As we head into September and put August in the past, the last month of summer bass is here.
This month, we bring you a chart that spans Nikepunk and Blanke, to Ekali revisiting Emalkay’s timeless ‘When I Look at You,’ to funk master GRiZ, to emerging artist, rSUN. There aren’t many lowkey songs in this chart, so settle in as these 15 songs bring summer energy as well as the ability to transition nicely into fall club season where darker tones are more common.
Darker vocals that carry into full force bass riffs and flirt with hip hop groove is a theme in this month’s chart. Of course, there are songs that stray from this theme like ‘Name Drop,’ ‘Legacy,’ and ‘Glowsticks’.
A few tracks this month came from compilations, notably Deadbeats’ We Are Deadbeats Vol 5, and FUXWITHIT’s debut compilation, Champions Of The Underground Vol. 1.
For more charts by myself, visit here. And, if you’d like to send me some of your music for consideration feel free to reach out to me on Instagram, Twitter, or Email.
Enjoy.
Sound design god Nitepunk comes to us with Black and Colors, a song that gently blends the more aggressive sound he is known for while leaning into melodic and euphoric themes. The song takes you on a journey, perfectly revisiting its core themes while also introducing new grooves and interludes.
Blanke’s “Another Planet” is off his recent EP, “ÆON:TWO,” and includes two other songs, Surface and Aurora. Another Planet is a ripper of a song, bringing tried and true Drum & Bass themes while Blanke hits us with his creativity that has defined his career. The song only grows and turns up from the beginning. Don’t skip through this one.
longstoryshort, a New York City based producer who made waves over the summer with his Wax Motif collaboration, On The Low, has remixed Within The Boundaries into a groovy dance floor smash. longstoryshort does a remarkable job with the remix as the track feels equally hard as it is emotionally soft. You’re going to want to dance your heart out to this one.
Also, if you haven’t heard his EP, redemption, do not sleep on it. The EP is a masterpiece.
Glowsticks by SUAHN takes you into a timecapsule, restoring the notorious Hoover synth sound but in a bass music palette. The track showcases SUAHN’s larger than life and dark rave sound, delivering debilitating drums and lowend. Turn this one up for maximum impact.
Xerxes, currently a favorite up and coming producer of mine, returns to the Magnetic Bass Music Chart with a song that reminds me of early Knock2 and ISOxo. Legacy has a blisteringly catching melody that you can’t help but hum along to as you dance from one raging drop to another. Xerxes’ taste for chaotically organized drops is second to none, and their future is bright.
This is one my favorite songs in a long time. Perhaps its the nostalgia, or Ekali‘s bass that absolutely rocks a simple, heavy, and catchy groove, but either way, his tribute to Emalkay is remarkable. ‘When I Look At You’ marked a moment in dubstep’s meteoric rise to fame as once underground producers found themselves getting booked around the world in clubs and festivals once reserved for more radio friendly sounds.
Ekali’s take on ‘When I Look At You’ completely reincarnates a dance music classic, and I personally hope it kicks off a trend of modern takes on timeless tracks.
A slow and wobbly dubstep track, Deadcrow deviates from wave, the sound that established him, and hits us with a viscerally dark dubstep tune. The crisp and bleeding bass sound is full, hard, and spatial as Deadcrow plays with reverb to keep a simplistic theme interesting, large, and pleasantly intense. This one is off of Deadbeats’ We Are Deadbeats Vol. 5.
Gurf’s Big Pizzo is a very fun, groovy, and trippy bass banger that deeply flirts with hip hop. Bringing themes of Bay Area hip hop, this track will make you put on your shuffle shoes as the ripe percussion and synths operate in harmony to create a dance track that could make anyone bop their head. This track comes off of FUXWITHIT’s debut compilation ‘Champions Of The Underground Vol. 1.
The funk is here baby. Funkonaut crushes the glitch funk bass game as it dances from one drop concept into another, keeping it fresh and fun. The upper ethereal pads and plucks retain fun and light familiarity before GRiZ and LSDREAM drop you back into a heavy chorus that makes your entire body bop to the beat.
This track, Name Drop, opens with a homage to hockey arena announcers setting the stage before Excision and Wooli take us where we want to go – into an auditory oblivion. Name Drop yells at us, squeals at us, and brings us a breather between drops thats carried by arena horns before we enter each chorus. If you’re singing along to the “what’s my name” pre-drop vocal, you already know who it is.
Ray Volpe and Soltan‘s Elbow Grease is a song that does not stop. From the beginning, this song is full force energy, bouncing between screeching synth tropes to bongo drums. It all works and is cut perfectly for a summer mainstage.
Hope you like hard dance. So Alive, by GRAVEDGR and Angel Cannon pushes the sound wall to the brink. The bassline of this song, especially in the second half of the track, really carries a body bag bopping groove that will make you need to sit down when you’re done dancing. This song takes no prisoners.
Industry heavyweight, ISOxo, and FrostTop, a personal favorite of mine, join forces on Angels Landing. It’s a collaboration that caters to each producer’s signature sounds. The song’s core melody is catchy, keeping you interested up until we get a breakdown that slows us down before the final chorus that feels like a stress reliving conclusion.
rSUN has been putting out some absolute heat recently. Some of the wobbliest, cleaniest, yet approachable bass music. Rife with hip hop bounce influence, On Top is begging for a rap top-line, not that it needs it. The song only gets more creative and interesting as it progresses, taking the groovy track into chord flirtations that elevate the song to another level.
Quix‘s Take My Breath Away is a large and melodic bass track that has some splintering synth sound design. It straddles the line of dark and emotional with angry and energetic. The track is one of my personal favorites of Quix’s.
