation of industrial have directly influenced hardcore since the beginning of the movement.
In the mid-1980s, under the influence of the Belgian groupFront 242,electronic body music (EBM), a new genre more accessible and more dancing inspired by industrial andnew wave, appeared.[12] This style is characterized byminimalism, cold sounds unlikedisco,funk orhouse, with powerful beats, generally combined with aggressive vocals and an aesthetic close to industrial orpunk music.[12] Under the influence ofNew Beat, another Belgian genre andacid house, EBM music became harder.[13] All the elements were present for the arrival of hardcore. The beginnings of the genre, they are traced at the very end of the 1980s in Belgium, within thenew beat scene with the titles :Rock to the Beat by 101 released in 1988,Saigon Nightmare by 101 released in 1988,Warbeat by Bassline Boys released in 1989,I Want You! by The Concrete Beat released in 1989,I Love You by The Acid Kids released in 1988,Doughnut Dollies by HNO3 released in 1988,Action in Paradise by Export released in 1988,Acid New-Beat by Tribe 22 released in 1988,I Sit On Acid byLords Of Acid released in 1988,Acid Rock by Rhythm Device released in 1989,Double B by Dirty Harry released in 1989,Also Sprach Zarathustra by Bingo! released in 1989,Europe by Christine D released in 1989,Do That Dance by The Project released in 1990, in 1988 the Belgiannew beat arrived in Frankfurt in West Germany.
The termhardcore is not new in the music world. It was first used to designate a more radical movement within punk rock (Black Flag,Minor Threat,Bad Brains...) which, in addition to hardening the music, also attached importance to their attitude and their way of life as in the street where it was born: violent,underground, but engaged and sincere. The term has then been reused whenhip hop emerged in the late 1980s, designating the harder part of the hip hop, with the same characteristics: a harder sound, engaged lyrics and a whole way of life dedicated to the respect of the values shown byrappers likeKRS-One orPublic Enemy. The termhardcore techno has first been used by EBM groups likeà;GRUMH...,Pankow,[14] andLeæther Strip[15][16] in the late 1980s, although their music had nothing to do with hardcore. à;GRUMH...'sSucking Energy (Hard Core Mix), released in 1985, was the first track ever to use the term hardcore, within an EDM context.
In 1990, German producerMarc Trauner (also known as Mescalinum United) released the first hardcore techno track with "We Have Arrived".[17][18] The British groupTogether released its track "Hardcore Uproar", also in 1990.Music journalistSimon Reynolds has written books on hardcore techno, covering bands related to the Belgium hardcore scene likeSecond Phase andT99 or Dutch hardcore bands such asL.A. Style andHuman Resource. Many of the iconic "stabs" that would become part of hardcore were popularized by these and otherBelgian techno producers during the early 1990s, like the "Mentasm"[19] and the "Anastasia" stabs.[20]
In the early 1990s, the terms "hardcore" and "darkcore" were also used to designate some more aggressive or high tempo forms of techno,breakbeat anddrum and bass which were very popular in England, and from which have emerged several famous producers likeN-Joi,The Prodigy,Altern-8 andGoldie. One of the earliest uses of the word in the context of English releases/the Englishrave scene which gained prominence was 1990's "Hardcore Uproar" byTogether. The track's title was derived from a promoter of acid house parties of the same name that hosted controversial raves in and around the town ofBlackburn, and was agreed on between the members of Together and Hardcore Uproar's organisers in exchange for letting them feature a recording of the crowd at one of their nights in the track. Symbolically, according to Together member Suddi Raval, the night they attended to acquire the recording also turned out to be the final event under the Hardcore Uproar banner before its founders were forced to disband and stop the raves by the police. A slogan associated with these events and the anti-establishment ethos behind them, "High On Hope", was later used on a 1991 release on Blackburn-based labelAll Around the World, aptly under the artist name Hardcore Uproar.[21][22] Later English hardcore introduced sped uphip-hop breakbeats, piano breaks, dub and low frequency basslines and cartoon-like noises, which has been retrospectively called'old skool' hardcore (a.k.a.breakbeat hardcore) and is widely regarded as the progenitor ofhappy hardcore (which later lost the breakbeats) andjungle (which alternatively lost the techno style keyboard stabs and piano breaks).
An important event in the popularization of the genre occurred with the[18][23] release of the 1990 track "We Have Arrived" by the German producer Mescalinum United, ofFrankfurt.[15][24] Trauner founded the label Planet Core Productions in 1989 and has produced more than 500 tracks, including 300 by himself until 1996.[15] Another important project of Trauner was PCP, popularizing a slow, heavy, minimal and very dark form of hardcore that is now designated as "darkcore" or "doomcore".
In the United States, the New York pioneer of technoLenny Dee launched the first dedicated hardcore record label[25] Industrial Strength Records in 1991[24] that has federated a large part of the American scene, making New York one of the biggest centers of early American hardcore. Other American producers on the label includedDeadly Buda andthe Horrorist, but the label has also produced producers from other nationalities. At the same time inRotterdam, the DJs and producersPaul Elstak[26] and Rob Fabrie popularized a speedier style, with saturated bass-lines, quickly known as "gabber", and its more commercial and accessible form,happy hardcore.[24][27]
Paul Elstak foundedRotterdam Records in 1992, which became the first hardcore label in the Netherlands.[28] In 1992 atUtrecht, a largerave called The Final Exam[29] led to the creation of the labelID&T. Launched in 1993, the concept ofThunderdome quickly popularized hardcore music in Europe with a catalogue of CD compilations and events, attracting thousands of young people that launched the gabber movement. Just during the single year of 1993, four compilations were released with increasing success.[30][31][32][33][better source needed] Many artists on the compilations have become well-known figures in the scene, notably3 Steps Ahead, DJ Buzz Fuzz, The Dreamteam,Neophyte, Omar Santana, andCharly Lownoise and Mental Theo in the gabber/happy hardcore registry. The same year, the labelMokum Records was created[24] by Freddy B who had success with artists and groups likeTechnohead[34][35][36][37] Tellurian, the Speedfreak,Scott Brown,[38] and the Belgian musician Liza N'Eliaz,[39] pioneer ofspeedcore.
Around 1993, the style became clearly defined and was simply named "hardcore", as it left its influences fromDetroit techno.[40]
In England, the members of the sound systemSpiral Tribe,[41] including Stormcore, 69db, Crystal Distortion and Curley hardened their acid-breakbeat sound, becoming the pioneers of the "acidcore" and "hardtechno" genres. In 1994, they founded the labelNetwork 23 which among others has produced Somatic Responses, Caustic Visions and Unit Moebius, establishing the musical and visual basis of thefree party rave.
Hardcore/Gabber clubs in Belgium, DJ Yves was resident DJ atClub X[42] inWuustwezel and from the Hardcore room of theCherry Moon[43] inLokeren, DJ Bass (DHT) was resident DJ of the Hardcore room ofTemple Of House La Bush[44] in Esquelmes (Pecq) and ofLa Florida[45] in La Glanerie (Rumes) which is next to theComplexe Cap'tain.[46]Thunderdome in Belgium was organized at theAntwerps Sportpaleis[47] and in clubs such as thePlanet Hardcore (Club) inDendermonde 3 April 1994,[48] theExtreme inAffligem on 16 December 1994,[49] theClub X in Wuustwezel on 7 June 1996[50] and 13 September 1996,[51] theCherry Moon in Lokeren on 31 October 1997.[52]
In France, the pioneers of hardcore include Laurent Hô andLiza 'N' Eliaz.[53][54] The French hardcore scene later went on to develop intofrenchcore.[54]
In the late 1990s, hardcore progressively changed asgabber waned in popularity. This left a place for other hardcore-influenced styles likemákina andhardstyle.[citation needed]
Under the influence of Hardstyle andindustrial hardcore, a new scene was developing featuring DJ Promo and his label The Third Movement. This scene now known asmainstream hardcore emerged in the early 2000s with a modern, mature, slower, and sophisticated form.[23] It was successful in Europe, especially in Netherlands and Italy,[23] with producers and groups like Endymion, Kasparov, Art of Fighters, The Stunned Guys and DJ Mad Dog.Happy hardcore continues its movement underground and has evolved bringing out other related genres such asEurobeat,UK hardcore, Freeform hardcore andFull-on Hardcore.
Labels such asEnzyme Records, Crossbones and Bloc 46 have produced darkcore artists, likeRuffneck, Fifth Era and The Outside Agency.
As the free party movement was successful in all the Europe, freetekno appeared. Numerous producers and labels emerged representing the hard techno and the frenchcore genres: Epileptik, Audiogenic, Les Enfants Sages, Tekita, Breakteam, Mackitek, B2K and Narkotek.
Meanwhile, in 2001, Norwegian DJ duo Thomas S. Nilsen Fiction and Steffen Ojala Søderholm began to develop thenightcore genre influenced by pitch-shifted vocals in German groupScooter's songs "Nessaja" and "Ramp! (The Logical Song)". Nightcore artists started appearing on services such asLimeWire in mid-2003, and YouTube in 2006.
The early 2010s saw the rise of hardcore internationally, with artists such asAngerfist gaining popularity quickly. The hardcore scene thrived during this period with many new producers and labels making their mark on the scene, both in Europe and the rest of the world, appearing even at North America's biggest music festival,Electric Daisy Carnival. In 2011, Angerfist entered theDJ Mag Top 100 at position No. 39.[55]
The middle of the decade saw a shift in popularity, from mainstream hardcore to faster styles such asfrenchcore, uptempo hardcore and terrorcore. Although these styles existed previously already, an increase in artists and events around 2015 helped these styles develop and move to the forefront of the audience's attention. The shift from the older range of 160–180 beats per minute to 200+ changed the hardcore market, creating a demand for more energetic and intense hardcore than before. Artists likeSefa &Dr. Peacock saw a quick rise within the scene and influenced the musical direction to a louder, faster, but more melodic and euphoric style.[56] Major artists from other genres such asMarshmello,Carnage,Porter Robinson[57] andHeadhunterz[58] started to occasionally play faster hardcore in their sets.
The end of the decade saw rapid growth of the hardcore scene in Europe. Hardcore festivals within the Netherlands saw a significant rise in attendance. 2019's edition of Thunderdome reached an attendance of almost 40,000 people and became the biggest hardcore event to ever take place.[59] Regular large scale events hardcore started happening outside of the Netherlands in countries like Spain,[60] Russia,[61] Austria,[62] Switzerland[63] and the Czech Republic[64] among other European countries. In America hardcore remains a relatively underground genre, but can be found in major cities being pushed by independent promoters and artists.
| Hard dance | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s |
Hard dance is an umbrella category of electronic dance music genres characterized by fast tempos and hard kick drums, but less harsh-sounding and often a bit slower than hardcore. The category includeshard house,hard trance,hardstyle, some forms ofEurodance and regional genres, such asmákina,lento violento and others. Sometimes the category has crossovers with hardcore genres such asfrenchcore orUK hardcore. Despite this, the category is sometimes referred to as synonymous with hardcore techno music generally.
Trauner was co-founder of record label Planet Core Productions and has been credited with creating the first hardcore techno/gabber track in 1990, 'We Have Arrived', under the name of Mescalinum United
The monstrous 'mentasm' sound – a swarming killer-bee drone derived from the Roland Juno Alpha synthesizer, a writhing, seething cyclone-hiss that sends ripples of shivery, shuddery rapture over your entire bodysurface – spread through rave culture like a virus, infecting everyone from the Belgian, Dutch and German hardcore crews to British breakbeat artists like 4 Hero, Doc Scott and Rufige Cru. The 'mentasm stab' – which took the sound and gave it a convulsive riff-pattern – was hardcore's great unifier (…).
On T99's 'Anasthasia', the 'Mentasm' stab mutated into what some called the 'Belgian hoover' effect: bombastic blasts of ungodly dissonance that sounded like Carmina Burana sung by a choir of satan-worshipping cyborgs.
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