Breakcore Music Guide: 5 Popular Breakcore Artists

Breakcore music is a high-BPM (beats per minute), rhythmically dense style of electronic music that stems from the industrial, digital hardcore, jungle, and drum-and-bass genres. Although the term "breakcore" may have different connotations in different rave scenes, it is frequently associated with acts like Venetian Snares, Anklepants, Enduser, Bong-Ra, and DJ Scotch Egg.

The breakcore sound features rapid tempos, thunderous bass lines, electronic glitches, and ragga-style vocals that derive from Jamaican ska and reggae. The Amen Break, a four-bar drum sample from 1960s drummer Gregory Coleman, also played an integral role in establishing the breakcore groove. Despite having similar names, breakcore does not derive from breakbeat hardcore, which is a mid-1990s British genre built on remixes of hip-hop beats.

Breakcore began in the raves of European cities like Berlin, London, and Amsterdam and has spread to dance halls throughout the world.

• Hardcore techno roots: Over the course of the 1990s, electronic music had grown increasingly complex, fast, and musically intense. Styles like IDM (intelligent dance music), drum-n-bass, hardcore (gabber), happy hardcore (happycore), digital hardcore, jungle, and industrial pushed the boundaries of electronic music. Individual artists such as Squarepusher, Autechre, Aphex Twin, Ministry, and the Future Sound of London established a challenging sonic palette that inspired newer electronic musicians.
• Breakcore breaks off: By the late 1990s, a collection of European DJs and producers started offering music under the banner of "breakcore." The name took root via festivals like the Dutch Breakcore A Go-Go, organized by Bong-Ra and FFF. Alec Empire, a member of Atari Teenage Riot, is frequently credited with the first breakcore album, The Destroyer, released in 1996.
• Breakcore innovations: Breakcore producers found distinct sounds by referencing other genres. Some breakcore acts, including Drop the Lime, Shitmat, and DJ Scotch Egg, appropriated the upbeat feel of mash-up and happy hardcore. Tarmvred leaned into electronic glitches in a style characterized by computer chip sounds called chiptune.
• Influence of Venetian Snares: Venetian Snares, the stage name of Canadian producer Aaron Funk, added notable complexity to the breakcore genre with a series of 2000s releases on the Planet Mu record label. Highlights of his work include frequent classical music samples, odd time signatures, and bold remixes. The Venetian Snares remix of Doormouse's "Skelechairs” is an example of this.
• Emergence of raggacore: Early breakcore artists inspired a subgenre called raggacore, which references the ragga instrumentals of Jamaican dancehall and reggae. Bong-Ra, Istari Lasterfahrer, Aaron Spectre, Ruby My Dear, Shitmat, FFF, Enduser, and Venetian Snares himself have experimented with raggacore.

Several musicians have helped elevate breakcore to popularity worldwide at raves and nightclubs.

1. 1. Venetian Snares: Canadian artist Aaron Funk, better known as Venetian Snares, has notably shaped breakcore music. He is most famous for his polyrhythmic drum patterns and use of classical instruments alongside his programmed beats.
2. 2. Otto von Schirach: Otto von Schirach took deep inspiration from Venetian Snares as well as pre-breakcore artists in the IDM and hip-hop scenes. His music often involves science fiction-inspired sounds and glitches as well as the club sounds of his native Miami.
3. 3. Igorrr: French musician Igorrr exemplifies the darker side of breakcore. He infuses elements of black metal, Baroque-era classical, and trip-hop into his breakcore tracks.
4. 4. Aaron Spectre: Aaron Spectre performs under his own name, as well as under the moniker Drumcorps, which draws from heavy drum-and-bass and death metal. American by birth, Spectre is a fixture in the European club scene.
5. 5. Mochipet: David Wang, a Taiwanese-American musician based in Daly City, California, records under the name Mochipet. His corner of breakcore focuses on alternative hip-hop and strong melodic content.

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