Sixty-two tracks went up this week and house ate most of the plate, which is very on brand for a blog that claims to love everything and clearly has a type. Drum & bass kept pace, the bass crowd got fed, and Hardwell apparently decided to move in. We didn’t change the locks. Here’s what mattered.
Track of the Week
Chase & Status - BADDADAN (KNOCK2 RMX)
“BADDADAN” was already a UK jungle monster that refused to leave festival sets alone, so KNOCK2 dragging it across the Atlantic and rebuilding it for the American bass scene was always going to start an argument. He keeps the vocal chants that make the original detonate, then swaps the rolling breakbeat for that hard-hitting trap bounce. Part of me misses the UK swing, but this version demolishes in a different register, and a smart remix translates a tune into a dialect a new crowd already speaks instead of trying to out-UK the UK. Listen →
The New Drops
House (~22 posts) — The whole spectrum got worked, deep, tech, bass, soulful, disco. Makèz & LYMA went warm and grown-up, Siege and David LeSal threatened to literally burn the place down, and Gabriel & Dresden remembered they invented this feeling. If you’re not paying attention to house right now you’re just not paying attention.
Drum & bass (~11 posts) — Liquid had a full week. SOLAH turned up twice, the second time live on a rooftop with Break, and Hybrid Minds dropped one of those rollers that makes a long night drive feel cinematic. Born On Road and P Money went the other direction entirely and built a smoky basement.
Dubstep & bass (~8 posts) — Of The Trees x Tape B was the one to beat, two of the most interesting people in American bass music linking up and leaving actual space around the low end. SVDDEN DEATH and Eptic kept the filth quotient where it belongs.
Trap (~5 posts) — Don Toliver got a flip, SPORTMODE kept circling, and Juelz roped in Angst for something unhinged.
Trance (3 posts) — Oakenfold and Markus Schulz teamed up like it’s still festival season forever, and SUPERSTRINGS went full uplifting with zero apology.
Techno (2 posts) — Small column, big swing: Space 92 took on Oxia’s “Domino” live in Buenos Aires and somehow justified touching a classic.
Also Banged This Week
- Of The Trees x Tape B - Brackish — pretty melodic design meeting absolutely filthy bass. Listen →
- Oxia - Domino (Space 92 Remix) — a 2009 untouchable, beefed up and detonated. Listen →
- Hybrid Minds - Avalanche — warm liquid that still hits hard. Listen →
- Born On Road & P Money - Bristol Style — for anyone with a subwoofer and bad intentions. Listen →
- Hardwell - Encoded (2ACES Remix) — big room with the conviction to make the formula work on you again. Listen →
See you next week. Coldplay still sucks.