The Netherlands has multiple musical traditions. Contemporary Dutch popular music is heavily influenced by music styles that emerged in the 1950s, in the United Kingdom and United States. The style is sung in both Dutch and English. Some of the latter exponents, such as Golden Earring and Shocking Blue, have attained worldwide fame.
Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s.
Hardcore is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos and a distorted sawtooth kick, the intensity of the kicks and the synthesized bass, the rhythm and the atmosphere of the themes, the usage of saturation and experimentation close to that of industrial dance music. It would spawn subgenres such as gabber.
Bouncy techno is a hardcore dance music rave style that developed in the early 1990s from Scotland and North England. Described as an accessible gabber-like form, it was popularised by Scottish DJ and music producer Scott Brown under numerous aliases.
Rotterdam Termination Source is a Dutch gabber/hardcore group fronted by Maurice Steenbergen, initially with Danny Scholte as well. The group is most famous for its minimalist 1992 single "Poing", which topped the charts in the Netherlands and Denmark, and reached #27 in the UK Singles Chart.
Nasenbluten were an Australian electronic music group, formed in Newcastle in 1992. The group was made up of Aaron Lubinski, David Melo, and Mark Newlands, and released six studio albums before disbanding in 2001. They have been described as a significant influence on the breakcore genre.
Paul Roger Elstak is a Dutch hardcore/gabber and happy hardcore DJ and record producer of Surinamese descent. He used to use his full name to create happy hardcore and DJ Paul for hardcore gabber, but when he started Offensive Records in 2001, he started using both names for gabber.
Rotterdam Terror Corps, often abbreviated RTC, is a Dutch gabber act formed in 1993. Originally formed by five Dutch DJs, currently there is only one of the original DJs left, DJ Distortion. DJ Petrov and DJ Rob left to pursue individual work. Reanimator produced the first album and left twice, the second time in 1995 permanently after an argument with DJ Distortion. In 2002 MC Raw was replaced by Cyriel Brandon, better known by his stage name "RTSier", due to health reasons. RTSier is since that time the MC and live performer on stage. The group has gained a notoriety for its use of eroticism, with each live performance containing female strippers and pyrotechnics. After MC Raw was replaced, he was still able to perform occasionally.
Mokum Records is a Dutch independent record label specialising in early hardcore and hardcore releases. They have released about 100 single and EP vinyl records between 1993 and 1999 and more than 80 since 2004.
Neophyte is a Dutch hardcore, or gabber, group formed in 1992 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The three original members are Jeroen Streunding, Danny Greten and Robin van Roon.
Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo were a DJ duo from the Netherlands. They are best known for their successful happy hardcore songs, but have also produced gabber & eurodance records.
Thunderdome is a concept in hardcore techno and gabber music that was mainly used for a series of parties and CD albums. It was organized by the Dutch entertainment company ID&T. The first party was organized in 1992 and the party held in December 2012 was advertised as being the end of Thunderdome. The party was brought back in 2017 for the 25th anniversary with a 2019 edition announced the following year. In 2022, Thunderdome celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Jaarbeurs convention centre, Utrecht.
"Friends Turbo" is a song by German electronic dance band Scooter, and the theme song to the German version of the Dutch film New Kids Turbo, as well as the first single of their fifteenth studio album The Big Mash Up. It was released on 15 April 2011, as a CD single and download release. It is a newer, updated version of their track "Friends" from 1995.
Frenchcore is a subgenre of hardcore techno. The style differs from other forms of hardcore in terms of a faster tempo, usually above 190-250 BPM, and a loud & distorted offbeat bassline.
Gabber is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore techno, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as Hardcore, which is characterised by fast beats, distorted & heavier kickdrums, with darker themes and samples. This style was developed in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the 1990s by producers like Marc Acardipane, Paul Elstak, DJ Rob, and The Prophet, forming record labels such as Rotterdam Records, Mokum Records, Pengo Records and Industrial Strength Records.
Mike Redman (1978) is a musician, record producer, film maker, label owner and multidisciplinary artist from the Netherlands. He owns the leading record label Redrum Recordz and creates music in different musical genres. Redman founded groups Redrum Squad, Deformer, Wormskull and Voodoom. He has toured internationally with these acts and collaborated with renowned international artists and producers. Redman has released records with artists including American rap group Public Enemy, Hollywood producer Charles Band and Chino XL.
Kateryna Kremko, known professionally as Miss K8, is a DJ from Kyiv, Ukraine. She played at music festivals including Defqon 1 and Masters of Hardcore, gaining recognition for her performances. In 2019, Kateryna took some time off due to pregnancy.
Human Resource is a Dutch electronic music group established in 1990.
The Energiehal was an events hall built in a park in west Rotterdam in 1955, for the E55 exhibition. It was then relocated to the Blijdorp district in north Rotterdam, being used for decades as a sports hall and for other events. In the 1990s, it became a rave venue and is famous in the history of gabber. It was demolished in 1999.
