Kevin Energy & Proteus – London Helsinki Underground [2004] March 19, 2012

Right. Time for some face melting hardcore. Yes, thats right, some ridiculously high bpm, acid riffs that will split you in half and a light sprinkling of cheddar because really, you cant take Monday too seriously now can you?

So Kevin Energy is one of the longest running hardcore producers in the business, hell the guy had his own radio show on DreamFM back in 1994 aged 15. While ive heard plenty of tat from Energy, this track is taken from what I would consider to be classic KE production. Mental synth manipulation at 168bpm with a ferocious kick drum and enough buildups and drops that your brain is jelly by the end of it.

So, if your Monday feels a bit sedentiary, kick it in the face with this banger.

Jem 77 – Never Felt This Way (Hyper Mix) [1992] March 1, 2012

Another one of those huge tunes from back in the day. I dont think I actually ever heard the original, instead hearing the Hyper Mix get caned everywhere and by everyone. Its without a doubt one of the better late hardcore tracks, the cheese is less weighty than most releases, keeping most of the interest on that ferocious breakbeat that hammers the song from the get go. Couple that with some great strings and the punchy vocal and a genius use of a Guns & Roses guitar riff and you have yourself a winner. Total classic.

Freestyle & DJR – Ten 44 (1993) January 31, 2012

Whats say we get some hardcore around these parts? This cracker was caned by Sy, specifically at a great Dance Planet that I had a dat from. It takes the piano riff from a Thompson Twins track of all places and is the very definition of an uplifting piano track. The rest of the track is standard fare hardcore, choppy riff and banging breakbeat. But that piano just dominates the tune and thats no bad thing!

DEA – You Think Its Over Now (Outta State Mix) [1992] November 7, 2011

Nope, its not over, its just been delayed. Ive been away a few weeks as I relocated from LA to London for a contract, so its back home and back to pastures new! I found myself humming the piano riff to this the other day, cant say i’d thought about it for almost 20 years but hey, once I fired it up, I was right back in it.

A cracking Slip n’ Slide release of the more commercial hardcore variety but it never really got all that much airplay. Again, it was released late 92 and things were busy moving away from piano and synth stab hardcore into the darker sounds of Jungle. That said, there were a few gems released around then, this being one of them. Crackin’

Skanna – The Future [1993] October 4, 2011

You know, there were plenty of overlooked Drum & Bass/Jungle producers back in the day. With DJ’s limited to hour sets, usually dropping 80% crowd favourites and sliding in the odd new release, you could often overlook some of the more cutting edge releases. Radio filled that gap for the most part, with many illegal stations playing out brand new dubplates every weekend. However, one thing I could never get my head round was how little exposure Skanna got. Looking back now, its easy to see, the tracks Skanna was pumping out didnt use Amen’s, they were a whole new kind of Drum & Bass. No wimp-like high hat driven Intelligent Drum n’ Bass here, no wobble basslines and insane Amen choppage. No, Skanna was way past all that. To be honest, considering this was written in 93, it would still have a place in DnB sets today, some 18 years later. I guess thats what he meant by “The Future”. This track and so many others from Skanna were so far ahead of the curve, it took the scene almost 5 years to arrive at where Skanna was.

Sadly, the Skanna name was replaced with Quivver and he started pumping out epic progressive house tunes. A crying shame to the breakbeat scene because his breakbeat mastery was without a doubt, one of the best. This is a bloody incredible track with multiple breaks layered atop one another. That wry synth riff grounding it in what could be considered the 93 sound, or perhaps the 2003 resurgence of hardcore sounds? The bassline is low and rolling, happy to let the breaks take center stage. Chuck in that moody piano and your well on your way. Instant classic and a crime this didnt get more airtime.

A Homeboy A Hippy & A Funky Dread – Total Confusion (Confusion Mix) [1990] September 20, 2011

A tune that needs almost no introduction as its without a doubt one of the most legendary of all the 90′s House/Hardcore tunes. Its got a smattering of the Hip House sound in, mashed together with some mental Belgian style techno business that, at the time, made it stand far out from the crowd. Guaranteed to destroy any dancefloor its played on, its as perfect an example of the early nineties electronic music innovation as your ever likely to find. A Bona fide classic.

UFO – Punk [2003] September 16, 2011

Its been a while since we’ve had any post 2000 hardcore around these parts and before you all start running for the door thinking I mean Happy Hardcore, hold up. No, when I say post 2000 hardcore, im referring to the heavily trance drenched, hard house, pounding style of the likes of Sharkey and Scott Brown. For example, this is a perfect demonstration on how to take an average Trance tune from one of the bigger trance acts of the day and kick it into overdrive. Ferry Corsten did the original and it is a great track in its own right. A fantastic riff, nice and atmospheric.

However, stacked next to this reimagining from UFO, the original just sounds so tepid. This version is a no holds barred, F5, swirling maelstrom of hard as fuck synth led hardcore techno trance. Its probably the first track I heard back then that had me venture back to that part of the scene that for so long had been dominated by that horrific toytown techno sound. An absolute banger!

Rhythm Section – Emotion [1991] September 9, 2011

Speaking of breaks, here’s a classic from some of the hardcore breakbeat pioneers, Ellis Dee, Renee Pilgrem, Nick Newton and Richie T, aka Rhythm Section. Taken from the seminal Commin’ On Strong EP, this is a lighter breakbeat affair with some cracking melody changeups mid way through the track. Those changeups give the whole thing a sense of urgency in an otherwise laid back vocal lead track keeping the whole thing interesting and most importantly, funky. The synth riffs are pure ’91 hardcore style, not a whiff of cheese in this one, just a track designed to get your feet shuffling, your face smiling and your arms waving. Crackin’

Desired State – Dance The Dream [1991] August 29, 2011

I cant believe its taken me this long to get this posted. Probably because there’s not really any way im going to be able to actual do it justice. It is, without a doubt one of my all time favourite tracks, solely because of how Mad P introduced the Top Buzz set that kicks off with this track. Up until that point, i’d not heard a Top Buzz set, didnt really know all that much about them. I was heavily into my Sasha, Tong and other uplifting house DJ’s. I liked a lot of breakbeat but found myself far more familiar with the few more high profile releases. I dont know who gave me this tape, it had to have been about 4 – 5 months after the night, around the middle of summer 1992 and it blew me away. It remains still one of my all time favourite hardcore mixes of all time.

Edge Of Darkness – Come Together [After Dark Remix] [1992] August 26, 2011

What. A. Tune. Top Buzz special, dropped by every else. Doesnt seem to know if its a hardcore track, a techno stomper, Nosebleed banger or Jungle 2 stepper. If ever there was a track to define the sounds of 1992′s melting pot of genre’s it could be this one. You have a great moogy bassline that sits great with that frantic break and uplifting vocal cut giving you the hardcore flavour. Cut too the angry darkness synth cuts with the choppy breaks sprinkling some Jungle business into the proceedings and then round it off with that MENTAL hardcore techno stomp, rinse and repeat.