BASS RECOMMENDATIONS SEPTEMBER 2012

Review: Can you imagine a more perfect mix - the innately soulful yet age-worn vocals of American singer Bobby Womack and the effervescent and vital bad-boy house of Julio Bashmore? XL really nailed it with this remix release of the highlight from Womack's latest album, with the Bristolian house god spending a good couple of minutes teasing the track in as vocals are looped and basslines drill into your head, before unleashing a classy and sunny beat for full orgasmic revelry. Exemen do a great job with the tune too on their rerub - geared up for dance floor panic with a dubby 2-step remake.

Review: Mensah scored one of last year's most eponymous club bumpers in the form of "Off The Traxx" under his New York Transit Authority alias, and with little news of any new productions under the name on the horizon, Redlight's Lobster Boy offer up VIP versions of that track and the tougher B Side from Conqueror as some sort of vinyl appeasement. Naturally the brouhaha over who exactly was behind New York Transit Authority contributed to it's mythical and lauded status but there's no denying the 808 heavy thruster's potency on the dancefloor, even more so in this all new VIP format. Still though, the dystopian dread vibes "Conqueror" remains the better track for us, even more rugged and rude in VIP mix form.

Review: Since appearing on Jamie xx's Essential Mix last year, anticipation has been building for the release of Welsh producer Koreless's "Lost In Tokyo", and it finds itself on the logical home of Jacques Greene's Vase imprint. Sharing the same sense of melody as the Canadian tour de force, Koreless manages to take water droplet synths and a breathy vocal shrouded in reverb and construct a tense slow burner without the addition of any beats. A remix is offered by Greene himself, a logical choice given that he has taken the young producer under his wing over the last year, and turns in a club focused remix with tumbling bass and thumping kicks in the style of his recent track "Ready". Essential stuff.

Review: Alex Cowles first unveiled his DFRNT moniker back in 2008, with an EP of deep, dubstep-influenced ambience and horizontal electronica. Having followed that up with an album and a multitude of singles for On The Edge, he returns to original Echodub with his second album, Fading. Those who've followed his career to date will feel right at home with its quiet, shuffling mix of blissful refrains, cozy samples and spacious grooves. While the bassy rhythms of dubstep remain a cornerstone of his outlook, there are also successful forays into dub techno, deep house and drone ambient territory - making Fading an engrossing listen.

Review: The second collectible EP out of three, arriving on double white 10" vinyl, and containing tracks from Jon Convex's debut album, Idoru sees another four hard hitting fusions of techno and contemporary bass music. Unlike the first EP, which was surprisingly melodic, these tracks aim squarely at the floor, with "What I Need" a heavy tom-led piece of Detroit influenced techno, and "Aversion" providing some tracky functionalism. "Desolation" and "Four Faces" meanwhile provide some bleak electro dystopianism, much indebted to his Autonomic heritage.

Review: Hailing from St Petersburg, Nocow has kept his head down issuing forth his brand of emotive hybrid bass music for a good few years now. While the emotive vocal licks may be somewhat of a familiar tool in these times, there's a heavy swathe of melancholy that engulfs the Like Apart EP, coming on like a wall of My Bloody Valentine drone, ill-defined but all-consuming. Switching up between the slow broken beat of "The Man Behind The Suit" and the housier refrain of tracks such as "I Just Want You (To Know)", Nocow has a flexibility in the kind of track he can turn his hands to, but still the mournful character of the music he makes binds everything together cohesively.

Review: Heralding the start of his new Snowfall imprint, Ross Tones brings an atmospheric hush to the table with his new offerings. Already it's become impossible to predict what Throwing Snow will deliver each time around, but the Autumnal mist that shrouds around "Clamor" embellishes the booming live drums (and fiddle no less) with an enchanting quality that escapes so much electronic music. "Brook" switches things up entirely with a slow, jerky house cut that favours distorted snippets of melody over anything too obvious, sounding altogether fresh in the glut of 4/4 being made at present. "Perca" brings a more loping beat to bear, while the fiddle makes a second appearance, for a sound that struggles to provide any reference points.

Review: Infrasonics label boss Spatial takes a trip beyond his own label for this new three track release on Well Rounded, dropping an absolutely mighty tune in the shape of crisp and dry 2-step tech monster "Bring Me". Alongside the choppy thrills of that opener, "Discoborg" boasts a demented set of disjointed stabs over an equally airless beat, while the rooted-noted techno of "You Workin'" slowly builds into a gloriously far out and head-expanding delight.

Review: Hailing from the flourishing Toronto scene, Bwana is clearly enamoured with the recent upsurge in juke-influenced drum patterns and the predilection for pitched-up RnB vocal licks. "Baby Let Me Finish" snaps and jerks on a speedy tempo while the core melodies remain melancholic in their demeanour, packing a whole lot of claps into the bars without getting too rowdy. "Nami Swan" spaces things out a little more, although still plying that trade in intense vocal sampling. 14th's remix of "Baby..." slows the manic juke situation down to a stalking house occasion, while Black Orange Juice prefer a strange middle ground of electronica in which to deploy their own version.