Pearsall's Tunes

From Dissensus:

what's the difference between hardstyle and newstyle? i can't really tell. they played a lot of hardstyle at raindance the other day i think. the MCs kept talking about it anyway. it was really fun. but when the drugs wore off it REALLY started to grate...

My response from that thread was:

Hardstyle was one direction in which European hard trance developed, whereas newstyle was a way in which European hardcore developed. Basically, the change to newstyle within the hardcore field happened a while ago, maybe seven or eight years ago, while hardstyle only really came around within the last two or three years. Sonically they aren't so different these days, except newstyle tends to be faster (not always though, some hardstyle producers have upped the bpm's quite a bit from the standard 140 that European hard trance producers like DJ Scot Project and Shokk used). Also, hardstyle dj's will still play stuff that is quite trancy, whereas hardcore (which is really what newstyle is, being the main sound of European hardcore) is quite a bit darker.

Just to add to that, they are still very distinctly the products of their original genres, even though there has been a significant amount of cross-pollination between the two. While hardstyle has filched sonic signatures like distorted kickdrums and the big anthemic ravey riffs, it is still quite clearly a part of the trance family, being still (compared to gabba at least) quite bouncy, less doomy, and more inclined to ravey euphoria. And, although hardcore/gabba has slowed down and lightened up a bit, it is still quite clearly darker and more headstrong than hardstyle as a genre.

Here are some representative sound clips:

Hardstyle: Check the Generator (clip from Technoboy live @ Defqon One, Holland, June 16th 2004)

Newstyle Hardcore: Masters Of Ceremony - Skullfuck / Bodylotion vs. Scott Brown & Darrien Kelly - Always A Jellyhead (JDA's Gelei Mix) (the last two tracks from the Hardcore: A New Beginning cd)