Gabba Flamenco Crossover
High Sierra Skullfuck
OK, so I recently decided that I no longer needed a cassette deck - and as a precursor to getting rid of it, I've been digitizing all my hardcore tapes (that haven't been broken, chewed, trodden on or left in other people's cars).
And since many dissensians are the kind of people on whom the words 'whistle posse make some noise' have a similar effect to Proust vis a vis his Madeira cake, I thought it would be good to upload some of the best ones.
It's also nicely topical to do this as all the fuss about bassline house is reminding people that the UK hardcore continuum isn't just a London 'ting. The sets below, with one exception, are from in and around the Midlands. Taken chronologically, they make a good snapshot of the hardcore nation in the years 1993-4.
And the music is blinding, of course. I'm so grateful that this great period of acceleration and flux co-incided with my late adolescence. It's influenced pretty much everything I've done since then. So respect to the hardcore massive.
New Dawn, December 1992 - This was the 'rave' show on Signal FM, Stoke's local radio station. Some of the most inept radio presentation ever inflicted on the British public. Watch out for 'rocking the HMPs', a regular section where ravers could give shout outs to thier mates in chokey.
Clarkee at Dreamscape, 1993 - Awesome gabba/hardcore set - so relentless that they have to turn the music off for a few minutes in the middle so everyone can have a rest. Great MCing too from MC Robbie D, Dreamscape/Fibreoptic's resident MC and a man with an unrivalled ability to chat utter gibberish for hours on end.
Ned Ryder at Quest, NYE 1993 - Ned Ryder was one of the greatest hardcore DJs, who would have gone on to be a household name in the D&B scene had he come from London. After a bonus 5 minutes of Top Buzz at the start, the 'Wolverhampton bad boy' takes over for a lethal darkside/artcore mashup. Note the toasting influences becoming increasingly obvious in the MCing.
DJ Sy at Fibreoptic, May 94 - The sound of hardcore rejecting the darkside and the black British/JA influence, and reaffirming a long midlands tradition of cheesy, speed-freaked party music. Lots of these tracks sound like northern soul instrumentals done on a C64 computer. Happy hardcore and breakcore start here. Robbie D is on hand once again to raise the MCing to new heights of linguistic insanity.
Brockie on Kool FM, August 95 - ... meanwhile London goes it's own way, on into the 'nuum we know and love. This tape is the odd one out here, recorded a few months after I moved south in the baking hot summer of 1995. It didn't rain for about 3 months, all the windows in the street were open and most of them had music like this pumping out of them 24/7. Welcome to London!
And since many dissensians are the kind of people on whom the words 'whistle posse make some noise' have a similar effect to Proust vis a vis his Madeira cake, I thought it would be good to upload some of the best ones.
It's also nicely topical to do this as all the fuss about bassline house is reminding people that the UK hardcore continuum isn't just a London 'ting. The sets below, with one exception, are from in and around the Midlands. Taken chronologically, they make a good snapshot of the hardcore nation in the years 1993-4.
And the music is blinding, of course. I'm so grateful that this great period of acceleration and flux co-incided with my late adolescence. It's influenced pretty much everything I've done since then. So respect to the hardcore massive.
New Dawn, December 1992 - This was the 'rave' show on Signal FM, Stoke's local radio station. Some of the most inept radio presentation ever inflicted on the British public. Watch out for 'rocking the HMPs', a regular section where ravers could give shout outs to thier mates in chokey.
Clarkee at Dreamscape, 1993 - Awesome gabba/hardcore set - so relentless that they have to turn the music off for a few minutes in the middle so everyone can have a rest. Great MCing too from MC Robbie D, Dreamscape/Fibreoptic's resident MC and a man with an unrivalled ability to chat utter gibberish for hours on end.
Ned Ryder at Quest, NYE 1993 - Ned Ryder was one of the greatest hardcore DJs, who would have gone on to be a household name in the D&B scene had he come from London. After a bonus 5 minutes of Top Buzz at the start, the 'Wolverhampton bad boy' takes over for a lethal darkside/artcore mashup. Note the toasting influences becoming increasingly obvious in the MCing.
DJ Sy at Fibreoptic, May 94 - The sound of hardcore rejecting the darkside and the black British/JA influence, and reaffirming a long midlands tradition of cheesy, speed-freaked party music. Lots of these tracks sound like northern soul instrumentals done on a C64 computer. Happy hardcore and breakcore start here. Robbie D is on hand once again to raise the MCing to new heights of linguistic insanity.
Brockie on Kool FM, August 95 - ... meanwhile London goes it's own way, on into the 'nuum we know and love. This tape is the odd one out here, recorded a few months after I moved south in the baking hot summer of 1995. It didn't rain for about 3 months, all the windows in the street were open and most of them had music like this pumping out of them 24/7. Welcome to London!
