[Column] Why Breakcore Is Suddenly Back - The reason why chaotic beats are running around the world again
Column en Breakcore Culture Jungle![[Column] Why Breakcore Is Suddenly Back - The reason why chaotic beats are running around the world again](/../assets/images/column-why-breakcore-is-suddenly-back.webp)
What is Breakcore?
Text: mmr｜Theme: Understanding why breakcore, a music genre of high-speed breakbeats and digital chaos, is once again spreading explosively thanks to the modern Internet generation, from history and culture.
In the history of electronic music, ““genres that disrupt common sense’’ appear in each era.
- Noise music in the 1960s,
- Industrial in the 1980s,
- Jungle and drum and bass in the 1990s.
Then, in the late 1990s, music emerged that further destroyed all of that. That is Breakcore.
Breakcore is music created by extremely deconstructing the high-speed breakbeats of jungle and drum”n”bass, and colliding all kinds of materials with it, including noise, metal, classical music, anime sounds, game sounds, etc.
The features can be summarized into the following three main points.
- super fast breakbeat
- Genre-shattering sampling
- intentional chaos
The tempo often exceeds 160-220 BPM, and the beat is chopped into seconds.
In other words, Breakcore is not just a music genre;
“Extreme form of sampling culture”
It was something you could say.
Breakcore became known as the most anarchic music in rave culture in the 1990s.
Breakcore was a genre of electronic music that was born with the aim of ““destroying order itself.’’
Background of the birth of Breakcore
To understand the roots of Breakcore, you need to know the European underground music scene of the 1990s.
Jungle and drum and bass were rapidly developing in the club scene at the time.
These genres were created by deconstructing drum loops known as “Amen Breaks.”
But in the mid-1990s, some artists began to take the beat even further.
The following culture influenced this.
- Industrial
- noise music
- hardcore techno
- Digital sampling culture
In particular, European squat culture (rave in illegally occupied spaces) played a huge role in the birth of Breakcore.
In this scene,
“I didn”t have to follow the rules of the genre.”
As a result, music rapidly becomes more radical.
The result was a new music that was more violent than jungle and more rhythmic than noise.
Breakcore was born out of the most free and anarchic space in rave culture.
1990s: Birth in the underground scene
Breakcore first spread primarily to Europe.
It quickly spread through underground clubs and raves in Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
Breakcore during this era was even more extreme than it is now.
Music often had the following characteristics:
- super fast tempo
- distorted drums
- political sampling
- Noisy acoustics
In other words, Breakcore is not just dance music;
“Cultural rebellion”
But there was.
Many of the songs contained anti-capitalist and anti-establishment samples.
Therefore, Breakcore was not played in commercial clubs, but mainly in the following places.
- Underground Rave
- DIY events
- Art space
In the late 1990s, Breakcore became established as underground music in Europe.
Breakcore was not a commercial music genre from the beginning, but was born as an underground culture.
Internet and Breakcore
In the 2000s, Breakcore spread along with the Internet.
The following platforms played important roles in the electronic music scene at the time:
- MP3 sharing site
- Music Forum
- File sharing network
These networks allow Breakcore to spread around the world.
Of particular importance was the
“Digitalization of the production environment”
It was.
In the 1990s, hardware samplers were the mainstream, but in the 2000s software production became commonplace.
This results in
Anyone can now create Breakcore.
In other words, Breakcore was also the DIY music of the internet age.
Breakcore has become music born from home studios all over the world thanks to the internet.
2010s: Genre Stagnation
In the 2010s, Breakcore temporarily stagnated.
There are several reasons.
First is the global EDM boom.
Electronic music in the 2010s moved toward a larger festival sound.
Its characteristics were as follows.
- simple drop
- Mass structure
- Focus on festivals rather than clubs
Breakcore was the complete opposite of this trend.
- Too complicated
- too fast
- Too chaotic
In other words, it was not compatible with festival culture.
As a result, Breakcore goes back underground.
The mass EDM era of the 2010s was not the place for Breakcore.
Chronology: History of Breakcore
From its birth to the present, Breakcore has evolved by going back and forth between the underground and the internet.
2020s: Sudden revival
In the 2020s, Breakcore suddenly becomes popular again on the internet.
The following factors had a particularly large impact:
- Video platform
- Short video culture
- Game culture
- Anime culture
The fast and chaotic Breakcore sound is
“Short video”
It was a very good compatibility.
It is also connected to gaming culture.
- fast beat
- Intense editing
- digital sound
These match the game footage very well.
In this way, Breakcore is not a rave culture.
“Internet culture”
was revived within.
Breakcore’s resurgence began not in clubs, but on the internet.
Breakcore and the Internet generation
Why are younger generations attracted to Breakcore?
It is deeply connected to modern digital culture.
The modern internet is
flood of information
It is.
- movie
- Meme
- Games
- music
Everything moves at high speed.
Breakcore’s musical structure is very close to this feeling.
The beat is constantly changing, samples colliding one after another.
In other words, Breakcore is
“The sound of the Internet itself”
You can say that.
Breakcore has become the sound that symbolizes the era of information overload.
Breakcore music structure
Breakcore’s structure is very different from other electronic music.
The characteristics of this genre are
“There is no unified style.”
There is also a thing.
In other words, what is Breakcore?
genre without rules
It is.
Breakcore is a style of breaking the rules of music.
Breakcore and anime culture
The recent revival of Breakcore is also related to Japanese anime culture.
Many new generation Breakcores have the following characteristics:
- Anime sampling
- Japanese vocals
- Game music influence
These spread in overseas internet communities.
Of particular importance was the
“Globalization of Otaku Culture”
It was.
By combining anime and electronic music, a new Breakcore style is born.
This trend is very different from the jungle culture of the past.
Modern Breakcore is evolving at the intersection of anime and internet culture.
Why Breakcore is spreading again
There is no single reason for the resurgence of Breakcore.
There are five main ones:
-
Affinity with Internet culture
-
Music structure in the era of short videos
-
Compatibility with gaming culture
-
Ease of DIY production
-
Genre mixed culture
In other words, Breakcore is
Music most suited to modern digital culture
It was.
The resurgence of Breakcore was not a coincidence, but a necessity of digital culture.
Future of Breakcore
What will happen to Breakcore in the future?
If you look at history, this genre has always lived in the following places.
- Underground
- internet
- DIY culture
In other words, Breakcore is
It’s not music from a big industry.
rather
“Culture Gap”
It is music born from.
Breakcore will continue to evolve in a place that is different from mainstream music.
And the place is not a club
It might be the internet.
Breakcore is not mainstream music, but continues to be a genre that constantly evolves at the boundaries of culture.
