An interesting piece by one of our guest authors.
While this is not limited to the scope of Hardcore Techno; it's usefulness includes genres of hard music, too!
Itinerant Audio: Music for Sonic Travelers
In today's world, music has been completely industrialized and merchandized.
It's a product, to be manufactured, marketed, sold, consumed, and discarded - then the cycle repeats.
Almost every other aspect or quality has been stripped away by this capitalist-refining process.
Manu Le Malin - Ghost Train (Vitalic Remix)
Take a toaster for example. The average customer could not care less if his toaster was manufactured in Singapore or South Korea, as long as it "does its job".
And the average vendor could not care less if the customer uses the toaster in the morning or in the evening, alone or for his family, if he sets it up in his kitchen or at another place - as long as he buys 1 unit of it.
And the same happens to music in our "modern world". Music is sold by big streaming platforms and similar services, destined to be consumed, then discarded.
And those mega-businesses could not care less if the customer listens to their music at home, at a cafe, on ear buds, on a loud PA, etc etc. As long as he buys 1 unit of it.
Somatic Responses - My Purple BMX
It's not important to them.
But I think it *is* important.
At what location, at what place you listen to your music makes a difference. A big, huge difference.
It's a vast difference if you listen to your music at home, or at a party.
Outside lying in the grass, or at your crush's place during a romantic evening.
Some tracks sounds just right at a smoke filled basement of a squat party - and sound totally wrong at a hipster club with a sterile atmosphere and a sterile audience.
The Mover - Nightflight (Nonstop to Kaos)
It makes a difference *where* you listen to your music.
I always was very much interested in this; and there are some special places and occasions where you can listen to your favorite music.
For example: outside, underneath a tree during a clear summer night, and you end up gazing at the stars, for a short eternity, before you feel as if you get spirited away, up towards the sky, off earth...
Or at home, on a stormy autumn night, with the cold wind rushing against the windows, and you sit in the warmth inside, with a hot mug of coffee in your hand, listening to the cold beats of techno as they intermingle with the noise of the coming storm...
Metic - Train Damage
Of course, in history (and music history), this has been noted and pointed out by a lot of people, and famous musicians told about special times and geography where they enjoyed their own sounds the most, and so on.
And because much has already been written about that topic by others, I want to dedicate this text to even "more special" sub-category of this sonic topology.
Music can sound special when you listen to it at a special place.
But what if you listen to it at *no place*; neither a special or regular place?
What if you don't listen to music at a point of earth's geography; because you are not at such point; because you are moving between points, places, topologies, maps?
Because you are moving in stereo?
Or, to put it more profanely: because you are traveling while you listen to unique pieces of music?
Destination - Nowhere
There are myriads of ways you can move and travel while enjoying the "art of sonic waves". You could listen to it on a car, bus, train;
ship, plane, airship, maybe even spaceship.
Bicycle, hovercraft, skateboard, roller-skates.
While walking or while skydiving, or while deep-diving.
Some of the most magic moments in my life happened when I was traveling to a destination in a car or on a train, listening to music; and dozing off during this process and continuing the journey in dreamland made things even sweeter.
Then you wake up, you are suddenly at the point where you wanted to arrive, the CD or tape is finished, your friends are there, the night of partying can begin. Let's do the time warp again!
Raver's Nature - Signal of Moving
I'm certain you can access similar memories in your mind.
Now, modern traveling has stripped all the fun and excitement, all aspects and qualities of traveling, just like all these things were stripped of modern, streamlined music.
In capitalism, commercial traveling has been reduced to - tourism.
The tourist is never a traveler, an adventurer, or explorer. They are just dumb tourists.
Narcanosis - Fly
Because of this, to truly enjoy music during traveling, one must avoid tourism, and similar streamlined, sterile activities.
So, the more unusual, the more natural, the more out of ordinary, the more related to your own unique self your method of traveling is, the better. And the better is it suited for an extraordinary sonic experience.
Christoph De Babalon - A Long Way Home
Of course, you can begin simple, and don't need to strain yourself with this;
leave the car at home, put your buds into your ears, get on your bike, and then up, up and away!
Bike to and through your nearby forests, beneath rivers, lakes, on long, rural roads, or in surreal urban cityscapes.
At night under the stars, in the heat of the summer.
While blasting techno, dark ambient, heart throb post punk, video game soundtracks, Mongolian throat chanting, and whatever you wish - into your mind.
And you will see - it's wonderful, it's marvelous, it's amazing.
A joy money can't buy.
Trip Commando - 3rd Trip-Phase
Or don't take the train from the inner city for a 20 min ride, "take the long way home", and the bus for the same distance on a 60 min ride this time, while you chill away to your favorite audio flavors.
Etc etc etc.
Use your imagination, I'm sure you will come up with great ideas.
The more extravagant and fantastic, the better.
And if you experience something nice (or even if not), feel free to send your thoughts and ideas back to me.
Arrivers - The Arrival
This ends the sonic travel experience at the simple and individual level.
But there are still "wider roads" to go on;
Why not try setting up a "moving party"?
Yeah, there have been techno and hardcore parades with "floats" before, and this is already a good start;
But I'm sure there are more things possible.
How about the first "moving festival" with 10.000 people that travel from one point to another?
Or, on a smaller scale, a few dozens of bicycle enthusiasts that have their own small party, blasting the same tracks from "external speakers" as they are pedaling onwards?
The possibilities - and the destinations - are endless.
More Hardcore tracks that are suitable for traveling:
- lunatic asylum - the exodus
- nomex & scud - eurostar
- nordcore gmbh - stairway to hell
- brides make acid - flying over frankfurt
- horrorist - into the moonbeam
- deadly buda - crossroads
- heist - last train departing platform E
- neuroviolence - surfing on a sea of blood
- the mover - over land & sea
- alec empire - dreaming is a form of astrotravel
- base force one - we know (how fast we can go)
- vdd energise - outcast ufo
- search & destroy - back in smolensk
- evidence - artic rider
- manu le malin - on the way home
- alec empire - the ride
- somatic responses - passage
- vdd energise - between sun & earth
- the mover - underwater operations
- narcanosis - come with me (into the stars)
- vdd energise - ghosttrain
- the mover - time traveller
- tellurian - a long fast ride
- destination - the trip
- trip commando - cross the white line
- The mover - last breath of the homelands
- frozen - out of the light
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