20 Jul 2016 
Posted by Nicki Ranger
Hardcore Vibes: The Summer of UK Hardcore (July 2016)
It’s summer, the sun is shining, it’s time to party and what better music to party to than the sweet sound of UK Hardcore?! Even if it’s not quite looking like summer where you are, kick back and relax anyway and check out some of AAN’s current top picks from the UK Hardcore scene.
After a fantastic week of partying out in Magaluf for HTID ITMS, UK ravers are now eagerly counting down the days until Summer Gathering 2016, which is a weekend festival dedicated to the harder, underground styles of music and also features an absolutely huge UKHC line up presented by HTID and Ravers Reunited. Taking place at Castle Donington in the UK on the 29th and 30th of July, Summer Gathering 2016 includes two nights of camping, two full days of music and adventures in a secret forest!
One of the biggest bits of news this month music-wise is that Mizel & Wilson’s long-awaited EP has now been released on Together We Rise. “The Blackout EP,” which has been causing a huge buzz all around the scene, delivers four highly original tracks characterised by addictive riffs that draw the listener in for a trip deep into the future sound of UKHC.
Another recent chunk of massive news is of course, that UKHC grandmaster Hixxy has been making new music and finally we are starting to hear some of his new tunes. After recently admitting that he had lost a lot of work at the hands of hard drive gremlins, Hixxy is now well and truly back and absolutely on form with his first new track, “Where Do We Go” already getting high praise from fans and fellow artists alike.
Meanwhile in Australia (where it is not summer), Technikore and JTS are back in the studio creating even more new tunes for their OneSeventy label, which has been going from strength to strength since its launch at the start of this year. The OneSeventy rave series continues with its next edition coming up in Sydney on 5th August; to get all the Aussie ravers warmed up for the big night the track posted below is the latest new track by Technikore and JTS, “Viper.”
One of my favourite tunes at the moment is “Up Above” by Eufeion, a powerful UKHC stomper with a catchy vocal. Boasting 20 successful years in the business, Eufeion’s production work spans a wide range of hardcore styles; this year he has chosen to focus on uplifting UKHC and with great tracks like “Up Above” and “Exhilarate” already released we can’t wait to hear what else is on the horizon for this musical prodigy.
During my recent trip over to Defqon.1 in the Netherlands, I was thrilled to hear some upfront Happy Hardcore tunes being played by none other than hardcore legend Dune, who dropped several recent tracks into his set on the Gold (early rave) stage. Dune has been showing a lot of support for new UKHC artists and will even soon be collaborating on a track with UK artist Jakka-B.
Over on the mainstage at Defqon.1, even the hardest-hearted rawstyle fans in the crowd couldn’t help but melt when Atmozfears dropped his remix of Darren Style’s “Come Running” during his set at the Sunday night Closing Ceremony (sorry, no official online preview around for the track just yet). Now it’s fair to say I’d had quite a few beers by that point of the night, but I really do think there is a lot of similarity in the emotions experienced when listening to uplifting UKHC and listening to euphoric hardstyle; both genres are designed to make listeners smile, dance and feel like their cares have been blown away. It’s great to hear so many artists across the two scenes remixing each other’s tracks and in some cases even collaborating on new tracks.
One notable new UKHC remix of a Hardstyle track is Fracus & Darwin’s remix of Wasted Penguinz “Bitterness.” There have been tons of Wasted Penguinz bootlegs floating around the UKHC scene, but this track is a fully licensed remix release and not to mention, it’s an pure awesomeness!
A rare pleasure for ravers these days is to hear some new breakbeat Hardcore, so it was an absolute delight to hear the previews of the album “Can’t Stop” by Inspector Sands. A breakbeat hardcore devotee from back in the day, Inspector Sands took the decision a few years ago to get back into the studio and see what might happen and the result is an outstanding collection of new breakbeat hardcore tracks with a genuine classic nineties sound. “Can’t Stop” was produced in close collaboration with elusive breakbeat genius CLSM and will be released on the CLSM label. In addition to Inspector Sands original mixes of the tracks, the album also features three remixes by carefully chosen artists; Luna-C, Fracus & Darwin and Chris Ross. The album will be released in both digital and CD formats on 25th July, but in the meantime check out the album promo mix posted below.
It remains to see if Inspector Sands will be making any public appearances this year, but there is one confirmed scheduled appearance of CLSM this year, at the mega-rave Welcome To The Jungle in Westbury, UK on 6th August. CLSM’s alter ego Jon Doe will also be appearing to play a Hard Trance set. I feel that these two sets alone are worth the ticket price never mind the rest of the jam-packed line up of hard dance, UKHC and gabber artists performing across four arenas – and did I mention the event runs for 18 hours? Welcome To The Jungle is starting to look like an unmissable night!
Staying in the underground reaches of the scene now with some Freeform Hardcore in the shape of a new track “Prayer” by Finnbar. “Prayer” is a driving freeform tune twisting into a sinister breakdown of echoing screams and haunting chants – this one definitely sounds dark!
It’s fantastic to see that Scottish hardcore legend Marc Smith is releasing new tunes again. Always one of the harder edged UKHC producers, this new track “House Of Pain,” in collaboration with Little Fella is a typical Marc Smith stomper.
One of my favourite UKHC tracks of recent years is Scott Brown’s “Promise.” When I heard recently that the track had been remixed I admit I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to hear a remix – but I needn’t have worried because the remixer was none other than Outforce and everything I’m hearing from him is absolute gold. In addition to the “Promise” remix, which I have posted below, check out some of Outforce’s new track previews online such as “Make The Beat Rain” and “In My Dream” and definitely, definitely catch one of his DJ sets when you can!
That’s it for this month! We’d love to know which UKHC tunes are rocking your world this summer – let us know in the comments section below!
