{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "HAPPY HARDCORE CHEAT SHEET", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/82519092967/", "html": "

swampgallows:

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For sammyeatshands:

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First thing about happy hardcore is that the genre is constantly changing. Happy hardcore from 1994 sounds nothing like the happy hardcore from 1999, or from 2004, or so on. Every couple of years the sound shifts, which is why an introduction to happy hardcore needs to be given sort-of chronologically.

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Another fun thing about happy hardcore: there are only a handful of people who make it, but they have more aliases than fingers and toes.\u00a0Discogs\u00a0is a really good site to check what an artist\u2019s other names might be, or joint acts, or what have you. The best is to look up music by the labels they were released on, rather than the artists themselves.

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First up,\u00a0oldskool happy hardcore\u00a0was considered an offshoot of jungle back in the day. It is sometimes called \u201cbreakbeat hardcore\u201d or just \u201cold school\u201d. You\u2019d be looking for out for artists like:

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Good places to start are Kniteforce Records\u00a0and Just Another Label. Unfortunately for the old old school above, most were listed on bootlegs to avoid copyright issues (like 89 Revival\u00a0and SMD) or found in cassette tapes of live mixes like Vibealite and Helter Skelter. Lots of songs sampled preexisting house/dance classics of the early 90s like\u00a0Bizarre Inc. and\u00a0Ratpack,\u00a0and therefore had trouble with official releases.\u00a0

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==A shameless plug for my friend\u00a0M27, an amazing DJ with an enviable collection of the old school classics, which he regularly mashes with jungle and hip hop and releases on\u00a0cassette.\u00a0

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Moving on, there is a variant of old school sometimes referred to as\u00a0"toytown” or “cheese”\u00a0because it is regarded as being highly infantile, featuring chipmunk vocals, slamming piano riffs, and children/cartoon samples. This is around the mid to late 90s where things really start getting hyperactive and separating from jungle influences, trading breakbeats for 4/4; It is the\u00a0happy hardcore. This era is\u00a0very important\u00a0because 90% of these artists founded happy hardcore as it\u2019s known today, and continued throughout the years to produce and splinter the sounds and directions of the genre.

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==And here, another shameless plug for my good friend\u00a0DJ Flapjack, who professes in the cheesy style of happy hardcore. If you like this stuff, you\u2019ll get more than enough from his expert mixes. Check the labels\u00a0Essential Platinum,\u00a0Next Generation\u00a0and\u00a0Blatant Beats, and as\u00a0Slammin Vinyl\u00a0for more. Cheesy happy hardcore has its own fair share of bootleg labels, including but not limited to\u00a0Juicy Cuts/Silk Cuts\u00a0and\u00a0Ravers Choice.

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FROM THERE, happy hardcore in the early 00s started taking a harder, yet more trance-like direction usually dubbed\u00a0UK hardcore,\u00a0with many of the above artists following suit:

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Good labels to check out for these genres are\u00a0Raver Baby,\u00a0Evolution Records/Evolution Plus,\u00a0Quosh,\u00a0Essential Platinum 2002, and the\u00a0Bonkers\u00a0compilations. I don\u2019t know any DJs who play this genre anymore but I am planning to, so keep an eye on my soundcloud!

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From this came an acid-influenced (that\u2019s 303 acid, not the drug acid) even harder, more driven style of hardcore called freeform. Aforementioned DJs Sharkey and DJ (Kevin) Energy had made their homes in this genre when I came into the scene.

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Good labels to check out are Nu Energy\u00a0and its multitudes of sublabels, Bedlam Records, Thin N\u2019 Crispy, Raw Elements, and the Hardcore Tsunami compilations released by HappyHardcore.com. Unfortunately I have lost touch with this subgenre, as it is no longer being produced (to my knowledge) and didn\u2019t resonate with me much in the first place.

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And now there\u2019s the new \u201cclubcore\u201d, nicknamed such for being released on the\u00a0Clubland X-Treme Hardcore compilation albums. I personally can\u2019t stand most of this, but it\u2019s super popular. I dunno any of the labels it\u2019s being released on, so your best bet is just to stick to the Clubland CDs.

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Some newer (mostly Australian) artists within the newer genre that I do like are:

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This brings us\u00a0about\u00a0to the modern era, but I have lost touch with the newest stuff coming out. The genre is closing in on being two decades old and has changed so, so much in that short time (and this is without even going into its actual \u201chardcore\u201d roots that eventually sprout into gabber, speedcore, terrorcore, hardtek, and the like). The journey into happy hardcore is an expansive and rewarding one, and hopefully these links will provide a great start into discovering more from the kind that interests you.\u00a0

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Enjoy!

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