On his podcast with Rachel Auburn (worth a listen btw - she knew a massive number of people from all different scenes) he mentions a mix he has requests for - Tony De Vit - The Dawn (Paul Janes mix) into Johan - Shhh.... Listen (Pants & Corset mix).
I had a quick search but couldn't find an example of it... does anyone have a mix/set with it in?
What are some of people's less popular, not very well known labels, nothing like Pig Pen, Hard Trax, Tidy, Nukleuz, Tripoli, Aztec, Nile, etc?
Probably my one of my favs is called White Records, it's a sub-label of the Progressive House label Ouch! Records, it's a mid to late 90's label that produced harder Trance & Hard House mash-ups like one record called "Dizzy - I Can't Wait" uses the vocals from Li Kwan's "I Need a Man" over the arrangement of DJ Misjah & DJ Tim's "Access". Some other really good ones are" Bad Boys - Don't Do It" which is a harder mix" of "Chapter 9 - The Swindle (Cocaine)", "Misterman - My House" this is just a hands in the air banger, "Tix - Up Side Yer Head" sounds like a remix of Brain Bashers -Night Moves, and JB Project - The Blue Ep, these are all musts for anyone into mid to late 90s Hard House. https://www.discogs.com/label/29674-White-Records-2
A spin of the white records labels is the Muppet series, not a label (according to Discogs) just four records all very good records the best is "JB Project - Real Life" which samples Queen - This is The Real Life. https://www.discogs.com/label/1880687-Muppet-2
Another is Triebhafte records which is mostly stuff released under different Baby Doc aliases. "The Combat Force - Assault" which TDV played a lot in his last few mixes & "Emmy Black - Blitzkrieg Europe" (especially the Baby Doc) are thumping Hard House/Hard NRG tunes.
https://www.discogs.com/label/7854-Triebhafte
Nu Recordings - I'm not sure how rare this is because it had Billabong - No Good For Me on it, which got a lot of play especially from Rachel Auburn, TDV & Pete Wardman, it was a Hard House mix of Prodigy's No Good Start The Dance. but lots of other bangers like Tiki - Jump For Joy, Deulalli - Suck This, Bleep & Booster - Don't Stop/Cocaine, Bleep & Booster - Bassin Authority, Mad Matt - Wanna (Shag) & Billabong - NU Style, and Mambo - Do You Want Me (Remixes) are all pumping Hard House records.
https://www.discogs.com/label/7267-NU-recordings
Chris C's Mind Over Matter label. Not super rare or anything but a good few records on it that are super rare. Like ChrisC - White Wolf/Third Stroke, Chris C - Soul Of An Angel - which is a remix of Many More -Hand Of God, Sebanelli - Slither/Ruby Red, Many More - Dream On (Chris C Mix), and Ganesh - The Last Hurrah.
https://www.discogs.com/label/316191-MOM-Recordings
Suck Discs - This is such a label of it's time (1999 to 2001) there's plenty of bangers on it but I rarely see much people play them in HH mixes. Blow Brothers Love (Sister Suck Remix)/ Razor Babes - The World Is Listening is the 1st release and is pumping HH at its best theres also a white label version that just has the Blow Brothers side, the 2nd release is just as good as the first Blow Brothers - House (Sister Suck Mix) which is just a single side release but well worth it, there's loads of lesser known Champion Burns records on it, two great Madam Friction records on it - Sex Maniac/ Jump and I'm Addicted, also Bob Burns Jnr vs BK - Feel Like Dancing/ Yeah That's Right is another stomper.
https://www.discogs.com/label/10264-Suck-Discs
I have at least another 20 labels in my mind, this is just to get the thread started.
Fyi there's no real point to this post, just collating some thoughts I've had lately whilst I had some free time this bank holiday! It might be a bit long but hopefully someone finds it interesting!
I grew up listening to UK Hard House in the early 2000s and to me Hard House is synonymous with the UK sound of Nukleuz, Tidy etc. I never really cared for the bouncy European Hard House, like Klubbheads, Lock N Load etc, despite both styles getting grouped under the Hard House label.
For at least a decade it was practically all I listened to. Around the late 2000s I slowly gravitated towards Hardstyle, until it took over and I practically listened to nothing else for the next 15 years. I would regularly travel to the Netherlands for Hardstyle events at least once a year. However, over the last few years I've been feeling more and more jaded with the direction Hardstyle has taken. Maybe I'm just too old for it these days, but I felt a bit musically lost for the first time in memory and wasn't really excited by anything.
Enter me discovering this new wave of European (particularly Dutch) Hard House from the last year or two. It's sort of a hard sound to categorise - even the artists themselves don't seem to have a consensus on what to call it, or how to market themselves. I've seen it called Hard House, Eurodance, Trance, high energy dance music, 90s influenced dance music...
I find it fascinating that whenever someone posts here a link to their new "Hard House mix", it could be one of two very distinct sounds, from two very different eras, yet both fall under Hard House. I still glance at new UK Hard House releases on Toolbox Digital - I guess out of a sense of loyalty to the scene which formed my musical tastes - but haven't felt inspired by that sound in probably 15 years, let alone finding myself listening to it.
To me the new sound is just a lot of fun - groovy and energetic, kinda bouncy (but again, in a very different way to UK bounce, which I always hated! A lot of it is definitely very 90s inspired, with ravey pianos and plenty of familiar vocal samples cropping up. I guess things always come full circle, but I do wonder how long it will last if it relies too much on nostalgia. Some of it already does sound a bit samey to me, but I'm just enjoying it whilst I can.
Some of my current favourite artists amongst this new-wave include Entasia, Kyle Starkey, Kara Okay, NewTone, Centre Court, DART, Paul Sirrell.
Thought I'd include some of my current favourite tracks for anyone else who, like me, might still be discovering this new wave of Hard House.
And some labels - TNT, Amsterdam Dance Capital, Agrio Tracks, Rapid Trax, SOUND SOUND
Anyway, thanks if you read this. Curious if anyone else has gone on a similar musical journey! Would love to hear your stories / suggestions if so!
Hey guys,
would love if you could listen to my new set!