Break out the glow sticks
EDM veteran Bassnectar is out with his newest set of remixes and tracks on Reflective (Part 3). Known for well-produced dubstep and trap bangers, Bassnectar has long been a favorite in EDM realms and usually brings more to the table musically than most of the genre. With formulaic yet effective production, coupled with phenomenal mixing and sound design, a lot of this is EP is interesting enough and lends itself to a light show and a dance floor.
“FSOSF” is a futuristic, densely-layered trap instrumental. There might be too much going on at times, but it’s an interesting listen. The track is bursting with bright playful plucks, colorful vocal modulations and layers upon layers of sequences, coupled with a booming slowed trap beat that crashes behind the synths. “Heavyweight Sound“ is generic brostep at its most annoying and predictable. The rapping by RD isn’t bad but the track is obnoxious otherwise. “Whiplash” is at least interesting, a beatboxed/rapped intro sounds alien with the vocoders and effects added. The lyrics are pretty corny but it’s a party track, the drops are still 2011 as hell though.
“Easy Does It’’ is fine but brings more of the same and doesn’t add to the EP. “High” is a highlight. The huge bass and melodies are very moody, and the synth growls are subtle but add texture. Sounds like if Bassnectar remixed a Purity Ring song, based on mood and vocal style. “Mothership” features angelic synths and an infectious pop chord progression, yet the vocals are too dry and the rapping is clunky and distracting. “Enchanted” is mellow and might be the closest thing here to IDM, just featuring bro-y party lyrics.
This EP is effective for the most part. It’s well-produced, non-offensive and will have people fist pumping like crazy. As any EDM EP, there is really no story or theme here maybe besides pretty cohesive sound design. The vocalists are the worst offenders; they are an afterthought, used to appeal to the huge market of people who need vocals in a song to actually pay any attention to it. It’s hard to tell if Bassnectar is challenging himself here, but he knows what people want and here—that’s not a bad thing.
Leave a Comment