Album review | Bassnectar, ‘Vava Voom’

Patrick Maguire Contributing Writer

Bassnectar, stage name of San Francisco-based electronic-music DJ and producer Lorin Ashton, is taking over the music scene this summer with an abundance of performances at music festivals across the country. “Vava Voom,” his second album release in less than a year, was released April 10 but, for visitors to Rolling Stone’s website, the album has been available for listening in its entirety since April 6.

“Vava Voom” features 11 new songs, including multiple collaborations with other artists. The album explores new sounds but still highlights Bassnectar’s creative spontaneity, resulting in an intensely vibrant and energetic album.

The intro to the album “Vava Voom” is collaboration between Bassnectar and hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco. The song features Lupe free styling to experimental electronic beats. The single for the album “Ugly (feat. Amp Live)” starts out with a fast drumroll until Bassnectar drops the wobble bass. The song “What (feat. Jansten) asks the listener “Are you ready?” before blaring an insane rumbling bass. The track relies heavily on a synthesizer to give the song a pleasing groove.

“Pennywise Tribute” takes the album in a different direction altogether. This song combines electronic music with punk rock featuring lyrics by punk-rock band Pennywise. Not Bassnectar’s usual style. “Do It Like This (feat. Ill. Gates)” has an echoing bass blasting throughout the song. Bassheads will surely be a fan of this song because it exemplifies Bassnectar’s traditional sound. “Butterfly (feat. Mimi Page)” has a nice melody with a slower tempo and harmonious lyrics.

With his first album “Freakbeat for the Beatfreaks” released in 2001, Bassnectar has since released an extensive amount of singles, EPs and albums and is well known for his eccentric light shows that accompany his performances. A following of fans – “Bassheads” –travel far and wide to attend his concerts, which have included festivals like the Electric Forest, Wakarusa, Coachella and Electric Daisy Carnival, his own Bass Island festival (details on Bass Island II are forthcoming) and New Year’s Eve 2011 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. His last album, “Divergent Spectrum” reached No. 6 for top-10 album sales on iTunes within 10 hours of its release.

Bassnectar performed this last weekend at Lollapalooza in Brazil before kicking of his Vava Voom tour on April 11 in Indianapolis, Ind. and is scheduled for a stop at the National on April 25. CT