Breakbeat hardcore

Breakbeat hardcore
Stylistic origins	Oldskool rave Breakbeat Acid house Techno Industrial Hip hop
Cultural origins	Late 1980s/Early 1990s, United Kingdom
Typical instruments	Synthesizer, drum machine, sequencer, keyboard, sampler
Mainstream popularity	Large in the United Kingdom
Derivative forms	Oldschool jungle Drum and bass Happy hardcore Hardcore techno 4-beat
(complete list)

Breakbeat hardcore (rave music) is a derivative of the acid house and techno, of the late 1980s and early 1990s, that combines four-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with the UK rave scene.

The rave scene

Main article: Rave

The scene was driven around the M25 motorway (London's orbital motorway), and its audience was mainly urban teenagers and lower middle-class suburban teenagers with cars. The audience was very much multi-cultural, with black, white and Asian influences resulting in a unique sound. The scene expanded rapidly in 1991, with large raves of 30,000 to 50,000 people attending in open air venues around England, put on by Spiral Tribe and other free party sound systems held at numerous locations up and down the length of England. This scene spawned the idea of holding huge parties rather than small clubs.

Effect and fragmentation

The early 90s saw the shifting of the underground sound become more prevalent in the mainstream. Even without any radio play, many hybrid and regional styles made their way into Top 20 charts. However, during 1990, the two main subdivisions of this underground rave movement was primarily either house or techno (although often interchangeable or vaguely used to define a multitude of styles). However, between 1993 and 1994 the scene fragmented, and forked off into two distinct styles - jungle music (later giving rise to drum and bass) and 4-beat (alternatively known as happy hardcore). Jungle's sound was more focused on basslines, often with jazz-like undertones, whilst 4-beat retained the rave synths, the 4/4 kickdrum, and happier piano elements. By 1996, most 4-beat had dropped its breakbeats (in-part due to bouncy techno), whilst drum and bass had long dropped the techno style synth stabs, thus further separating the two styles. The almost independent evolution of styles created distinct sounds of "bleep and bass", brutalist techno, hardcore jungle, pop-rave, UK garage, and ragga-techno sounds.

Selected information

Record labels

786 Approved, Absolute 2, Awesome Records, Basement Records, Boogie Beat Records, Chill, Contagious, FFrreedom aka FFRR, Formation Records, Full Effect Recordings, Great Asset, Pranged, Ibiza Records, Kickin Records, Kniteforce, Little Giant Music, Moving Shadow, Network Records, Production House Records, Rabbit City recordings, Reinforced Records, Suburban Base, Triple Helix, XL Recordings, Soapbar Records, Liquid Wax, Impact Records, Unnatural Light

Notable releases

• Foul Play - Finest Illusion (Section 5, 1993)
• Harmony & Sweet - Music (Lucky Spin 07, 1993)
• Joint Project - Total Feeling (Soapbar Records 001, 1992)
• The Scientist - The Exorcist (Kickin Records, KICK 001, 1990)
• Altern-8 - Frequency (Network Records, NWKTR 34, 1991)
• SL2 - DJ's Take Control (Awesome Records, SL002, 1991)
• Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era - Far Out (Suburban Base, SUBBASE 008, 1991)
• Wax Doctor - A New Direction (Jack Smooth, Basement Records, BRSS 0011, 1992)
• Lords of Acid - Lust (Antler Subway Records, 1991)
• DJ Seduction - Hardcore Heaven (FFrreedom, TABX 103, 1992)
• DJ Seduction - Come On (FFrreedom, TABX 101, 1992)
• Shades of Rhythm - Shades (ZTT Records, 1992)
• Acen - Trip to the Moon (Production House Records, PNT 42, 1992)
• The Prodigy - Experience (XL Recordings, XLCD 110, 1992)
• Nookie - Return of Nookie (Reinforced, RIVET 1239, 1993)
• DJ Krome & Mr. Time - The Slammer (Suburban Base, SUBBASE 26, 1993)
• DJ Red Alert & Mike Slammer - Slammin' Vinyl (GUMH 011, 1995)
• Nebula II - Seance / Atheama (Reinforced Records, 1991)
• Shut Up And Dance - The Green Man (SUAD Records, 1991)
• Manix - Oblivion (Head in the Clouds) (Reinforced Records, 1991)
• Shut Up And Dance - Death Is Not the End (SUAD Records, 1992)

See also

• List of electronic music genres
• Darkcore

References

• Simon Reynolds' Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (ISBN 0-330-35056-0)
• Simon Reynolds' Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture (ISBN 0-415-92373-5)
• Chris Sharp, Jungle: Modern States of Mind, Modulations, ch. 8 pgs. 130-155

External links

• simfonik.com
• Break Pirates - Broadcasts Breakbeat Hardcore, amongst other breakbeat music
• RenegadeRadio.co.uk
• RenegadeJam.com
• HardcoreWillNeverDie.com
• BackToTheOldSkool.co.uk
• Australian Breakbeat Hardcore
• Stressfactor.co.uk
• Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music
• Oldskool Hardcore Tunes