Hardcore Electronic

Signaling more an uncompromising attitude than a specific style, Hardcore turned raves into arenas of good-natured assault when it reared its masochistic head in the early 1990s. With Prodigy's British chart- topping anthem "Charly," Orbital's urgently melodic "Chime," and the deliriously dark Nightmares on Wax classic "Aftermath," Hardcore smashed the molds of House, Techno and Jungle by intensifying basslines, escalating beats and looping effects with mind-evacuating repetition. The artificial energy and synthetic bliss of Hardcore is built on a here-and-now aesthetic: the druggy, disorientating noise isn't about nostalgia or the future, only the instant gratification that results from a temporary, explosive release. Hardcore quickly evolved to embrace more varied, specialized forms of aggression with Happy Hardcore, Digital Hardcore and the Dutch creation of Gabba.