Preface

There is growing interest in Hardcore Techno from the 1990s again, and the various subgenres this type of music includes.

Yet it can be very confusing and complicated to navigate this field of sound. After all, this scene was host to many artists and labels whose releases were very limited vinyl releases of 500 copies and less, with various - often small and disconnected - distribution networks, few shops that stacked these records, not much documentation, information, sources around, and news about hot new singles and EPs only passed around by "word of mouth", informal and in small circles - or through one of those xeroxed fanzines that were sometimes spread around parties and the above mentioned shops, only to disappear after a few issues.

In other words, it can be hard to get a grasp of the "scene" back then, and the music - especially the marvelous and above standard part of it - when you were not "around" back in the days.

I was, so here is my little e-book.

As already hinted at by the above sentences, this e-book doesn't really focus on the "big names" of the Hardcore and Gabber scenes - those that had TV adverts and entertained rock star concert size crowds and wore silly clothes (well, we did too - but different ones). They have enough books and features already.

But on the fringe, the freaks, the geeks, the weirdos and lunatics, that were just as - or even more - powerful and genius as their better known contemporaries.

And that, even if less copies of their releases were pressed compared with these "big names", still managed to entertain a large crowd and even had their sounds played at one or the other rave festival too sometimes.

This is the general focus here - but some big names, such as PCP, are included too.

And even if you never heard some of these names or labels mentioned before, be sure, they all had their loyal supporters and fans and influence amongst the world of Hardcore, back in these days, just as they have now.

This e-book tries to help you to navigate the world of Hardcore in the 90s more safely, and to showcase and pay respect to some of the true legends of this realm, as they deserve it.

This list makes no claim to be - complete. Plenty of great labels and artists are still missing.

Most of these texts have been salvaged and edited from other E-Books I wrote on Hardcore and other texts I wrote on various occasions.

I've also included links to some of my mixes that showcase labels and artists that are mentioned in this e-book.

All texts written by Sönke Moehl

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Table Of Contents

Preface
Table Of Contents
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The Story Of PCP

to write down the whole story, history and context of pcp would demand a whole book, or rather, a whole library of books. so excuse that i will only focus on parts and occassions of the pcp history, and can not adress the whole - yet.

about the beginnings of pcp, not that much is known. the two key creaters seem to have been marc acardipane and thorsten lambert. acardipane played guitar before that, and had various rap projects. the first outing of pcp was, aptly named, a release by mescalinum united called into mekong center. this is still far, but not that far, from the sound pcp got later quite famous for. we find some sort of a cross between house, electro and EBM sounds, but also plenty of new ideas. this was 1989. the end of 1989. the decade ended. the pcp saga had begun.

of early influences not much is known, or rather, not much specific. in the alien underground interview marc acardipane denounced the industrial EBM influence of the likes of front 242, yet in another interview he says this, together with detroit techno, was the starting point for his own sound. this confusing stance on things runs through the history of pcp. they are not known to play their cards too much in the open, for good reasons.

PCP continued, and with the movers first outing, frontal sickness volume 1, and mescalinum united's reflections of 2017 ep, two of the most important records in the history of techno, in the history of hardcore, and in the history of music have been made. much has been said about these tracks elsewhere; i will leave it at this short notice right now.

in these early days, it was the height of the first techno wave, in germany, europe and britain. PCP thrived in this milieu, and as far as i know, were very welcome by this scene. we got plenty of interviews in early german and other techno fanzines, they played a lot of parties, even at the biggest rave than, the mayday rave by low spirit. hardcore and gabber was also a new thing; and pcp paved the way for that sound; they were celebrated by the dutch and belgium gabber crowd, and were legends even back then. but, even at that point, acardipane in interviews expressed the motion that, especially in germany, they were ignored in light of other DJs and producers of the techno scene who made it "big".

indeed, the techno landscape was changing. techno was no longer one sound, one family, one unity. a DJ wouldn't play all styles in one set anymore. the scene fragmented into further subscenes, such as breakbeat, jungle, "intelligent", hardtrance, and hardcore and gabber. the DJs and producers adopted, and went with the flow, instead of beating the system. pcp did not. they stayed true to their core. they kept putting out hardcore sounds en masse. for the german techno scene, this became problematic. hardcore was now seen as "childish", not being liked by the now stuck up crowd who demanded "intelligent" and "minimal" sounds.

this explained why, while other DJs that started together with pcp, rose to fame, mainstream fame, pcp did not, and instead became more obscure.

pcp did not only stay with their original sound, they expanded it, explored other venues. i think any type of dance and electronic music must have been covered by their catalogue. they ventured into krautrock, goa, jungle, EBM, speedcore, abstract; anything: you name it, they did it.

in this "second" period, in my opinion, fall some of the most interesting releases of pcp, as the outings by miro, or the mover's countdown trax EP, or the jupiter pulse of mescalinum united.

in an interview, miro expressed disappointment that seemingly everyone had forgotton about pcp. and this was largely the case; pcp was more of a "secret hint", passed on by an elite circle. the parties were usually headlined by someone else.

yet, the tide for pcp changed once again. or rather, it ended, in a true phoenix style. pcp ceased to exist by the year 1997. but this was also the time when, as a live act, or marc acardipane as a DJ, under various names, such as marshall masters or kotzaak, they were increasingly booked at the "big" parties again, especially in holland and belgium. they released a marshall masters album which sold weld. "i like it loud" became a hit for the first time. acardipane records was started, which later led into resident e records.

so, the recognition was finally there. recognition by a larger audience.

after the 2000s, things changed even more. by the breakcore, the techno, the experimental hardcore crowed, pcp finally was no longer seen as "childish" anymore (yes, there was a time when you were ridiculed by self-appointed elitists, when you stated that you listened to pcp.)

pcp was rediscoverd again, its mysterios, excellent sound came into the open again.

and, a new generation of artists, of listeners, of human beings, discovered pcp newly again.

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The Story Of Fischkopf

fischkopf first caught my awareness when it was mentioned on the old DHR website ca. 1996 on the haywire tree of sites. they wrote, relating to DHR, that labels with 'similiar' ideas had sprung up in other cities as berlin, for example fischkopf in hamburg. it was not long ago that i discovered the hardcore / experimental world, and was completely in love with it, so i was pretty excited; a label from that scene, with that sound, here in hamburg, where i live? i immediately tried to find out more, and got to know fischkopf records operated from a store here in hamburg called container records, for records and CDs of all kinds techno; i think they had one of the largest sections for hardcore only in europe, at least this side of rotterdam. multipara's label discographies webpage - he had one area solely for fischkopf - provided me with further information.

but now, let's cut the introduction, and get to the basics.

fischkopf was started in 1994 by a group of people, including the operator of container records, martin, and people such as DJ Raid. the first release was done by cybermouse. in an interview it was stated that cybermouse caught the interest of the fischkopf crew as he was known for his eclectic taste in music in the container record store. this resulted in fisch 1 - cybermouse - surprise attack. the tracks on this release were done on an amiga 500, and actually first released in a diskmag called neurowaver, before they found their way on this fine 12".

the follow up was christoph de babalon's "love under will" EP. these two releases already set the way of what was to come, with their exotic, experimental approach to music that was not easily found elsewhere.

after the fourth release, the old crew disbanded. DJ Raid and others set out to create their own label (with others), Cross Fade Entertainment. the first release on the, "methods of mutilation", by somatic responses, was actually the first somatic responses EP also. it had originally planned to be released on fischkopf. also planned, but scrapped, was a fischkopf release by alec empire.

gerhard storz, called hardy, now took over the business of running fischkopf. the first release under his hands was "shortage of oxygen" by eradicator aka patric catani, one of the masterminds of the experimental and digital hardcore scene back then. what followed were releases by monoloop and lasse steen under the name of p.server, which, with their spaced out jungle and hard acid madness, showed that fischkopf could not be pinned down to one style. in this early period of fischkopf falls also the first outing by one of the most celebrated persons in experimental hardcore: joerg buchholz aka taciturne. with this release, "potpourri" EP, he also had the track which is probably the only one known to gabberists by this label; "der toten". it became a sort of "rave anthem", played on many a gabber party, and is, according to my knowledge, the best selling record of this label.

it also sometimes fetches wondrous prices on the discogs page to sell records.

cue several other later releases, and we arrive at fisch 12, "6 fragmente in der chronologie des wahnsinns". named after an independent movie, "71 fragmente einer chronologie des zufalls", it features hard hitting sonic experiments that were unseen at that point in history. you can find a more lenghty and conclusive review of this record on my blog. let's just add, that is also known to fetch wondrous bids of money on discogs.

by now it should be noted, that at that point, fischkopf had become a sort of phenomen. the "normal" hardcore scene more or less chosed to ignore most of its releases. hardy, in an interview for signal zero said, that it was actually one of his intentions, to make music that was outside the hardcore scene at that point, what he called the pcp and nordcore crowd.

so, fischkopf was actually much less known as many of its contemporary labels which sometimes even managed to drop compilations with their stuff in supermarkets and mainstream stores (hey, it was the hardcore heyday back then).

yet, to a smaller group of people, fischkopf was already known as being the source for brilliant, exquisite hardcore creations and sonic experimentation. so fischkopf managed to pierced many a subculture with its sound.

it is only now, it seems, that fischkopf seems to finally get wider recognition (although slowly growing), by the possibilites of the internet - or is it fading into total obscurity? only time will tell.

let's get on.

fisch 14 saw the first and only album by eradicator. tonal assault between 4/4 madness and an industrial record collection can be found here. catani actually got annoyed by the label, as they used a self-made artwork for this, instead of his own cover design.

in this middle period of fischkopf - we are in 1996 - three more important names appear on fischkopf. nawoto suzuki aka burning lazy persons, and the michelsen sisters, no name and auto-psy.

lenghty reviews are due elsewhere - let's just say i consider these releases to be amongst the most important at this point of hard electronic music.

fisch 20 had amiga shock force, with an aptly named assault of "psycore kids vs rave fascists."

fisch 23 saw the master release of fischkopf. a compilation with its acts and related artists. everyone always was about the vinyl version; but, according to me, better get the 2xCD, as some of the best tracks are CD only.

again, not the time for a lenghty review, but it is the outing of some of the best artists at that date with some of their best tracks, and spans from breakcore to acidtechno, from all-out noisecore to the most calm ambient.

fisch 24 saw a release by EPC, whose items are the subject of a collectors hunt these days.

after that - it was the end. why and how fischkopf ended is not clear. did hardy fell out with the container records crew? or didn't fischkopf generate enough attention and a clear balance, in the end?

no matter what it was, the shock hit the fischkopf supporters hard.

we're in 1997 now. by the fourth quarter of 1998, a white label suddenly appeared, followed by a regular release.

fisch 25 by mathey olivers. excellent french hardcore with surreal ideas can be found here.

apparenly fischkopf was due to a relaunch? but just as it appeared again so fast, it faded away again - a shame.

the last outing was the white label of fisch 26, of which only a few test pressings seemingly existed. later, it was found out that it was done by cybermouse, who has also done fisch 1 - a nice and worthy ending for this great label.

this text only covers a fragment of information (or of "wahnsinn"?) about this underrated, appreciated, fantastic, groundbreaking label. much more is to be found out. it is up to you to find out more - or wait for more information to appear.

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Cross Fade Enter Tainment

DJ Raid, who was also involved in Fischkopf, set up this label with Paul Snowden and Christoph De Babalon. The word “hardcore” only vaguely fits here; this is just brilliant, brilliant subcultural music.
The first release was the premier release of Somatic Responses, who took the world by storm in the years (or rather, decades) that followed. This was still a lot different to their later style: heavy, heavy distorted drums (or noises) in a 4/4 style, with experimental sounds in a vein of early synth experimental music. As fierce as fierce gets.

The second release was done by Christoph De Babalon and Paul Snowden, aptly named “We Declare War”. Paul Snowden’s site has some of the most distorted acid, and CdB brings us assault troop breakbeat tracks here, going on from his Fischkopf release.
In a rare German TV interview, CDB stated CFET to him is “auteur music”, in the sense that the artist take their music in their own individualist direction, regardless of trends. And the releases give proof of that.

Later, we find some fine breakcore releases on CFET.

I can’t find much info on this, but according to defunct websites, the CFET personnel was once involved in the “Repulsion Parties”, taking place inside the “Rote Flora”, the most infamous squat in Hamburg. Line ups included artists like E-De Cologne, Alec Empire and Somatic Responses.
CFET left Hamburg with Jan (CDB) and Paul moving to Berlin.

Very influential, and pioneering, the label is well respected to this day.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/2038-Cross-Fade-Enter-Tainment-CFET

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-tribute-to-cross-fade-enter-tainment-mix/

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Blut

After Hardy left Container, he set up his own record store, called Otaku Records, again with a “Hardcore” label, called Blut Records; and in many way a spiritual successor to Fischkopf Records.

The rooster was similar too: Taciturne, Nawoto, Amiga Shock Force and EPC. We also find a record that was originally planned as Fischkopf 25 here, Taciturne with Ebizieme.

The sound was taken a step farther in extremism with this label, so be prepared for a noise assault on your ears; but, again, a sensible one.

The record store itself was also a good destination to shop for obscure and not so obscure hardcore, speedcore and breakcore records in Hamburg, with it’s own special charme.

Blut never officially ended, but there was no release after Blut 6; a shame!


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Nordcore

No Hamburg hardcore history text is complete without Nordcore. Nordcore started as “Die Tekknokraten (The Technocrats)” organizing small techno and hardcore parties, changing the name later. As Nordcore they run a weekly hardcore club called “The Box”, in the midst of Hamburg. I think this was one of the only regular hardcore clubs worldwide that existed in the 90s outside of Netherlands and Belgium; the Bunker in Berlin being another important location.

Almost all the big names in hardcore, gabber and speedcore scene played in the box; Speedfreak, the PCP crew including Smash? (sic), BSE DJ team, Laurent Hô, E-De Cologne… And also a lot of the Dutch DJs.

It were speedy times, but The Box had to close in 1996; much too soon!
The parties got bigger though, and Nordcore moved to the Markthalle, usually a location for rock and pop bands, with their “Operation Nordcore” parties, again attracting all the “big name” performers to play.

Nordcore continued their hardcore journey way long into the 2000s in Hamburg; and maybe we will see them resurface? (Editors note: by now, they did!)
They also ran a record label, called Nordcore Records; and, beginning with issue 5, compiled the “Terrordrome” CDs, the biggest name in hardcore CDs in the 90s, only eclipsed by Thunderdome.

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Patric Catani

Patric Catani was one of the masterminds of Breakcore, Industrial Hardcore and general weird Experimental outings in the 90s. Starting on an Amiga 500, wave after wave of insane sampling was unleashed on the listener, Grindcore, Pop Music, Jungle, Ragga, Chiptunes - everything underlined with punching Gabber drums and / or overly distorted Breakbeat loops. With aliases such as Eradicator, Ec8or, Test Tube Kid, E-De Cologne he released on most of the important labels of that era such as Praxis, Fischkopf, DHR, Mono Tone...

Under his alias E-De-Cologne, Patric Catani was a true pioneer of Hardcore. He set the path for his own style of harder music, which was more fierce and less melody-based than most of the more known "Gabber" of that time, with his distinct way of sampling from a multitude of source, Thrash Metal, Acid, Disco and Pop music and everything else, creating a killer mixture of sounds. Both relentlessly hard, but not without humor and an overdose of fun.

He was admired and did inspire plenty of artists that came after him in a variety of genres, including artists in the Breakcore, Speedcore or Experimental Hardcore genres.

An important piece in the history of hard sounds, and a showcase of sheer euphoric sonic experimentalism.

Eradicator and Test Tube Kid were two of the most interesting side projects of Patric Catani. He really took Experimental Hardcore to a new level with these sounds. Influences from a variety of genres woven together masterfully. 

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/4989-Patric-Catani

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-tribute-to-e-de-cologne-mix/

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Taciturne

Taciturne is one of the most sought after of the early underground hardcore producers. not a small feat when one takes into account that he only released 3 and a half records (or rather, two halfs - there is also a split EP he did under a different name) during his active period. Yet he fully deserves this appreciation.

Taciturne is known for his intricate and peculiar compositions mixing and mimicking Dark Ambient, Industrial, Noize, a hint of Breakcore, maybe a bit of Neofolk... but he is also known for his intricate compositions in the field of Gabber and Speedcore where he was a pioneer. Mixing cheesiness worthy of a "Fun Punk" record with dark, brooding tunes, and everything in between and beyond.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/47214-Taciturne

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-taciturne-mix-part-2-gone-hardcore/

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Praxis

Praxis Records was one of the most important - or possibly THE most important - label of Experimental Hardcore and also played an important role in the history of genres such as Breakcore or Industrial Hardcore. It was and is also a label that combines radical politics with radical music especially in connection with projects like the Datacide Magazine.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/4638-Praxis

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-praxis-records-mix-part-1-early-tracks/

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Mouse And No Name

i have always been intrigued by the music of stella and poka michelsen. to me, it is some of the most complex, complicated, intelligent music ever made. levels and levels of beats; noize; ambiance; abstraction; is built on top of each other. they're so far away from the "dumb gabber" and "speedcore" most people think of when the word 'hardcore' is mentioned. is this hardcore? is that even techno? it is more of art - real art, abstract, maybe it would belong more to gallery, a museum, than to a party were people dance - if museums wouldn't be so boring!

i can't find many artists that could compare to this. the sheer level of complexity is overwhelming. some of the best somatic responses productions could compare - in complexity and experimentation of sounds. or the most intricate construction of underground PCP via acardipane. yet, maybe it is not right to compare this music - as it plays in its own universe. frantic noise, shrill, alien screams - often driven home by a powerful bassdrum, and killer punctured beats and hits. for some reason, i never compared this so much with other music, but to other forms of art, movies, pictures. this would fit well to dystopian cyberpunk picture, an onslaught of screeching robots pacing through a destroyed, wrecked industrial wasteland. 

there are so many things i am missing in most hardcore that are in michelsen's productions; changes of beats, tempo, complex trackstructures with many twists, beginnings, endings, turn-arounds. lengthy intros of weird noises, laughter, ambient drones. some michelsen records fetch high sums at collectors at this time, and rightfully so.

while many other of their contempary artists around their decades became quite "famous" by now, known also to the dreaded "gabber" and "breakcore" crowd, the michelsen sisters still seem to be kind of a secret hint, with a cult following. yet, they are already legends, in their regard, in their own way.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/92189-Mouse https://www.discogs.com/artist/142985-No-Name-3

Showcase: https://soundcloud.com/eeaom/low-entropy-tribute-to-mouse-and-no-name-mix

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The Mover

the mover is a project by acardipane, almost around since the beginning of PCP. the first outing was the the "frontal sickness" EP, followed by a second part; then we get the "final sickness" album, the signs of 96, the countdown tracks, as well as the post-PCP follow up, "frontal frustration". also various combined efforts (splits with other artists) and similiar projects. (Editor's note: we got way more The Mover output since this text was written).

the mover is highly praised and adored. among PCP fans, the mover releases are usually seen as special, or rather, the most special ones. the mover is often synonymously used with marc acardipane himself; especially the more sophisticated pcp fans usually call him just "the mover". so, the mover has engraved itself with pcp, and with acardipane.

what is so special about the mover?

stylistically, there is a continuity between tracks - this is basically is all pcp projects, but with the mover it's more visible i think. think of the changes nasty django had in sound in later releases. the mover has a common thread, a common sonic expression. the "countdown trax" on narcotic network recordings is the only release that sounds slightly different; but aswell deeply connected with the mover theme.

so what can be said about the sound?

let us look at the first frontal sickness, which, to me, sets the sound of the mover. even for pcp standard, we get a removed, dislocated sound. the elements have been reduced to a functional, beautiful simplicity. melody created on a synth, a bassdrum, percussion and a bit of FX. that's it. but i think exactly this minimal, reduced approach adds a lot to the wonderful sound of the mover. it is very unlikely the minimalism of other artists; there is, indeed, not much going on in these tracks, at first glance - yet it feels so full, so exciting. it has only the necessary elements - but these elements are the more powerful.

stylistically, the mover is hard to locate, too. this is with all of pcp; but again, even more so with the mover. it sometimes feels like a bit of a missing link between the pre-techno electronic days; the lofi "minimal synth" and EBM sound of the 80s; and the beginning of techno. but it also is reminiscent of the krautrock electronic days; and it reminds me a lot of the earliest electronic and sonic experimentation of the 1950s - or maybe even 1920s. it is out of time and creates its own style. i dare to call it even "techno". maybe electronic poems - yes, this fits.

yet the mover is also an experimental project, as can be seen in the weird electro outings and space synths of the "countdown tracks". experimental techno - at its best.

what sticks out, is that each track is seemingly focused around a single melody; and this is maybe what makes the trademark mover sound. each has a wonderful melody, at which the whole track is seemingly constructed around. again, it's simplistic - seemingly, and repetive - reduced. 4 chords, 8 tones going down and up again. but these melodies are again perfectly effective, and bizarre, enchanting - exotic. i wouldn't even dare to say in which harmonic, tuning system, or even music system, they would be part of.

to write this in words is very hard to do; listen to the tunes themselves, and you will see what i mean when i say that the melodies are a special part of the mover tracks.

one could almost say the mover is the punk rocker of cyborg techno: this is one chord, this is the second; now add the beat and percussion, and go create a mover track[1]!

to finish this text, look at what is most important; the atmosphere of the mover. again, i said it brings up feelings of abstract art experimentation of past decades; but it is also so much in the future. PCP feels so much like space, scifi and the mover is an expression of it; but at a higher dose; a "hardcore" form of it.

the atmosphere is what gives the mover tracks life, and i guess it is why the mover is so popular. a wonderful project, interesting, unique - for the future.


footnotes:

1: related to an old slogan of the 70s new york punk scene. 

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/4872-The-Mover

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/dj-low-entropy-tribute-to-the-mover-mix/

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Kotzaak Unltd.

At one of the first big Nordcore parties in the 90s, Kotzaak was announced as being "from the deepest swamp of PCP". And this is true. Verily a part of PCP, but with a dark edge, psychotic, homicidal. Tracks from the hells below, demon inspired compositions, it's all there. One of the most extreme Hardcore outings in its time (and even today), but with that special PCP approach, deliberate production, slick, and, if I dare to say, emotional and lucid inbetween the all-out assaults of thundering drums, screams and distortion. Kotzaak gained a cult following quickly, and it's fans are beyond loyal, and their numbers are growing to this day.

So, take care, doom supporter! 

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/4048-Kotzaak-Unltd

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-tribute-to-kotzaak-unltd-mix/

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Dr. Macabre

when i got into the hardcore scene in the mid 90s, "manga corps" on IST was just released and it made everyone's charts, in those charming xeroxed paper fanzines from around the world. it had also one of the first tracks i heard by mr. guillaume, first wave, together with "seven" on the now infamous biomechanik compilation by manu le malin.

of course i had known "the meltdown" earlier, from my techno and ravey days, as it was a big hit in that scene then. the next introduction deeper into the works of the man was via pcp, with release like "negative burn" or "renegade legion". "gates of heaven" still holds a dear place in my memory, with this absolutely out of space, alien intro with a hint of odd marching beats.

when i went to my first big indoor hardcore rave - "operation nordcore II" in the hamburg markthalle - of course dr. macabre played and his big kicks, sawtooths and other sounds left a lasting mark on me.

what showed me the whole spectrum of his works then was the release of the paranoid archives. all the killers, all the sonic exploration in one place, in perfect sound quality.

so what defines the sound of monsieur macabre? it's maybe a bad thing most people pin him to hardcore or techno, as his work goes vastly beyond the limitations of these genre. we have tracks like "hiroshima", that starts as an electronic ambient work, only to break down into a mad array of beats and distortion a few minutes later. or the already mentioned "first wave" that with its sounds jacks you to a surreal sonic trip.

we often find a very strong synth and melody work in his works. he is one of the only artists in "hardcore" where, to me, the melodies don't feel just as a gimmick, another channel to add to the sequenced sounds, but would work as a standalone thing too.

maybe the renegade legionnaire is best described as an electronic experimenteer in the strong history of this music in france.

from acid to techno, to gabber and ambient, his works spans the widest field of sound. oh yeah and one more thing. he does *killer* bassdrums.

the music he did in later years and nowadays should not be forgotten either; it's often wide different from his roots, but again a very unique style, spacey experimental and bizarre. kicking, rushing, astonishing sounds.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/39143-Dr-Macabre

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-dr-macabre-mix/

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Oliver Chesler

what can be said about mr. chesler? some artists took an existing genre to its extreme... but Oliver Chesler went further than that, creating his own genre and style that has no second in electronic music.

yet he also worked as a pusher for scenes that have grown by now; making doomtechno while the rest of the hardcore world was on the speedcore craze; providing anthems to the gabber scene with flesh is the fever and more tracks; feeding techno with one night in nyc; fusing new wave, electro and techno with releases.

one of his merits was to bring songwriting and vocals back to techno when everyone was keen on bassmachines, drums and synths only.

of course, the thing with chesler was always the air, atmosphere, charme around his releases... remember the cryptic inlays of the thingstocome vinyls, or his plans to create a world political movement?

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/4563-Oliver-Chesler

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-oliver-chesler-mix/

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Things To Come

Things To Come Records was started in the mid-90s by Oliver Chesler, who by this point was mostly known for his Hardcore and Techno releases on labels such as Industrial Strength and monikers like Temper Tantrum or being in groups such as Disintegrator and / or DJ Skinhead.

The first release, by Arrivers, was advertised as a secret weapon by the Planet Core Distribution, the second release gained much more exposure due to having three future "hits" on it. The EP was titled The Horrorist - One Night in NYC. The track Mission Extacy, a tale of two New York youths on their quest to pursue XTC and get high on a modern odyssey through an urban landscape became an underground sensation, and was for example remixed by Marc Acardipane years later. An even bigger impact had "Flesh Is The Fever", an apocalyptic tale of time travel and world domination (seemingly), which helped turn around the world of Gabber, being played again and again at big Hardcore raves and being hugely influential in the move from 180+ BPM compositions in the mid-90s Netherlands to slower outings and a new style. A track that helped to spawn a whole genre. If you think that can't be topped, there was also the title track "One Night In NYC" on this 12". Again a "spoken word tale", this time about sleazy sex and (eponymous) night life in NYC with a twist, this track went big, became number one on the German dance charts (prompting a video release) and a huge hit around the world and a true classic.

TTC went on from this, first in more Hardcore oriented releases, before setting more to an EBM and Electro style. Another release that stands out was Hypnotizer's first 12" "Into Nowhere" with six tracks full of Doom, disaster, and emotional Techno affairs, that was a key moment in the early Doomcore genre.

Now many years after TTC was created, the label proved to be important in the world of Techno and Hardcore, being a favorite amongst plenty of DJs and producers, and was and still is a large influence on the world of electronic music.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/3963-Things-To-Come-Records

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-tribute-to-things-to-come-records-mix/

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Senical Label Family

One of the most profilic producers of interesting and experimental hardcore in the 90s was Lasse Steen, who not only spread his output on many of the key labels, but also created many labels of his own. he produced under various forms of music; sometimes closer to speedcore, sometimes closer to techno, but a main factor was pounding drums, piercing acid lines and abstract, spacey synth routines. in fact, i'd say a lot of his output is close to the atmosphere of movie scores, and for sure could be used in this way.

i knew some people who did mind that he often gave in to 4/4 brutality and were eager to lump him into the generic "hardcore techno" category but to me, these rhythms and techno appeal were a further plus on his music.
with his net of releases and sub- and subsublabels he created his own dark catacomb of dark hardcore releases that are waiting to be explored. i must say his killing rate output harmonizes the most with me; often arhythmic beats, with some of the most deliberate cybernoid melodies and techno FX. check his "fraud" output for rough and fast terrorising tunes (as well as melancholic ones). or sut rov for very pounding, noizy hardcore. or his guest releases on acid assault for some of the finest in dreamy acid techno - before that genre became so big.
and don't forget a visit on drop bass network for just purely teethgnashing dirty gritty hardacid.
Lasse could be also known as "the man with 100" names as he is known as a person with some of the most aliases in both the techno and hardcore world, similiar to martin damm, and is only topped by acardipane with this.
Lasse definately had a distinct style of his own. while this music is mostly associated with acidcore now, it is by far more diverse than just this style.
his harder tunes were quite popular in the days and got played a lot on parties, and give a good expression of how experimental hardcore could sound like. nowadays he is doing trance music and we wish him much luck with that.

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Skullblower

Skullblower was one of the many aliases of Acid and Hardcore mastermind Lasse Steen. The Skullblower was a defining entity of the early Speedcore / Terror years of the 1990s (and beyond). Using analogue equipment, and combining full-on drums, distortion and reckless tempos with refined dark and sombre melodies evoking Sci-Fi and Horror movie scores, he set the mark for powerful and well thought-out Hardcore productions. An inspiration for many other producers of his era, and artists to this day.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/18379-Skullblower

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-tribute-to-skullblower-mix/

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Narcotic Network Recordings

Narcotic Network Recordings was a sublabel of Planet Core Productions, focusing on Electro and strange Ambient experiments. With Miro's output on this label, I think one can hear a Lory D and generally "sound of rome" influence, but also of course the trademark Miro sounds with dark, haunting melodies and synths worthy of a Kotzaak record - but, of course, with an Electro twist this time. Marc's outing on this label are as excellent as one would expect, with a heavy dose of The Mover atmosphere, somewhere inbetween Techno, Acid and sonic experimentation.
This label also saw the release of the track "Destination - Nowhere", a bittersweet symphony composed by Miro, which would fit well as a soundtrack to the most depressive (or redeeming?) movie.
A label for some of the most extraordinary tracks by PCP.
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FFM Shadow Orchestra

my appreciation of ffm shadow orchestra runs for a long time now. like most of the acts in my early days of hardcore, i discovered them through the c8.com site in the mid 90s. i remember when i first read the name, i assumed it must be a strange rap group from frankfurt. i soon learned better, since stevvi (who ran the old pcp website, which was hosted at c8) put up some preview tracks by them. they became some of the first underground hardcore tracks i ever heard, when i was 15 year old, and i instantly liked what i heard. i remember stevvi wrote that marc had send him some white labels, so he doesn't know who wrote these tracks, but he assumed it was the ffm shadow orchestra. since then, and probably before then, the orchestra was always associated with some sort of mystery. 

fast forward one year, it's 1997 and i'm in the container record store in hamburg. i spotted two new releases that really stood out from most of the rest of the vinyls. the cover art intrigued me, and on the backside there were printed lyrics to the song. that was really something stunning for me, underground hardcore with full vocals and lyrics! i immediately bought the records, without prelistening to them. i think only at home i realised i bought something by the ffm shadow orchestra, because of the weird font they used i couldn't really decipher most of the text at first.

the records were interzone 1 and 2 (the name of the label is a reference to william burroughs and/or the movie naked lunch, by the way), and i instantly fell in love with them. the tracks had such an outerspace feel to them, pure phuture, with long ambient intros that would make one feel as if one is travelling among the stars. over the years i've listened to a lot of futuristic music, but ffm shadow orchestra is still something that stands out with it's vibe, and there is something else to it, not just phuture, or rather, a special brand of phuture sound that no other artist did yet.
here ends the text of my personal story with the ffm shadow orchestra, so i'll talk a bit about the mystery surrounding this act. the first mystery is of course, who are they actually? they have not released on any other label outside of the pcp family, and almost nothing is known about the persons behind this project. needless to say, they seem to never have done any live perfomances either. in fact, for a long time, i thought it is just another strange project done by marc, miro or thorsten, or all three together, using a different name. it seems though that the people behind the orchestra have released under other names on pcp too, using aliases such as "terrorists" or "3 from i.o.".
another mystery is the nature of their releases themselves. around 2000 i noticed a release called "ffm shadow orchestra - radio inferno" in the phuture-rave record store on the web. it's a full album, only released on cd-r. who released it? why didn't it get a proper release? is it really the same guys - it sounds much different to their earlier releases? one might never know.
the biggest strange thing is maybe that the ffm shadow orchestra is still much less known than other acts of their era, or especially other pcp acts. they had a lot more going on than a lot of acts - fully lyricized tracks, big productions, good ideas (on one of their records all four tracks are an hommege to the classic movie "killing zoé", for example). they really would have deserved much more recognition, in my opinion.

note: since writing this text, a lot of the ffm shadow orchestra mysteries have been lifted for me. yet, i found it more interesting to keep the text as it is, so the mysteries remain, and it is ought to each one interested to lift them for him.

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Terrordrome

The Terrordrome compilation series is legendary. I don't know about the international markets, but at least in Germany, and I'm sure in many other countries as well, Terrordrome was the 2nd biggest compilation after Thunderdome, and in the 90s, "Gabber" and "Hardcore" to most people were synonymous with Thunderdome and Terrordrome.

Terrordrome did not just cover the "big hits" of that era; but supplied the scene with the hottest tracks from the more underground areas, and played a vital role in building then new genres such as Speedcore and Noizecore with their range of tracks. Before the days of high-speed internet, MP3s, social media, compilations like Terrordrome spread the newest sounds and gave the Core audience their much needed stuff. Terrordrome definitely played a central role in the Hardcore network during its heyday.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/290967-Terrordrome

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/remember-terrordrome-tribute-mix/

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Brandon Spivey And Richie Anderson

Hardcore often is music of an extreme and violent nature. But these two artists - Brandon Spivey and Richie Anderson - pushed the envelope even much, much farther. This is some of the most powerful, disturbing, awe-inspiring sonic creations ever made. But these two are not just pure extremists; there is plenty of experimentation, clever sound architecture, and even the rare moment of calmness. The stylistic definition of this output lies somewhere between Hard Acid, Speedcore, and Dada-ist Noize assaults. Spread over many labels and volumes, we have a large body of art here, that needs to be explored. It should also be noted that this is not just l'art pour l'art, but Mr. Spivey is also very outspoken about his political beliefs and this is the background to this music; something that has become a rather rare thing.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/88353-Brandon-Spivey https://www.discogs.com/artist/122488-Richie-Anderson

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-brandon-spivey-richie-anderson-mix

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Digital Hardcore Recordings

One of *the* leading labels in Hardcore, Breakcore and Experimental in the 90s - and creator of its own style, well, Digital Hardcore. This Mix showcases a few of its classic tracks.

While Digital Hardcore Recordings was already known to experiment in any possible direction in sound, its sublabel "DHR Limited" took steps even farther. Starting in 1997 and running till 2005, it mostly released artists like Patric Catani and Alec Empire from the DHR rooster, but also some outside acts. Breaks, Noize, Hardcore, Dark Ambient, it's all here, taken to its extreme, drowned in sound and madness. DHR Limited marked a high point in the avantgarde approach to harder electronic music in the 90s, and only a few other labels like Fischkopf or Praxis had similar boundless experimentalism in sonic outings

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/1094-Digital-Hardcore-Recordings-DHR

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-digital-hardcore-recordings-mix/

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Hangars Liquides

After the mid 90s, the "Experimental Hardcore" scene seemed to wither away. Fischkopf was dead, some other labels switched to Breakcore and / or stopped releasing too, things seemed pretty bleak... there were labels that carried the light on into the 2000s years though, and one of the most known of them is Hangars Liquides.

Pioneer label, groundbreaking, extraordinary... a label that to this day has a large following and a high esteemed status amongst music enthusiasts... also a platform for early releases by producers that become important figures later... sparked a whole movement and scene by itself.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/7155-Hangars-Liquides

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-hangars-liquides-tribute-mix/

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Bass Junkie

Phil Klein aka Bass Junkie is one of the pioneers of the Electro Funk revival that started in the 90s. Everything that made Electro great you can find in his tracks; SciFi synths, driving basslines, vocoder vocals, and funky, dance- and trance-inducing rhythms. But there is more to him; he also ventured into Hardcore territories, and in some of his releases coined his very own breed of Electro meets Core. On other releases, he ventures into other dimensions, such as Minimal and almost IDM executed structures.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/568866-Phil-Klein

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-phil-klein-aka-bass-junkie-mix/

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Ambush

Together with Praxis, Ambush was a gamechanger in the evolution of Breakcore, maybe *the* gamechanger. In the first half of the 90s "Breakcore" was to most part a very "Amen" or similar breakbeat fueled affair, and maybe not *that* different to Jungle, especially its Darkside contingent - well, one must admit they replaced the Rave-stabs with more Industrial sounds. But with Ambush Breakcore got a texture of its own, and diverged into wider differences in style. Newer Drum'N'Bass methods were included, but also Noize, more Ragga sentiments, all kinds of weird ideas and just full-on destruction.

A lot of the second generation of Breakcore artists was heavily influenced by the Ambush sound. With each new release, Ambush pushed the sound wider, but faltered to soon. 

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/3019-Ambush

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-early-breakcore-mix-part-8-tribute-to-ambush/

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Unit Moebius

Unit Moebius. Bunker. Early Works. Legends. Techno. Electronica. Acid. The Hague. Enough Said. End Of Line.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/460-Unit-Moebius

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-unit-moebius-mix-part-1-early-works/

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Tranceform

Together with Countdown FFM, Tranceform is one of the most obscure labels of the PCP family. Far from being standardized Trance, we have a highly Experimental form of Techno here. Phuturistic, Bold, Outer Space, riddled with samples from Mangas and other sources. Trance not as a style of music, but as a state of consciousness - in its own way. The artists on this labels were also involved in other great PCP projects such as Terrorists on Super Special Corps or the infamous FFM Shadow Orchestra. 


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Speedcore Records

Part of the Street Trash Family (which also includes labels like the legendary Shockwave) Speedcore Records was the first label dedicated exclusively to Speedcore Techno and pre-dated the release of DOA's "New York City Speedcore" CD. While the term "Speedcore" had been around for years, this is one of its first 'official' uses. 

So Speedcore Recordings definitely stands at the roots and beginning of this type of music.

While it was one of the first, don't think the labels that followed necessarily eclipsed it in hardness and sheer speed. It still stands as one of the hardest and fiercest labels that has ever been created. Its output ranges from 200 BPM madness to assaults bordering on Extratone. (Nearly) Always mixed with Death or Black Metal, and a healthy use of rap samples.

Artists that released on this label include legends like The Berzerker, Amiga Shock Force, Sonic Overkill... and countless other. For some of them these were their debut releases. 

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/4358-Speedcore

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-speedcore-records-mix/

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Black Blood

Black Blood aka Steven Sick is one of the most enigmatic producers of Hardcore Techno. Active in the 90s (and early 2000s) and part of the second generation of Doomcore and Industrial Hardcore producers, he was a Doom- and Darkcore pioneer. He just did few releases, and then disappeared from the scene, and not much more is known about him. He must have had good networking though, as his releases appeared throughout Europe and even Australia.

His own brand of Doomcore is very peculiar, with not much of the often used "rave buildup" but rather a mix of 90s Industrial Hardcore, even Speedcore, and Doomcore sentiments. His sound is much deeper and more complex than most of his peers. His tracks verge on Noise and Industrial madness sometimes. A very individualist approach, and he deserves a lot of praise for that.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/21159-Black-Blood

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-black-blood-and-steven-sick-mix/

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Sonic Subjunkies

When the topic is the early days of DHR, everyone knows ATR, Ec8or, Alec Empire... Sonic Subjunkies remain more obscure, even if they were there from the early beginning on DHR Record 3...

They are true pioneers of Breakcore, being part of the first Breakcore generation in Berlin and worldwide. Far away from happy mash-up sounds or IDM overkill, this is steely-as-nails straight in your face breakbeat distortion, Industrialized soundscapes and a variety of noize and samples, preferably from kult animes.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/16514-Sonic-Subjunkies

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-sonic-subjunkies-mix/

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Eiterherd

Eiterherd should be both known by running his Widerstand label and his solo work as a producer and performer. He started with Experimental Hardcore, a bit in the vein of Fischkopf or Praxis, but with relentless fierce drumming and a whole overload of noize, as well as a talent for procuring good and creative samples. This is some really angry, confrontial Hardcore, bordering on Speedcore. Later he switched to broken beats and Breakcore, and became a master of that style; also one of the original Early Breakcore artists.

With Widerstand - the german word for resistance - he not only released his own output but producers auch as Acid Enema, Berzerker, Lasse Steen... it's a label whose name was burnt into the history of Hardcore. Eiterherd was never afraid of voicing his political opinions, both in his tracks and his work for Widerstand (which includes a release built upon samples from the "1984" movie), and I think only a politically charged mind can pack so much anger, but also hope, in his tracks.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/17467-Eiterherd

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-eiterherd-mix/


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Atari Teenage Riot

Atari Teenage Riot was and is the first band of Digital Hardcore. Fierce, extreme, relentless, an all-out assault on the senses. But they also had calm moments, tranquile, serene and sombre.

They took from a variety of influences like Gabber, Punk, Death Metal, Hardcore Rap, and you can hear it in these creations. 

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/6930-Atari-Teenage-Riot

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tributo-to-atari-teenage-riot-mix-the-early-years/

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Neuroviolence

Jason Mendonca is a legendary figure of the early Experimental Hardcore and Breakcore scene in London. Involved in the VFM parties, and many a projects in this scene of music. Two of his projects were Neuroviolence and Lorenz Attractor - on the latter he was joined by fellow London legend Warlock. Both projects focus on a variety of styles - relentless Noizecore, but also PCP-like mystical Techno, Broken Beat and Breakcore Experiments, and even some Dark Ambient, Industrial, met with full-on noize and distortion.

These tracks were released on the now cult labels Zero Tolerance and Praxis, and the PCP sub Super Special Corp. Jason later was less involved in Electronic output and instead focused on the Black / Death-Metal band Akercocke, which recently released a new album.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/91603-Neuroviolence

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-neuroviolence-and-lorenz-attractor-mix/

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Zekt

Zekt is the forgotten project of Acid. This team, composed of Lars Frederiksen and Søren Weile, took Acidcore and Acidtechno to whole new levels; of brutality in sound aswell as atmosphere. Pounding steelworks bassdrums, intermingled with Horror and SciFi samples, fierce pads and an all-out assault of acid bleeps, fused together by monstrous amounts of reverberation. But aswell as the little-bit-of-ultra-violence tracks, they also have moments of Techno strategix and even some elements of Trance-like sounds; a bold mixture. Their output was sparse, compared to other giants of Acidcore; but their tracks have become legendary.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/20269-Zekt

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-tribute-to-zekt-mix/

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The Berzerker

The Berzerker is an act that combines the most extreme forms of music, Speedcore, Splittercore, Death Metal and Grindcore. In the early part of his career; he released on labels like the Industrial Strength sublabel Bastard Loud, and his first full-length album on Earache Records. During these days, there was hardly an act that compared in sheer terror of sonic output. 

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/18529-The-Berzerker

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Amiga Shock Force

Group from Gladbeck; true pioneers of Speedcore and the Amiga Hardcore sound. Farther ahead than a lot of their contemporaries, this crew fueled their Speed- and Breakcore sound with influences, snippets and sounds far beyond the common concepts of these genres.

Find some 16 bit built Hardcore with these masterminds - and welcome to the wild side.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/18530-Amiga-Shock-Force

Showcase: https://www.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-amiga-shock-force-mix/

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Sounds Never Seen

Sounds Never Seen. What can be said about this label? The name is aptly chosen - you really won't find this kind of music elsewhere. Existing in the 90s, it stood out from all its peers - even in the Hardcore or Experimental Techno field.

Totally abrasive and hectic rhythms, but even more importantly, movie-like sounds, close to Dark Ambient - and all the tracks give off that crazy vibe of being recorded during live improvisation. 

The sounds are a bit like a bastard child of Aphex Twin and PCP - if it is allowed to compare it this.

The label faltered too soon, but maybe one day we will hear sounds we have never seen again?

And it is a trip.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/9619-Sounds-Never-Seen

Showcase: https://m.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/mix-never-seen-tribute-to-sounds-never-seen/

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303 Nation

303 nation... what can one say about them... one of pcp's most mysterious project... only a few releases,

but more powerful nonetheless... sweet acid, psychedelic, wonderful... true techno... they got their place in history.... and are deserving of it. minimal structures and equipment, with the most complex output. awe inspiring. it would be about time, that more people discover their gems. techno at its best.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/28590-303-Nation

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The Audio / Visual Irritant

The 90s Breakcore / Experimental / Hardcore scene is gone. What is left are its releases, on vinyl and - sometimes - CDs. But in the end they distort the picture, or rather, do not give it in full. Only some tracks of that scene found their way to a vinyl or CD release, for many reasons - lack of funding, lack of interest, or "strictly underground" attitude ("more than 5 listeners for your tracks means you sold-out"). There was also a second sector, of music shared by other means, first tapes, then later online (predating mp3 with glorious encoding formats like Realaudio) or on CD-Rs (or mp3s on CD-R). If you focus on the tapes for now, then one of the labels featuring these was Irritant, and the legendary Irritant tapes show a rare glimpse into this "sub underground" of Experimental Hardcore, Early Breakcore, Post Industrial or pure noises.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/3993-Irritant

Showcase: https://m.mixcloud.com/low_entropy/tribute-to-the-audio-visual-irritant-mix/

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Noize Creator

Noize Creator was a very important figure in the early Hardcore, Speedcore and Terror scene. He was on par with other legends of Extreme Hardcore such as DJ Freak, Nawoto Suzuki or Skullblower, and spread his music on many labels all around the world. An influence on many other artists to come.

Later, he also became also influental in the evolving Breakcore and Experimental scene, but this mix focuses more on his early works. Stylistically, these tracks show concepts that later become standard in Extreme Hardcore, such as the reduction to the bare essentials of Gangster Movie samples, Thrash and Death Metal Guitars, the odd Pop or Cheesy sample thrown in (but rarely), and of course severely distorted Drums and Percussion, often at high tempos.

Info: https://www.discogs.com/artist/15043-Noize-Creator

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-tribute-mix-to-noize-creator/

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War Records

Important Early Speedcore and Gabber label from Germany in the 90s. Platform for many artists who became big in the early days of the Speedcore scene. Includes lots of Amiga / Tracker produced Hardcore. 

Info: https://www.discogs.com/label/5512-War-Records

Showcase: https://hearthis.at/lowentropy/low-entropy-tribute-to-war-records-mix/

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Tracker Hardcore

I want to talk about tracker music, including Hardcore. Tracker music was and is done on tracker programs like Soundtracker, Protracker, Fasttracker, Impulse Tracker and countless others.

What people will notice first is the abstract, “top down” view of the sequencer screen, very much unlike the layout of modern DAW programs. Trackers were, to most part, a digital form of producing. The basic sequencing was done by writing the sound to be used (the sample) and the pitch into the sequence editor. All channels were on the same screen (so for example you had to sequence hi-hats and bassdrum and bassline together and could not “add them later”).

These “patterns” were then put into a playing order in another screen. You could add “effects” to each note played such as pitchbent or vibrato, and in later trackers even filtering.

The finished result was saved as modules files, or MODs. These contained both the song and the samples that were used.

In the present day, Tracker technology has improved by a lot; programs like Renoise or Jeskola Buzz added hundreds of new functions and changes in the style and way to produce. Buzz allows you to use a variety of soft-synths written for the program, for example, so you no longer have to rely on sampling.

Before the internet, these modules were spread in the BBS scene. BBS was short for Bulletin Board System and to an internet user it’s hard to explain what exactly they were. A BBS was run on a computer and you could dial it up with your own computer and a modem – around the globe basically – and when you accessed the BBS it offered services like messaging boards, chat (where you could talk to other users that had dialed up the BBS at the same time as you), games, and download sections – where amongst other things track modules could be downloaded or uploaded.

Tracker artists often organized themselves in groups, so called crews. These crews usually were not just composed of musicians, but had also graphic artists, writers, and often programmers – “coders”; they turned the individual tracks into a release of multiple tracks with visuals and menus – kinda like a multimedia LP. Often these releases were stand-alone programs done by the coders which played so called demos while the modules played – graphic animations, often in a virtual reality and cyberspace style, sometimes even short movies, that tested the computing power of your system to its limits.

This is where the tracker scene met the demo scene; demos could be written for existing tracks, or demo coders included tracks for the demos; so sometimes the music came first, sometimes the programming.

The crews had so called couriers that dialed up BBS sytems around the country or world to spread the tracker releases. Often a crew had its own BBS or a BBS was connected to several crews.

With the rise of the internet, the world of BBS systems faded quickly; but the tracker and demo scene moved to the net and survives on it to this day.

With the rise of Techno and Hardcore, this sound quickly spread to the tracker scene too in the early 90s; long before Speedcore really took its hold on vinyl, tracks that exceeded 300 or 400 bpm were released as modules.

Most producers and crews were not “Hardcore only” though, and did a variety of Techno and electronic styles.

The tracker and demo scenes were the root for many techno and hardcore artists in the 90s: Nasenbluten, Neophyte, E-De Cologne, Christoph De Babalon, Amiga Shock Force all started on tracker programs and many many more did so. Hardsequencer, Cybermouse, Bomb 20 and others had releases in the BBS or Amiga scene before their sounds was put to vinyl and CD.

But the vast majority of tracker music never saw the light of day outside its scene; just the couriers and crews and users of the BBS world knew about them. But now there are some archives for this very scene on the internet. It’s a sonic treasure that’s still be to dug up.
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Countdown FFM

Very interesting and obscure sublabel of Planet Core Productions. Dark and doomy Acid, Techno, and Experimental.
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Narcotic Network Recordings

Narcotic Network Recordings was a sublabel of Planet Core Productions, focusing on Electro and strange Ambient experiments. With Miro's output on this label, I think one can hear a Lory D and generally "sound of rome" influence, but also of course the trademark Miro sounds with dark, haunting melodies and synths worthy of a Kotzaak record - but, of course, with an Electro twist this time. Marc's outing on this label are as excellent as one would expect, with a heavy dose of The Mover atmosphere, somewhere inbetween Techno, Acid and sonic experimentation.
This label also saw the release of the track "Destination - Nowhere", a bittersweet symphony composed by Miro, which would fit well as a soundtrack to the most depressive (or redeeming?) movie.
A label for some of the most extraordinary tracks by PCP.
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Gangstar Toons Industry

Gangstar Toons Industry is a legendary Hardcore label from France that started in the mid 90s. They were true pioneers and set the groundwork for now well-accepted methods in Hardcore tracks, such as fusing Extreme Metal guitars with Rap samples and heavy kickdrums. As well as pushing the BPMs faster and faster.
In this, and other ways, GTI was very influential for genres like Speedcore, Terror, Breakcore, and, of course, French Hardcore. But, even more than this, the tracks usually were so extraordinarily clever in their ideas and structures.

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Mono Tone

If you go back in time, right when Hardcore began, there were some labels that set the foundation for a scene that was just taking shape. You might think of labels like PCP, Industrial Strength, the Rotterdam label family... and then there was Mono Tone.

Mono Tone helped define the sound of Hardcore to come, and was home to producers that soon became legends in this scene, such as Martin Damm aka The Speed Freak, or Patric Catani aka E-De Cologne / Ec8or / Eradicator.

What set Mono Tone apart from other labels of its era? Mono Tone was for those who did not like the influx of happy, easy to please "Dance Music" elements into the emerging Hardcore scene, and also for those who were into thorough sonic exploration and experiments. The result was a reduced, brutal, relentless, violent sound, that was very smart at the same time.

Mono Tone had a huge influence on the world wide Hardcore pool of producers and fans - I'm sure labels like Fischkopf or Digital Hardcore Recordings would have sound different without the inspiration Mono Tone provided.
Maybe some of this is not as obvious anymore - as many elements of Mono Tone, such as high tempo Hardcore, guitar samples, total distortion, and so on, have become commonplace in Hardcore. But I think the spark of brilliance can still be heard - and it's still energetic, powerful, mental music.

The output of Mono Tone was very varied, and they did not just do Hardcore.

This label that was very important but is sometimes overlooked - compared to other labels of its time - but deserves its own place in the hall of fame of hard electronic music.

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Anticore Records

Anticore Records is a legendary label from France that helped shaping the (Experimental) Hardcore sound, not only regarding French Hardcore. Is it notable for having early releases by Mouse and No Name (Under the moniker "Erase Head") - and arguably some of their best ones - that became sought after collector items, and deservingly so. Two other masterminds of Hardcore can be found here, too: Taciturne in one his disguises, and Armaguet Nad himself. The roster of artists is completed by Maniak, who is also, as far as I know, the one who ran the label, Joel Giraldou, and Metronome (of Fischkopf fame).

This is really groundbreaking stuff here, very deep, very complex compositions, that are much more sophisticated than your usual "Gabber/Speedcore" sound, really right at the beginning of the whole Experimental Hardcore thing.

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Spite

Spite was a label run by Patric Catani aka E-De Cologne / Eradicator / Ec8or during the second half of the 90s. Sadly only three releases saw the light of day - one LP and two EPs. But the quality was awe-inspiring nevertheless. This was a label mostly for Breakcore, but we can also hear influences of Experimental Hardcore - even Gabber. And of course generally overarching here is the wonderful "8 Bit / Amiga" sound Catani was known for in this period.
The first release was a compilation EP, the second a joint effort of Eradicator and Din, and the third an album credited to Patric Catani, in which he explores both slow and fast Breakcore sounds, powerful and heavy in both cases.
This label was an important part of the early Breakcore scene, so make sure to give it a listen.

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K-Ni-Bal Records

When the Experimental Hardcore scene withered away in the late 90s, only very few labels kept on carrying the flag of smart, creative, mental and noizy Hardcore.One of them, and one of the best, too, was K-Ni-Bal.
Based in France, and being the vinyl output of the Kbal sound system, this label released some true, wonderful, brilliant gems in hard electronic music.
I always felt this label got a bit overlooked, especially when compared to other legends of Experimental Hardcore.
These are some very aggressive, distorted sounds, that will kick you straight in the kneecaps.
Splendid psychedelic noise experience!

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Underground Futuristic Organisation

There are plenty of underrated labels from the 90s, but rarely is a label so deserving of that title as U.F.O., aka Underground Futuristic Organisation, out of London.

Almost forgotten now, it was host to some of the best and most interesting releases of the 90s. Two excellent EPs by the one and only Lasse Steen under different monikers (as usual). A rare apperance of Vdd Energise who did only a few releases in the 90s - brilliant as usual.
Two brutal releases by Lee Humphreys himself (one of these together with Ken Dutrieue), who seemingly was also behind the label as a whole. A curious release by Max de Grote. But last but not least - the Passages EP by Somatic Responses, which shook the underground music world when it was released, ended up in everyone's fanzine top 10 chart features, and even made it onto German mainstream TV (featured in a small segment about Christoph de Babalon's DJ activities).
These releases really left a mark on the Hardcore and other scenes.
It would be about time to look back on this label again. Acid, Hardcore, Techno, darkness, in various BPMs, it's all here.

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Preface

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