The 15 Best Bass Tracks of May 2022

Pocket, the latest single from Frison, comes to us from GODTIER, an emerging label and taste curator. Pocket is a wonderful expression in balancing varying sounds and styles while retaining a disciplined approach in song arrangement that keeps the overall sound in a singular identity. 

The song sounds as if Koan Sound collaborated with 2011 Skrillex on a jazz inspired bass track. Its fluttering warm pads and plucks contrast the song's core sound of chunking bass riffs, leaving it consistently fresh and unexpected.

One of the hardest tracks of May, REDloop is a testament to the continued rampage that ISOxo has been on recently. 

A song that blends distorted organic elements, with larger than life drum and percussion work, REDloop's vocal samples and simple yet captivating lead bring this track into another level. 

Noisia and Skrillex, two of the names who remain undefeated in bass music and never seem to miss. Horizon is a wonderful display of creativity, restraint, and exploring modern taste with timeless and proven approaches in bass music. The song flirts with subtle nods to nostalgic Skrillex melodies we heard when he was first onto the scene more than 10 years ago.

The track delivers some of the warmest pulsating bass on this chart, while still being calm and soothing. The song's one-off use of vocal samples that sound like something you would hear in hyperpop or mumble rap keeps the song feeling while fresh while riding onto of top of its classic sound palette.

Raze! by ZCR delivers an incredible wonky groove with borderline terror percussion keeping the song hard, heavy, and dark. It's one of those tracks that would properly go off in a live setting, mixing the bounce of hip hop with the aggression of dubstep.

It's a track that sounds simple in sound palette, using a lot of the same sounds throughout, but the arrangement and switch ups keep it fun and fast throughout.

Are we even surprised to find this song here? Nitepunk and X&G, two of the modern masters of sound design, gripping groove, and sound palette pushers, have come together for a seriously intense remix of Nitepunk's MTV track. 

X&G, renowned for their versatility, have taken Nitepunk's original vision for MTV and double down on the Nitepunk sound, bringing a fresh and yet expected rebirth for the track. 

It has some properly wicked percussion and drum rhythms, some of which that can only be pulled of by the wizards who are X&G. 

This track, Alt Sequence by totto, is one of the more unique songs I've heard in recent memory. 

To arrange a song with light ethereal plucks and pads that lead so perfectly into a chorus section made with large bass design and super saws, without relying on a large build up, is no easy feat. 

Blasta, by LSDREAM and INZO, checks all the boxes. The track is an absolute smasher. It is large, vibey, dancey, and touches on many tropes across the electronic music sound spectrum, that it would be hard for anyone to not find a part of this song they like. 

It's got some disco, some screamo, plenty of white noise, but also simplistically addictive basslines that you don't want the song to end.

I am not sure where to start with this one. Le Club, by a full roster of collaborators - Dirtyphonics, ECraze, Graphy, IVORY, and Samplifire - come together to make the sonic slayer of track, Le Club.

The song spans numerous genres in electronic music, with french house tropes, some disco, electro house, riddim, and more. It's a truly impressive output from the five artists who left nothing behind when creating this song that could be played in countless sets. 

It's got a little bit of everything, for everyone. In the words of New York City's late club, Output - "It's for everyone but not for everyone"

Melrose, one of the tracks of the duo's new EP, Double Blind, is a tutorial in sub bass creativity. The song never wavers, bringing head bobbing groove with lush, lounge sounds on top. 

It has a nice selection of sounds, with the occasional west coast hip hop lead, but also a bit-crushed chord lead that offers a surprisingly refreshing style for bass music. 

Ray Volpe's 'Growing Wild' is a nostalgic uplifting track that brings you back to earth with a chorus that maintains melodic integrity while ensuring its bass sound design keeps you off your feet and out of your mind. 

The track's melodic elements bring us sounds from hard-wave, with bass design from harder genres, and is a display of how the lines between traditional electronic genres are more blurred than ever.

Banned Fiction by gyrofield will make your neighbors want to ban you the from the building. 

A very organic sounding sub music track, the larger than life bass reverb shots with a thicky creative bass underbody will make you thirst for the world's best subwoofer to hear this properly. 

The slipping hi hat percussion in the background keeps the song feeling saucy and unpredictable, while keeping the spatial groove alive and thriving. I would love to hear this track at a Sound Boy show in New York City. 

Deadcrow, one of the fastest growing artists in the scene, comes to us with a full force hardwave track that's pleasantly supported by heavy guitar riffs and drums leading into the large euphoric, arena sized melodic chorus. 

Deadcrow has continuously showcased his sound, but never wavers in exploring new routes to showcase his taste, which we hear on GT1000. The track has a nice arrangement with subtle changes that keep it predictable and continuous while feeling fresh and somewhat unorthodox. 

Wasteland, by Moore Kismet, showcases one of my favorite parts of their sound - fluttering euphorically processed vocals on top of white noised basslines.

Moore's ability to tease an eclectic, yet focused selection of vocal samples across their tracks keeps them at the forefront of what is possible is approachable yet heavy sound design. 

Is anyone even surprised? Of course laxcity, and their latest track, amends is on this chart. Laxcity is a master at taking a diverse collection of sounds, putting them into a sound design blend, and making a properly delicious sonic smoothie. 

There's hardwave sounds, timestretched audio, anime scoring themes, hip hop drums, but choppy skills more routinely found in house genres. 

I wonder how many times laxcity amended this track before calling this showcase in their abilities, done.

Flow, by Fabian Mazur and Snavs, is maybe the most hypnotically captivating bounce bops on this chart. The whisper vocals bring you back to sensuality of "Wait (The Whisper Song" by the Ying Yang Twins, dating back to 2005. 

The borderline erotic vocals in Flow matched with its infectious bass bounce and pop locking percussion is a PhD level grasp of how to make people dance.