Bassrush

Six-member, experimental bass music collective LSN has been carving a highly unique path in the electronic music world for the better part of four years now, as they’ve been pushing a rare emphasis on creating a live musical experience for their listeners among the largely computer-based production style of the dubstep genre. With each musician lending different influences and instrumentation abilities that enhance the overall creative power of the group, LSN takes full advantage of their strength in numbers and talents to breathe a new, refreshing perspective into the art of dubstep production by recording live vocals along with a variety of instruments, including guitars and synths, as well as making their own samples from live recordings of everyday sounds. Together, LSN explores and compiles facets from a variety of different genres under the umbrella of their multi-tempo sound; making everything from abstract, ambient soundscapes to full-fledged bangers, while always striking an incredibly inspiring balance between live instrumentation and emotionally driven, electronically produced bass music.

LSN’s latest release through Uprise Audio, Control, Part 1 EP (UA024), beams with innovation and originality, proving that there is still much untapped potential to be discovered in bass music where many sounds and patterns have been largely recycled and relabeled. From its raw midrange swag, hauntingly dark melodies, spirited percussive patterns and hefty growls offset by cerebral soundscapes, LSN’s three-track Control, Part 1 EP radiates avant-garde ingenuity, musicality and forward-facing experimentation both stylistically and technically. Ahead of today’s release of Control, Part 1 (which can be pre-ordered ahead of its September 18 release date here), we asked LSN to compile a future-facing bass playlist beaming with selections that they’ve packed with some of the most trailblazing, influential, genre-defining and mold-shattering tracks out there.

New Blood “Worries In The Dance” (Ivy Lab Remix)
“This track unleashed the 20/20 sound upon an unsuspecting scene; a completely fresh take on a classic bit of jungle. They bent the rules, blurring the lines between genres, combining heavy weight drone-y basses with upbeat vocals and hip-hop influences, topped off with an offensively clean mixdown.”

Commodo “My Liege”
“The hauntingly familiar harpsichord dominates this monumental track, it feels both old and new but the beat is unmistakably Commodo. Every beat he’s put forward has had a distinctive groove and dark funk that cannot be recreated; a very important quality in an era where so much music sounds the same and rehashed. The whole album How What Time is amazing, but this track stands out with its medieval courtroom vibes, it’s the head nodder. Regal.”

Ifan Dafydd “Crazy”
“There’s a beautiful juxtaposition between the crisp simplicity of the sound and the deep complexity of the melodic and rhythmic ideas that build and evolve throughout this track. Genre defying for certain, Ifan Dafydd is a creative force to be reckoned with, he is one of the best-kept secrets in electronic music and the experimental ideas and musicality in his work have been a source of constant inspiration to us.”

DJRum “Plantain”
“DJrum, as always, creates an all-encompassing musical experience and this tune really is an odyssey through sound and emotion. From the ethereal, spacious strings, scattered claps and broken beat we’re introduced to the track with, to its seamless bpm switch-up and shift in tone and energy in the latter half, it really made us contemplate how music can grow and progress over the course of the piece. A painting with sound.”

Deafblind “Bone”
“The return of the Deafblind did not disappoint. A skull crushing bass line and glitched out analog triplet percussion incessantly smash at your eardrums until you can’t help but smile at that ridiculous acid bassline that comes in at 1:50. What a corker.”

Instra:mental “No Future”
“A darker side of the autonomic movement, this track stood out as being very ahead of its time. Becoming more and more relevant by the day, the Orwellian vocal sample is a foreboding mantra that captures the feelings of a lot of our generation. The sampling of ‘real’ not necessarily ‘musical’ audio sources and using them in a creative and musical way has inspired us in our own production. This track is a classic and favourite in LSN D&B mixes.”

Sabre “Yoga” (Alix Perez Warped Mix)
“The intro to this could be a whole thing in itself; one of the funkiest and most creative uses of granular fuckery with a drum break ever to be experienced. That followed by a ridiculous bassline and switch up after switch up makes this an absolute banger!”

EPROM “Pineapple”
“It’s all about the militant 16th rhythm of the constant squeaky wonk splattering itself over a distorted, scatty, electronic as fook beat. It’s got a lot of once in a lifetime moments; meaning things only happen once in the tune, but that’s a very good thing. Very original stuff.”

Trisicloplox “Monolith”
“This was the first track we heard from this monster, and definitely made us rethink a few things. A minimal onslaught that has been a staple in our mixes since we heard it; it’s a masterclass in distortion.”

Leftfield “Phat Planet”
“Within the first 10 seconds you’re in the zone: heavy production of a fat bassline, tripped-out vocals, sneaky acid hits and crunchy drums. So influential they had a genre named after them.”

DMVU “Bloccd”
“‘The exact midpoint between deep and bro’ was something we saw describing DMVU recently, and this track is a good example of why that’s true. Massive use of space and clever yet nutty sound design, switching it up almost every bar, he’s crafted an entirely different palette from a lot of other artists in the scene.”

Roni Size “Brown Paper Bag”
“This track, part of the genre-defying album New Forms released back in 1997, was something we grew up with and has influenced our music in a lot of different ways. Their fresh approach to sampling, along with creating a live sound not based in just the ragga/jungle but shifting towards the jazz bridged the gap between the hardcore raver and the easy listener, and brought attention to the underground sound.”

Akkord “Navigate”
“Combining sacred geometry and breakbeats, Akkord helped to push a more forward-thinking, darker side of the 130 spectrum. Drawing from their previous outings in the drum & bass and dubstep scene, they brought a mix of gloomy and pulsing atmospheres over industrial Northern funky beats to Navigate that set the tone for their innovative style.”