Peterborough based Drum & Bass production duo SyRan today released their latest smash on the infamous Ram Records imprint, the aptly titled ‘Bass Face’. The artwork alone for this release sets the tone for what you’re going to hear when you hit play!
Aside from having produced a string of full frontal D&B bangers recently, we set out to further test the bass face credentials of brothers Josh & James, the guys behind the SyRan moniker, by asking them to select 3 tracks each which are guaranteed to make you screw up your face when the bassline hits.
Hear which tracks they drew for & their reasoning behind each choice…
Camo & Krooked – Cryptkeeper (Mind Vortex Remix)
James: We could listen to this for hours! The build-up of the arp and strings gets you hyped for a ripper of a bassline! The pitching up neuro bass coupled with fat womps at the end is perfect! Not to mention that fat snare and busy drums that make this a jam-packed tune and one of our all-time favourites!
Soul Intent – Unicron (Roller Mix)
James: Busy jungle breaks, big whomp sounds and high reece basses that rattle the cones of every soundsystem! What more is there to say? Bar after bar of distortion and crushed basses.
Wickaman – Loud and Nasty
James: Clue is in the name, it’s loud, it’s nasty and one big, screeching bassline! The low end is so heavy that it wants to make you shove your head into a speaker. 10/10 would shove my head into the speaker again.
Icicle – So Close VIP
Josh: Not all bass face tunes are obvious and some come out of nowhere. This is one of them and in my opinion this is one of Icicle’s best ever tunes. It’s deep, dark but ultimately it makes my face screw up. Especially in the middle breakdown where it’s just that lovely wobbly bass. This is one of our weapons we like to play in the middle of a DJ set.
Mr Explicit – Dirty Bitch
Josh: In the world of Drum & Bass and the cycles it has, this is a tune that stands out and you could think it was produced 2-3 years ago but no, 2012. I’ve never really been able to describe the sound of that distorted reverby bass hit. I don’t know what it’s called but everytime I’ve heard this tune (which is rare these days) oh my days it makes my face go full bass face mode.
Calyx – Illusions
Josh: The eerie haunting build up and then BAM! 1:18 and this monster of a distorted “talking” reese bass sound that just makes me go “ohhhhh ****” . Then it builds up even more with mad chopped drum breaks until we hit the crescendo. More speaker-shaking basslines, evil stab hits, aggressive complex re-programmed drum breaks and just bass face chaos.
Fun fact, in our release ‘Reprisal’ there’s a vocal sample of James going “bleugh”, that was inspired by the vocal hits in this tune.
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