The Hardcore Overdogs: May 2024

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Yoko's Hardtrance and Rave Sleeper Hits

As a DJ with 25 years of ongoing passion for the craft and a special fondness for the 90s oldschool sounds, Yoko has collected lots of vinyl from the "good old days".
Here, he shares 10 tracks from that era which he thinks often go unnoticed, especially when at retro events today the DJs mostly keep playing the well-known tunes from back then.

Since Yoko always wants to keep tracks like these from being forgotten, he regularly streams live mixes on his channels where he aims to repeat tracks as little as possible! Make sure to check out his "Oldschool Mixfest" series if you're into this style (and don't mind German chat & voiceovers).

Links:

Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/YokoInTheMix
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/YokoInTheMix
Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/YokoInTheMix

1. Univers - Univers ["Dance Division Vol. 12" // Pink Records // Spain 1995]

Relentlessly forward-pounding Hard-Trancer on one of Spain's best "not-so-Makina" labels, with an awesome melody and high energy vocal sample on top. And as with many of these tunes, works even better when pitched up a few percent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C-4bNY7OgI

2. Elemental Space - Called You (Roughage Remix) ["Stronglimited" // Time Unlimited // Germany 1993]

Similarly full of energy with both awesome arpeggio buildup and lead synth melody, plus typical early 90s "dark bass & drums" arrangement. Imagine a strobe-filled but otherwise dimly-lit dancefloor and you're off to rave heaven!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPOLyNNUPlk

3. Polyphonic - Mamy (Virus Mix) [Do It Yourself // Italy 1996]

Italian Hard-Trance is usually more filled with angelic choir sample based melodies, but this track just goes full throttle with a nasty synth line and distorted Acid goodness on top – delicious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZdQ2m9bJTU

4. M - Das Wunder (Club Mix) ["Running (The Future Is Now!) (Special Mix)" // Blow Up // Germany 1995]

Hidden away on the B-side of an (also nice, but slower) Trope Remix of a Vocal Hard-Trance/Euro-Rave tune is this masterpiece of 170 BPM Hard-Trance. You don't expect it from the way the tune starts rather, let's say "level headed" with just some nice drum work and occasional synth stab, but when the main part comes in, you're guaranteed to start jumping!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lG_aDwVBAs

5. DJ Rope & DJ Marco Bailey - Be Free (Wavesong Mix) ["Spice" // Dance Opera // Belgium 1994]

Another B-side surprise! This one comes as close to the perfect hypnotic rave melody as it gets, and even though it does work at its original speed, try cranking your turntable up to the max and you're gonna lose your shit to this banger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqqyPcD2m5Y

6. Unknown Structure - Music For The Brain (Remix) [Frankfurt Beat Productions // Germany 1994]

The perfect starter track for a set filled with 90s high-energy Hard-Trance & Rave! You get about a minute of preparation and moody intro vibes, until the main synth starts taking you on a journey you'll never forget. Another breather around 3:30 mins and then you're granted a second ride through this amazing buildup of sounds! "Sound of Frankfurt" at it's finest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S14CjzUWEc

7. Mental Glue - Accuphase [OverOut // Germany 1995]

Starts off already hard with great kickdrum & Acid combo which on it's own already get your heart pumping. But then the break introduces an amazing uplifting melody as counterpoint to the first part that works just perfect. This is the type of "hard-but-still-melodical" tune that could only be made in the 90s!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7asuM5hGjs

8. Secret Alloy - Mon-Ka ["Second Chapter EP" // Pedo Beat Records // Germany 1995]

And yet another B-side sleeper hit. Good buildup, then everything gets stripped down and you wonder if this track goes anywhere – but you'll soon be rewarded for your patience! The melody is a perfect example of "simple makes it memorable", only 3 notes but used expertly, and with a nice piercing synth sound to drive it into your brain while raving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvx2HcrVaCc

9. M-Modulator - Boff ["Sour Lips EP" // Ugly Frog Productions // Germany 1996]

If you ever wanted to drift off into Acid-Hard-Trance hypnosis for almost 8 minutes, then this tune is for you. Just enough variation of the sounds, underpinned with a repetitive "flickering" sound loop to keep you in trance the whole time, almost invites you to just play this track on repeat in the background to keep you energized and hypnotized for as long as you need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X89NrmIY9U

10. Fiocco - Sordo ["Afflitto" // Outline // Belgium 1997]

This might be the most surprising B-side bomb of them all...! The main track on this release would later be made famous in cooperation with Kosmonova (renamed to "Celebrate"), and who would expect a fast Hard-Trance/Rave tune on such a slower "clubsound of the late 90s" release? There's also only one pressing where this particular track even exists, but taking this stark contrast of styles into account it's not that surprising. Just take my word for it, and check this 175 BPM banger out. But don't complain if your legs hurt after bouncing to this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js5_ioDx__Q

Release: Minimum Syndicat - S.C.H.O.R.L. (KILLEKILL029)

A new 2x12" vinyl Minimum Syndicat has been released.
We love it!
But why use more words, when the label has written such a great promotional text?
And here it is:

The 2x12“ vinyl is limited to 100 copies, hand-numbered and comes with a printed sleeve and a silk-screen A2 poster with a version of the artwork by Elzo Durt.
Minimum Syndicat (also known as MS or M-Syndicat) are two musicians from Paris who have been making electronic noise and live performances for decades. They are known for their very unique mix of acid, rave and industrial on the one hand and cinematic, psychedelic, sci-fi landscapes on the other.
S.C.H.O.R.L. is their first full length album. Like some kind of bleak space opera it tells its story of lonely subaquatic outposts, Soviet droids and mantis-priests gathering. The core is spaced out electro, but it also has elements of techno, doomcore, breakbeat and industrial, one could say. "At this point subgenres are less important than in the past, it's more like the alternative electronic scene against the industry turning techno into moronic money-driven entertainment.“, they say, and right they are, so let's end this here.
The album features two collaborations with French heavyweights Umwelt and Voiron, the artwork comes from the legendary Belgian artist Elzo Durt, who made some of our strongest artworks in the past and who is a fan of Minimum Syndicat himself.

MS will also be releasing a special series of digital releases called "Mutant Signal“ on their own label.

https://killekill.bandcamp.com/album/s-c-h-o-r-l-killekill029

Thursday, May 9, 2024

From "Frontal Sickness" to "(Maria) I Like It Loud" - Marc Acardipane, the 'Forgotten Man' of Techno

There is an essay by "raver anthropologist" Simon Reynolds that has become a kind of cult thing amongst Hardcore Techno aficionados. It got published in The Wire in 1998; it turned into a cult object not only because it was one of the rare cases where Hardcore music was mentioned in a bigger zine during the late 90s (as opposed to the many badly xeroxed Hardcore-fanzines, with a run of ~50 copies, of which most were destined to end up on soaked squat party toilet room floors), but because it also focused on a very specific person: Marc Acardipane, his releases, and his label family. [1]

In it, he called Marc "the forgotten man of Techno", and followed up with the reasons for that: even though he was right there at the proper beginning of "Techno", was hugely influential, and good friends with many people that are now considered to be true pioneers and legends by vox populi, he fell out of favor when Hardcore itself fell out of favor amongst the Techno folk; because he stayed true to his "core roots" and didn't disown them, like so many other producers did on their way up to the place amongst the stars (and on their way down to the sewers again).

But let's move on from Simon, The Wire, and the year 1998. What happened after that date?
First, Marc itself was pulled out from the "shadow zones"; because at least the Hardcore and Gabber scene finally remembered its Techno roots, and kept worshiping those roots again; although under different monikers, such as "oldschool", "oldstyle", "early rave", and so on - I guess "the names have been changed to protect the innocent".
This meant that "Technoid Hardcore" could be enjoyed at Hardcore parties and festivals once more (often on separate floors), which led to a lot of gigs and exposure for Marc and his Planet Core Productions sound. [Note: PCP aka Planet Core Productions was a label family run by Marc Acardipane and Thorsten Lambart in the 90s.]
It also influenced the Hardcore scene as a whole. A succession of genres such as "newstyle", "millennium" and "mainstyle" came into existence; genres that to 98% were built upon PCP and PCP-adjacent tracks: "Stereo Murder" (produced by Acardipane), "Atmos-Fear" (produced by Acardipane), "Poltergeist" (released on his label), "Flesh is the Fever" (released on Things To Come Records, a label with personal ties to PCP and that was inspired by PCP), plus various others.

This was already a good thing. But then, slowly but steadily, the Techno folk re-gained their interest in Hardcore and harder sounds, too; and now that the "millennial dominance" of the Techno scene, together with their favoring of minimalist and dandy-esque sounds, is slowly fading away, a younger generation is taking over the scene, and that new generation is very, very hardcore.

This led to a renewed interest in the works of Marc Acardipane, his crew, and his output again, coming straight from the heart of the Techno world. Marc himself acknowledged this development in some of his interviews, and added that the Techno people are sometimes even more zealous and knowledgeable about this music than the die-hard old-school gabbers!

A very fine evolution indeed; and we hope Marc gets into the spotlight again because of this, and that he finally reaps the respect that he deserves!

But why is the Techno folk favoring him and his sound specifically - in fact, more than a lot of other "Hardcore" players?
I think this is because - and now we cycle back to 1998's "The Wire" essay - his sound is *indeed* heavily connected to Techno. It's not just some ultra-aggressive, ultra-noisy Gabber outing. It's real, true, bona fide Techno music.
More than that, it represents a "road not taken" in the history of Techno music. Because, when you go back to the advent of Techno, to Detroit, Chicago, Berlin, London, Frankfurt, there was always a Hardcore contingent. Hardcore was always part of the Techno spirit, it helped to shape and mold the Techno sound. Alas, as mentioned above, it got disowned, and it became almost "forbidden" to speak of this type of music within Techno circles.

A liminal space that always lingered next to the scene as time moved on; a place that people did not dare to enter.

All this is changing now again. And while "every boy and his dog" (i.e. zines, webcasts, music academies) had their own Marc Acardipane feature by now, focusing on his more Hardcore and Gabber output, we decided to do the very opposite here, and showcase the Techno tracks from the past days of the PCP oeuvre, released using a cornucopia of aliases.

Bon appetit!

Oh, and by the way: we very dearly love "I like it loud", too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVjeheaFfsM

(This list is in no particular order)

1. The Mover - Over Land and Sea

how can one not love this track? great techno beats, rhythms, groove... and then this cosmic, celestial arrangement in the middle... the beats come back in, and the dancefloor erupts into madness.
the flip side ("underwater operations") is also very well worth a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuYMsR1Cae8

2. Cyborg Unknown - The Year 2001 (Deep in Detroit mix)

this is going deep into the history of detroit techno indeed. it's not enough to be friends of the jaguar here, this track channels cybotron just as much as it does metroplex. funky!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2q4v8_YxbE

3. Trip Commando - Cross The White Line

a techno behemoth of the most epic proportions. has probably one of the most elongated build ups in dance history, until the epic cinematic breakdown unfolds. highly recommended!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGWv1e2hBZk

4. Turbulence - Whurlstorm

this was on the second release by Industrial Strength Records - a label that shaped Hardcore history, too.
it starts as a nice little nasty techno track, until everything breaks apart in the mid-riff, and turns into a hurricane of bass frequncies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sngue8baqPs

5. The Mover - Nightflight (Nonstop 2 Kaos)

and this was on Industrial Strengh Records number one! As Lenny Dee licensed "We Have Arrived" (a fantastic hardcore track, to say the least) for his label, and put that number on the back side.
a cold groove, percussion that almost feels like a breakbeat... lots of bass, cyber-synth.... this is just dancefloor heaven.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snnHspK1QYI

6. Countdown Part V - Untitled (A1)

Countdown FFM is another sub-label to go for if one is looking for some technoid gems.
stellar electronic intro, then we get into dance grooves, and things become more deviant as acid sounds sneak in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfIL6OCtN3o

7. Alien Christ - Of Suns and Moons (Phase II)

inspired by "Suburban Knights - The Art of Stalking" (a true classic, originally released on Transmat).
Marc made this influence his own, and delivered a very detroit-ish underground rave anthem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGmmDrQTyyY

8. The Mover & Lunatic Asylum – Frequency Surfers

Lunatic Asylum aka "Dr. Macabre" is another person that was entwined with electronic music history while turning into a global player in the hardcore sector at a later date.
this is a joint-venture of these two titans of techno, and the result is a very trippy, very twisted and surreal track.

(Cannot be found on youtube, but here are audio previews: https://www.toolboxrecords.com/en/product/17643/techno-hardtechno/dance-ecstasy-2025/ )

9. The Mover - Astral Demons (Original Mix)

you should have realized by now: the mover is a synonym for high quality productions.
this is one of my favorite pics from the legendary "frontal sickness" releases; and indeed adds a very demonic vibe to the whole dance thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSMT2KdQt5Q

10. Rave Creator - A New Mind (Thai Acid Mix)

"Thai" was a pcp sub that focused specifically on techno, acid, even a bit of trance-ish tracks. despite the alias, this was put out on DE 2001 instead.
It's a remix of the famous "A New Mind" track.

starting with pure bass drones. it builds up very slowly, until thunderous, reverberated bass drums come in, and then it goes into full-on acid feeding.
similar to "cross the white line", this track could be given the title "cinematic techno soundtrack".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGpuMbLicZU

Honorable Mentions:

T-Bone Castro - Return 2 Planet E
Reincarnated Regulator - Italian Stallion
Craig Tayaffo - Reduction (Back For Acid-The Expanded 0,25 Hrs Mix)
Barracuda - Braineaters
Two Tonys - Organ Bitch
Nasty Django - Ey Loco
Cold Rush Records
Frontal Sickness 1+2
Reincarnated Regulator - Mindeater
Climax - Relax
Nasty Django - 3 P Rules!
SexDrive Entertainment - No.2
T-Bone Castro / Ace The Space - Ace In The Hole
Project Æ - Whales Alive
Ultra Spaceman - Ultra-Style

Footnotes:
1: The original Wire essay -
http://reynoldsretro.blogspot.com/2015/03/marc-acardipane-mover-pcp-dance-ecstasy.html

Saturday, May 4, 2024

The Hardcore Overdogs Poll

Review: Various Artists - Happy Gabber Sounds #2 (Mokum Records)

Mokum was, together with ID&T and Ruffneck Records, one of the "big three" labels in the 1990s Dutch Hardcore scene (and had an international "heavy rotation" chart hit with the Flamman & Abraxis remix of Technohead's "I want to be a hippy"). The label has been revived quite a while ago, and has been pumping out new releases since then - and a lot of these are of high quality.

This compilation album, as the title implies, focuses on "Happy Gabber Sounds". And, IMHO, this is a much needed 'breath of fresh air' in the ongoing Early Hardcore revival - as a lot of Early Hardcore focuses on one specific style (fast hoovers, horror and scifi samples, darkness.. you know what I mean).

So, we got some Happy Gabber sounds here for a change. The tracks here seem to be inspired by classic "cheerful" tracks that could be found on some Thunderdome releases, ID&T's Happy Hardcore / Happy Rave series, Martin Damm productions, or Mokum itself.
This is *not* "Happy Hardcore" in a traditional sense, though! Nothing like "Rainbow in the sky" or "Love you more" on here. Not a cheesefest for kiddies. These are Gabber tracks that happens to be interlaced with pitched up pop samples and other kitschy elements but remain fierce, hard, rough, brutal at their core.
Something for tough Gabbers that are still able to smile and take a joke now and then, maybe.

Mokum informs us that these 20 tracks are from the "90ies to 2024", and indeed, in between all the oldschool-ness, elements of contemporary hard styles can be heard, too.
They also tell us that "8 brand-new tracks" are included in the releases; and this alone would make this release worth getting
Highly recommended!

Rating 6 out of 5 happy stars.

https://mokumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mok305-happy-gabber-sounds-2

Tracklisting:

1. M-Project & Dynamax - Hope (Original Mix) 03:58
2. Riot Nation - Abba Gabba (Original Mix) 04:51
3. Flamman & Abraxas - Good To Go (2005 Mix) 05:06
4. Tekscape - BT4 Core (Original Mix) 04:18
5. Tellurian - Squash The Floor (Remastered) 03:36
6. Wicked XXX - Sunlight (Original Mix) 04:58
7. Peckerhead - Euro Vibe (Remastered) 03:34
8. X4phantom & DJ Ad - Tonight Is The Night (Original Mix) 04:50
9. Blue Calx - V16 Turbo (Remastered) 02:48
10. Morven - Bounce Bliss (Original Mix) 03:34
11. M-Project - Closer (Original Mix) 03:49
12. Technohead - I Wanna Be A Hippy (DJ Technorch Remix) 07:55
13. DieTRAX - GABBAGABBA HEAVY (Original Mix) 02:33
14. Tellurian & Delirium - Let It Flow (96 Mix Remastered) 04:36
15. Back2Bass - The Beating Of My Heart (Radio Mix Remastered) 03:31
16. Tekscape - Back To 95 (Original Mix) 04:27
17. DJ Chosen Few - Feel The Dream (Remastered) 03:59
18. Reeza - Rave To Forget (Original Mix) 04:20
19. X4phantom & DJ Ad - Break My Stride (Original Mix) 04:36
20. Arvid - Game Over (Original Mix) 04:28

Friday, May 3, 2024

Our 10 favorite melodies across the productions of Miro

A new EP by Miro has been released. ( https://mi-ro.bandcamp.com/album/e-tensity )
We are very happy about this and, in honor of that release, we're doing this little special.

There are many things that are outstanding about Miro's productions in the Hardcore field - the vicious drums, the speed & terror of some of his tracks, even his twisted vocals - and one thing we find especially remarkable are his melody workings.

Because, let's face it, he blows almost all of the competition out of the water when it comes to melodies.
Most Hardcore is devoid of melody and harmony anyway; and yes, there are some artists that are good at creating moody atmospheres and synths. While that stuff can be grand in its own way, to me, it often feels like sci-fi / horror ambience. That's something to adore, too.

But Miro creates actual melodies, tunes, epic things that could sit right next to the most legendary songs in music history. Take the melody out of the track, add a band and vocalist and different instrumentation (and marketing), and these tunes could be radio hits or dark disco (the location, not the style!) cult classics around the world.

Evoking a spectrum of emotions and sentiments; bittersweet, melancholic, haunting, surreal, serene, ecstatic, adrenalized, ferocious.
It's one of the things that makes his music unique. That makes it so special.

So, for this feature, we are looking at our ten favorite melodies in Miro's music production (and the tracks that accompany them).

1. Hypnotizer - The Light Is Leaving https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWijFQofs7w