The Return Of UK Hardcore
by zYX/a51

[alan@a51.org.uk - http://www.a51.org.uk]


The UK hardcore scene is a bit of a phenomenon. It was born at the start of the nineties, 
peaked in 1993-1994 and then all but died out completely at the end of the decade. The 
story goes that the end was near, the DJ's were defecting to hard house and even Hixxy 
was about to hang up his old recordbag. And then.... He heard a certain commercial trance
 tune called Castles In The Sky by Ian Van Dahl. He couldn't resist it and produced a
 hardcore remix. Thus, a new trancey style of hardcore was born. 

As you can imagine this has been the cause of both celebration and controversy. Some
 would say hardcore got sold out while another train of thought says that it became 
stagnant and this was just what was needed to make the genre evolve. 

Whatever your opinion the hardcore scene is once again growing and hardcore styles are 
becoming more diverse and experimental. Rather than bashing out tunes with blinkers on,
 hardcore DJ's are taking notice and inspiration from the wide spectrum of dance music 
currently being produced and shaping a new breed of hard dance music from it. 

Here's a pick of a few of my favourite current hardcore releases. All of these should be 
available on vinyl if you can find them too: 


Stargazer - Ultimate High (Breeze & Styles Mix) 
[2003 Elation Recordings] 

Sometimes a track doesn't need to be particulary groundbreaking to catch your attention. 
It just has to do what it sets out to do well. Ultimate High is just your everyday piano led 
slice of happycore except it's extremely catchy and for all the right reasons! The secret to
 it's success is it's simplicity and the fact that it's just as happy as hell without having to 
use cheesy vocals. There is an absolute ton of remixes of this track flying around but, 
personally, I think Breeze and Styles manage to keep the feel of the original and perhaps 
improve on it a little. An instant new hardcore anthem! 


Dougal & Gammer - Jam The Nightclub (Remix) 
[2003 Essential Platinum] 

A very mature sounding, it's that the right word, hardcore track that wouldn't sound out of
 place in an average hard dance set but at the same time it's instantly recognisable as
 hardcore. The style is very typical of the tracks being put out by Dougal and Gammer 
right now and their own flavour of new hardcore could easily mark a crossover into 
mainstream hard dance. "Rock the disco" it certainly does! 


Adam Harris - Heavens Above (Hixxy Remix) 
[2003 Hardcore Till I Die] 

Upon hearing the thunder and rain crashing down on the intro of this track you could be
 forgiven for thinking it was yet another remix of N-Trance's Set You Free. But give it a 
few bars and it turns into one of the most beautiful new hardcore tracks to surface lately. 
The piano rhythm is probably about as basic as you could possibly get but, again, simplicity 
works and when the vocals kick in it all gels together perfectly. Adam Harris is a newcomer
 to the hardcore scene who has been taken under Hixxy's wing and this tune is a hell of a 
way to make an entrance! Looking forward to seeing what this guy comes out with next. 


Brisk & Ham - Angel Eyes 
[2003 Next Generation Records] 

Brisk and Ham may have defected to the dark side - namely the hard house scene under 
the guise of the Stimulant DJs, but while they still keep turning out quality hardcore such
 as this we can't hold it against them. This is another vocal led track in essence which in 
itself will mean that some will label it as cheese. Yeah, the vocals are "uplifting" but the 
track has some serious banging and booming attitude at the same time. Another stormer 
from a couple of old skool heavyweights! 


Insight featuring Lynn Eden - If That's Alright With You 
[2002 Quosh Records] 

A vocal stomper straight out of Sy's own Quosh label. A very bouncy track that is almost 
in direct contrast with the current breed of trancey hardcore. I dare you not to jump around 
the room to this one and that includes sneakily tapping your foot while we're not looking. 


Sy and Unknown - Tekno Harmony 2003 
[2003 Elite Music] 

The only thing older than the original of this track is probably Sy himself! If you don't recognise 
the name "Sweet Harmony" you will certainly know it by ear so producing a remix to rival the 
original is brave to say the least. They couldn't have picked a better duo to do the job though 
and Sy and Unknown have come through with a total stormer. The famous piano has been 
dirtied up and phased all over the shop and this one will probably be getting plays for years
 to come.