Turn on, tune in, drop bass: How the American Midwest shaped the global Hardcore Techno scene, and how Daft Punk ended up playing a gig in the sticks

When it comes to Hardcore, and Techno music in general, there are still so many stories that are never told, that are unknown to most, that sound unconceivable.
One of them is the fact that in the 90s, one of the most influential regions for the invention and development of Hardcore Techno, and adjacent genres, was the American Midwest.

"Forget Rotterdam, forget Amsterdam! Milwaukee was where it's at."
Okay, the last sentence was an exaggeration. Hardcore was a global effort, many places joined forces in order to create the genre as we know it - Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, lots more - and, yes, Milwaukee.
Let's cut the banter and get directly to the point: we are talking about the Drop Bass Network.
A label that was / is not purely about "hardcore". Instead, its sound occupies a liminal place, at a time when genre boundaries were nowhere to be seen. Acid, Techno, Minimal, Acidcore, Hardcore, Gabber, Speedcore.
And all of this can be found on DBN (and its sub Six Sixty Six, which you can read more about here).
But the center is definitely on the hard and dark side of music. Few mellow trance, idm or ambient sounds are on there!

But beyond mere "genre terms", we can identify several strains of Hardcore and Gabber. The Netherlands had the crazy, party, festival and "big rave arena" type of hardcore beats. Berlin had their Bunker and the caustic, claustrophobic "terror" sounds, often with sampled screams that did sound close to military commands.
New York had their moshpits and violent dancers, metalheads and streetpunks-turned-gabber.
And Drop Bass... had a much colder sound, metallic, futuristic, evil, machine driven, riots against the technocracy.

This sound still reverberates in today's Hardcore scene, as you can hear similar sounds in contemporary genres like industrial core, techno, or even more extreme variants.

The label never was confined to Milwaukee. You could see bald Gabbers sporting Drop Bass merchandise at many good underground parties in Hamburg, London, The Hague, and elsewhere.
The important Techno record stores stocked items of its catalogue.
It helped that DBN was one of the earliest adopters of the public internet (or "the information superhighway", as Bill Clinton called it).
They also used this to promote their parties and festivals, such as "Even Furthur".
They even managed to book a french Techno duo to one of them, which might have been not as famous back then as they are now.
And that's how Daft Punk ended up playing their first gig on American soil - in the sticks.

Some of the most important or interesting releases on drop bass:

Zekt – Godly Obscurity (with the acid gabber track "the last dawn", sporting Tim Curry samples) https://www.discogs.com/master/2010415-Zekt-Godly-Obscurity

Choose – Crucial Events (with classic track "slowgain" on it) https://www.discogs.com/de/master/2010412-Choose-Crucial-Events

Delta 9 - The Hate Tank (very influential extreme gabber release) https://www.discogs.com/de/release/9313-Delta-9-Hate-Tank

Frankie Bones – Einstein e=me+3² (hardcore and techno by this US legend) https://www.discogs.com/de/release/9314-Frankie-Bones-Einstein-eme3%C2%B2

DJ ESP – Interference E.P. (the one that started it all, by Woody McBride) https://www.discogs.com/de/master/16960-DJ-ESP-Interference-EP

Freddie Fresh – Gnarl E.P. (Freddie Fresh making an appearance on DBN) https://www.discogs.com/de/master/1563446-Freddie-Fresh-Gnarl-EP

EVO – We Are EVO (Acid legend Brandon Spivey & Hardcore legend DJ Freak in a joined project) https://www.discogs.com/de/release/21835-EVO-We-Are-EVO

Beverly Hills 808303 - No Boobs, No Sales! (done by inter-ferrence, who later scored an MTV heavy rotation hit with the electro piece "Space Invaders are Smoking Grass") https://www.discogs.com/de/master/238654-Beverly-Hills-808303-No-Boobs-No-Sales

Somatic Responses – Sub Space Distorters (early harsh acid release by the Somatix) https://www.discogs.com/de/release/35114-Somatic-Responses-Sub-Space-Distorters

Laura Grabb – Disk Rubble (female produced Acidcore releases are still rare, and this one's a killer!) https://www.discogs.com/de/master/1766978-Laura-Grabb-Disk-Rubble

Various – Even Furthur (Includes a track by "the inventor of hardcore", Marc Acardipane) https://www.discogs.com/de/release/13996012-Various-Even-Furthur

Digital Hardcore Recordings - Reviews of the first eleven EPs

Earlier this year we reviewed the albums of DHR. https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/02/a-review-of-complete-digital-hardcore.html
Now we take a closer look at the first eleven EPs in this label's vast catalogue.

You don't know DHR? How could you! Here is what it is:

"Before the "Genre Mainstream" set in, Hardcore, and also Techno, were not styles or categories that are as fixed as they are now.
Many labels (and artists) existed on a kind of liminal location, that sat in-between the various movements, styles, sub-cultures, and political claims...

One of these was Digital Hardcore Recordings, which enchanted Hardcore Heads, Punks, Indie Rockers, Hip Hop fans and lots of additional contingents in youth and other (older) movements.

And, paradoxically, while DHR was probably one of the most underground efforts, as these releases literally did not give a fuck about genre conventions, image, likability... they were also *the most known* hardcore-adjacent and extreme electronic label in the 90s.
every global music, culture, fashion magazine tried to get an interview or story with one of its artists... they toured all over the world and in the major cities... they were on big rotation on MTV and other music television.
It was a common thing to come home after a squat rave, turn on the TV in order to "chill", and suddenly see Atari Teenage Riot, Alec Empire, Hanin or Ec8or appear on the screen.
Even the mainstream press and media regularly covered the label."

And, going on with the program....



Alec Empire – Digital Hardcore E.P. (DHR 1)

The Digital Hardcore EP that kickstarted the eponymous label.
And it was a true kick-in-the-butt for its future audience.
Hyperfast breakbeats, bass sounds that seem to come out of voodoo possessed synths, and a general call for an audio uprising.
Pick: "Pleasure is our business" - because it's the hardest of 'em all!

https://www.discogs.com/master/128484-Alec-Empire-Digital-Hardcore-EP

DJ Bleed - Uzi Party EP (DHR 2)

Very interesting release, as all 3 tracks have a distinct sound to them.
"Deaf, Dumb and Blind" is weird early breakcore, that was also featured on the "Harder than the rest" compilation.
"In Bed With Marusha" is kind of "indie happy hardcore", also with elements of industrial and uk breakbeats.
And my pick on here is "Sexy Intelligence Council"; heavy breakcore with one of the unholiest basslines I ever heard!

https://www.discogs.com/master/554806-DJ-Bleed-Uzi-Party-EP

Sonic Subjunkies - Suburban Soundtracks Pt. 1 (DHR 3)

I feel this remains a bit "underrated" compared with other Digital Hardcore releases?
These tracks are part of the "first steps" of the emergent breakcore movement.
Beastly distorted amens, acid lines, anime samples... what's not to love about it?
My fav choice is "Central Industrial", which adds elements of melancholic electronica to the madness, and the entire track is built around vocal snippets taken from the classic cult movie "Ghosts... of the Civil Dead".

https://www.discogs.com/release/33620-Sonic-Subjunkies-Suburban-Soundtracks-Pt1

Alec Empire - Death EP (DHR 4)

One of the most legendary releases of the 90s. This is as bleakest and darkest as it gets.
As the title implies, all tracks are related to death in one way or the other.
Stands out from other "early breakcore" releases by heaving some of the heaviest amens, bass lines that sound as they really were emitted from the "world below", and being more complex and innovative. For example, "Su*cide" has a very movie soundtrack feel to it, while "We all die" ends in a several minute long beatless dark ambient outro.

https://www.discogs.com/release/65172-Alec-Empire-Death-EP

Sonic Subjunkies - Turntable Terrorist EP (DHR 5)

Their sophomore release on DHR.
Style is similar to the earlier release: darkside breakcore on a steady diet of trigger-happy anime samples and other media (twin peaks!).
Smart and well-done.

https://www.discogs.com/release/64999-Sonic-Subjunkies-Turntable-Terrorist-EP

Hanin Elias - Show EP (DHR 6)

The 2nd EP by Hanin - only preceded by a 12" on Force Inc. Music Works.
But this is Digital Hardcore Recordings, and hence the sound is much rougher now.
Out of the ordinary and exceptional Breakcore with Hanin's top notch screaming voice.
Fav track: the slower "Tie Me To The Wall" that almost ventures into trip hop, dub, or funk territory!

https://www.discogs.com/master/45111-Hanin-Elias-Show-EP

Christoph De Babalon – Destroy Berlin! (DHR 7)

One of the best records ever in any music genre. period.
I never heard anything like that again, even on other releases by De Babalon (the same can be said about his subsequent album, by the way).
This 12" had the most heinous breakbeats back in the day, yet at the same time there are lush, acerbic-saccharine drones, synths, and laments reverberating through these compositions... oscillating between heaven and hell, anyone?

https://www.discogs.com/release/213924-Christoph-De-Babalon-Destroy-Berlin

Ec8or - AK-78 (DHR 8)

Ec8or's first sign of life on DHR and, surprisingly, this one is vastly different to their other output!
Could it be that this was more of a solo-production, without much involvement by Gina?
The "Killer Side" sports aggressive hyper-gabber in the vein of patric's alternate productions as e-de cologne, test tube kid etc.
The "AK-78 Side" introduces us to low fi dirty amiga centered breakcore.
All 4 tracks are amongst my favorites. And every "early breakcore" DJ needs these.
The CD version sports a nice hidden bonus track.

https://www.discogs.com/master/13305-Ec8or-AK-78

Ec8or - Spex Is A Fat Bitch (DHR 9)

DHR had the habit that the EPs were often as good as the albums, and that those EP tracks were then not included on future albums! (Which is very rare in the world of music).
And because of this, some of these EPs feel more like complete-but-miniature, stand-alone albums, and this here is no exception.
The sound is an exception, though, because no other Ec8or release sounds like this.

I think they come the closest to the vision of a raw punk band that uses amiga gabber drums and distorted breakbeats as a backup with this release.
Gina is at her angriest here, the walls-of-guitar are at their loudest here, and the 8 bit sample fuzz drowns everything in ultra-violet (sic!) noise.
What's not to adore about this one?

https://www.discogs.com/master/13318-Ec8or-Spex-Is-A-Fat-Bitch

Atari Teenage Riot - Speed/Midijunkies (DHR 10)

"Live bootlegs" that get cut on vinyl have their special charm as this a thing which is almost never done anymore (in our world of super-digital post-physical music).

Most of the tracks that you can find on here have also been included on other releases as well.
But this one's worth getting for the brilliant artwork which just screams "DIY punk got gene spliced with the video kid generation", and... the live version of "Start The Riot".
Because this track is a feral dog that will gnaw on your bones until there is no flesh left.

https://www.discogs.com/master/41639-Atari-Teenage-Riot-Speed-Midijunkies

Atari Teenage Riot – Kids Are United E.P. (DHR 11)

Another release by DHR that feels more like an entire album to itself, rather than an EP - especially given the fact that the actual albums by DHR often barely pass the 30 minute mark.

Therefore you get lots of content for your cash here.
Apparently, this is a beefed-up re-release of the earliest ATR outing - on a label that later discontinued its contract with this crew; so ATR left with a major's advance, put the money to good use by starting their own indie... and the rest is history!
But now to the sound: Digital Hardcore at its earliest, and at its rawest.

I'm sure you are already acquainted with tracks like "Kid Are United", "Deutschland has gotta die" or "Not Your Business", and the semi-"bonus" tracks are special treats as well.

https://www.discogs.com/release/127121-Atari-Teenage-Riot-Kids-Are-United-EP

Do you listen to music while being on the move? - Join the Sonic Itinerancy project!

What is Sonic Itinerancy?

At its core, it's the idea that the way we perceive music changes according to whether we are listening to it at a *fixed* location, like a club, a disco, at home, a festival, a concert venue... or without being at any location at all; while *moving*, hiking, biking, riding the bus, train, raft, whatever... listening to music during travel.

And at best, this travel should not be done in a mainstream-commercially-integrated way - i.e. not a plane trip to a holiday resort or a car ride to work - but a natural, diy, free way. For example, hiking to a beautiful lake that no one else knows, or slowly strolling down the desolate streets past midnight, while the pale moon beams down at you sporting a bittersweet smile...

We believe that being *in motion* while letting the stream of soundwaves flow to our ears and brains totally changes the experience and pleasure of music. Hidden emotions, structures, content, suddenly becomes "visible", or audible, and generally: it's a wild trip.

You can read more about it here: https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2024/01/itinerant-audio-music-for-sonic.html

How can I join in?

Listen to music while moving or traveling, and keep an audio travelogue.
Then send it to us, or excerpts.
Doesn't have to be much, perhaps 1-2 travel notes, a few pictures, a playlist, whatever...

We just want to know if more sonic itinerants are out there, and like to hear your story!

Maybe sonic itinerancy is something you have been doing on your own already, you just had not heard the term yet.

What kind of music is useful for Sonic Itinerancy?

In essence, any kind of music could be listened to while traveling.
Yet, in our experiences, deeper, darker, more experimental, more "out there" music works best. Like Dark Ambient, Psychedelic Rock, Trance, Doomcore, Industrial, Techno....

We suspect there might be a hidden sub genre of "travel music" within these and other styles as well. We are going to dig deeper here.

What is the point / final goal / intent?

First, in the most "sober, scientific" way we'd like to prove the assumption that it is not trivial in what way or condition you are in while listening to music. That your surroundings and activities change the way you perceive music.

Second, it's a lot of fun, and can lead to deep experiences, insight, delights! Maybe you'll even find your soul as you go home?

Third, once the Sonic Itinerancy movement gains solid ground and begins to sprout roots, we are interested to kickstart more advanced projects.

Maybe people could meet up in groups, listen to the same set of sounds, as they go hiking?
And then we will have the first "moving party" with 100s of people blasting beats while traveling from one place to the other.

The future is wide open...

If interested, and / or you need more information, contact us at tapeductseven@gmail.com

Again, it's enough if you just write down a few words about your "sonic travel experiences".

You can read these example sonic itinerant travelogues for inspiration:

1 1/2 Years of Sonic Itinerancy - A Project for Audio Travelers

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/05/1-12-years-of-sonic-itinerancy-project.html

Sonic Itinerancy: The Second Report

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/08/sonic-itinerancy-second-report.html

Note: no ai was used in writing this text.

Overdogs of the past: looking back at Crapshoot Records out of UK

Crapshoot was a 90s Hardcore Techno label, and one of the power players in the UK Hardcore scene of that decade (even if remembrance of it might not be as big for it as it is for other labels these days.)

Apparently it was run by Anita Hurst and Simon Sanders, who also did some of its releases under their aka "pHönki".

It's one of the labels that has a very distinct sound - there is really none that is quite like it.

Apart from the output of the power couple anita+simon, there's also quite a few releases by the titans-to-be in global gabber, such as Simon Underground, Traffik, or DJ Freak.

And now let's jump right in, get pHönki, and listen to the sound.

1. pHönki - Afraid Of Nothing

2. Traffik - Taking Risks

3. Mad Doktas of Mind Altaration - Sir! Yes Sir!

4. Shit Spitter - Strap You Down

5. Brides Make Acid - Rotterdam Bonehead

6. pHönki - Betablokka

7. Total Output - Density

8. Simon Underground - Point Blank

9. pHönki - Fight For Your Right

10. DJ Freak - Gabbaphobic

11. F.U.H.D. - Gritty & Rough

The basic sounds of Hardcore and Gabber - A sonic encyclopedia

Hardcore and Gabber are growing in popularity again (finally!), lots of new folk flock to the scene, yet life out there can be hard for a newcomer, alright? So here is an introduction to some basic sounds and concepts of Hardcore Techno, with a certain focus on the Early Hardcore period of the 90s, of course!

Aimed at those who are fresh behind the ears and want information.

And maybe some of the old dogs can learn a few new tricks here, too?

Note: No AI has been used in writing this text

The basic Gabber cookbook:

1. The distorted 909

Hell yeah! If there is one thing that screams Hardcore, it's the 909 kick. The 909 is a vintage drum machine designed and produced by the Roland company, that, for example, also created the iconic 808 which was / is important for acid, house, and rap music.

This drum machine was actually an initial flop for the company. Only few musicians used it in their songs (for example, Phil Collins and Genesis. It was discontinued and discarded. But then the Techno folk came around and appropriated it for their own purposes. And the Gabbers added that extra spike to it, by distorting the hell out of it.

read more here: Everyone Likes a Big Bass - A Look at the Lower Ends of the Frequency Spectrum

and you can watch a short tutorial on these kicks here: How to create an Oldschool Gabber 909 Bassdrum in the most simple way

Example tracks with a 909 sound:

Distortion - Franthic Thigh

Delta 9 - Atomizer

Pill Driver - Pitch Hiker

2. The Hoover

Yes, this is the second thing that screams Hardcore, especially "early Hardcore". I'd say around 90% of 90s Gabber tracks had a hoover. The origin is the "Dominator" track by Human Resource. Its intro has a howling, screeching synthesizer sound, very detuned, with plenty of processing. This sound came from a Juno synth, but later artists often just used a sampler with it.

It already has a powerful sound at home / headphones, but on loud speakers at a gabber party, this synth tears the whole place apart, I tell you!

Unlike synthesizer use in other 90s genres like Trance, Ambient... this one is rarely used for melodies or harmonies.

It is almost employed like a guitar: either with doing fast synth-riff, creating a hookline, or generating some type of "noise bomb" (maybe similar to a heavy metal power chord)

riff type: The Stunned Guys - Beats Time

hookline: Nasty Django & DJ Cirillo - Deal Wit' Beats

power hoovers: Asylum - Mescalum

3. The T99

Yes yes, the T99 sound. It is named after the track T99 by Anasthasia, which was the first, or one of the first, to use it. I would put it into the "sampled orchestra hit" category of sounds that became popular in 80s pop music (for example, The Pet Shop Boys). But it's more "harsh", enigmatic, special.

When used in a melodic way, with lots of reverb or echo delay, it can sound extremely epic, so it's no wonder that many tracks that became "Hardcore Anthems" have this sound.

It also has a "secondary weapon" ability: to create very fast paced and frantic rave-riffs that feel extremely energetic.

melodic use: Marshall Masters - Stereo Murder

Rotterdam Terror Corps - You're Dealing With

riff use:

Wasteland - First Time On This Planet

4. The "Rave Signal"

Has a long history... a klaxon / sonar / bleep type sound. Adds that additional outer space feel to a track, and / or a sense of high panic evacuation efforts going on. First use was in the earliest Techno tracks (again), later the sound became almost entirely confined to the Hardcore genre.

Unlike all other "synth" sounds mentioned here, it is almost never used in any melodic or harmonic way. Purely as a riff, or rather: like a hardcore techno morse code sent from Pluto.

example:

Hardsequencer - Brain Crash

Neophyte - No Worries

Read more here: Tracing the Bleep: The History of the "Rave Signal" in Techno music

5. The Mentasm

The kid sibling of the hoover, in a sense. In fact, often the terms hoover and mentasm are confused, or used interchangeably. It is a sound that appears in a track by Joey Beltram with the title... well, can you guess it - "Mentasm" !

Once again a juno sound, and it gets torn and twisted around this time.

Often used in a speed-up or distorted way.

S.V.E.N. II • Cranium Acceleration

6. The Isoprophlex drum

This one is a sound that was used in the Aphex Twin track "Isoprophoplex". Actually an aphex twin track that sounds very hardcore already, but has a broken rhythm, so maybe it is more like early breakcore? Either way, Gabber producers sampled this sound and used it in a lot of their own productions. I would say in the classic gabber era, this was the second most popular hardcore kick sound, only topped by the 909 itself.

Examples:

Tellurian - Hardcore Junkies

Cybernators - Ridiculous

Taciturne - Der Toten

7. The Quoth drum

Again a sample from an Aphex Twin track, and its name is... well?... "Quoth". ( ) This is by far not as popular as the other sounds in this list. But it has been used frequently, and is recognizable to hardcore trainspotters. Also, there were not many widely-used drum sounds in 90s hardcore techno, so it makes sense to focus on each specifically. And I'd argue this one was the 3rd or 4th "most popular" for tracks.

Example: Wavelan - It Will Stand

Zenith - Black Alienation

8. Breakbeats

60s soul records used to have what was called "a funky break": the vocalists, guitar men, and everyone else did suddenly "shut up", and now the drummers had all the time in the world to "swing it" and go off like a lunatic on a mental trip - before the actual song commenced again. ( ) these wicked beats later got sampled + used in the uk rave and hardcore scenes, and began to pop up in mainland productions, too. labels like ruffneck records were infamous for focusing on breakbeats in gabber tracks, or even put a whole "drumnbass / breakbeat" track on an otherwise gabber vinyl record.

Examples for breakbeat use in gabber:

Wedlock - Ruffneck (Sound Of The Drum & The Bass)

Biochip C - Black Sunday

9. Claps and other percussion

Early Hardcore used a lot of percussion. In the majority of Techno and House genres, percussion is used in a funky-sweet, chilly-groovy way. But not in Gabber! The percussion gets heavily processed, distorted, and essentially just hammers on like death mental drummers during temper tantrums.

Because of this, the "percussion" is often barely recognizable anymore, and formerly harmless "handclaps" now sound like hand grenades going off in a techno bunker.

Example tracks with processed percussion:

Stickhead & Don Demon - Demonhead

Titanium Steel - Paralyzed

Program 1 - World's Hardest MF

Oh, and yes, most of the percussion comes out of the 909 drum machine - again!

Some of these sounds do not have widespread terms, so we used our own makeshift ones. In these cases, we put the term in quotes.

Do you know more of these basic hardcore sounds? or do you have additional questions?

Let me know!

Time Traveling Ravers: The Love for Science-Fiction and Futurism within Techno Culture

Time travel has been a common theme in western culture for at least 100 years.
There are some songs about it, too.

But there is hardly any genre that is so focused on the topic of time travel than techno and its subgenres.

Yeah, most former youth movements of the 20th century probably thought they were the future (with the exception of punks and goths, who thought they represented - "no future" [1] ).
And it's true in the most literal sense.
If you are the youth, you will be the future of society.

But with Techno, there's the idea that the sounds itself are a mirror of future music, that they precede the things to come in sound and culture of upcoming decades.
Or even beyond that, that they are a vision of the future, sent from the future through a time tunnel, or that the DJs themselves would be aliens from a future time that a) stepped in this world through a portal or b) crash landed here and got stuck.

Of course, few ravers believed in these things in a literal sense (outside goa and psytrance), but it's a story they liked to toy with.

While rock or pop artists that present themselves as technocratic time travelers do exist [2] , but are, yeah, quite rare.

So why is it like that?
Well, techno itself was done on new tech, new studio methods, new concepts in music. So in a sense, the sound really was that of the future.
Many production methods that are standard today emerged in techno tracks three and a half decades ago.

Also, I guess we can see some sort of "future cascade" building up in 20th century youth ambitions.
Rock'n'roll already had a sweet tooth for futurism, as seen in songs like "telstar" [3] or car models that looked like they just arrived from mars [4] .

Jerry Lee Lewis might have been the devil [5] in disguise [6], but Elvis Presley was an alien, I'm telling ya!

Then the hippies came and with them, LSD, Ayahuasca, and Psilocybin, the idea of musicians being able to "get messages from another time" was born [7]
Still, despite the hippie futurism, they also had a craving for the good old times, living on a farm with crops and weeds and country music, and without the need for society, conservative morals, or clothes.

So things were still *split*.
And with prog rock we get further albums with a Cassandran claim [8], only to be followed by very boring tropes related to the plights of middle aged dads [9] .

But with techno music - there is finally pure futurism.

Future shock straight into your head, man.

There are no hillbillies or squares or traditional dads, or any other relics of the past on the 1992 techno dancefloor. [10]

Everything is brand spanking new, everyone looks as being from a different species of alien.

The clothing, the clubs, the sound, the dance moves, even things like gender and sex - with 90s techno, they appeared out of time and space.

Men might be from mars, women might be from venus, but ravers, they were coming from some place beyond pluto [11].
I'm telling ya.

There might be more and different reasons, but we close this chapter, for now, for a while...

...and will open it again... at another time. [12]

List of 11 early techno and techno-adjacent tracks that deal with time travel.

1. X-101 - Rave New World (Underground Resistance)

2. The Horrorist - Year 4010



3. The Future Sound Of London - Papua New Guinea



4. Cyborg Unknown - Year 2001 (now a date in the past)



5. The Mover - Time Traveller



6. Dj Hooligan - Sueno Futuro



7. Model 500 - Time Space Transmat



8. Jam & Spoon - The Age Of Love



9. The KLF - What Time Is Love? (Live at Trancentral)



10. Phuture - Acid Tracks



11. The Horrorist - Flesh Is the Fever (tale of a trip into the future)



Further suggestions:

1. Model 500 - Future https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeHCd3NdgQg
2. Immaginazione - La Musica Del Futuro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dhkLNdZDCI
3. Alien Factory - Destiny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VUQ_4KWPVs
4. Titanium Steel - People Of Tomorrow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKfCv3SE28
5. Freez-E-Style - Awake in Neo Tokyo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHiDP9XEC0
6. The Overlord - Future Of The World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck6QUHMUn-0
7. Mescalinum United - We Have Arrived https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL5xh-wt3Vc
8. Reign - Enter 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHVzPW4RJr0
9. Pascal II - The Future Is Ours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP04JHjpl9s
10. Final Dream - The Future is Dark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGeGgCEKZHM
11. Lory D - We Are In The Future
12. Pablo Gargano - Everyone's Future https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDUQaE-nUAM
13. Jens Lissat - The Future https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItAy3-fA6_g
14. Base Force One - Phuturist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEypiakVcSU
15. Future Viper - Paranoid Beauty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8qgnJtLCQQ
16. I-F - Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIAZTV_sYtk
17. Space Trax - Deduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mThQm4rcnGI
18. Beverly Hills 808303 - Signals...The Acid Planet Is In Sight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BN8J2gN6BI

Footnotes:

1: "The ice age is coming, the sun's zoomin' in, engines stop running, the wheat is growin' thin, a nuclear error, but I have no fear" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Calling_(song)
2: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Ziggy_Stardust_and_the_Spiders_from_Mars
3: The Tornados - Telstar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstar_(instrumental)
4: "Woke up this morning and the streets were full of cars. All bright and shiny like they'd just arrived from Mars" https://genius.com/Shakespears-sister-hello-turn-your-radio-on-lyrics
5: "Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true. Jerry Lee Lewis was the devil." - https://genius.com/Ministry-jesus-built-my-hotrod-lyrics
6: Elvis Presley - (You're the) Devil in Disguise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(You%27re_the)_Devil_in_Disguise
7: In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus) - Song by Zager and Evans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Year_2525
8: "I have a message from another time" https://genius.com/Electric-light-orchestra-prologue-lyrics
9: "The concept was originally envisioned by Waters in 1977 and refined in the early 1980s. In its completed form, it rotates around a man's scattered thoughts during his midlife crisis." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pros_and_Cons_of_Hitch_Hiking
10: "No More Fucking Rock N' Roll" https://www.discogs.com/release/301562-WestBam-No-More-Fucking-Rock-N-Roll?srsltid=AfmBOoo8qpT6ABNQIiyDoMgTyknQT2Y7GEhWJ7Fln20-bCie-qL6HJ_q
11: Beyond Pluto by Scarlet Fantastic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_Fantastic
12: "I sent a message to another time [...] I sent a note across another plane" https://genius.com/Electric-light-orchestra-yours-truly-2095-lyrics

Sonic Itinerancy: The Second Report

The Sonic Itinerancy project has been going on for nearly 2 years now.
And finally, the field studies are beginning to show fruits.

More reports by Sonic Itinerants are coming in.
First we got this one ( https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/05/1-12-years-of-sonic-itinerancy-project.html ), and now here is one by another person called "Violated Angels".
Apparently, this travelogue already began years before (!) the Sonic Itinerancy project officially started. (Let's not talk about time travel here).

Read more about the Sonic Itinerancy project here:
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2024/01/itinerant-audio-music-for-sonic.html
And here:
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-first-found-footage-dark-techno.html

Violated Angels sent us photos and a few logs of these night journeys.
And now, let's just go ahead!

At night I feel like a spectator. I blend in, I stand out as much as the treetops stand out from under the black void above. I sink into the environment and become a part of it, I am no different from the asphalt on the ground or the shadows that lurk behind me. I become as meaningless and meaningful as the bricks that lay the pavement.

In the daytime I have to put on a facade, a mask - an act for people, but at night there are no people. I can rip off the mask and crush it on the asphalt beneath me.

Over time these night walks have become highly ritualized, like some TV serial killer's. First I wait until it is fully dark, not even a hint of blue light is allowed in the night sky. Second, I get ready to go out, I turn on 1 light in my living room, always the same one. Third, I pick out which album I listen to.

For example if I'm numb with depression and a little nostalgic, I'll pick The Goslings. Fourth, as I'm walking I pick out where I go based on how I feel, if I'm lonely, I'll sit under the substructure of the bridge along the canals and watch the lights dance on the reflection of the water.

If I hate the world and everything in it I'll walk past the more urbanized sections of my town, the shopping centre, the schools etc. Things that irritate me so I can revel in my hate even more.

  

If I feel claustrophobic and need to be alone, I'll go along the factories that make up half of my town. Fifth, when the album or albums if I need them are almost over, I'll start making my way back, loosely tracing the path I took to get there.

 

Sixth, when I get back home I'll grab a drink or something and sit in silence for a while, reflecting.

 

the first time I listened to "Selected Memories From The Haunted Ballroom" by The Caretaker was, as usual, on a night walk.

 

Normally night walks are comforting, but this time was anything but. What ensued was an hour and fifteen minutes of panic, disorientation, anxiety, I think I started hallucinating at one point. This genuinely made me feel like I had dementia.

 

I haven't listened to this album since, I think it might really be haunted.

At one point as I was confusedly stumbling through a harbor along a large concrete factory (Haitsma) where I walk quite frequently, I'm pretty sure I saw a ghost. It was way in the distance, It looked like some dark robed figure, it was tall, like more than 2 meters tall.

It stood still but I could see it moving ever so slightly, I had that feeling that you get when you know someone's staring at you, but from all directions. I pulled my phone out to record it to make sure I wasn't hallucinating it, and I actually got it on camera (in android camera quality of course)! The following morning I came back and it was gone. Spooky shit.

Suprised I haven't heard about the Sonic Itinerancy project before, I only really listen to music on night walks or when I'm riding the train to the GGZ (dutch mental facility), I've never thought about the fact that I'm moving.

  

I think when you're going somewhere and listening to music, it makes your life feel like a movie. Night walks feel a lot more emotional, with the freedom of not being confined in a room or bed and the added privacy of the night you can freely do whatever, you can dance or scream or cry or walk in the middle of the road and no one will even notice. Even better if there's an especially scenic or comforting place in your town, it can make it a lot more beautiful.

 

I remember walking along the bridge over the canal and watching the factory lights in the distance flicker in the water while it snowed and The Goslings - Windowpane started playing, which is a break/interlude in a very emotionally intense and noisy album (Grandeur Of Hair).

Album recommendations (for listening while moving)

1. Ophidian - Blackbox
2. Fifth Era - See You In Hell, FE#5-10
3. Aftermath - Aftermath EP, Live @ NCL Scum
4. The Goslings - Grandeur Of Hair, Perfect Interior
5. Christoph de Babalon - Love Under Will EP, File Already Exists, Continue [Y/N]?, If You're Into It, I'm Out Of It
6. Joel Giraldou - °A-Septic°Test°1, °A-Septic°Test°2
7. DJ Enthrall & Angstorm / D.K Dance - 45+8-01
8. Meatpacker - Negative Impact
9. Clinical Trails - Systema
10. Girnų Giesmės – Kerai
11. Burial - Untrue

Extreme rock, rap, and electronic crossovers in the 90s: From "Judgment Night" to the "Spawn" OST

A phenomenon that emerged in the 90s was the creation of compilation albums that put extreme rock and metal bands together with rap, techno, and electronic music producers or groups.
I.e. one band went together to the studio with one artist of the respective other genre; and the resulting songs were put on the album release.
This is vastly different to contemporary times, when every fool tries to do an electronic or whatever mashup of metal songs with electronic beats while they're sitting in the comfort of their own homes. In that decade, the producers actually faced bands like slayer, faith no more or fear factory head2head during these sessions.

A widely-known starting point for this move actually happened in the 80s already; rick rubin had the brilliant idea to let his brand new and hot rap act Run DMC remix the then already a bit aged rock dinosaurs of Aerosmith; but more than a mere remix session, this battle between the young rap generation and the older rockheads even led to a video with heavy rotation on television, cover stories, discussions, even a bit of outrage... well i guess you know the story.

hence, in the 90s the word apparently was: "if rick could do this with 2 groups, why not do it with 22 groups and put all of them on one release?"

of course, "crossover" music was a big thing in the 90s anyway. it usually meant hardcore rock + hardcore rap, but as we will see, as the years went on, more and more (extreme) genres got fused into this, too.

The reviews

1. Judgment Night (Music From The Motion Picture) (1993)

the first album we are gonna look at is the soundtrack to the movie "judgment night". I think the movie is not so well known anymore. it's awesome and genius, though. it follows a group of young suburban friends on a joyful trip who take a wrong turn with their van... but not in the sticks this time, in an urban environment.
the movie flashes the shiny and sharp teeth of nihilism, and seems to channel the pre-millennial fear that gripped the decade (or millennium) a few years later in full effect. seems to run around the thought: "why shouldn't your suburban life, your values, your safety, your culture, all go to hell within a few hours?"

thus, watch it if you have not done so yet!

the stand out track is a duel between faith no more and boo-ya tribe, a rap group i am not so familiar with (while i'm sure you are all familiar with faith no more).
the song oozes excellence, though, and is clever on so many levels. the drummer somehow manages to sound like a rock drummer and a rap drum machine at the same time. mike patton seems to have a nervous breakdown during the recording and is reduced to whimpering, grunting and howling by the end of the song (and i dont think he is faking this).
there is not just rap and rock, but also elements of opera, piano, and, yeah, plenty of ethereal howling.

Faith No More & Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. - Another Body Murdered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff_M8kcVRek

other picks:
Helmet & House of Pain - Just Another Victim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhTffL5-9d4
Slayer & Ice-T - Disorder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKcL7q8RJU

2. Spawn (The Album) (1997)

yes, yes, could you believe it? even before marvel, there were comic book adaptations, and some were the shit, and some were just shit. i don't know which category to put this one in because, as i must admit, i never fully watched it. i know the soundtrack very dearly though.
this project one-ups the "judgment night" project. not just metal and rappers, but a heavy incursion by electronic artists is made, too, some of them being on the very extreme fringe of electronics, such as hardcore techno and gabber.

the standout track for me is Slayer & Atari Teenage Riot head-on crash aptly named "[With] No Remorse (I Wanna Die)".
because, yeah, jesus, is this one *heavy*. the ruthless anarchism of alec empire's riot teenagers runs well with the ultra-aggression of slayer. there is spiffy production to this one, too: ATR don't just yet overdo it with the noize and distortion, and everything cuts like a diamond-blade because of this.

Slayer & Atari Teenage Riot - No Remorse (I Wanna Die) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb90QDSssSo

other picks:
Orbital & Kirk Hammett - Satan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP8tpAs9qhI
The Prodigy & Tom Morello - One Man Army https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kmlPy9dyOY

Hellspawn (1998)

Just a year after the spawn album, and if we look at the title, could it be that earache was maybe a bit inspired by this unofficial predecessor?
But fair enough, even before "Spawn": Earache was one of the pioneer labels that crossed over extreme metal and other genres.

and if spawn 1 upped the judgement night soundtrack, then this good dog here 11 upped the spawn OST.
because this is no longer rock meets rap and electronic.
it's, as the subtitle states: "(Extreme Metal Meets Extreme Techno)".
I.e. the likes of death metal, grindcore, face off against hardcore techno, gabber and speedcore.

and yes, the gabber list of producers on this gem reads like the who-is-who of the extreme hardcore scene of the 90s (this goes for the metal bands, too, of course).

my pick here is Pulkas vs Shitspitter - Control. starts slow and calm enough, but when the screaming, distortion, and bass kicks in, it's like a piledriver going down on your mind.

Control https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtUlgBaiyvM

other picks:
Morbid Angel vs The Berzerker– Day Of Suffering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH_AqtXrKAQ
Napalm Death vs Delta 9– Breed To Breathe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfnn6bwAJrw

these were just 3 compilations, the 90s had more and similar projects. it truly was a decade of genre-bending, experiments, and unashamed rage+aggression in music.

do you know more releases like this? let us know!