Splittercore

I have no shame whatsoever in admitting that I used to be a fully fledged Hardcore Techno & Gabber head, in fact I am proud that I have contributed to, enjoyed and fully understood just what the Hardcore Techno scene is all about, and some of the classic tunes and the nights out I had back in the late 90's/early 00's will remain in my memory for as long as I live.

To be honest, I still make sure I have my head blasted at least once a year (usually at Glade) as there is still nothing to compare to the sight of over 1000 people going apeshit to really fast music (the last time I had my ears raped was in fact only last Christmas when I watched Hellfish @ Bangface in London).

The reason I left Hardcore Techno behind was down to me growing bored of the sound, because I believed it was stagnated and that there was nowhere else to take the music beyond where it was (you have to remember its been a fully fledged genre for nearly 20 years now). How could it get harder? How could it get faster? How could it surprise me anymore?

I last properly DJ'ed at a Hardcore Techno night in early 2007 at a night called Rigormortis in Nottingham playing some classic tunes in a 2nd room, and it was that night I was first introduced to the mind boggling genre apparently known as Splittercore. Yes, thats right. Splittercore.

Speedcore was probably the most exciting thing my ears had ever heard when I was 16 and used to listen to HMS (RIP) & Loftgroover tapes from Helter Skelter, but when I listen back nowadays its pretty embarrassing, as all the (to be fair, legendary) DJ's were doing was playing normal Hardcore Techno tunes on 45rpm rather than 33. 

That is not me dissing HMS or Lofty in any was, as things were much different back then, but listening back it seems silly that all that a lot of people wanted was to see how hard or fast the music could be taken, when in fact listening back you realise it wasn't very hard at all, just stupidly fast. I instead much preferred intricately and meticulously produced tracks by people such as Micropoint and Hellfish & Producer, who could switch Bpm with ease yet always retain a fierceness like no one else.

Which brings me to Splittercore. Maybe if I was 16 again, it would be the best thing I have ever heard. Instead, it serves to be quite possibly THE SHITTEST MUSIC ON EARTH. I am often asked if there is any music I don't like, and here is your answer. Yes. This.

Its basically, fucking stupid. I have learnt over the years that my ears love melodies, scales, chords, key changes and rhythm, and Splittercore, provides absolutely none of them. It is in my opinion, and this may get me in trouble but I don't really care, music for outcast morons. No subtlety, no imagination, just noise.

If people want to play this shit, and 'dance' to it (I have seen people attempting to dance to it, its horrific), then let them be of course, they have as much right to dance to what they want just like the Donk heads have and just as much as I have. I just hope I never have to be in the same club where it is being played again.

And even after saying all that, I still find it strangely endearing. I think that it sometimes reassures me to know that there are absolute fucking lunatics out there listening to the maddest music imaginable. I wrote this post after telling a friend of mine about Splittercore last week and him not believing it existed, so here's a couple of the most extreme examples below to prove that unfortunately, it does!