Sayonara Bassnectar
This is by far one of the hardest articles I have had to write but i feel it must be done. The ole saying “never meet your hero’s” has never been more true to me, as well as for the majority of Nectar Nation in 2020. The recent torrential and flat out disgusting accusations of statutory rape against Lorin Ashton have been nothing short of devastating to a Basshead such as myself, and I find myself torn because of this. Do I banish myself from listening to his music ever again because of the disgusting nature of his accusations? Or do I draw a fine line between who the artist is and what the art is?
I’ve settled on building a barrier between the art and the artist. It’s not easy and listening to his music certainly isn’t the same anymore. Every time I find myself enjoying a song, a little voice in my head says “You know your supporting a creep right?”. So, I have drastically reduced my listening of his music, but I will still put it on from time to time because regardless of what he did in his personal life, his artistic expression to me is still incredible and will always be. With that being said, I’ve decided to put together a farewell playlist to highlight what I feel are some of his most incredible works and pay homage to the art that is Bassnectar.
#5 Other Worlds – Reflective Part 2
This song is an incredible intro song. It slowly builds for about 2 minutes until you start to hear the characteristic Bassnectar electronic fuzz roar. Suddenly, the beat drops and it becomes a dissonant, futuristic psychedelic, spacey banger. I never got to see this song performed live but I could only imagine the jaw dropping light show that would accompany this song.
#4 It’s About To Get Hectic (feat. Born I) – Reflective Part 4
This song is a heavy hitter to say the least. I’ve seen this song live a couple of times and each time it came on, a party like atmosphere ensued. The song does a great job of mixing heavy dub distortion and heavy drop beats but towards the end, erupts into a high BPM, drum and bass style jam. To me, this song really illustrates Bassnectar’s stylistic range and ability.
#3 Science Fiction – Into The Sun
This song is off of what I would consider his best album. It’s one of his longer songs, but It really illustrates his range. He goes from serene spacey techno, to heavy hitting dub. The bass in the chorus of the song is some of the strongest he has ever used in a song. The song is full of different drops and transitions that makes it absolutely impossible to be bored at any point.
#2 The Mothership – Reflective Part 3
Interesting start to this song, where it initially is a sort of ambient rap song. It quickly unleashes into a major chord based, celebratory song. The sort of song I would expect to be put on if I found out that all the accusations against him were untrue. If you have ever been lucky enough to have seen him live, this is the sort of song he would play at the end of a show where he pulls out all the stops. Unleashing all of the lasers, lights, and confetti. Fuck I’m going to miss that.
#1 Front To Back (Buku Remix) – Front To Back
This song is a cover but dear lord is it an incredible one. I was fortunate enough to see it performed by Buku who the original belongs to. But the addition of Bassnectar’s touch takes it to a whole other level. It has a supremely intense driving beat, with a heavy use of fuzz distortion that onslaughts you from beginning and does not quit until the end of the song. It’s only right to say farewell for the time being with a song of such force. Hopefully one day the force of forgiveness will overcome the one of disappointment. But for now, memories of a time spent in ignorance will be all that remains. Sayonara Bassnectar.