A wise man once said: “Bass! How low can you go?!” These words will have resonated with the artists included in the following list. Like a call to arms, the lower frequencies in the musical spectrum stir a creative force in these producers, compelling them to create music to test the most powerful of sound systems.
Whether it’s drum and bass, dubstep or bassline, this year has seen the release of a fair few stonkers, but which one has floated your boat the most? Well your votes have been casted and the numbers are. Roll on the best bass music DJs and producers 2017 has to offer.
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5. Pegboard Nerds
With their eclectic EP package, Nerds By Nature, and the tour that followed it Scandinavian duo Pegboard Nerds spent 2017 cementing their place as one of the most promising names in crossover-worthy bass music.
Clearly a dexterous duo in the studio, it makes us fascinated to see where they’ll take their sound next.
4. Andy C
What more needs to be said about Andy C? The Ram Records boss is quite-rightly held up as one of the most iconic figures in drum & bass.
His productions might be few and far between these days – although his only 2017 single, What Bass, is no slouch – but as a DJ he’s still a massive draw.
Just look at his 13 week residency at London’s XOYO, or the recent run of huge club nights held across the UK to celebrate the ever-influential Ram’s 25th year.
3. Pendulum
After making their live return in 2016, this year saw Pendulum make their second coming official, hitting a number of big festivals over the summer to prove they’re still one of bass music’s most impressive live units.
This year also saw the band’s studio lynchpin, Rob Swire, confirm that a new album was in the works – here’s hoping we get to hear it in 2018.
2. Adam F
Across the course of his career, UK artist Adam Fenton has had an undeniably huge impact on drum & bass. From his ‘90s club bangers for Metalheadz, to nurturing the likes of Pendulum on his Breakbeat Kaos imprint in the mid-00s, all via excursions into the worlds of film soundtracking and hip-hop production.
Recent years have seen him return properly to the drum & bass fray, and he’s certainly not lost his touch, as recent tracks like Music Is My Life undoubtedly prove.
1. Noisia
In 2017, Dutch trio Noisia have continued to ride the success of last year’s Outer Edges album, taking their impressive A/V show to clubs and festivals around the world, and releasing a remix collection that saw the LP reinterpreted by a diverse range of artist including Machinedrum, Rival Consoles, Roli Porter and Amon Tobin.
It was the band’s own Outer Edges remix collection that really impressed though. This five track release saw Noisia reworking their own album tracks and, in the process, reminding us that their deep and detailed productions are pretty-much peerless in the bass music sphere.
