Ah…I completely forgot about this – Hardcore Nitro started 30 minutes ago at Club Heavy Sick, and is going for the very hard approach. You can see the genres on the flyer, and with DJs like Lunch, Redd, Red Ogre and AEMI, it’s very promising. I could just about make it if I rush out right now, but there might be a bit too much speedcore for me…200bpm I can manage fine, but once things get past 250 I don’t really know what’s going on. Recently Cogi and Red Ogre played me an amazing ‘trancecore’ speedcore tune though (at around 250-300bpm if I remember right), so maybe I just don’t know enough about the genre yet.

Anyway, I’ll regrettably give this one a miss tonight and get some mix practicing in instead, I think…

Two tunes by Hybridize artists Sam One and Substanced have broken into the Hardcore Top 20 on Trackitdown. Both released by Electronica Exposed, Sam One’s tune, Hypnotize, is at the time of writing a very very impressive 12th, while Substanced’s great rework of Lost Temple is currently in 21st place. To be up there amongst all the UK Hardcore is quite an achievement, and both tunes are genuinely worth getting hold of if you haven’t already.

Here are two new mixes from Finland that are well worth checking out – the first is Hybridize artist Sam One’s latest tune showcase. His previous sets were absolute quality, and this one doesn’t disappoint either, with a hardtrance feel that gradually ups the bpm into freeform territory towards the end. Some of the melodies in here really are fantastic (check out the breakdown in S.O.S, for example), and the set finishes with one of my favourite tunes of last year, Fear of Reality.

  1. Sam One – The Future
  2. Sam One – S.O.S
  3. Sam One – The Reason 2009
  4. Sam One – U Gotta Feel This
  5. Sam One – Royal Flush
  6. Sam One – Supernova
  7. Sam One & Horzi – Fear of Reality

Download

Next is Decion’s Soul Redemption, another storming Hard NRG set. This one features some very nice mixing, and continues the same pounding style of the last couple of Decion sets. I don’t listen to that much UK-style Hard NRG, but Decion’s selection is always impressive and definitely creates a dark atmosphere. Highly recommended once again.

1. Intro
2. Weazal – The Avenger
3. Andy K & Lee Mills – Bring It (Grady G Remix)
4. Weazal – Bin Juice (Michael Smith Remix)
5. Firefox – Oz (NARC Remix)
6. The Punisher – Fire In The Sky (Random But Raw Remix)
7. Tom Urwin & Prohibited – Raw To The Point
8. Grady G – Sever Trauma
9. Wylie – Down Under
10. Eufex & Jay B – Vacuum Packed (Grady G Remix)
11. Base Graffiti – The Hulk
12. Firefox – The Devil’s Work (2007 Remix)
13. Grady G – Bezerk
14. Grady G – Broken

Download (click ‘kuuntele’ as usual) 

DJ Minagi has just announced a very tasty new event called Operation Karma, starting up next month. It looks like it’ll be just my kind of thing, with hardcore, trancecore, freeform, Hard NRG all catered for – and for this first event two of the best hardcore DJs in Tokyo have been drafted in too. First is Alabaster himself, who should be playing Finnish-styled freeform, while the second is Tokyo Hardcore Construction’s Kanon. Her selection really is fantastic, and added to Minagi’s set (which is sure to be Finnish/Japanese NRG/freeform too) this is one I must not miss.

Unusually, the venue is in Kawasaki (sandwiched between Tokyo and Yokohama), but it’s along my route to work every week and the journey isn’t much more than 20minutes or so from Shibuya, so that won’t be a problem. Definitely looking forward to this one.

Here’s an interesting one – on Saturday Guld and DJ Yousuke (plus Buzzmasta, I thought) will be playing at the oddly-named Foolish vol 1. The rest of the lineup seems much more relaxed, but I might be heading along – the 23rd is actually my birthday (argh), so it’d be nice to hear some NRG to lessen the pain of getting another year older.

Anyway, the interesting thing is the venue, OVO (er, ‘Originative Visual Organisation’, apparently) in Nakameguro. That area is one of my favourite spots for relaxing, but I’d never thought I’d be going there for an event.

Here at last is the roundup of last months’ NRGetic Romancer, including some great photos and videos courtesy of Soham. There might be a few more videos etc on the way in the future, so if anything especially exciting turns up I’ll make sure to post ’em later.

This time the attendance was a lot, lot lower than normal, but most of the really good dancers/glowstickers made it along and the atmosphere was very good. It actually turned into a bit of a ‘for those who know’ kind of event, with a lot of older tunes being played alongside the promos.

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No flyer for this one yet, and it’s a long way off – but this is definitely worth a mention. Energy Cocktail is pretty much an annual event…you might remember Kevin Energy making it to the 2008 edition? Well this time organiser T-Energy has pulled out all the stops, and as well as another DJ set from Kevin Energy, there’ll also be a Live PA from Eryk Orpheus! It’s his first appearance in Japan, but he’s well known here and the hardcore crew are already getting very excited. He’s right up there with my favourite UK producers too, and I’d love to make it to this one. The fact that the other DJs include KA-NA seals it – her set will be closest to my own taste, after all.

I was thinking that this might clash with August’s NRGetic Romancer, but as they’ll both be held at Cube, it’s safe to say that there will be a week’s difference between the two. If anyone’s heading to Tokyo this summer, that might be the time to come…

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A bit late with this one, but here’s the top ten for last month. Still no report from NRGetic Romancer, but a few of the tunes in my playlist are here – look out for Freeform Mercury, which I think is one of Substanced’s best tunes yet.

The video up top is a preview of what’s to come when I can gather up the others from NRGetic Romancer – this one features Miran dancing with a ‘double face’. It looks incredibly, incredibly cool, and you might notice Voices of Babylon playing in the background – guess whose set this was?

Anyway, I was listening to plenty of 170bpm+ tunes last month:

  1. Substanced – Freeform Mercury
  2. Nomic – Steradian
  3. Alek Szahala – Voices of Babylon
  4. Psycho Keaton – Hell Night (Android Lime remix)
  5. DJ X Lab 4 – Requiem (Heart of Darkness)
  6. Grimsoul – Moment of Wonder
  7. Nightforce – The Second Redemption 09
  8. ADAM Lab 4 – Psychopath (Proteus Hard Boiled remix)
  9. Alabaster – The Clairvoyance (Distortion Girl)
  10. Betwixt & Between – Tankobu Hesotarou no Houro/The Wander of Hesotarou Tankobu