Keeping it Ardcore 3 (2025)

Martin van Zeelandt / TCD
1 minute ago
3 min read

Saturday. For many the time to get ready for a night out. I'm not. It's too damn cold, and had to get the house ready for Christmas. The tree had already been set up last week, but that was such an ordeal, we decided to split into two bits: tree last week, this week the rest. But as the weather was absolutely crap today, we left the outside bits for next week. And we also did not have enough batteries to make them all shine as bright, so that's for next week. But our house looks snazzy, after a bit of a cleaning and redecorating session. All thanks to me and the missus.

And secretly some Hardcore too. Not the Dutch Hardcore, but some lovely UK Hardcore. The DJ Crossfire uploaded a mix a few days ago, and I've been all over this mix. Soundcloud doesn't show it unfortunately, but I have been listening to this vigorously. You don't see that many UK Hardcore mixes on Soundcloud, or maybe that's down to the algorithm? Who knows. But when I do spot one, I'm all over it. And it came with a tracklist, which is always an added bonus.

And it's full of tracks I've not heard in a while. And within a second I felt a few years younger again, listening to those mixtapes. You remember those, right, or is that just me? I was a full on mixtape fanatic, and could not stop listening to them. And now I get the chance to relive those golden years again. And The DJ Crossfire picked some classic anthems, totally forgotten about. But oh so damn good to hear again.

B.B.E. - 7 Days In 1 Week (Joey Riot Remix)
Joey Riot feat Kelly C - The Power Within
Darwin & Obie vs Mr E - Hits You Like Thunder
Marc Smith - Gravity (Gammer's Ever So Slight Re-Edit)
Marc Smith - Pump Up Da Noize 2010
DJ Pikey - Renegade
Brisk & Stormtrooper - Feel The Friction
Pikey vs Joey Riot - That Bouncy Track
Sharkey & CLSM - Wicked MC (Marc Smith Remix)
Darwin - Coral Beach
Nu Foundation - In Kontrol (Bonkers Mix)
Scott Brown - Viroid (Nu Foundation Remix)
AMS - Greedy Bastards
Kevin Energy & Marc Smith - That's The Hardcore (AMS Remix)
Sharkey & Arkitech - Dual Illumination (Arkitech's HHC Remix)

Be honest, how often do you hear these tracks, or when did you last encounter them? It must have been a while, right? It's nice to hear them again, they make me feel fuzzy on the inside.

And that's exactly what I needed to hear. Those glorious UK Hardcore anthems again. Yes, this page has been focussed on other genres lately, but every so often I do love to go back to the main reason I started blogging: to share the love I have for UK Hardcore. And unfortunately my love has not transferred to others in the Netherlands (I lived there when I started blogging). So I still feel blessed, honoured, and yet disappointed that this kind of music did not take off. Such a shame.

The DJ Crossfire's selection is really great. So many beautiful records. But the one that makes me smile the most, is the most diverse track of them all, ''Coral Beach''. Leave it to Darwin to make something that represents the 90s, 00s, and the future. What a blinding record.

I can only share my love and enthusiasm for this mix, like I've been doing for 15+ years. And I hope my love for UK Hardcore never dies. It would be such a waste, to loose the main reason I am The Crazy Dutchman. Keep those mixes coming, and make more 'mixtapes', please. More of this.