FIVE WAYS TO STOP YOUR HEAD EXPLODING DURING FOUR ADDED WEEKS OF INTERNMENT

It was revealed on Monday that stage four of the UK’s roadmap out of lockdown, originally scheduled to be implemented on June 21st, will now be delayed for an additional four weeks amid rising cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant.

On a week’s notice the news comes as an upsetting shock, especially to the rave community. In anticipation of a lift on restrictions, preparations made by nightclubs and event venues around the UK who were planning to reopen their doors with post-lockdown parties, are now clearly in vain as the government provides their latest dose of disappointment!

Being sidelined for at least another month will most certainly take its toll on partygoers who have been waiting patiently to release their pent up frustrations, acquired from over a year of internment.

No doubt Boris and his entourage of ‘piss takers’ expect us to sit idly by, awaiting their next installment of hypocrisy, but for ravers in need of an eargasm or three in the meantime, here are the top 5 places where you can still get a regular fix of your beloved hardcore, as recommended by yours truly…

#5
KONTRAST RADIO

Approaching its two year anniversary, Kontrast Radio is a reliable platform showcasing the latest hard dance, hardstyle, and hardcore. The monthly podcast, hosted by Jakka-B, consistently provides an eclectic selection of upfront hard beats, and also features periodic artist takeovers, such as my personal favourite, Episode #26, with Japanese hardcore legend, DJ Shimamura.

The most recent installment, Episode #28, is available through Jakka-B’s Soundcloud page, along with a back catalog dating back to the show’s inception in 2019.

#4
SCARRED SESSIONS

Scarred Sessions has quickly cemented itself as a mainstay among users of the popular streaming platform, Twitch. The show is ran by Scarred Digital boss DJ Sc@r, who regularly features alongside a cast of the label’s artists and special guests. With players like Ziggy X, MC Destiny, and even Marc Smith, all making appearances in recent weeks, this show is definitely worthy of your time.

Scarred Sessions is scheduled weekly on Sunday’s. If that’s not enough, last week also saw the return of Thrust Tuesdays, which was literal music to my ears, being that my typical Sunday can be quite a messy affair!

Visit ScarredDigitalHQ on Twitch for shows every Sunday at 5pm (UK), and every Tuesday at 6pm (UK).

#3
KLUBFILLER’S HARD LIFE

Just four weeks ago, Merseyside’s In Demand Radio launched Hard Life… a brand new show hosted by Klubfiller.

Exclusively showcasing the sounds of hardcore, you can expect to hear all your favourite tracks and remixes from the head honcho of Klubbed Up, along with first time airings of new music on this exciting weekly show.

Local listeners can tune in live from 3am-4am every Friday morning, and each show is also available to a global audience on demand through the station’s website. To listen now, simply click here for a list of the previously aired shows.

#2
BONKERS BEATS

Since launching in early April on Scotland’s Beat 106, the all new Bonkers Beats has revolutionized the mundane format usually heard from a typical radio station on a Friday night. You will not hear repetitive house, hip hop, and cheesy pop music on this show. Instead, you can expect a furious assault of hardcore, freeform, and gabba, from some of the very best in the business.

In addition to resident legends; Hixxy, Scott Brown, Sharkey, and Dougal, each week features new guests, and has already showcased the likes of Joey Riot, Fracus & Darwin, Vibes, Scorpio, and Ellis Dee, to just name a mere few.

The live show is available globally through the station’s website, starting at 11pm (UK), or for those in my neck of the woods, 4pm (Mountain Time), making it the perfect soundtrack for my commute home from a long work week! If you miss it live, Beat 106 replays the show every week, for their ‘Second Chance Sunday’ broadcast.

To listen online, visit Beat106Scotland.com

#1
KEEPING THE RAVE ALIVE

In our industry you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone working as hard as Kutski. As his weekly podcast Keeping The Rave Alive rapidly approaches its milestone 500th episode, it’s clear to see that the show is not just aptly named; supporting our scene is a priority for the ‘Pussy Motherfucker‘, and this was evident long before episode 1, around 5 years ago. Every Friday, a new episode of KTRA is released, hosted by Kutski, and featuring a special guest of his choice. Covering 360° of the harder styles, the freestyle artist leaves no stone unturned, and you can expect to hear genres ranging anywhere from hard trance, right through to speedcore. Throughout its tenure, KTRA has welcomed just about every hardcore artist you can think of from around the world, with; DJ Shimamura, Hartshorn, Angerfist, Scott Brown, Technikore, Joey Riot, Darren Styles, Fracus & Darwin, Dougal, Neophyte, and Dolphin, being just some of the names featured on a very long list of the show’s previous guests.

Although KTRA’s music policy is not exclusively hardcore, the faster styles are showcased pretty regularly, like the recent History of Hardcore and History of Happy Hardcore episodes. Plus, with multiple shows a week on his Twitch channel, Kutski likes to do a lot of special one-off hardcore exclusives, like his recent Essential Platinum, Silk Cuts and Juicycuts retrospective’s, his Ultimate Happy Hardcore Vinyl Mix, and the Forgotten Hardcore Classics showcase; all of which were just aired in the last few months.

All of this and more equates to (at least in my eyes,) Kutski, and Keeping The Rave Alive, locking a firm number 1 position as the best source of hardcore listening pleasure in the galaxy!

For new episodes of KTRA, visit the brand’s website every Friday at KeepingTheRaveAlive.com, or to check out Kutski’s schedule on Twitch, click here.

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Thanks for reading!