UK Hardcore

UK hardcore is the British continuation of happy hardcore into the twenty-first century: very fast, euphoric dance music built around 170 BPM kick drums, trance-style supersaw leads, pitched-up or anthemic female vocals and piano breaks. Where the 1990s style drew on breakbeats and chipmunk samples, the 2000s form, led by producers such as *Darren Styles*, *Scott Brown* and *Hixxy*, adopted the production language of commercial trance and hard dance, circulated through compilation series such as "Bonkers" and "Clubland X-Treme Hardcore" and a rave circuit centred on events rather than artist albums.