| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Mental_Adam |
Gone lot quiet after imo
Maybe with regular joes, talk about nostalgia.
However are things kind of underground with hardcore atm? |
| trippnface |
I think the biggest thing hardcore has going for it right now, is all the old skool hardcore being produced... not sure if that is good or bad :p
I wouldn't say things are as " underground" as they are downright dead. Atleast here. I bet in the UK you can still attend a quality hardcore show ( musically?) but no idea on general vibes, and of course nothing ever really matches the nostalgia meter... |
| Mental_Adam |
Well i'm probably thinking on a commercial line.
Compilations were non-ending throughout the 2000s with the retro stuff and new stuff.
However, i only mentioned this as for some reason over here we've had a lot of retro comps come out with the drum n bass, jungle etc
Should really cash in with some MOS comps on the genre atm as they seem king atm with stuff |
| Smoogie |
Hardcore just went stale in the end and no one knew what to do with it anymore.
These days Hard House rules the underground with constant releases being put out by some very talented producers and a lot of people are getting into the scene. Hard House really picked up again after 2012 |
| The drunken scotsman |
Its difficult to imagine hardcore ever getting back to the heights experienced in the mid to late noughties. Things have changed too much both within Hardcore and music in general.
Personally, my journey with hardcore is done. I still come on here occasionally and sometimes Ill listen to some old tunes on long car journeys, but thats it. Even if it were to gain a lot of popularity again, nothing can compare to those days in my eyes.
|
| Smoogie |
quote:
Originally posted by The drunken scotsman:
Its difficult to imagine hardcore ever getting back to the heights experienced in the mid to late noughties. Things have changed too much both within Hardcore and music in general.
Personally, my journey with hardcore is done. I still come on here occasionally and sometimes Ill listen to some old tunes on long car journeys, but thats it. Even if it were to gain a lot of popularity again, nothing can compare to those days in my eyes.
I am all for Hard House these days. I listen to some Old Skool Hardcore now and then but Hard House is the way forward. I shared some of my mixes to someone who was part of our local raver's crew and they said 'I wish all this stuff came out ten years ago!'
In other words, Hard House is filling out the void that Hardcore left when it went soft.
I mean there is even a Hard House version of Heart of Gold out now! |
| DJIntensity |
Hardcore was sure at its peak from late 2004 onwards then from late 2008 it all slowed down the likes of Infinity Silvers label never distributed any tunes again. |
| trippnface |
quote:
Originally posted by DJIntensity:
Hardcore was sure at its peak from late 2004 onwards then from late 2008 it all slowed down the likes of Infinity Silvers label never distributed any tunes again.
for me , that was def it. gettin into E & hardcore in high school during that period , and just vibin.
*sighs*
ah well, clubland party here I come! |
| djDMS |
quote:
Originally posted by Smoogie:
Hardcore just went stale in the end and no one knew what to do with it anymore.
These days Hard House rules the underground with constant releases being put out by some very talented producers and a lot of people are getting into the scene. Hard House really picked up again after 2012
Yawn. |
| DJIntensity |
quote:
Originally posted by trippnface:
quote:
Originally posted by DJIntensity:
Hardcore was sure at its peak from late 2004 onwards then from late 2008 it all slowed down the likes of Infinity Silvers label never distributed any tunes again.
for me , that was def it. gettin into E & hardcore in high school during that period , and just vibin.
*sighs*
ah well, clubland party here I come!
Listen to the Hardcore from those years I mentioned well I would anyway.
|
| DJ A.K. |
On the plus side Hardcore usually gets better when it goes back underground, there are still good tracks being released, its the lack of decent Raves that's probably more concerning. |
| DJIntensity |
It?s also great Executive Records is still going with their releases which is a big positive. |
| 9oh9 |
quote:
Originally posted by DJ A.K.:
On the plus side Hardcore usually gets better when it goes back underground, there are still good tracks being released, its the lack of decent Raves that's probably more concerning.
I'm really hoping this is the case. The period in 2000-2002 was exciting in terms of the records being released (although there were fewer). But yeah, the lack of events is a worrisome thing. |
| Elliott |
quote:
Originally posted by The drunken scotsman:
Its difficult to imagine hardcore ever getting back to the heights experienced in the mid to late noughties. Things have changed too much both within Hardcore and music in general.
Personally, my journey with hardcore is done. I still come on here occasionally and sometimes Ill listen to some old tunes on long car journeys, but thats it. Even if it were to gain a lot of popularity again, nothing can compare to those days in my eyes.
Couldn't have said it better.
I was patient and gave the scene plenty of chances but things have only gotten worse.
I just went through a bunch of music from this year and not a thing came close to even an average weekly release back in 2007/08. All I got from it is that even the hold-outs like Technikore have gone full edmcore now. Didn't find a single track that I would pay for. I guess it's the end of the line for me too.
I've already gone through the five stages of grief, mostly on this forum.
Denial: "Electrocore is just a fad. Everything will be back to normal soon."
Anger: "Why is hardcore so ****ing bad at the moment?"
Bargaining: "I suppose diversity is okay as long as producers occasionally throw us a bone."
Depression: "It's just sad that a handful of people determine what everyone else produces."
Acceptance: "Too much time has passed. The scene has changed irrevocably. Nobody wants to produce '00s hardcore anymore and even if they did, it would sound out of place, and even if it didn't, nobody would listen to it. What I loved doesn't exist anymore."
"Its difficult to imagine hardcore ever getting back to the heights experienced in the mid to late noughties."
I just realised that I actually can't.
Mid-to-late '00s hardcore becoming popular was basically lightning striking. It's not going to happen again.
"Things have changed too much both within Hardcore and music in general."
Perfectly put. The mainstream dance scene at the time was very much positioned to support good hardcore. The fans that flooded into the scene were almost all casual top 40 listeners with no real devotion to hardcore whatsoever, which is why it was quick and easy to curtail at the end of the decade. The idea of "reinventing" the genre by just copying the new chart stuff failed (several times) because dance music has degenerated over time too. If you copy shit, you get shit. |
| Captain Triceps |
Good to see you mate, I hope you're well! |
| DJIntensity |
What makes it worse is some popular labels dont even distribute the tunes anymore like Infinity 10 years since their last release. |
| Samination |
quote:
Originally posted by DJIntensity:
What makes it worse is some popular labels dont even distribute the tunes anymore like Infinity 10 years since their last release.
Well. Either you're blind or you don't check things properly
Infinity (but mostly new Infinity) Is still being distributed;
https://www.junodownload.com/labels/Infinity+Recordings
If you're wondering why some tracks aren't there (especially the japanese stuff), it's because Silver doesn't have the licenses to distribute them any longer. |
| DJIntensity |
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
quote:
Originally posted by DJIntensity:
What makes it worse is some popular labels dont even distribute the tunes anymore like Infinity 10 years since their last release.
Well. Either you're blind or you don't check things properly
Infinity (but mostly new Infinity) Is still being distributed;
https://www.junodownload.com/labels/Infinity+Recordings
If you're wondering why some tracks aren't there (especially the japanese stuff), it's because Silver doesn't have the licenses to distribute them any longer.
Oh I see I remember it know Silver said about it on another thread I started about Infinity Recordings.
|
| Icewind |
Hardcore has gone through it's phases...with the 90s happy hardcore, to the 2000's ukhardcore/trancecore, and now this modern electro/edm hardcore. Although not all of it is bad, I can't say I really like the direction hardcore is going in as of late. That's okay though, because hardcore will evolve once again into something different..even though it might take a while. For now, I am just going to spin and produce the music that I want to hear the way I want to hear it.
And regarding the parties, here in Toronto Canada, we've been having about 1 a month on average, sometimes more. |
| DJIntensity |
Losing some of the best producers has taken a big hit too the likes of Frisky & Hujib best from Canada has Milo retired too haven?t heard anything from him for ages. |
| djscavenger |
I dont buy much hardcore these days outside of the odd Hardcore underground album.
Yesterday I went on track it down for the first time in ages and the amount of shite / utter dross that passes for hardcore is unbelievable. Anyone can make music these days and thats part of the problem. dj joe bloggs bangs out a track after track with no regard to if its any good.
At least vinyl controlled to some extent what was good enough to release due to cost. Hardcore is going down hill rapid at the moment. We still rely of the old crew to produce the better music. where is the actual talent or drive that producers had in the 90's and Naughties? |
| Smoogie |
quote:
Originally posted by djscavenger:
I dont buy much hardcore these days outside of the odd Hardcore underground album.
Yesterday I went on track it down for the first time in ages and the amount of shite / utter dross that passes for hardcore is unbelievable. Anyone can make music these days and thats part of the problem. dj joe bloggs bangs out a track after track with no regard to if its any good.
At least vinyl controlled to some extent what was good enough to release due to cost. Hardcore is going down hill rapid at the moment. We still rely of the old crew to produce the better music. where is the actual talent or drive that producers had in the 90's and Naughties?
Where is the drive? Over in Hard House, that is where the drive is!
Just done another two hour set today and it is full of Hard House slammers with a lot of Old Skool influences. I even have the Heart Of Gold remake in there as well as well as a lot of filth! |
| djscavenger |
I dabbled with Hard House in around 2000/2001 when it was quite big, can't say ive heard anything recent hard house related I lost intrest as its not really that fun to mix though it has some elements I like. |
| djDMS |
Hard house has been on it's arse for years, and repeating yourself isn't going to change that.
It's going through the same 'every man and his dog is producing It' period that Hardcore has recently. Meaning a few decent tunes rise above the shite. |
| Smoogie |
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
Hard house has been on it's arse for years, and repeating yourself isn't going to change that.
It's going through the same 'every man and his dog is producing It' period that Hardcore has recently. Meaning a few decent tunes rise above the shite.
Funny I see it different to that |
| Icewind |
Can anyone tell me what is hot in the hardcore scene right now in terms of tracks or artists? After the bonkers CD's stopped at 17, it hasn't been easy to keep up. I've heard a few upfront cotts mixes to get an idea...only newish hardcore I've been following is fracus and darwin which I adore. Not big on the new gammer...a real shame.
|
| Rodz90 |
quote:
Originally posted by Smoogie:
quote:
Originally posted by djDMS:
Hard house has been on it's arse for years, and repeating yourself isn't going to change that.
It's going through the same 'every man and his dog is producing It' period that Hardcore has recently. Meaning a few decent tunes rise above the shite.
Funny I see it different to that
Funny, nobody really cares |
| DJIntensity |
quote:
Originally posted by Icewind:
Can anyone tell me what is hot in the hardcore scene right now in terms of tracks or artists? After the bonkers CD's stopped at 17, it hasn't been easy to keep up. I've heard a few upfront cotts mixes to get an idea...only newish hardcore I've been following is fracus and darwin which I adore. Not big on the new gammer...a real shame.
I am not big on Gammer either he sucks bad the likes of DJ Impact, Haze and Weaver are the real deal. |
| Mansy |
I might start doing what smoogie is doing, hanging around a forum which is dedicated to music i carnt stand and keep repeating every 5 mins that hard house is the place to be. No one gives a shit about hard house and for those who do theres a 'music discussion - other genre' section. What a melt! |
| DJIntensity |
Hardcore and Hard House don?t match I?d literally be bored of listening to that rubbish. |
| Skidzorz |
quote:
Originally posted by Icewind:
Hardcore has gone through it's phases...with the 90s happy hardcore, to the 2000's ukhardcore/trancecore, and now this modern electro/edm hardcore. Although not all of it is bad, I can't say I really like the direction hardcore is going in as of late. That's okay though, because hardcore will evolve once again into something different..even though it might take a while. For now, I am just going to spin and produce the music that I want to hear the way I want to hear it.
And regarding the parties, here in Toronto Canada, we've been having about 1 a month on average, sometimes more.
Basically once Tommy and George stopped throwing parties I stopped going up. The first Heart Of Gold was my first rave ever, outside of Defqon, and I'm very glad I noticed the event (no idea how as I wasn't on FB yet - needing to get ahold of people I met at the rave who constantly changed, or wouldn't have, a phone number - but I saw it) as I met loads of friends I'll be close to for hopefully decades to come, but once Timmy started getting big into politics and working for Bernie and now for the NDP and Total Request Rave 10 isn't happening anytime soon, and George ended the HoG series l just stopped going.
If TRR 10 ever happens I'll go back up, or if there's a cheap F&D show ( they played a 2 hour set at a 15$ party back in December) I'll come back up, but they all got much smaller when the above two stopped throwing parties, and it's a lot of money for me to go up to Toronto.
That F&D show was my last one but before that it has been like 2 years since June 2016.
Hardcore kinda of took a dip in the very late 2000's but the early 2010' picked up heavily again, but that was mostly the HU guys as a bunch of big labels stopped releasing around then. It also clearly was a just a stopgap for a few years as that momentum seems to have died down and all were left with is the same 10 guys releasing the same, EDM modelled hardcore. I hate the Harsrtyle synths in the main riffs now and the shitty mainstream big room house, floaty synths they're all using now. Horrible description of the sound these days but everyone knows what I'm talking about.
There was a worry in the early 2010's that if we didn't get any new producers who could actually take over the mantle from the old guard that in 10, 15 years hardcore will be 100% dead, but since the old guard doesn't seem like they're willing the hand the reins over, and with no incentive for new producers to entire the scene (Orbit 1 was one of the best new producers we had and both him and Inverse left, Ham left and he was at the top...).
Toronto had 3000 people at hardcore raves when Anabolic Frolic was still around, the early 2000's had about 1200 people filled into The Opera House. The biggest Heart of Gold and TRR's recently only had like 6-800 people, and those two were the biggest we had by a long shot.
****, Coone had 54!!!!! people at the Opera House back 4-5 years ago ... It looked barren .. Dude definitely lost money, lol.
|
| Skidzorz |
Also Hujib just played a show in Toronto in the past 18 months .. Doesn't mean he's back back but he's definitely not comletsly over the scene |
| Skidzorz |
Also Hujib just played a show in Toronto in the past 18 months .. Doesn't mean he's back back but he's definitely not comletsly over the scene |
| DJIntensity |
I remember his solo single Over & Over a complete copy of a trance tune from Above & Beyond but his collaborations with Frisky are amazing the main reason why I started listening to Hardcore over another genres.
|
| Skidzorz |
Re-Con's remix of their track The One will always hold a special place in my heart. I was 13 and a friend had just introduced me to hardcore .. She didn't know much but her friend had been to WEMF a bunch near Toronto and they booked HC acts. Couldn't remember for the life of me what she showed me but I hopped on Limewire (or might've been Bearshare still, lol .. Ah the memories) and typed in happy hardcore and found a whole slew of tunes mislabelled as Hixxy tracks .. It would be Hixxy - Elysium or Hixxy - You're My Angel, lol. And there was also this ******** fake DJ who called himself DJ Frisky who just took trance and house tunes, sped them up significantly so they were a HC tempo, and then added shitty off beat high pitched vocal samples all over the tracks, lol. Everything was labelled like_this_********_artist_name-track_name.
So went into YouTube to try and better find shit and the first thing that popped up was Ravine's first mix. The 4 songs on that mix will always hold a special place in my heart as it introduced me to the genre that would stay my favourite (along with hip hop) for the next decade and most important times of growth in my entire life. HC got me through a lot and that mix is what I have to thank for it.
Whenever I play The One on its own I still hear the shitty scratching "ah yeeah" early Ravine used to use xD.
Must've made this account soon after because my join dates 2007, ?\_(ツ)_/?. I don't even remotely want to look at my old posts .. I would've been 13 or 14 and they are surely quite embaressing. |
| Icewind |
quote:
Originally posted by Skidzorz:
quote:
Originally posted by Icewind:
Hardcore has gone through it's phases...with the 90s happy hardcore, to the 2000's ukhardcore/trancecore, and now this modern electro/edm hardcore. Although not all of it is bad, I can't say I really like the direction hardcore is going in as of late. That's okay though, because hardcore will evolve once again into something different..even though it might take a while. For now, I am just going to spin and produce the music that I want to hear the way I want to hear it.
And regarding the parties, here in Toronto Canada, we've been having about 1 a month on average, sometimes more.
Basically once Tommy and George stopped throwing parties I stopped going up. The first Heart Of Gold was my first rave ever, outside of Defqon, and I'm very glad I noticed the event (no idea how as I wasn't on FB yet - needing to get ahold of people I met at the rave who constantly changed, or wouldn't have, a phone number - but I saw it) as I met loads of friends I'll be close to for hopefully decades to come, but once Timmy started getting big into politics and working for Bernie and now for the NDP and Total Request Rave 10 isn't happening anytime soon, and George ended the HoG series l just stopped going.
If TRR 10 ever happens I'll go back up, or if there's a cheap F&D show ( they played a 2 hour set at a 15$ party back in December) I'll come back up, but they all got much smaller when the above two stopped throwing parties, and it's a lot of money for me to go up to Toronto.
That F&D show was my last one but before that it has been like 2 years since June 2016.
Hardcore kinda of took a dip in the very late 2000's but the early 2010' picked up heavily again, but that was mostly the HU guys as a bunch of big labels stopped releasing around then. It also clearly was a just a stopgap for a few years as that momentum seems to have died down and all were left with is the same 10 guys releasing the same, EDM modelled hardcore. I hate the Harsrtyle synths in the main riffs now and the shitty mainstream big room house, floaty synths they're all using now. Horrible description of the sound these days but everyone knows what I'm talking about.
There was a worry in the early 2010's that if we didn't get any new producers who could actually take over the mantle from the old guard that in 10, 15 years hardcore will be 100% dead, but since the old guard doesn't seem like they're willing the hand the reins over, and with no incentive for new producers to entire the scene (Orbit 1 was one of the best new producers we had and both him and Inverse left, Ham left and he was at the top...).
Toronto had 3000 people at hardcore raves when Anabolic Frolic was still around, the early 2000's had about 1200 people filled into The Opera House. The biggest Heart of Gold and TRR's recently only had like 6-800 people, and those two were the biggest we had by a long shot.
****, Coone had 54!!!!! people at the Opera House back 4-5 years ago ... It looked barren .. Dude definitely lost money, lol.
Hey! Just so you know Fracus and Darwin ARE coming back...next month! My and my girlfriend are going. They are going to be playing at club 120 in Toronto on May 26th...I will be there. I was also at the last one. It was amazing.
Tim was playing at a party last night at a party called Jurassic Hardcore. It was a smaller party, as the scene has definitely shrunk, but there is hope. It was a very close knit and intimate party...I don't want to jinx it but i believe the scene is on the up in up! I'm a local producer and dj trying to break into the scene...
Let me know if you are coming to the next fracus and darwin event so we can possibly have chat. Take care.
|
| DJIntensity |
quote:
Originally posted by Skidzorz:
Re-Con's remix of their track The One will always hold a special place in my heart. I was 13 and a friend had just introduced me to hardcore .. She didn't know much but her friend had been to WEMF a bunch near Toronto and they booked HC acts. Couldn't remember for the life of me what she showed me but I hopped on Limewire (or might've been Bearshare still, lol .. Ah the memories) and typed in happy hardcore and found a whole slew of tunes mislabelled as Hixxy tracks .. It would be Hixxy - Elysium or Hixxy - You're My Angel, lol. And there was also this ******** fake DJ who called himself DJ Frisky who just took trance and house tunes, sped them up significantly so they were a HC tempo, and then added shitty off beat high pitched vocal samples all over the tracks, lol. Everything was labelled like_this_********_artist_name-track_name.
So went into YouTube to try and better find shit and the first thing that popped up was Ravine's first mix. The 4 songs on that mix will always hold a special place in my heart as it introduced me to the genre that would stay my favourite (along with hip hop) for the next decade and most important times of growth in my entire life. HC got me through a lot and that mix is what I have to thank for it.
Whenever I play The One on its own I still hear the shitty scratching "ah yeeah" early Ravine used to use xD.
Must've made this account soon after because my join dates 2007, ?\_(ツ)_/?. I don't even remotely want to look at my old posts .. I would've been 13 or 14 and they are surely quite embaressing.
The original version was better for me their other single too Partycrasher best tune they ever produced with You Better Run remixed by Vagabond.
|
| sterichie26 |
Hardcore is probably the most frustrating scene in my opinion. I fell in love with Hardcore around 96, so i love all the early stuff and the early 2000's were good too, but i think as time has gone on the sound has almost got lost in the sense that it no longer represents "happy hardcore". The sound for me now is far too "electronic" and very trappy dubcore sounding. Give me an uplifting vocal and harmonic riff any day !
What also seems to frustrate a lot of fans is the time it takes to get releases out. For example some tracks are heard in mixes or on Soundcloud, but arent released for anything up to a year afterwards or sometimes never at all, which makes people lose interest.
Take a look at the "TWR" label for example - Bigged up by a certain "main man" from the scene stating that its ridiculous that good hardcore should take so long to get out there, and that tunes were going to be released every 2 weeks - which did seem to run for a fair bit and the track sales were doing really well, and then bang everything stopped without any clear explanation or update to us fans. I personally after spending money on each release felt rather shat on !
There is nothing i would love to see more than hardcore getting all the way back up there, but i just cant see it happening now. |
| djscavenger |
quote:
Originally posted by sterichie26:
Hardcore is probably the most frustrating scene in my opinion. I fell in love with Hardcore around 96, so i love all the early stuff and the early 2000's were good too, but i think as time has gone on the sound has almost got lost in the sense that it no longer represents "happy hardcore". The sound for me now is far too "electronic" and very trappy dubcore sounding. Give me an uplifting vocal and harmonic riff any day !
What also seems to frustrate a lot of fans is the time it takes to get releases out. For example some tracks are heard in mixes or on Soundcloud, but arent released for anything up to a year afterwards or sometimes never at all, which makes people lose interest.
Take a look at the "TWR" label for example - Bigged up by a certain "main man" from the scene stating that its ridiculous that good hardcore should take so long to get out there, and that tunes were going to be released every 2 weeks - which did seem to run for a fair bit and the track sales were doing really well, and then bang everything stopped without any clear explanation or update to us fans. I personally after spending money on each release felt rather shat on !
There is nothing i would love to see more than hardcore getting all the way back up there, but i just cant see it happening now.
Don't Forget future world as well. I believe it's limping on in some form with Breeze peddling his unique brand of derpcore. Both TWR and Future World promised big things but fizzled out.
Another point is that Hardcore has lost some big labels and artist which have not been replaced. Both Next Gen and Quosh pumped out some great music even in the darkest times of the early 2000's. Brisk, Sy & Unknown. Ham, Demo, DNA. Fade, Robbie Long, Stormtrooper etc all very talented producers and DJ's that have left the scene and have never been replaced. Hardcore doesnt have the pool of talent DnB has. It doenst help that artists feel obliged to copy whatever sound the top jocks are playing which makes everything sound like a cheap copy. I miss the days of Melodies pianos and rave stabs. |
| DJIntensity |
Well since Resist went bust in 2006 things have been going downhill. |
| Mental_Adam |
Surely some major company now owns lot of material to release? I think the odd compilation of old material would still sell for em |
