Essential Happy Hardcore

Paulina Taylor

The man, the myth, the… wait… the man? ย Yeah. ย Darren is good people and the marketing genius behind the Paulina Taylor persona. ย Still rock’s it from time to time but mainly is one of the two people behind Insominac Productions (of EDC fame). ย 3 Tapes give a good musical journey from 93 to 98 UK (Bouncy Techno) and Dutch (Happy Gabber) Hardcore and was a huge inspiration to me:

  • Bounce (Side A / B) – One of the best mix tapes I’ve ever heard from any genre. ย Mostly 96-98 bouncy anthems. ย This tape is a little messed up, side B actually starts around 7 minutes into the second MP3.
  • Smiling (Side A / B) – A lovely blend of Happy Gabber, Jungle and some nicely placed 80’s remixes.
  • Smile (Side A / B) – The first in the series and one that (to me) is the most memorable. ย Unique tunes from 92 – 95 that take advantage of the UK Jungle movement from 88 – 92. ย Most of this is considered “breakbeat hardcore”.
  • Bootleg Tape – A tape that Darren made and copied for my brother who in turn gave it to me. ย This is my favorite tape from Darren really. ย Introduced me to UK Partycore which is not quite Gabber, not quite Bouncy… just fun.

Habikki

Few from myself which are all over the place:

  • Freedom Thru Musik Promo – Hour long set made for when I was signed to the Freedom Thru Musik team. ย Prolly the most “latest” I’ve got.
  • Slippery When Wet – Easily my most popular set. ย Starts off anthemy, get’s a bit more rough in the middle and fishes off touching into the “trance core” movement of 1999/2000. ย Sold all 500 copies I dropped off at Swell as a promo to the Night Under the Stars Show we threw in 2001.
  • Stop Eating Animals – An omage to Smiling really and my first official CD.

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