Definition of a hardcore tape

This is the last proper hardcore tape I bought before moving on from the world of insane gabber kicks.  And as far as a hardcore tape goes, it's pretty darn good.  Side A is my pick.  To me it's the classic Geoff Da Chef sound - hard ass beats at around 180-190 bpms that make you wanna move.  Classic samples abound, referencing oldskool hip-hop, acid house, Dutch gabber, English jungle, movies, reggae, rare groove and more.  Side A is yet another chapter in the sound Geoff brought in "The Second Serve" and "Just Desserts".  It may be hard, but ultimately it's party music.

Things take a harder twist on Side B, where the beats slip over the 200 bpm mark and well into nosebleed territory, including some, erm, classics like "Shaftman", "Necronomicon" and the one that goes "Sex, sex, sex is the law, law, law when a guy gets a girl on the floor, floor, floor".  Without the benefit of nostalgia it's all too easy to pass the whole side off as aggressive noise.  It's a challenging listen without question, but the reward comes in realising 200 bpm hardcore is less about "aggression" and more about "release".  It's the style that takes the antiestablishmentarianism of rave to its logical (and final) conclusion.  The ultimate "fuck you" to society.

Download Geoff Da Chef "666 - Definition of a Hardcore Tape" Side A
Download Geoff Da Chef "666 - Definition of a Hardcore Tape" Side B

Everything dies...except Hardcore...

Hardcore will never die!  Seriously, every time you think it's finally done and dusted along it comes again, banging away like it always was.  Case in point, a friend recently turned me on to this this mix of nouveau gabber-crunk, which I've listened to quite a lot lately and actually quite like.  Which is funny, because I generally pretend to myself I'm not into hardcore and never was.  I guess it's not credible enough for my own ego or something.  Of course, I was into hardcore, quite seriously as a sixteen year old with enough boundless energy to withstand a whole night at over 180 bpms.  And they didn't come harder than Geoff Da Chef. 

"Just Desserts" was always my favourite Chef tape - it was Geoff at his "happiest", but the mix is most definitely "hard", not "happy".  This tape was on seriously high-rotation in my Walkman back in the day, and I have so many great memories attached to it. 

The first time I heard it was while hanging about around St Leonards station one night.  We were waiting there, for something or other, before heading off to the third Ecky Thump party and anticipation was in the air.  I'd missed the first two at the Glebe silos and was determined not to miss this one, which was held in an underground carpark near Central station.  (Of course, it's now an apartment building.)

With one ear plugged into a friend's Walkman I was thoroughly enjoying myself, bouncing up and down on a street corner, not caring about how I looked to the passing traffic because, well, they just wouldn't get it.  Most enjoyable was the remix of The Doors' "Break on Through" which features early on Side 2.

The party that night was great fun - there are two things I remember most about it.  The first was my friend running around with a sports bag inviting people to "have a feel" inside without looking.  The sports bag contained possibly the softest blanket known to humanity.  You can imagine the wide-eyed smiles. 

But my favourite moment of the night was when the "Break on Through" remix I'd first heard just hours earlier came on over the speakers.  The smallish crowd just erupted then sang-along with Jim Morrison....all at 180 bpm.  I'm sure the man would have turned in his grave that night.

Download Geoff Da Chef Just Desserts Side A
Download Geoff Da Chef Just Desserts Side B