Evolving from his deeply nurtured roots planted firmly within the hip-hop and drum & bass genres, Los Angeles-based artist Mesck brings forth a unique style that strikes a novel balance between his hands-on, crate-digging, sample-based origins and the sound design processes and technical prowess of modern electronic music production. Without ever sacrificing strength, energy or heaviness, Mesck weaves an unmistakably powerful sound that blurs the lines of headphone and dancefloor listening. His highly original and volatile style has seen releases with noteworthy labels such as Crucial Recordings, Chestplate and GourmetBeats; each one improving upon the last while simultaneously delivering a fresh take on dubstep’s complex and ever-evolving personality.
With an array of rousing, adrenaline-pumping releases under his belt this past year and a slew of forthcoming releases yet to be unveiled, we asked Mesck to recount his top multigenre tracks of 2017 to wind down yet another stellar year for artists pushing the musical envelope. Dig into the full 16-track playlist below followed by his in-depth breakdown of his top five selections.
GRAMZ “Dopespots”
“This tune has one purpose and that is to let everyone on the dancefloor know that you are not fucking around. So many things about this one stand out to me, from the vocal flips to the descending percussion hits and everything else in between. Understated yet far from simple. Gramz is a madman and gave this one away for free so be sure to grab it off his SoundCloud.”
Eprom “Oksana”
“Eprom is not human. I’m admittedly a bit of a sucker for vocals and chants and the way he flipped this one here combined with that bassline is just perfection. Completely blurring all lines between headphone and dance floor listening as usual.”
Mesck “The Veil”
“I had to be a bit shameless here and lump one of my own into the Top 5 mix. It’s not often that I manage to lock down the vibe and mix on a tune while trying push the envelope stylistically, but it all just kind of came together with this one. Big shout to all the DJs supporting.”
TRIAD$ “Celebrities”
“Gritty 808s and Nas samples…yes, please. No idea who this dude is or what to call this but this is straight gutter. I’m tired of rinsing the clip on SoundCloud, man, so if you see this please send me some beats!”
Chris Hunt “Plaster”
“Another one that probably doesn’t fall under any genre specifically but I love everything about it. It’s obviously not your run of the mill dancefloor business at all. I was supposed to remix it but the original is just so good that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Maybe someday…”