Hullabaloo!
Currently knee-deep in web design for a soon-to-be-announced project, and I'm easing the HTML-induced pain with some happy hardcore. Once upon a time I was an enthusiastic — if not frequent — raver. Hullabaloo was my home, the venue of several of the best nights of my youth.
Hullabaloo, circa 1998. I might actually be in this crowd somewhere...
For those not in the know, happy hardcore is “a genre of music typified by a very fast tempo (usually around 160–180 BPM), often coupled with solo vocals and sentimental lyrics” (wikipedia.org) and Hullabaloo was a series of Toronto raves that became the global centre of the happy hardcore scene.
Feels So Right
Anabolic Frolic
Anabolic Frolic is the DJ/promoter behind the Hullabaloo parties. He also produced a few happy hardcore tracks, including Feels So Right.
Anabolic Frolic
Anabolic Frolic's story doesn't quite make sense until you factor in that he and his fellow frolickers are stricken with the love that dare not speak its name: happy hardcore. An aptly dubbed brand of electronic music that makes S Club 7 sound like Black Sabbath in comparison, happy hardcore's bubble-gum buoyancy makes it the black licorice of techno — those who don't like it really loathe it, but those who do like it just can't get enough.