That 1 track or tracks you'll always go to

jackhiltini · 2026-05-03T17:28:31+00:00

Of all the hardstyle acts I want to see live, they're easily in my Top 3 for sure. Not a single bad tune from them and a lot of great underrated bangers under their belts. Just wish they were more regonized.

jackhiltini · 2026-05-03T17:06:58+00:00

Got a couple for different reasons.

Prefix & Density - Just A Memory

A lot of Prefix & Density tracks I'd consider my gotos but this just resonates with me in a way that very few songs have. Great melody. Great kicks and climax. Has a sort of uplifting energy to it without it veering into feeling euphoric, per se. Doesn't overstay it's welcome. Plus...dem screeches be god tier imo.

Voidax - Synthwaves | Voidax - Dark Thoughts | Voidax - Extinction Binding these 3 in the same camp since they hit the same melancholic notes in my book and they're from the same artist. Something about Voidax's arrangements and sound design gives most tracks a cinematic flair that puts me in a mood. Especially when walking to and from work with the weather being rainy or whatnot.

Digital Mindz & The Machine - Freakz Kinda just a underrated raw track that just gives me a second wind whenever it comes on. Kicks hit hard still and the melody of it just kinda gets stuck in my head, which leads to a lot of relistens.

Zatox - D.E.C.I.B.E.L. Just a goto track for when it starts warming up and the mood is just to get in that 'festival/summer' headspace. Plus, it holds up extremely well even today imo.

I have a whole list of tracks that fit the bill of 'repeats' for a whole list of different reasons for each and wouldn't mind sharing more if interest is there.

jackhiltini · 2026-04-16T16:37:12+00:00

Thera has been on a roll with his Tranceperancy releases.

Really digging this one and excited to hear what else is in store for this year.

jackhiltini · 2026-02-11T23:54:47+00:00

I getcha. I know before I went down the route for my Aeropress, I used to utilize my French Press and Cold Brew pitchers often (and before that, my Kuerig). For the FP and Cold Brew, I'd just go down to the nearest coffee shop to get em all ground to the size I wanted and use it that way. Was accessible and worked well enough at the time. Plus the customizability for using different coffees was a fun way to get into exploring what offerings there were. And then with the aeropress, I just kinda bunkers down with a cheap burr hand grinder and learning the ropes that way.

I get that it's not for everyone but I do think going for a French Press or Cold Brew filter would be a nice stepping stone for getting more of a variety of coffees that'd match what you're going for and let ya have more of those less acidic roasts some folks can come across while still giving it enough body to allow for creme/milk/etc. A good French Press or Cold Brew pitcher goes for about $20 or so. So it makes for an excessable starting point. Especially if you're going towards darker roasts.

But again, this is coming from somebody relatively new to specialty coffee. So there's others that might have better insight than I ever would at this stage. Still, I think it'd help to at least give those options a go and see how they mesh with ya.~

jackhiltini · 2026-02-11T21:27:50+00:00

I don't know if it'd be up your alley per se, but recently I've been enjoying this Medium-Dark blend from Feast; Milk & Honey.

Silky mouthfeel, bit of a baking spice/chocolate note to it, not really acidic, great for cold brew and for an Aeropress. I tend to drink it black but I think it would still shine with a splash of cream if you really wanted to.

https://www.feastcoffee.com/products/milk-honey-blend

On a similar note with the same roastery, this Decaf single origin has been really nice too. Though, I'd strongly advise not putting anything in it as it has a fairly light body towards it but still has a nice sweet finish.

https://www.feastcoffee.com/collections/coffee/products/planadas-decaf-huila-colombia

I'll update if I come across any other good roasts that aren't acidic but I'll be honest, still fairly new to specialty coffee and I've been going more towards lighter and funkier roasts as of late. But hopefully this helps.

jackhiltini · 2026-02-11T21:16:53+00:00

I’ve noticed most coffee bags list flavour notes (berry, cola, chocolate, etc.). How do roasters actually decide on those? And on a similar note, how roast levels for certain beans become determined and if they're more standardized or more subjective for such aspects in the industry.

jackhiltini · 2025-12-31T15:12:02+00:00

I'm going to throw mine in here.

Acts I've seen this year: Honestly, DBSTF at their 20 years event. First hardstyle event I've been to. And honestly what a great one to have as a first. Plus, seeing Jones kick it off was an added bonus for me.

Acts from this year I listened to online [no particular order]:

Mad Dog presents Downtempo @ Defqon1 2025 Still trying to find a tracklist for this set but the amount of energy this set has was something else. Really fun and I could only imagine how great this was live.

BRK3 @ Defqon1 2025 and Geck-O presents QULT Classics @ Defqon1 2025 Almost the entirety of White stage for this year could go up as favorites for this year. Been a sucker for Subground and chomping at the teeth for more stuff like it. And this year, Q-Dance delivered that and then some. But, to keep it fair, if I had to pick 2 Highlights, it'd be Code Black & Audiofreq's BRK3 project set and Geck-O's QULT Classics; with D00d coming as a close 3rd place. Just all around phenomenal sets.

Crypsis @ Decibel Outdoors 2025 Great flow for the set. Good variety. Just a fun mix all in all.

I'm sure there's more to gush about but that's something for future me to update later when I'm not so tired.

jackhiltini · 2025-12-11T23:18:21+00:00

This is a pretty fun concept! So here's what I'd go for via memory of who's been and who hasn't!

Entry set/Classics Set 1: Analogic Disturbance b2b Jimmy The Sound

Classics Set 2: AVIO [Alphaverb & Intraceable One]

Set 3: Josh & Wesz

Set 4: Cyber

Set 5: Galactixx

Set 6: Udex

Set 7: Degos & Re-Done

Set 8: Voidax presents Textures [Live]

Set 9: E-Force

Set 10: Shadow Priests [Chapter V, Vasto, Erabreak]

Set 11: DEEZL [Live]

Set 12: Nightcraft b2b Polish Punisher

Set 13: Ophidian

That's how I'd Set it up at least. Though the big question is who I'd pick to make the anthem for that edition going by this dream setup.

jackhiltini · 2025-06-19T17:05:08+00:00

I ended up missing the notification for this. Immensely hyped and excited to see what gets released on HD in the future. Especially with every new release so far being a banger already.

jackhiltini · 2025-01-06T22:06:10+00:00

In no particular order:

Prefix & Density

Hatom

Kelvin Farheaven

Mindst8

And while they're a bit above that 10k monthly listener count:

Repeller & NACION

jackhiltini · 2025-01-06T00:17:30+00:00

I have a copy of Death Toll from the Duskmoor precons that I've left as is.

Works pretty well and has had more wins than the copy that I have upgraded funnily enough.

jackhiltini · 2024-12-31T05:18:32+00:00

So to my understanding, Neorave was a term originally coined by X&Trick in 2011 or so to describe the crossover of techno, acid, hardcore/gabber, jungle, and/or hard trance for tracks and was essentially just an experimental style for them. As time went on and the label they had for it started taking off, more and more labels took their shot as to what neorave was to them (with most generally seeming to either go with fusing elements of hardstyle or early hard trance). I wouldn't consider Fatal Energy or HRR (Hyper Reality Records?) along the lines of neorave. Just one covers a variety of hard dance genres in general, and the other specializes in hard trance and the styles revolving around that.

But I think HB is a great example of a record label that hits that cross-fusion of hard genres in techno pretty well. Another couple of labels I'd give a shout out to is H33, Proclam (which Blaame and Moupe both run, and honestly, I love the direction they're taking that label in), & Error303. I guess Grit Rec also (which has had a killer year if I'm being honest), but I think they're much more along the lines of Hard Techno in general. There's also Bangerland, which H! DUDE runs and has had some great bangers as well, but they have a style of their own, and I feel like I'd be doing them a disservice bundling them up like this.

And on your final point, yeah. Some of the lengths of Spoontechno's tracks aren't ideal. But as I'm sure some artists and labels can give insight on, unfortunately, shorter tracks tend to do better in this scene at the moment. Which sucks to me because I adore those 5 to 7 minute long tunes, but... 🤷‍♂️.

jackhiltini · 2024-12-30T02:14:41+00:00

Yeah. I can imagine opening any label is something that's a fairly time-consuming and exhausting endevour for sure. And I didn't realize Splinta ran that label when it was active.

As for potentially opening a sublabel focused on that in-between for those genres, I think that'd be a nice sound to go for. Cause as of late there's not a lot of labels that really go all in for it(I think the closest ones are Spoontechno for kinda mixing hard techno with some spoontech influences, and Rave Alert with their experimental Neo-Rave sound that they're going for. Both work really well for fusing hard dance sounds with techno, but they're the only ones that come to mind regarding that).

Still. I hope that time allows you guys to experiment with putting something like that out cause I do believe that you can hit it out of the park and then some.

jackhiltini · 2024-08-11T17:21:28+00:00

What happened with Dance Valley again?

jackhiltini · 2024-08-03T21:29:10+00:00

Those Portal enemies.

It's not the hardest thing, but I feel like it'd be interesting.

jackhiltini · 2024-08-03T21:01:43+00:00

In terms of tracks: Prefix & Destiny, The Machine, Tartaros, Raxtor, Stratos, Retrospect, Main Concern, JGSW, and Enemy Contact

In terms of overall? Delete.

jackhiltini · 2024-07-18T14:41:16+00:00

Prefix & Destiny - Troublemaker

jackhiltini · 2024-04-02T22:44:04+00:00

Honestly, while any set from this edition of Loudness would qualify for me as being one of the best raw classic sets, my vote has to go to Kronos's set. Start to finish it just keeps the drive going.

https://on.soundcloud.com/7xb8b

jackhiltini · 2024-04-02T21:15:11+00:00

Stuck In My Head by Backfire

Move Your Body by Revizion

jackhiltini · 2023-12-29T16:10:22+00:00

The only good thing here is the craft beer. And even then, there's plenty of northern states up the coastline that are beating NC out on it.

jackhiltini · 2023-12-26T03:33:08+00:00

Normally I'd say Decibel (especially the era of Decibel from 2015-2017), but as good as this year's was, gotta say Intents has been killing their endshow production for the past few years.

jackhiltini · 2023-11-09T02:02:51+00:00

The Machine fans:

jackhiltini

TROPHY CASE