Taciturne: The Story Becomes

Maybe, or likely, you will know the producer Taciturne from the track "Der Toten" which is one of the few true hardcore classics, amongst the ranks of other tracks like poltergeist, six million ways to die, rotterdam subway...

He is a mysterious figure in music, and there a kind of mystery surrounding him that ran for over a decade.
There were rumors about his death, in the early years of the millennium... but noone really knew what happened, there was a lot of speculation, research, strange things happened...

Now we are looking back at a piece of information that was released 11 years ago already. As you can see, it's a disclosure of more things that happened...

But we can't say that it made the whole issue less opaque and confusing...

Yet, eventually it led to the release of the Taciturne archives.

Which includes a lot of excellent hardcore material, that likely would have become classics had they been released in the 90s already.

Plus marvelous music in many other genres!

https://taciturne.bandcamp.com/

And here is the text:

on the scene of Leontin Voigt Abilgaard's - to some knowns as Taciturne - way too-early-su*cide, one question remained: where were the olekrapp archives?

investigators could not find them even though they thoroughly checked everything on the event's scene.

rumors about 2 or 3 men entering his place shortly before this tragic happening spread fast. but, no matter how much energy was used for this investigation, the olekrapp archives remained not to be found. rumor was that even private and government agencies used some spare time to set some light into this; for whatever reason. but again, no result.

this all changed in late 2014. a corpse in a junkyard in tokyo was found. this person looked like a mix between a rocker, a punk and a high tech engineer. some claimed it was Flavio Flavione, the professional agency killer. other's said it was Ivor Wadrolavski, a promising scientist, that was shunned by a post-soviet goverment, and indulged in private studies from then on, whose objective remained unknown.

but what made this case even more special, was that a plastic bag of chrome cassettes was found in his possession. when an ancient tape recorder was finally found in tokyo, the content of the cassettes was transferred to modern computer systems. the officials, the scientists could not believe what they saw! it was the ole krapp archives.

for over a year, it was carefully avoided to leak any bit of these news and events to the outside press, and was just passed on by government and shadow-government officials alike. yet, for whatever cause, the repercussions soon set in. a fire bombing was attempted on the secret laboratory where the olekrapp cassettes were stored. scientists involved in this case were found hanging dead from monuments in tokyo. poisoned flowers were sent to the policeman that discovered the body first.

who was behind this? why were the olekrapp archives considered so special? what mystery did they hide, in their encrypted ways; a scientific breakthrough? a transdimensional message? a dark secret at the bottom of western civilization? who was involved in this; secret police, special agents, crime organisations, elite computertech groups?

another lead that was followed was the case of Yiyamoto Moto, the infamous japanese prodigy, who is supposed to have been a key factor in exchanging the mona lisa with a fake one inside the louvre; by being the painter, who painted the imitation, when being eight years old! could he also be responsible for forging the ole krapp archives on an emulated amiga? this, too, is not sure.

so, indeed not much is known - yet. but what is known, is that after these attempts at the destructions of the original tapes, the special agency saw only one solution; to make all the content available on the internet for a while.

7 Fischkopf Hamburg tracks that inspired me as a Hardcore Techno producer (Guest Feature)

A piece on Hardcore production, by one of our authors, Low Entropy.

Fischkopf was already "obscure" back in the day, even for Hardcore heads. I guess it is close to being completely obscure by now.
Yet, the label always had its fans, and it's often a nice surprise to discover that an artist loved the label, who you did not expect to do so.
Apart from Praxis and DHR, Fischkopf was probably the most influential label, at a time when I just had started to produce Hardcore and electronic music, too!
I want to mention a few tracks that I consider to be particularly nice... and interesting!

Because, directly or indirectly, they teached me a few production "tricks".

1. Auto-Psy - Oxyde

Of course, that's the one. I always mention or play this track.
There is something noteworthy, as the track has a bizarre percussion / rhythm flip halfways each "loop". Listen to it and you know what I mean.
This one runs against any conventional concept of rhythm or time signature.

2. Fields Of Defacement - Attached

This is barely Hardcore, is it? It's like the opposite end of the gabba-speedcore spectrum. Introverted, reserved, almost chilling and very cold.
The "killer" for me are the pads that come in at half of the track.
What is it, a hi pass saw synth? A chord? What kind of fx is run over it?

Not sure, but I often tried to "mimic" this sound in some way.

A great one, when listening to at 6 am, and being completely burned and down!

3. Cybermouse - My Dorectives

This track has a very odd, peculiar feel.
It's like time is standing still, and you are not sure for how long it runs already, and if it would run for all eternity.
The track is based on a few elements that run on a loop. But not quite, as there are subtle changes here and there, and it is not easy to tell what actually changed.
So this is a bit of almost "invisible" production techniques.

4. Taciturne - Phenprocoumon

There is something very remarkable about this track, and I don't think I ever heard anything like it again (except for maybe in other stuff by Taciturne).
It has super hectic, super distorted beats and sounds, noise. and then these completely still, "silent", serene sounds... that ran completely against the hardcore thing.
The calmest of ambient...

It is quite the clash of opposites. And, as you can imagine, it inspired me to do the same. To add "calm" / sweet / ambient moments, in abrasive hardcore tracks, too!

5. Christoph De Babalon - Pleased With Being Alive

"Borderline" hardcore, but it ain't exactly Jungle or Drum'n'Bass either.
More than that. It has a completely "science fiction" mood, makes me feel like I'm walking on a different planet.

I tried to "copy" similar space sounds in my own tracks, at the beginning. never worked really well. but it led me to find my own way of producing "future music".

6. Eradicator - Used Against Us (Remix)

"Experimental gabba". I think this is the idea of the track.
There are hoovers, there is a huge kick, yes, it is gabber all the way. And it adds sounds to it that are outside the gabber genre. The ambient intro, the weird fx...
And it stacks sound after sound on top of each other.

What i learned here is that gabber, hardcore, techno, can be very experimental and clever. if you want to do it.

7. No Name - Kamasutra

A track by the french maniac.
I don't know if any analyzing of this music could ever do it justice.
But... it starts very calm, almost like a (teknival) techno track. Then suddenly flips, goes into full anger and aggression. It adds so many different moods and sentiments, and ideas, in such a short time.

Music like this showed me that hardcore (or electronic stuff) can be extremely splintered and complicated. and still be very cool and hard the same.

Review: Fisch23 CD - Various Artists - Otaku - Slick But Not Streamlined (Fischkopf Hamburg)

Review taken from "An unofficial guidebook to Fischkopf Records, a label associated with the Hardcore Techno scene in the 1990s, based in Hamburg, Germany."
Read more about it here: https://fischkopfrecordsguidebook.blogspot.com/

Fischkopf at Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/label/4356-Fischkopf-Hamburg

Fisch23 CD - Various Artists - Otaku

(A review track by track)

1-01 Taciturne - Liquid Theatre 1:31

strange ambient intro. cult track.

1-02 Taciturne - Praxis Dr. Fischer 6:20

Legendary drone-speedcore track. Doctor Fischer has the cure for you! Just go to his praxis.

1-03 E.P.C. - Persistance 5:12

Oh what a beatiful noise!

1-04 Amiga Shock Force - Violent Geisha 3:14

mix between breakcore and early speedcore with an amiga feel.

1-05 Auto Psy - If 6:09

when i played this track, a guy once asked me "what kind of terrorist music is this?". good description!

1-06 Burning Lazy Persons - Catastro 4:15

The overdose of noise and drums.

1-07 Trash Enemy H. Q. - Braintraining 1:06

noise and distortion with a painful sound without drums or anything else.

1-08 Burning Lazy Persons - Poisoned Radio Wave 4:34

ooh, painful audio signals and overly distorted hardcore drums. i'm luving it.

1-09 P. Server - Ratings (Terror Unit H.Q.) 4:36

cool monotonous acidcore track.

1-10 Shangoe - Army Of Darkness 6:58

interesting breakcore out of hamburg.

1-11 R.A.W - Sudden Death 7:37

the other r.a.w. track from the otaku compilation. impressive as well!

1-12 Monoloop - Chill Out 7:55

breakcore madness in between being chilled (as indicated by the piano) and being killed (as indicated by the screams).

1-13 Amiga Shook Force - Sex, Mord & Kunst 4:17

one of the fastest tracks of its era. hyperfast beats next to crazy rap samples.

1-14 No Name - Y-droid 6:35

Slick and without mercy.

1-15 Orderly Chaos - 45m 4:23

The so real dark ambient experience.

2-01 Jean Bach - Tausend Stimmen 3:19

very crazy and over the top track by jean bach. heavy distortion.

2-02 Taciturne - Avarie De Machine 4:49

made up of sounds of heavy machinery? great!

2-03 E.P.C. & A.N.T.I. - Sharpomatic 6:06

noisy hardcore with a total "piss off!" attitude.

2-04 No Name - Control 4:18

one of the most classic and most fierce hardcore tracks. if you haven't heard this one, you are missing out!

2-05 Taciturne - Der Toten 4:24

the one and only fischkopf track that became a real "hit". was in high demand in the dutch gabber scene and ended up on countless compilations.
as you probably already know this track, I don't need to describe it here :-)

2-06 Fields Of Defacement - Bang-Bang (Live In Hamburg 96) 7:05

Live recording. Brutal. Acidcore. With gabber and general hardcore elements. Entrancing. Exalted. Shows the power of a hardcore techno live performance.

2-07 Amiga Shock Force - Shoot 'em Breax 4:20

A perfect early breakcore track. Hip hop and guitars.

2-08 Johnny Ego - Untitled 5:25

again an interesting hamburg breakbeat track.

2-09 R.A.W - Cold War Memory Nightmare 6:56

great, great early breakcore. interesting use of sounds and "melody". also a good but haunting cold-war feel.

2-10 Burning Lazy Persons - "R" 4:09

vicious nice and nasty track by nawoto suzuki.

2-11 Taciturne - In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi 6:01

samples the chuch of satan. non 4/4 beats. slow, distorted, noisy. dark and scary.

2-12 Orderly Chaos - Pine 5:20

painful sounds and pure ambient.

2-13 Trash Enemy H. Q. - Pestilence 6:15

truly interesting track. acid sounds. very dark and epic melody. no real hardcore beats and rhythm. close to industrial.

2-14 Orderly Chaos - Melt Away Love 5:21

pure ambient track. interesting, repeated melody. wonderful track.

Looking back at a very Special track: OyEz - Doomsday

This time we are taking a look at a track that suits the everlasting gaze of The Hardcore Overdogs in manifold ways.
I am talking about the 90s Hardcore track called "Doomsday" by the German producer "OyEz".

Oyez! - Spacetime 6 

Another track by OyEz

But, first, let's move back in time.
Before the internet, there was already a digital world, an online world, that was vast, huge, global - maybe even bigger than today's internet in many aspects (without doubt, the current 'world of online' stores more "data" in sheer tera, peta and exa-byte size - yet most of this data consists of duplicates, or derivatives of duplicates.)
Part of this global online world was the BBS scene - and I already alluded to that in the past (here).

I was a teen - age 13-14 - and I was part of this thrilling scene of digital activity. I also just had discovered Techno music - Rave, Trance, Hardtrance... but not Gabber yet.
Yet almost every other user on the BBS was deeply into Hardcore, Gabber, and Speedcore. They partied at The Box in Hamburg, or at the Hardcore nights in regular Techno clubs. Most were a bit older than me, but, as usual, those who were not, found ways to sneak into these nighttime raves despite their young age and technically not being allowed to do that.

Starfox - Feel the Music 

Starfox was another producer on the BBS circuit around hamburg

Of course a lot of the folk were doing their own music too, mostly on tracker programs, then sharing their creation as ".mod files" on the BBS, or around Germany - and in some cases, a track might even reach New York, Tel Aviv, or Tokyo.
And some actually managed to share their music not merely online - but on a physical release, too.

There was a guy on the BBS who did just do that. His releases were more in the vein of Techno or Trance, actually, but there was harder stuff, too.
And one of those tracks was "Doomsday". It never got a proper release, though, in the sense of entering the club circuit.
It ended up on a "compilation CD-Rom", but not for music - for files, editors, tools, maps, add-ons related to a then popular FPS game that was created in the wake of the DOOM hype.
As a "bonus", the cd-rom had an audio track - the abovementioned one.

Hardsequencer - Magic Flight 

Hardy started in the tracker / mod scene, too.

Being bundled with such a CD meant it was not likely to be played on the dancefloors - but it assured it could be played at a lot of gamer parties, conventions, demo scene events (not entirely certain it became the hit I assume it was - but you can never know!)

So what's the fuss about? Reminiscing of early nerd / computer days, tied to a track?

Mindviper - Messiah 2000

Mindviper has their roots in mod / chiptune music as well.

No, no, not at all! Because here is the twist: it suits our gaze in manifold ways (as mentioned).

1. it is a completely obscure track that barely anyone knows, yet it existed in the 90s already
2. it is a hardcore techno track
3. yet it also crosses over in a lot of other genres, like "german rave" and hardtrance
4. it is, in my opinion, one of the best gabber tracks in the entire 90s (opinions might differ)
5. due to its release, it has almost become "lost media", but we can try to bring it back from the dead
6. it's not some "cheap tracker hack", even though we'd love that, too - it is professionally produced and sounding, better than most "top names" in the 90s
7. the contextual "halo" of the track is ambiguous, liminal, and strange: it was a hit, but not to the gabbers, to gamer nerds: it was played, not in clubs, but at computer parties and meetings; it's a huge "track" but stayed small, undeservingly; and more.

And therefore, it is a true Hardcore Overdog!

You can listen to the track here:

OyEZ! - Doomsday (Remix)

Oyez! on discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/131159-Oyez!

A Tale of Two Cities: Tracing the Sound of Rotterdam - and its Hamburg Counterpart

Recently, I was asked to produce an EP for Rotjecore Records. The "catch": all tracks should be Rotterdam-themed. There was no lazy re-using / re-hashing of Rotterdam Gabber classics allowed (i.e. not using samples or beats from other tracks). The tracks should sound novel, and give off a true representation of the Rotterdam sound.

1. Neophyte - Komen Wij Uit Rotterdam (Rotterdam Records 022)

It felt a bit peculiar to accept this offer at first. Being born in Hamburg, city of Northern Germany... and then to create something that represents a very different city, Rotterdam?
Yet I accepted, because I always felt intrigued by Rotterdam. Not just because this city plays a central role - or *the* central role - in Gabber culture, a scene that I loved for the most part of my life.
But also because I find it fascinating that the Sound of Rotterdam indeed differs from other Gabber music - even Dutch Gabber, from Amsterdam or The Hague, for example.
If you look at the classic tracks on Rotterdam Records, Terror Traxx, and on, they indeed "feel" different from tracks on Mokum or Rave Records.

2. Euromasters - Alles Naar De Klote (250 Bpm Remix) 

Upon further research, I discovered that being a "Fischkopf in Hamburg" might not be a bad thing for this endeavor, and that the two cities of Hamburg and Rotterdam might be more connected, and have more in common, than I originally assumed.
Back in the 90s when German Techno mags covered the Dutch Gabber scene (which they often tried to avoid), they always repeated the claim that Rotterdam was a working class city, built upon heavy industry, its port, and all the marine and naval things associated with this. Indeed, Rotterdam sports the biggest port in Europe, and myriads of commercial goods that pass between Europe, Northern Africa, USA, and other places, pass through Rotterdam at one point - including illicit drugs.
And that "Rotterdam Gabber" then was created as an answer to the chic, hipster house coming from "rich, intellectual" Amsterdam at the same time.
I always had my doubts about this story of gabber genesis.
My guess is that in contemporary times, the city of Rotterdam is not much different in direction than almost any other metropolis in the northern and southern hemisphere: high tech, commerce, ultra-modern culture, bohemian lifestyles, digital nomads, tourist destination, hub for multinational organisations and corporations (maybe even some shadow ones).
And precisely, when I traveled to the Netherlands with a few Hardcore friends for the first time, and we passed through the city via car, seeing some of its futurist architecture made me feel like I was going into time and relative dimensions in space

3. Low Entropy - The Rotterdam Sound

But in the past... the focus on industry and oversea trade, with 1000s of workers doing heavy duty work, loading and unloading large vessels, then sending them off to another ocean, was there.
Just like in Hamburg.
And in Hamburg, there was a certain sound attached to this mode of industrialization and modernism. The sound of piledrivers, hammers, cranes, rusty iron sheets scraping against each other, metal banging against metal.
It was much louder in the past, but if you walk through the port (or industrial areas) of Hamburg, the air is filled with loud "booms", "clanks", bangs, hissing, screaming machinery, rumbling bass frequencies and high pitched white noise.
And then you will instantly understand the "Hardcore Sound of Hamburg" that was poured out by the famous Gabber and underground labels of Hamburg.

4. Nordcore G.M.B.H. - A.D.V.W.

It's a rough guess and maybe I am stretching things too far - but could it be possible that a similar thing can be said about the sound of Rotterdam? That it was influenced, or even born out of the (literally) industrial sounds of the city, and the heavy duty machinery in its port?

5. Taciturne - Haematopan (Fischkopf Hamburg 012)

I guess I should book a trip to this beautiful city for further research and to get to the bottom of this.
But, no matter if it's Hamburg or Rotterdam - a good, distorted Gabber bass drum is just as ear-deafening as a marine piledriver at work.

Slices of Fischkopf - Reviewing Phantom Releases That Never Happened on the Label

A number of releases had been planned for Fischkopf, but then did not appear on the label for one reason or the other. Here are reviews for four of them.

? - Fischkopf 26

Only a few test pressings exist of this; it was never properly released.
Now let's look at the tracks:

A1 - One of the most fascinating (experimental) Hardcore tracks around! Essentially, the whole track consists of only two elements: a drum machine and a vocal sample.
The drum machine sounds like an 808, but maybe not quite; there is heavy use of all available percussive elements (snares, rim shots, hihats, cowbells...), there is no "909 gabber kick", but everything is so frantic and distorted that it still feels ruffian as hell. And the rhythm is not in a "four to the floor" manner, but completely broken and askew.
the vocal sample gets put through so much effect that it is more reminiscent of the distant whispers of an apparition than a "human voice".

that's all; these two sounds loop, cut out, come back, get manipulated for 7 minutes straight. yet it still feels like a complete track, and one hell of a banger!

A2 - here all the ingredients of all other tracks come together. Broken beats, "hardcore distortion", manipulated percussion, and belligerent acid. sweet!

B1 - my second favorite track, next to A1. while a1 lacked acid lines or synths, this one lacks *everything* else.
it is a strange kind of acid ambient love affair, more or less just a 303-sound looping, rising, disappearing... and sparse use of a drum type sound. reminds me a bit of 303 nation and tracks like "seis".
wonderful.

B2 - the most "normal" track on here (well, not really).
Hardacid / Acidcore that feels like a one-shot jam session with just machines running, getting on, and rioting for more than 8 minutes. a bit like some drop bass efforts maybe, but with a very distinct feel.

Paul Snowden / Christoph De Babalon – We Declare War ( Cross Fade Enter Tainment - Post Primitive 002 )

Paul Snowden, Christoph de Babalon, and DJ Raid were involved in setting up and running Fischkopf Records (I don't know who had which role, though).
Somehow they fell out with the parent label, and Hardy was put in control of Fischkopf.
The three of them then set up their own label, Cross Fade Enter Tainment.
This is the first release, "brutally" split between Paul Snowden and Christoph de Babalon, as both sides sound very distinct to each other.
Word is that CdB's side was supposed to be released as his second EP on Fischkopf; and when that didn't happen, they put it on here instead.

It's actually one of my best-liked CdB "releases". It's in his "early" breakcore style: super fast, chopped up dirty breakbeats joined with cyberdelic, spacey, psychotronic drones, pads, strings... making you feel as if they just had arrived on this planet.
Particular picks for me are "Meet Fate", "Babablon Bitch", and "Residuum (Rmx"), which is even one notch better than the version on his Digital Hardcore Recordings EP.

Paul Snowden's side... oh boy, where do I start! Do you like Hard Acid / Acidcore?
Well, this one release breaks the scales in overdrive, distortion, sheer noize... there is nothing quite like it. It's not "gabber heavy" with deep kicks and such, more on the high and mid ranges.

I remember Paul said somewhere that this was the closest he got to his dream of playing in a live punk/indie band, and I totally get that...
It's a bit like a "wall of noise" type independent rock band which jettisoned all their members and guitars, and then did a record with a 303 and a drum machine...

so, yeah, a wild release in the history of electronic music!

Somatic Responses – Methods Of Mutulation ( Cross Fade Enter Tainment - Post Primitive 001 )

Was on a demo that got sent to Fischkopf Records, and supposed to be released there.
Somehow, it did not happen, and Paul & Christoph decided to release it on their new label instead.
This is the first bona fide Somatic Responses release and EP. It's vastly different from their later style.
Still tied in to the whole Hardcore & Gabber "thing", but in their very own way, and definitely miles away from the cheese that got poured from some (major) labels in that time & genre.

In fact, I think this would fit right in with a "hard / dark / industrial" techno set or party of today - in a more refined and experimental way.

ultra-overdriven bassdrums, undefined noises, layers of abstraction...

the sounds of mutulation [sic!] indeed!

Taciturne – Ebizeme ( Blut 03 )

this was supposed to be on Fischkopf; in fact, some fanzines already had reviewed it as "Fischkopf 25", shortly before the label collapsed.

an album follow-up to his first EPs, and everyone expected he would follow this route; bold big balled "german" gabber and speedcore, like the various *domes and *dromes on benzedrine.
But, non, au contraire!

This is a very strange and mystérieux release.
Certainly no "gabber" traces are left in the bloodstream. It's like... well, what is it like? It defies description... maybe if Einstürzende Neubauten used Commodore Amiga improvisation in their live-sets... or "Euromasters" would have become construction workers banging on their tools; instead of kickstarting Rotterdam Records...

So, yes, this is the best description I can give, it is better to remain tacit (urne) about the rest.

Another stand-out track is the "97 Hammel Rmx" of das Toten, which feels like the logical deconstruction of the original; and of hellraiser and the whole gabber genre, too.



There is likely more stuff "out there" that was intended to be released on Fischkopf but never happened.
E.g. there are rumors that there were plans for an EP by Alec Empire, or that another Eradicator release would have been made if Patric had not fallen out with the label.

Hamburg Hardcore Techno Information Hub

When people think about the history of Hardcore, they will probably mention Rotterdam, Frankfurt, and maybe Berlin.
But these were by far not the only urban conglomerations that had a huge and influential Hardcore Techno scene in the 90s.

One of these "invisible cities" was Hamburg; we and other people wrote a lot about it already, and that's what we gonna link here.

And, according to the theme, this will be centered on the history of Hardcore.

When people think about the history of Hardcore, they will probably mention Rotterdam, Frankfurt, and maybe Berlin.
But these were by far not the only urban conglomerations that had a huge and influential Hardcore Techno scene in the 90s.

One of these "invisible cities" was Hamburg; we and other people wrote a lot about it already, and that's what we gonna link here.

And, according to the theme, this will be centered on the history of Hardcore.

10 Initiatory Tracks: Hamburg Hardcore
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2024/08/10-initiatory-tracks-hamburg-hardcore.html

History of Hamburg Hardcore - Fischkopf, Cross Fade Enter Tainment, Nordcore and Blut
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2023/08/history-of-hamburg-hardcore.html.html

Fischkopf Top 148: All tracks by Fischkopf Hamburg listed, ranked, and commented
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2023/05/fischkopf-top-148-all-tracks-by.html

Looking back at the 90s: Cross Fade Enter Tainment
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2024/04/looking-back-at-90s-cross-fade-enter.html

Sonic Itinerancy: A Doomcore Techno Walk Through the Dark Deep Forests of Hamburg
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2024/10/sonic-itinerancy-doomcore-techno-walk.html

Hamburg: The Liminal City (And how it relates to hardcore and techno) - Part 1
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2024/11/hamburg-liminal-city-and-how-it-relates.html

Fischkopf Complete: All 25 official releases listed, described, and reviewed
https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2023/06/fischkopf-complete-all-25-official.html

Sie Geben Uns Nix: A History of Hamburg Hardcore
https://www.paynomindtous.it/low-entropy-history-hamburg-hardcore/

10 Records as Building Blocks of the Hamburg Hardcore Scene
https://www.theharddata.com/2017/10/05/10-records-as-building-blocks-of-the-hamburg-hardcore-scene/

The Story Of Fischkopf
https://hardcoretechnoprimer.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-story-of-fischkopf.html

Examples of the Parallel Evolution in Hardcore Techno and Computer Game Music

One thing we like to point out at The Hardcore Overdogs is that Hardcore, essentially, is "nothing new"; it has been around since ages; to be more specific, its sentiments, mentality, sounds, structures, existed and exist in other music and "things", too.
And this should be no surprise as hardcore, more than any other techno-born genre, relies on using music that came before: by sampling old rap, metal, house songs / tracks, and more.

But not only samples, *elements* (like certain sequences, timbres, intervals...) of other genres can be found within hardcore tracks as well.

in the past we already mentioned that there are similarities between computer / video game music and hardcore techno. and that's what we will focus on again.

when people look at the history of music in the last decades of the 20th century, they often assume that "the 80s" were ruled by synth pop, new wave, disco-pop, that kind of stuff, and then suddenly, the 90s appeared, and brought techno, acid, gabber, hardtrance with them.

But it's not like that at all. there was a transitional, intermediary period, spanning from the mid 80s to the first years of the 90s, a kind of no man's land, secret zone, when music was neither here nor there, and this (quite lengthy!) metamorphosis took place.

interestingly, this was also a very fruitful and noteworthy time for computergame music. And, in my opinion, the first time computer game music evolved out of the arcades and simple bleeps and blops to creations that could be comparable to serious, deep, "professional", complex and complicated compositions.

Before we go ahead, sonic comparisons between genres can always be a bit hit and miss for the audience.
there also seems to be a difference between actual musicians and general listeners.
musicians often go "oh, metallica, they're doing these riffs by chuck berry" or "slayer, ah, that's howling wolf and all that 40s blues and jazz again"; while this might be technical correct, the fans often do not see it that way at all.

the following "connections" might not really be seen, heard, or felt, be everyone alike.
we guess you are either there, or you are not.

so, let's look at some tracks now that use concepts, moods, or themes that feel similar to hardcore music in one way or the other.

We are not implying that these tracks *are* hardcore. from most points of view, they are not. yet it's very interesting that they possess elements that can easily be found in the world of hardcore as well.

( you might also want to check: https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2023/07/hardcore-gamer-use-of-hardcore-techno.html )

1. Spherical - Intro / Attract Mode 

okay this a happy tune; at least to me. but the use of arpeggios here is already very close to later rave and hardcore music, for example in raver's nature or miro tracks. (or maybe even happy hardcore, like the party animals).

2. Dragon's Lair Part II - Song 9

hey, these are like doomcore sounds already, right?

3. Perihelion: The Prophecy - Inside Tower - Song 2

darkest ambient that foreshadows doomcore and darkest industrial techno sounds.

4. The Sentinel - Start Up / Title Screen

pure psychedelic psycho waves, reminiscent of the acid- and psycore to come.

5. Speedball - Main Title

i dropped this, without any further fx, edit or ado, in the midst of a straight terror / speedcore set; everyone kept dancing, went into mania, and sweaty core ravers went up to my DJ booth and asked for a track ID. they did not even realize that this was not a regular gabber track! i guess this settles the score on this.

6. Sarakon - Tune 1

http://84.234.213.18/files/soamc/000/MP3/Customplay/Unknown_Composer/Sarakon/cust.Sarakon_T001_ORG.mp3

basslines and crazy "psycho" sounds reminiscent of later rave and techno stuff again.

7. Star Control 2 - Commander Hayes Theme

proto-acidcore. in an amiga-type mod, on a vintage science fiction game.

8. Zak Mckracken - Intro

listen to the sounds; do the tunes and melody, rhythm not at part sound very close to rave / hardcore stabs and riffs?

9. Another World - End Theme

a very sweet ambient outro to a very bittersweet game. but, upon further glance, this tune already anticipates happy hardcore / hardtrance / ravecore type arrangements.

10. Last Ninja 2 - Loading Music

very noisy: early video game music has seldomly been so rough!

11. Amiga 500 - Weird Dreams - Intro

this list would not be complete without these "weird" sounds.

further suggestions:

David Whittaker - Glider Rider Theme Song
Paso - Lost Scrotum
David Whittaker - Beyond The Ice Palace
Turrican 3 - The Machine
Star Control 2 - Druuge Theme
Dreamweb - Intro
Test Drive 2 - Intro
Chris Hülsbeck - Rock'n'Roll - Magnetic Beats
Chris Hülsbeck - Turrican 2 - Loader
Bloody Money - Intro

History of Hamburg Hardcore - Fischkopf, Cross Fade Enter Tainment, Nordcore and Blut

Originally published in The Hard Data magazine in 2017 (!) https://www.theharddata.com/

Hamburg is a more than 800 year old harbor town in the north of Germany. As such, it was always also a hotspot for a wide range of subcultures, cranks and crooks, rowdy sailors, prostitutes, pirates that found their place in shady pubs, back alleys and similar dark places.

I entered Hamburg in 1980 by birth, so I can't tell you much about the 60s or 70s of Hamburg, but in the 80s, it was a place for anarchists, punks, rioters and similar people - creating the current for places of alternate music and political views to be set up. This is a bit of a back story for what happened in the 90s in Hamburg, regarding the then emerging hardcore techno scene.

Fischkopf

Container Records was a record store in the red light zone of Hamburg - the Reeperbahn - one story above a store for alternate clothing. It was focused on techno music only and one of the largest (or the largest?) of such stores in Hamburg. They also were involved in other things, such as running a record label also named Container. And this Container Records had a sublabel called Fischkopf.

The first generation of Fischkopf was a group of people around Martin, the owner of Container Records; I don't know exactly who was directly involved in running the label, but Cybermouse, DJ Raid and Christoph De Babalon are names I heard over the years (please correct me).


Cybermouse got to Fischkopf because it was noted that he bought only the most extreme and obscure records at the store; something that made the crew think he'd fit right in, apparently. So the first Fischkopf record was released, "Surprise Attack" by Cybermouse. They were all done on an Amiga computer using tracker software and a special FX software; actually, the tracks were first released on a diskette magazine called "Neurowaver" (if you don't know what a diskette magazine is, ask Google).

Cybermouse's debut was followed by Christoph De Babalon's debut, the "Love Under Will" EP, named after Aleister Crowley obviously. On it we find some of the most haunting music with "jungle beats" made in this era.


After a few more EPs, the management changed, and Hardy Storz took over. He steered Fischkopf into the direction that brought worldwide acclaim to it. Releasing experimental, intellectual music that at the same time is hardcore techno. In one of the rare interviews with him, he states that he was annoyed by the turn gabber had taken at that time; becoming more dumb, simplistic, macho. And Fischkopf for sure was the opposite of that.

Fischkopf had most of the major players in the more refined hardcore scene in those days on it's rooster: Patric C as Eradicator, Lasse Steen with a variety of aliases, Nawoto Suzuki as Burning Lazy Persons, Taciturne, Amiga Shock Force and EPC, and the Michelson sisters Auto-Psy and No Name. Especially these two female fighters brought some of the most interesting music to this label; tracks that are so complex and structured and finetuned, that the word "hardcore" is almost too brutish for them.

Although the pressing for "Fisch" releases were limited to 500, they quickly got known worldwide in the more underground scenes. After a while also parties were set up by the Fisch crew, again in the red light district of Hamburg. These parties attracted a wide range of performers such as Rage Reset, DJ Entox, La Peste, and many many more. Without going too much into this, let's just repeat Taciturne's summary that the amount of fog issued in these nights in these dark, strobe filled rooms would've clouded a soccer arena.

Even though opposing the "commercial" "Dutch" "gabber" scene, Fischkopf spawned one big hit in exactly that scene; Taciturne's totem which is still sought after, after all these years.

Fischkopf faltered in 1997; the exact reasons are not known, but talk is about disagreement on the direction to take Fischkopf between Hardy and Container; or that Fisch just did not generate enough "dough".

One more release appeared in 1998 (and a test pressing of a "Fisch 26" by Cybermouse), only for Fischkopf to disappear completely after that.


Interesting fact: at one point, Alec Empire and Somatic Responses were planned for a Fischkopf release too.

Listening suggestion: Taciturne - 6 Fragmente In Der Chronologie Des Wahnsinns

Cross Fade Entertainment

DJ Raid, who was also involved in Fischkopf, set up this label with Paul Snowden and Christoph De Babalon. The word "hardcore" only vaguely fits here; this is just brilliant, brilliant subcultural music.

The first release was the premier release of Somatic Responses, who took the world by storm in the years (or rather, even decades) that followed. This was still a lot different to their later style: heavy, heavy distorted drums (or noises) in a 4/4 style, with experimental sounds in a vain of early synth experimental music. As fierce as fierce gets.


The second release was done by Christoph De Babalon and Paul Snowden, aptly named "We Declare War". Paul Snowden's site has some of the most distorted acid, and CDB brings us assault troop breakbeat tracks here, going on from his Fischkopf release.

In a rare German TV interview, CDB stated CFET to him is "auteur music", in the sense that the artist take their music in their own individualist direction, regardless of trends. And the releases give proof of that.


Later, we find some fine breakcore releases on CFET.

I can't find much info on this, but according to defunct websites, the CFET personnel was once involved in the "Repulsion Parties", taking place inside the "Rote Flora", the most infamous squat in Hamburg. Line ups included artists like E-De Cologne, Alec Empire and Somatic Responses.

CFET left Hamburg with Jan (CDB) and Paul moving to Berlin.

Listening suggestion: Christoph De Babalon & Paul Snowden - We Declare War

Nordcore

No Hamburg hardcore history text is complete without Nordcore. Nordcore started as "Die Tekknokraten" organizing small techno and hardcore parties, changing the name later. As Nordcore they run a weekly hardcore club called "The Box", in the midst of Hamburg. I think this was one of the only regular hardcore clubs worldwide that existed in the 90s outside of Netherlands and Belgium; the Bunker in Berlin being another important location.

Almost all the big names in hardcore, gabber and speedcore scene played in the box; Speedfreak, the PCP crew including Smash? (sic), BSE DJ team, Laurent Hô, E-De Cologne... And also a lot of the Dutch DJs.


It were speedy times, but The Box had to close in 1996; much too soon!

The parties got bigger though, and Nordcore moved to the Markthalle, usually a location for rock and pop bands, with their "Operation Nordcore" parties, again attracting all the "big name" performers to play.


Nordcore continued their hardcore journey way long into the 2000s in Hamburg; and maybe we will see them resurface?

They also ran a record label, called Nordcore Records; and, beginning with issue 5, compiled the "Terrordrome" CDs, the biggest name in hardcore CDs in the 90s, only eclipsed by Thunderdome.

Listening suggestion: Nordcore GMBH - Hartcore Will Never Die

Blut

After Hardy left Container, he set up his own record store, called Otaku Records, again with a "Hardcore" label, called Blut Records; and in many way a spiritual successor to Fischkopf Records.

The rooster was similar too: Taciturne, Nawoto, Amiga Shock Force and EPC. We also find a record that was originally planned as Fischkopf 25 here, Taciturne with Ebizieme.


The sound was taken a step farther in extremism with this label, so be prepared for a noise assault on your ears; but, again, a sensible one.

The record store itself was also a good destination to shop for obscure and not so obscure hardcore, speedcore and breakcore records in Hamburg, with it's own special charme.

Blut never officially ended, but there was no release after Blut 6; a shame!

Listening Suggestion: Taciturne & EPC - Vendetta Vol.1 EP

Hardcore didn't end in the 90s in Hamburg, but that, my child, is written in another tome...

Fischkopf Complete: All 25 official releases listed, described, and reviewed

This is the complementary feature to: https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2023/05/fischkopf-top-148-all-tracks-by.html

While there is not much 'new' content compared to the other list to be found here, the idea of this feature is to increase awareness regarding the Fischkopf label once more, and provide information for those who are new to the label and interested to read more on it; and this "review by record" format could do a different / better job at it than the ranked list.

Let us commence:

Fisch001 - Cybermouse - Surprise Attack E.P.

A1 - Adrenalin Structure - 10:45

first track of the first fischkopf release. epic. was first released on an commodore amiga diskette magazine.

not 4/4 hardcore, but wicked and strange electro sounds.

A2 - Overreacting - 8:00

electro beats. non four-to-the-floor rhythm. commodore amiga sound.

B1 - Gulp - 7:58

also one of cybermouse's most hardcore track. midtempo bounding 909 next to acid sounds.

B2 - Noishead - 6:50

Early noise hardcore. The noise treatment for hardcore heads.

Fisch002 - Christoph De Babalon – Love Under Will EP

A1 - I Own Death

the first track on his fisch 12". long, long intro. then it unleashes its full force with distorted breakbeats and a powerful melody.

A2 - Babylon 90210

Dreamy. Futuristic. Sci-Fi. Jungle, Breakcore. Done on an amiga 500. By a producer from Hamburg.

B1 - Promise, Broken

total future psychedelic breakcore.

B2 - Pleased With Being Alive

one of our favorite christoph de babalon tracks. pure future and cyberdelic feel. a true classic.

Fisch003 - Cybermouse - Body Pack 95

A1 - My Dorectives - 9:24

Proto-Doomcore techno track. Very unusual. Entrancing. Techno-style. Drone that gets modulated throughout the track.  Mid-tempo. Use of loops. Creates a surreal feel. 

A2 - War Is Hell - 5:35

maybe the most brutal track by cybermouse. early speedcore. very minimal. anti-war message.

B1 - Obstreperous - 5:30

Very experimental techno / hardcore track. 

Acid like sounds, great use of percussion, and a sci-fi feel.

B2 - Datenvernichtung - 7:45

comparable to early french noisecore. nice and evil.

Fisch004 - M.C.P. - Missunderstood Hardcore Machines Vol.1 EP

A1 - Overload MS-50 4:53

very aphex twin like, great experimental hardcore.

A2 - Overload Sigma 5:02

mental gabber up your cranium.

A3 - Overload 30303 4:18

arhythmic hardcore inferno

A4 - Overload RZ-1 4:22

hardcore machines got out of control and force people to dance to their death.

Fisch005 - Eradicator - Shortage Of Oxygen EP

A1 - Starving

epic ambient intro.

A2 - Destroy It Yourself

Sepultura samples, weird noises, gabber drums - perfect!

A3 - Titan

included on the 90s hardcore cd compilation "mururoa test 1". truly experimental hard electronics.

B1 - Liebe Und Verbrechen

very strange and surreal gabber track.

B2 - M.C.P.

samples the movie tron. genuine 90s experimental hardcore.

B3 - Destroy It Yourself (Remix)

March into hardcore disturbia..

Fisch006 - Monoloop – Drum Da Style

A  - Drum Da Style - 9:05

stylish early breakcore.

B1 - Kills Again - 7:08

a track to die for.

B2 - She's A Lion - 6:29

early breakcore from hamburg

Fisch007 - P. Server – EP Vol. 1 - Served Strange Effects

A1 - Plunger

all power to the 303!

A2 - Metal Position

acid gabber brutality.

B1 - Dispatching

hardcore up your acid!

B2 - Psave

legit 90s acid hardcore. rough production values, almost as if mastered from cassette tape.

Fisch 008 - Taciturne – Potpourri EP

A1 - Evil Dead

a kick straight to the face.

A2 - Nightchildren RMX

lullaby of terror for the night children.

A3 - Boys Don't Cry RMX

the original "remix" version. i'm also lovin' it.

B1 - Mo Punk RMX

do you feel lucky, punk?

B2 - Der Toten

the one and only fischkopf track that became a real "hit". was in high demand in the dutch gabber scene and ended up on countless compilations.

as you probably already know this track, I don't need to describe it here :-)

B3 - Krach-Aran-RMX

Now this is just krach! But a good one.

B4 - Krank

total "kranker" hardcore!

Fisch009 - Monoloop – Free Man

A1 - Free Man

noone is ever free. except the experimental hardcore resistance! (or, in this case, early breakcore).

B1 - The Dreamer

already a foreshadowing of the "ambient-breakcore" on fischkopf 13. epic!

B2 - For The Lord

monumental, experimental and exceptional breakcore with a runtime of over 7 minutes.

Fisch010 - Eradicator - I Cum Blood EP

A1 - I Cum Blood

Evil experimental gabber insanity.

A2 - Us Against Us

not as good as the revisit, but great nevertheless. tough experimental gabber.

B1 - Brujeria

perfect bloodthirsty "e-de cologne"-style gabber. shouts and heavy metal guitars.

B2 - Cologne Boring M.F.

Hyperfast mental metal hardcore madness.

B3 - Streptocock Gee

one of two true breakcore tracks patric catani did for fischkopf. excellent!

Fisch 011 - P. Server – Second Serve Of Effects

A1 - Epigraph

lasse steen delivers with this great dark acidtechno track.

A2 - Wires (Break)

a recording of audio wires that have been broken?

A3 - Banging Happening

gabber-acid.

B1 - Pulley

excellent lasse steen production. has some rave elements.

B2 - Intensioner

wonderful acid techno.

Fisch 012 - Taciturne – 6 Fragmente In Der Chronologie Des Wahnsinns

A1 - Mourning

Probably the best known track by Taciturne next to "Der Toten". was included in Manu Le Malin's "Biomechanik" compilation. Use of ambient sounds next to a midtempo, industrial hardcore techno drum. very minimal, very few elements, not even hi hats snares or other percussion apart from the drum. crispy noisy 8 bit commodore amiga sound. legendary track.

A2 - Dexpanthenol

riots of noise, distortion, and brutality.

A3 - Boys Don't Cry (Revisited)

robert smith would be proud!

B1 - Phenylephrin-Hydrochlorid

everyone knows "mourning" and "der toten", but this one is great too. proto-doomcore with a haunting drone, then gets faster towards the end.

B2 - Haematopan F

hardcore to blow your teeth out.

B3 - Phenprocoumon

very inventive hardcore techno track. a good example of the kind of music Fischkopf Records released. commodore amiga hardcore sound. uses broken, unusual rhythms, not typical 4/4 hardcore techno sequences. very noisy and abrasive. at the same time, a "far eastern" ambient melody is used in this track, which is very calm and soothing. this creates a very interesting clash between the harsh, abrasive elements, and the calm melody.

Fisch013 - Monoloop - Monoloop III

A1 - Underwater Feelings

very sweet, very relaxed ambient sounds, mixed with hard breakbeats. pianos, water splashing, whales' whistling.

A2 - Underwater Trumpet

very interesting. unique early breakcore. drone, ambient sounds mixed with hard and rough breakbeats. very surreal, futuristic. this track could only have been produced in hamburg.

B1 - Second Trumpet

in style similar to the other 3 tracks on fisch 13. has a heavy jazz feel.

B2 - Underwater Feelings (Live Alone Mix)

one of the most interesting tracks on this ep. fake live act. ferocious early breakcore with sophisticated production values.

Fisch014 - Eradicator - Agit Prop

A1 - Used Against Us (Remix)

Experimental gabber, ambient intro, rough sound, metal guitars. Juno hoover rave sounds. Murderous, nasty, and epic.

A2 - Distorted

Very distorted indeed! Fantastic.

A3 - Agitprop Troop

interesting noise experiment.

B1 - Enter Three Witches

one of two "oversize" tracks on the agit prop LP. on four-to-the floor beats. ambient outro.

B2 - Impulse To Destroy

the other "oversize" track on the agit prop LP. fierce drums and percussion. plenty of noise.

C1 - Split Wide Open

Powerful radical hardcore with acid elements.

C2 - You're Lieing Pig

The only breakcore track on the "Agit Prop" LP. very lo fi, very thin sound. strange sound fx, bleeps, almost videogame-like sounds. overdriven breakbeat rhythm running throughout the track. sparsely used other elements such as distorted guitars and an aggressive vocal sample. great work by Patric Catani under his "Eradicator" alias.

C3 - Worringen

Heavy track with pounding steel drums, noisy synths, screams, everything you need.

D1 - Fucking Bitch Called Walker

Is that patric screaming?

Menacing uncoventional hardcore gabber techno.

D2 - Forkboy

early speedcore track. guitars and hyperspeed drums.

D3 - Widerstand

noisy agit prop sounds!

D4 - Thou Shall Kill

one of the best tracks on the agit prop LP. fast beats, guitars, synth, noises, and a strange vocal.

Fisch 015 Burning Lazy Persons – Fart E.P.

A1 Dorami De Onanie 4:08

onanism will give you a mental disorder that allows you to create wonderful nasty hardcore tracks like this.

A2 Dorami De Onanie (240 Vers.) 3:10

faster onanism.

A3 Kone Kane Dayone 3:49

a very very wild ride.

A4 Garden Of The Permanent 3:05

this is crazy!

B1 Mongolian Chop 3:33

typical nawoto suzuki. mental and dangerous. awesome.

B2 Hyper Bitch 2:29

an early speed record. brutal and shocking.

B3 Niko Niko Satujin Dan 3:43

ooh I'm freaking out.

B4 Fish Tenpuraaaaa 3:29

fish fried well, and served for this solid hardcore dish.

Fisch016 - No Name – Strike

A1 - Black Dream

help me. i hear voices. they are distorted. just as the drums.

A2 - Message

we got the message and the message was clear.

A3 - Help

get on a hardcore trip faster than light.

A4 - 0.Vin .I

slowing down a bit. but not one bit less relentless.

B1 - 01100010

didn't the german dance act "das modul" have a similar track title?

but this one is hardcore, for sure!

B2 - Start E·nd

it starts and ends in torturous hardcore agony.

B3 - A

"a" total french insane techno track.

Fisch017 - Fields Of Defacement – Desorientatet E.P.

A1 - Found & Lost 5:54

Stones and flowers on the ground

We are found and lost

But love is gonna save us

A2 - Attached 3:27

one of the most bittersweet dark and disturbing melodies in hardcore techno. set to arrhythmic beats and fragile manipulated percussion.

A3 - Corkscrew 4:55

Wonderful monotonous hardcore without bleeps or melodies.

B1 - Uptight 4:16

melanchonic melodic hard core tech-no?

B2 - Dark.R 4:32

the 808 gets the full-on distortion treatment.

B3 - Urticated 4:40

Experimental Acidcore by this Lasse Steen project. Unusual sound. Hypnotic melody. Very Techno-like.

Fisch018 - Auto-Psy - Arachnide

A1 - Clear

"null... null... null..." when i put on this record for the first time, i totally fell in love with this sound and all that followed.

A2 - If

when i played this track, a guy once asked me "what kind of terrorist music is this?". good description!

B1 - Neutron

experimental merciless distorted ambient hardcore techno.

B2 - Escape

one of the most outstanding "hardcore" tracks ever. a symphony of drones, fx, noises and bassdrums. over seven minutes.

Fisch019 - No Name – Les Loups Des Trois Lunes

A1 - Koma 5:40

so psycho, so evil, so mean. can you take it?

A2 - Ydroid 6:34

Slick and without mercy.

B1 - Control 4:16

one of the most classic and most fierce hardcore tracks. if you haven't heard this one, you are missing out!

B2 - Latex 3:41

Aggressive Overture produced by Poka Michelson. Extremely unorthodox. Noisy. Close to avantgarde music. Glorious.

B3 - Kamasutra 4:05

i wonder what kamasutra technique inspires one to produce such devilish hardcore from hell like this. but then, it might be better to not find out.

Fisch020 - Amiga Shock Force – Psycore Kids Vs Rave-Fascist

A1 - Psycore Pt. 1

slow intro. amiga computer sounds. hissing, noisy, overdriven. surreal feel.

A2 - Mass Appeal Madness

one of the most "poppy" tracks on fischkopf as it samples james brown. crazy hardcore gabber.

B1 - Sex, Mord Und Kunst

one of the fastest tracks of its era. hyperfast beats next to crazy rap samples.

B2 - Keep Your Enemies Close

Another great track by these cult producers from germany. Not really hardcore techno. Almost soft, calm. Use of breakbeats. Commodore Amiga sound, again. Digital, lofi, sizzling. Very good.

B3 - 24 Hour Connection

another true amigacore classic! ruthless and heavy.

Fisch 021 Burning Lazy Persons – Leave Me Alone E.P.

A1 Rotter…damn 4:24

funny piss take on rotterdam hardcore. includes a piano, but not in a typical happy gabber way!

A2 Nakano Shit 3:53

man, this is some of the roughest hardcore that i ever heard.

A3 If The Truth Be Known 3:02

very brutal. one of the hardest by burning lazy persons. guitars and fast beats.

B1 Fake 3:25

"die maschinen die maschinen die maschinen"? whatever. this machine kills!

B2 Frd 3:28

a hammer coming down on your skull.

B3 T.C.H.C. 4:31

nasty and nice.

Fisch022 - Auto-Psy – Necrophage

A1 - Ovoide

first track on this great ep. sounds that invoke the images of a runaway train accelerating straight to hell.

A2 - Oxyde

A legendary track made by Stella Michelsen. Hardcore Techno. From France. Industrial. Raw. Surreal. Manipulated vocals. Ambient elements. Immortal.

B1 - Andropose

the tranquil intro might give you the impression it's time to relax now, on this ep. but then the beats hammer on.

B2 - Go Out

a submarine is out of control, explosions shake the vessel, metal clanking is heard, and people scream in terror.

then the sounds fade out into the cold dark blue depths.

Fisch23 CD - Various Artists - Otaku - Slick But Not Streamlined

1-01 Taciturne - Liquid Theatre 1:31

strange ambient intro. cult track.

1-02 Taciturne - Praxis Dr. Fischer 6:20

Legendary drone-speedcore track. Doctor Fischer has the cure for you! Just go to his praxis.

1-03 E.P.C. - Persistance 5:12

Oh what a beatiful noise!

1-04 Amiga Shock Force - Violent Geisha 3:14

mix between breakcore and early speedcore with an amiga feel.

1-05 Auto Psy - If 6:09

when i played this track, a guy once asked me "what kind of terrorist music is this?". good description!

1-06 Burning Lazy Persons - Catastro 4:15

The overdose of noise and drums.

1-07 Trash Enemy H. Q. - Braintraining 1:06

noise and distortion with a painful sound without drums or anything else.

1-08 Burning Lazy Persons - Poisoned Radio Wave 4:34

ooh, painful audio signals and overly distorted hardcore drums. i'm luving it.

1-09 P. Server - Ratings (Terror Unit H.Q.) 4:36

cool monotonous acidcore track.

1-10 Shangoe - Army Of Darkness 6:58

interesting breakcore out of hamburg.

1-11 R.A.W - Sudden Death 7:37

the other r.a.w. track from the otaku compilation. impressive as well!

1-12 Monoloop - Chill Out 7:55

breakcore madness in between being chilled (as indicated by the piano) and being killed (as indicated by the screams).

1-13 Amiga Shook Force - Sex, Mord & Kunst 4:17

one of the fastest tracks of its era. hyperfast beats next to crazy rap samples.

1-14 No Name (3) - Y-droid 6:35

Slick and without mercy.

1-15 Orderly Chaos - 45m 4:23

The so real dark ambient experience.

2-01 Jean Bach - Tausend Stimmen 3:19

very crazy and over the top track by jean bach. heavy distortion.

2-02 Taciturne - Avarie De Machine 4:49

made up of sounds of heavy machinery? great!

2-03 E.P.C. & A.N.T.I. - Sharpomatic 6:06

noisy hardcore with a total "piss off!" attitude.

2-04 No Name - Control 4:18

one of the most classic and most fierce hardcore tracks. if you haven't heard this one, you are missing out!

2-05 Taciturne - Der Toten 4:24

the one and only fischkopf track that became a real "hit". was in high demand in the dutch gabber scene and ended up on countless compilations.

as you probably already know this track, I don't need to describe it here :-)

2-06 Fields Of Defacement - Bang-Bang (Live In Hamburg 96) 7:05

Live recording. Brutal. Acidcore. With gabber and general hardcore elements. Entrancing. Exalted. Shows the power of a hardcore techno live performance.

2-07 Amiga Shock Force - Shoot 'em Breax 4:20

A perfect early breakcore track. Hip hop and guitars.

2-08 Johnny Ego - Untitled 5:25

again an interesting hamburg breakbeat track.

2-09 R.A.W - Cold War Memory Nightmare 6:56

great, great early breakcore. interesting use of sounds and "melody". also a good but haunting cold-war feel.

2-10 Burning Lazy Persons - "R" 4:09

vicious nice and nasty track by nawoto suzuki.

2-11 Taciturne - In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi 6:01

samples the chuch of satan. non 4/4 beats. slow, distorted, noisy. dark and scary.

2-12 Orderly Chaos - Pine 5:20

painful sounds and pure ambient.

2-13 Trash Enemy H. Q. - Pestilence 6:15

truly interesting track. acid sounds. very dark and epic melody. no real hardcore beats and rhythm. close to industrial.

2-14 Orderly Chaos - Melt Away Love 5:21

pure ambient track. interesting, repeated melody. wonderful track.

Fisch024 - EPC – Don't Want To Lose E.P.

A1 - Infectious Properties 4:39

these sounds bash right through your skull.

A2 - Autoplasie 6:30

Noisecore for your mind!

B1 - R 624-2 6:04

Techno chopped up and turned into noise. Very analogue feel.

B2 - Where Do You Go? 5:35

perfect hardcore track, with radar / space-transmission like sounds. very industrial.

Fisch025 - Mathey Olivier - Second Transmission

A1 - Second Transmission 6:05

mad scientist hardcore.

A2 - Well Done! 5:05

the acid sounds from outer space invade the second part of this great french hardcore track.

well done indeed!

B1 - Residential Volume 5:14

heavy and loud drums, noises, funny intro.

B2 - Easy Recording Aera 5:28

the last track of the last official fischkopf release. going out with a bang! and it's good-bye.

That's it! Finito. The end. Which Fischkopf record is your favorite one? Let us know!

Fischkopf Top 148: All tracks by Fischkopf Hamburg listed, ranked, and commented

Here it is.
Every track that was put out by the label Fischkopf Hamburg, from all records they released.
Listed, ordered, with a little comment / short review / description added to each one.
Note that the "chart" concept might be a bit misleading here:
Essentially, we love *all* Fischkopf tracks and think they are great. So, if a track is at number 101 or 124 in this chart, this does not mean it's a bad track - to the contrary!
It's all good stuff (but some is a little better ;)
We just thought the charts format would be a good idea; to present the label's catalogue, increase awareness of its music, and give somewhat of an overview of the material the label released.
(And some of the comments aim to be in the typical tongue-in-cheek, lighthearted attitude, and style of the 90s hardcore fanzines)

More info about Fischkopf Hamburg can be found here:

https://hardcoretechnoprimer.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-story-of-fischkopf.html

But let us begin:

1.Taciturne - Phenprocoumon

very inventive hardcore techno track. a good example of the kind of music Fischkopf Records released. commodore amiga hardcore sound. uses broken, unusual rhythms, not typical 4/4 hardcore techno sequences. very noisy and abrasive. at the same time, a "far eastern" ambient melody is used in this track, which is very calm and soothing. this creates a very interesting clash between the harsh, abrasive elements, and the calm melody.

2.Auto-Psy - Oxyde

A legendary track made by Stella Michelsen. Hardcore Techno. From France. Industrial. Raw. Surreal. Manipulated vocals. Ambient elements. Immortal.

3.No Name - Latex

Aggressive Overture produced by Poka Michelson. Extremely unorthodox. Noisy. Close to avantgarde music. Glorious.

4.Fields Of Defacement - Urticated

Acidcore. Experimental. Project by Lasse Steen. Unusual sound. Hypnotic melody. Very Techno-like.

5.Christoph De Babalon - Babylon 90210

Dreamy. Futuristic. Sci-Fi. Jungle, Breakcore. Done on an amiga 500. By a producer from Hamburg.

6.Amiga Shock Force - Keep Your Enemies Close

By cult producers from germany. Not really hardcore techno. Almost soft, calm. Use of breakbeats. Commodore Amiga sound. Digital, lofi, sizzling. Very good.

7.Cybermouse - My Dorectives

Proto-Doomcore techno track. Very unusual. Entrancing. Techno-style. Drone that gets modulated throughout the track. Mid-tempo. Use of loops. Creates a surreal feel.

8.Eradicator - You're Lieing Pig

The only breakcore track on the "Agit Prop" LP. very lo fi, very thin sound. strange sound fx, bleeps, almost videogame-like sounds. overdriven breakbeat rhythm running throughout the track. sparsely used other elements such as distorted guitars and an aggressive vocal sample. great work by Patric Catani under his "Eradicator" alias.

9.Fields Of Defacement - Bang-Bang (Live In Hamburg 96)

Live recording. Brutal. Acidcore. With gabber and general hardcore elements. Entrancing. Exalted. Shows the power of a hardcore techno live performance.

10.Taciturne - Mourning

Probably the best known track by Taciturne next to "Der Toten". was included in Manu Le Malin's "Biomechanik" compilation. Use of ambient sounds next to a midtempo, industrial hardcore techno drum. very minimal, very few elements, not even hi hats snares or other percussion apart from the drum. crispy noisy 8 bit commodore amiga sound. legendary track.

11.Eradicator - Thou Shall Kill

one of the best tracks on the agit prop LP. fast beats, guitars, synth, noises, and a strange vocal.

12.Cybermouse - Overreacting

electro beats. non four-to-the-floor rhythm. commodore amiga sound.

13.Monoloop - Underwater Trumpet

very interesting. unique early breakcore. drone, ambient sounds mixed with hard and rough breakbeats. very surreal, futuristic. this track could only have been produced in hamburg.

14.Auto-Psy - Neutron

experimental merciless distorted ambient hardcore techno.

15.Burning Lazy Persons - If The Truth Be Known

very brutal. one of the hardest by burning lazy persons. guitars and fast beats.

16.Orderly Chaos - Melt Away Love

pure ambient track. interesting, repeated melody. wonderful track.

17.No Name - Control

one of the most classic and most fierce hardcore tracks. if you haven't heard this one, you are missing out!

18.Mathey Olivier - Residential Volume

heavy and loud drums, noises, funny intro.

19.R.A.W. - Cold War Memory Nightmare

great, great early breakcore. interesting use of sounds and "melody". also a good but haunting cold-war feel.

20.EPC - Where Do You Go?

perfect hardcore track, with radar / space-transmission like sounds. very industrial.

21.Fields Of Defacement - Attached

one of the most bittersweet dark and disturbing melodies in hardcore techno. set to arrhythmic beats and fragile manipulated percussion.

22.Eradicator - Titan

included on the 90s hardcore cd compilation "mururoa test 1". truly experimental hard electronics.

23.Amiga Shock Force - Psycore Pt. 1

slow intro. amiga computer sounds. hissing, noisy, overdriven. surreal feel.

24.Taciturne - In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi

samples the chuch of satan. non 4/4 beats. slow, distorted, noisy. dark and scary.

25.Trash Enemy HQ - Pestilence

truly interesting track. acid sounds. very dark and epic melody. no real hardcore beats and rhythm. close to industrial.

26.Eradicator - Brujeria

perfect bloodthirsty "e-de cologne"-style gabber. shouts and heavy metal guitars.

27.Christoph De Babalon - Pleased With Being Alive

one of our favorite christoph de babalon tracks. pure future and cyberdelic feel. a true classic.

28.Taciturne - Der Toten

the one and only fischkopf track that became a real "hit". was in high demand in the dutch gabber scene and ended up on countless compilations.
as you probably already know this track, I don't need to describe it here :-)

29.Cybermouse - War Is Hell

maybe the most brutal track by cybermouse. early speedcore. very minimal. anti-war message.

30.M.C.P. - Overload 30303

arhythmic hardcore inferno

31.Auto-Psy - If

when i played this track, a guy once asked me "what kind of terrorist music is this?". good description!

32.Eradicator - M.C.P.

samples the movie tron. genuine 90s experimental hardcore.

33.No Name - Ydroid

Slick and without mercy.

34.Taciturne - Haematopan F

hardcore to blow your teeth out.

35.Cybermouse - Gulp

also one of cybermouse's most hardcore tracks. midtempo bounding 909 next to acid sounds.

36.Christoph De Babalon - I Own Death

the first track on his fisch 12". long, long intro. then it unleashes its full force with distorted breakbeats and a powerful melody.

37.Eradicator - Used Against Us (Remix)

Experimental gabber, ambient intro, rough sound, metal guitars. Juno hoover rave sounds. Murderous, nasty, and epic.

38.Auto-Psy - Escape

one of the most outstanding "hardcore" tracks ever. a symphony of drones, fx, noises and bassdrums. over seven minutes.

39.Burning Lazy Persons - Hyper Bitch

an early speed record. brutal and shocking.

40.No Name - Koma

so psycho, so evil, so mean. can you take it?

41.Auto-Psy - Go Out

a submarine is out of control, explosions shake the vessel, metal clanking is heard, and people scream in terror.
then the sounds fade out into the cold dark blue depths.

42.Monoloop - Underwater Feelings (Live Alone Mix)

one of the most interesting tracks on this ep. fake live act. ferocious early breakcore with sophisticated production values.

43.Monoloop - Underwater Feelings

very sweet, very relaxed ambient sounds, mixed with hard breakbeats. pianos, water splashing, whales' whistling.

44.Amiga Shock Force - 24 Hour Connection

another true amigacore classic! ruthless and heavy.

45.Cybermouse - Datenvernichtung

comparable to early french noisecore. nice and evil.

46.Taciturne - Phenylephrin-Hydrochlorid

everyone knows "mourning" and "der toten", but this one is great too. proto-doomcore with a haunting drone, then gets faster towards the end.

47.Eradicator - Worringen

Heavy track with pounding steel drums, noisy synths, screams, everything you need.

48.Eradicator - Fucking Bitch Called Walker

Is that patric screaming?
Menacing uncoventional hardcore gabber techno.

49.Cybermouse - Noishead

Early noise hardcore. The noise treatment for hardcore heads.

50.No Name - 01100010

didn't the german dance act "das modul" have a similar track title?
but this one is hardcore, for sure!

51.Cybermouse - Adrenalin Structure

first track of the first fischkopf release. epic. was first released on an commodore amiga diskette magazine.
not 4/4 hardcore, but wicked and strange electro sounds.

52.Monoloop - Chill Out

breakcore madness in between being chilled (as indicated by the piano) and being killed (as indicated by the screams).

53.M.C.P. - Overload MS 50

very aphex twin like, great experimental hardcore.

54.EPC - Autoplasie

Noisecore for your mind!

55.Burning Lazy Persons - Frd

a hammer coming down on your skull.

56.P. Server - Wires (Break)

a recording of audio wires that have been broken?

57.Fields Of Defacement - Uptight

melancholic melodic hard core tech-no?

58.EPC - R 624-2

Techno chopped up and turned into noise. Very analogue feel.

59.EPC - Persistance

Oh what a beatiful noise!

60.Eradicator - I Cum Blood

Evil experimental gabber insanity.

61.Auto-Psy - Ovoide

first track on this great ep. sounds that invoke the images of a runaway train accelerating straight to hell.

62.Auto-Psy - Andropose

the tranquil intro might give you the impression it's time to relax now, on this ep. but then the beats hammer on.

63.Eradicator - Destroy It Yourself (Remix)

March into hardcore disturbia..

64.Taciturne - Liquid Theatre

strange ambient intro. cult track.

65.M.C.P. - Overload RZ-1

hardcore machines got out of control and force people to dance to their death.

66.Auto-Psy - Clear

"null... null... null..." when i put on this record for the first time, i totally fell in love with this sound and all that followed.

67.P. Server - Ratings (Terror Unit H.Q.)

cool monotonous acidcore track.

68.M.C.P. - Overload Sigma

mental gabber up your cranium.

69.Amiga Shock Force - Sex, Mord Und Kunst

one of the fastest tracks of its era. hyperfast beats next to crazy rap samples.

70.Taciturne - Boys Don't Cry (Revisited)

robert smith would be proud!

71.No Name - Black Dream

help me. i hear voices. they are distorted. just as the drums.

72.No Name - 0.Vin .I

slowing down a bit. but not one bit less relentless.

73.Mathey Olivier - Easy Recording Aera

the last track of the last official fischkopf release. going out with a bang! and it's good-bye.

74.No Name - Kamasutra

i wonder what kamasutra technique inspires one to produce such devilish hardcore from hell like this. but then, it might be better to not find out.

75.Eradicator - Us Against Us

not as good as the revisit, but great nevertheless. tough experimental gabber.

76.Amiga Shock Force - Violent Geisha

mix between breakcore and early speedcore with an amiga feel.

77.Burning Lazy Persons - Poisoned Radio Wave

ooh, painful audio signals and overly distorted hardcore drums. i'm luving it.

78.Eradicator - Streptocock Gee

one of two true breakcore tracks patric catani did for fischkopf. excellent!

79.Taciturne - Praxis Dr. Fischer

Legendary drone-speedcore track. Doctor Fischer has the cure for you! Just go to his praxis.

80.Monoloop - The Dreamer

already a foreshadowing of the "ambient-breakcore" on fischkopf 13. epic!

81.Burning Lazy Persons - Garden Of The Permanent

this is crazy!

82.Burning Lazy Persons - Nakano Shit

man, this is some of the roughest hardcore that i ever heard.

83.EPC - Infectious Properties

these sounds bash right through your skull.

84.Fields Of Defacement - Found & Lost

Stones and flowers on the ground
We are found and lost
But love is gonna save us

85.Burning Lazy Persons - Fake

"die maschinen die maschinen die maschinen"? whatever. this machine kills!

86.Eradicator - Impulse To Destroy

the other "oversize" track on the agit prop LP. fierce drums and percussion. plenty of noise.

87.Eradicator - Distorted

Very distorted indeed! Fantastic.

88.Eradicator - Split Wide Open

Powerful radical hardcore with acid elements.

89.Burning Lazy Persons - Catastro

The overdose of noise and drums.

90.Taciturne - Krach-Aran-RMX

Now this is just krach! But a good one.

91.Eradicator - Cologne Boring M.F.

Hyperfast mental metal hardcore madness.

92.Orderly Chaos - 45m

The so real dark ambient experience.

93.Burning Lazy Persons - Kone Kane Dayone

a very very wild ride.

94.P. Server - Pulley

excellent lasse steen production. has some rave elements.

95.Amiga Shock Force - Mass Appeal Madness

one of the most "poppy" tracks on fischkopf as it samples james brown. crazy hardcore gabber.

96.Jean Bach - Tausend Stimmen

very crazy and over the top track by jean bach. heavy distortion.

97.Eradicator - Destroy It Yourself

Sepultura samples, weird noises, gabber drums - perfect!

98.Christoph De Babalon - Promise, Broken

total future psychedelic breakcore.

99.Trash Enemy H. Q. - Braintraining

noise and distortion with a painful sound without drums or anything else.

100.Taciturne - Avarie De Machine

made up of sounds of heavy machinery? great!

101.No Name - Message

we got the message and the message was clear.

102.No name - Help

get on a hardcore trip faster than light.

103.Eradicator - Starving

epic ambient intro.

104.No Name - Start E·nd

it starts and ends in torturous hardcore agony.

105.No Name - A

"a" total french insane techno track.

106.Monoloop - Second Trumpet

in style similar to the other 3 tracks on fisch 13. has a heavy jazz feel.

107.Shangoe - Army Of Darkness

interesting breakcore out of hamburg.

108.Eradicator - Agitprop Troop

interesting noise experiment.

109.Eradicator - Forkboy

early speedcore track. guitars and hyperspeed drums.

110.Taciturne - Dexpanthenol

riots of noise, distortion, and brutality.

111.Monoloop - Drum Da Style

stylish early breakcore.

112.Mathey Olivier - Second Transmission

mad scientist hardcore.

113.Mathey Olivier - Well Done!

the acid sounds from outer space invade the second part of this great french hardcore track.
well done indeed!

114.P. Server - Epigraph

lasse steen delivers with this great dark acidtechno track.

115.Taciturne - Krank

total "kranker" hardcore!

116.P. Server - Plunger

all power to the 303!

117.P. Server - Psave

legit 90s acid hardcore. rough production values, almost as if mastered from cassette tape.

118.P. Server - Dispatching

hardcore up your acid!

119.Fields Of Defacement - Dark.R

the 808 gets the full-on distortion treatment.

120.Eradicator - Enter Three Witches

one of two "oversize" tracks on the agit prop LP. on four-to-the floor beats. ambient outro.

121.Eradicator - Widerstand

noisy agit prop sounds!

122.P. Server - Banging Happening

gabber-acid.

123.Fields Of Defacement - Corkscrew

Wonderful monotonous hardcore without bleeps or melodies.

124.Amiga Shock Force - Shoot 'em Breax

A perfect early breakcore track. Hip hop and guitars.

125.Cybermouse - Obstreperous

Very experimental techno / hardcore track.
Acid like sounds, great use of percussion, and a sci-fi feel.

126.P. Server - Metal Disposition

acid gabber brutality.

127.Burning Lazy Persons - "R"

vicious nice and nasty track by nawoto suzuki.

128.Burning Lazy Persons - Dorami De Onanie (240 Vers.)

faster onanism.

129.Johnny Ego - Untitled

again an interesting hamburg breakbeat track.

130.Orderly Chaos - Pine

painful sounds and pure ambient.

131.R.A.W. - Sudden Death

the other r.a.w. track from the otaku compilation. impressive as well!

132.EPC & A.N.T.I. - Sharpomatic

noisy hardcore with a total "piss off!" attitude.

133.Burning Lazy Persons - Dorami De Onanie

onanism will give you a mental disorder that allows you to create wonderful nasty hardcore tracks like this.

134.Burning Lazy Persons - Fish Tenpuraaaaa

fish fried well, and served for this solid hardcore dish.

135.Burning Lazy Persons - Mongolian Chop

typical nawoto suzuki. mental and dangerous. awesome.

136.Burning Lazy Persons - Niko Niko Satujin Dan

ooh I'm freaking out.

137.Taciturne - Boys Don't Cry RMX

the original "remix" version. i'm also lovin' it.

138.Taciturne - Evil Dead

a kick straight to the face.

139.P. Server - Intensioner

wonderful acid techno.

140.Eradicator - Liebe Und Verbrechen

very strange and surreal gabber track.

141.Monoloop - For The Lord

monumental, experimental and exceptional breakcore with a runtime of over 7 minutes.

142.Burning Lazy Persons - Rotter…damn

funny piss take on rotterdam hardcore. includes a piano, but not in a typical happy gabber way!

143.Burning Lazy Persons - T.C.H.C.

nasty and nice.

144.Monoloop - Kills Again

a track to die for.

145.Monoloop - Free Man

noone is ever free. except the experimental hardcore resistance! (or, in this case, early breakcore).

146.Taciturne - Nightchildren RMX

lullaby of terror for the night children.

147.Taciturne - Mo Punk RMX

do you feel lucky, punk?

148.Monoloop - She's A Lion

early breakcore from hamburg


So, that's it! Over and out. Did you like our charts? Let us know!