Monday, December 23, 2024
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Bass Mekanik Presents Bassotronics: Bass Buttons Activated

Recording Details
Label:  Bass Mekanik Records
Distributors: Bandcamp, iTunes, Tesco Entertainment
Website: link
iTunes link: link
FLAC link to Bandcamp link
Typical Selling price: $9.99 on Bandcamp or £7.49/89p per track on iTunes, Tesco Entertainment
Track Listing
1) Intro Bass Buttons
2) Misericordia
3) Bass Buttons Activated
4) One Word – BASS
5) Bass Groove 808
6) Deep Bass Feelings
7) Bass Control
8) Electro Bass Computers
9) Alien Authority
10) Bass is a Throbulator
11) Marching For A Dream
12) Bassvowels
13) Just Bass
14) Bassdroid 718
15) I Bet You Can’t Play 70Hz
16) Bass, I Love You Remix

Editor Review : Bass Mekanik Presents Bassotronics: Bass Buttons Activated
About a dozen years ago, I flew to Miami to make a segment for Pulling Power on the telly. It was named after a bass CD called ‘The Bass That Ate Miami’ and starred Neil Case and Billy E- or rather his van. At the time, the Bass Mekanik himself, Mr. Neil Case, told me all about how in Florida, it was all about booty and partying in the sunshine and open living room. Whereas in NYC it was more urban, tougher and more street based stuff.
And that certainly seems to be the case with Bassotronics, a New York bass artist on the Bass Mekanik label. He is a good slice dirtier and yet on this, his new album, Bass Buttons Activated, he mixes up some Grime and Dubstep type feel with a shameless penchant for thieving samples from wherever in hell he likes and he likes some cool places. Most every really ace utterance of sampled stuff that you have had on other items, is woven in with artful cunning. I am old enough to be a true fan of Kraftwerk and their stuff is used by everybody. It’s just Bassotronics does it better.
The intro is a mission statement and has a real goose bump lifting ramping and throbbing with the sort of dirty drops that’ll make you pull nose-scrunchy faces, like you smelled something baaad!
There is  real use of infrasonics and sub bass as actual melody thread in all the tracks, which is kinda odd. Like José says in the video, you will lose most of it unless you have a profound set of woofers.
Marching for a Dream is a good example. It’s dirty and grime laden and has large, majestic sweeps and wobbles, with back of the box levels of Germanic vox samples and other Vocoderish stuff. All underpinned with a synth string that’d pull on your soul.
Bassvowels is fave track. All bouncy and infrasonic, with a catchy as hell lilt. Great build that lifts the goose bumps and so help me, your foot will squeeze the gas and you shall nod your head. But Just Bass immediately after that is pure slowdown and is about the throb.
I bet you can’t play 70Hz is mad. Starts all percussive with vocal synth and gets into a real dance place. And of course, the album has Bass I Love You remixed on the end. A modern classic, it has massive hugeness and a real tune that goes hauntingly well with the birdsong (yes!) right up high in the mix.
But stuff this opinion, here’s what a real hardcore, bass head system owning Bass Mekanik fan has to say about it. Meet José ‘Quakeshaker’ Correia:
And now, some scores
Overall    9.4
Tune!    8
How Low?    10
System Stretcher?    10
Production    10
‘Like’ rating    9
(Album Art    7) Side issue while driving, hence not in overall score
In A Nutshell
Bass from the East Coast, with a more urban feel. Amazing, nutty depth you will miss through headphones or normal speakers. Twin subs is a minimum and really, they aughta be fifteens with a half kilowatt each to play this schtick! Drops low as hell and holds it, has wicked production values and wonderful mid and top imagery with tunes you’ll find will grow on you. Bassotronics is WORTHY & RIGHTEOUS!