BREAKBEAT HARDCORE

'Breakbeat hardcore' (popularly known as 'rave' music, originally referred to as simply 'hardcore' in the United Kingdom, with 'oldskool hardcore' a common term in the 21st century) is a style of electronic music that primarily uses breakbeats for its rhythm lines. It was an early 1990s offshoot of the acid house scene of late 1980s Britain and was the precursor to various genres including jungle/drum and bass and happy hardcore.

Contents

Origins

The rave scene

Effect and fragmentation

21st century

Selected information

Record labels

Notable Releases

References

See also

External links

Origins

Hardcore emerged as an irreverent response to the soothing, soulful direction that Electronic Dance Music had taken in the early iterations of trance and deep house. In contrast with lushly produced house music, hardcore emphasized a unique, harsh, aggressive sound that drew strongly from hip-hop and early acid house. It added a hip-hop influence with the addition of breakbeats and increased the tempo. A strong reggae and ragga influence emerged in 1991/92, with uplifting piano melody loops or Jamaican reggae samples used at normal speed layered on top of frenetic 150 to 170 bpm breakbeats. The music itself very much reflected the effects of the rave scene's drugs of choice, Ecstasy, LSD and amphetamines, with its bombastic beats, manic synths, sped-up vocal samples and rumbling bass-lines. Evoking the anarchist spirit of embattled underground parties, hardcore sometimes glorified quick production with minimal hardware, ''Made in 2 Minutes'' as the title of a track by Plastic Jam proclaimed but in truth was key in evolving many innovative sounds and styles in dance music.

The rave scene

The scene revolved around the M25 motorway (London's orbital motorway), and its audience was mainly urban teenagers and lower middle-class suburban teenagers with cars. The audience was very much multi-cultural, with black and white influences resulting in a unique sound. The scene expanded rapidly in 1991, with large raves of 30,000 to 50,000 people attending in open air venues around England, put on by Spiral Tribe and other free party soundsystems held at numerous locations up and down the length of England. This scene spawned the idea of holding huge parties rather than small clubs.

Effect and fragmentation

Between 1993 and 1994 the scene fragmented, and forked off into two distinct styles - Jungle (later known as Drum and Bass) and 4-beat (alternatively known as happy hardcore). Jungle's sound was more focused on basslines, whilst 4-beat retained the rave synths, the 4/4 kickdrum, and happier piano elements. By 1996, most 4-beat had dropped its breakbeats (in-part due to bouncy techno), whilst drum and bass had long dropped the techno style synth stabs, thus further separating the two styles.

21st century

Since the early-to-mid-2000s, several new record labels and artists have appeared producing music in the hardcore breaks style with the aim of recreating the sound and vibe of the early 1990s breakbeat hardcore. Compositions stay faithful to the original sound by using a combination of old and new piano melodies, techno riffs and breaks, whilst taking advantage of technological advances in music productions of the 21st century. Additionally more artists from the first wave of breakbeat hardcore such as Luna-C (of Kniteforce and Suburban Base's Smart E's), Brainstormer (of Formation Records and F Project's Brainstorm Crew), and Phuture Assassins (of Suburban Base) are returning to do new productions.

Selected information

Record labels

786 Approved, Absolute 2, Awesome Records, Basement Records, Boogie Beat Records, Contagious, FFrreedom, Formation Records, Full Effect Recordings, Great Asset, Ibiza Records, Kickin Records, Kniteforce, Little Giant Music, Moving Shadow, Production House, Reinforced Records, Suburban Base, Triple Helix, XL Recordings

Notable Releases

★ DJ Red Alert & Mike Slammer - Slammin' Vinyl (GUMH 011, 1995)

★ The Scientist - The Exorcist (Kickin Records, KICK 001, 1990)

★ Altern-8 - Frequency (Network Records, NWKTR 34, 1991)

★ SL2 - DJ's Take Control (Awesome Records, SL002, 1991)

★ Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era - Far Out (Suburban Base, SUBBASE 008, 1991)

★ Wax Doctor - A New Direction (Basement Records, BRSS 0011, 1992)

★ DJ Seduction - Hardcore Heaven (FFrreedom, TABX 103, 1992)

★ Acen - Trip To The Moon (Production House, PNT 42, 1992)

★ The Prodigy - Experience (XL Recordings, XLCD 110, 1992)

★ Nookie - Return Of Nookie (Reinforced, RIVET 1239, 1993)

★ DJ Krome & Mr. Time - The Slammer (Suburban Base, SUBBASE 26, 1993)

References

★ Simon Reynolds' ''Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture'' (ISBN 0-330-35056-0)

See also

★ List of electronic music genres

External links

★ HardcoreWillNeverDie.com

★ BackToTheOldSkool.co.uk

★ Hardscore.com

★ Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music