Bassnectar

"Take the melodies of Radiohead or Massive Attack, the dance force of The Crystal Method or Freq Nasty, the groove of Thievery Corporation or Kruder & Dorfmeister, and the artistic experimentation of Burningman madness and full time DJ-experience, and you get a window of what might be expected on the next Bassnectar album.” - San Francisco Examiner

"Mesmerizing The Ultra" marks the debut artist album from bay area prodigy Lorin Ashton, a.k.a. Bassnectar. This double-disc album features collaborations with Freq Nasty on the track "Everybody" (this single will also be a specialty serviced 12"), Sound Tribe Sector 9 on the track "STS9," and a Heavyweight Dub Champion feat. KRS-ONE remix titled "HDC & Krs". The bonus disc also includes a collaboration with Michael Kang of String Cheese Incident on "Dubausca" and political samples cleared from acclaimed linguist Noam Chomsky and controversial death row inmate, journalist, and Black Panther member Mumia Abu Jamal on the track "Simultaneous." Having remixed or collaborated with the likes of Heavyweight Dub Champion feat. KRS-ONE, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Buckethead, The String Cheese Incident, Saul Williams, Noam Chomsky, Cheb I Sabbah, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Crash Berlin, and Landslide, as well as having released records on OM Records, Virgin, 6 Degree, Functional Breaks, Ceiba, Groundwork (Starbucks) and Kool Keith’s Sync Recordings, the Bassnectar sound has benefited from a wide scope of exposure, and evolved from cutting edge dance music to where it exists today: a mutant mash-up of multiple styles and genres. Bassnectar is sponsored by both Red Bull and M- Audio.

Passionate about music, politics, and people, Ashton has designed and led audio production workshops for youth across the nation, empowering them to create, perform, and make their voices heard. As a DJ, he has achieved enormous success, playing his unique brand of mashed-up electronica at events such as Horning’s Hideout Festival (7000 in attendance), the Shambhala Music Festival (8-10,000 in attendance), and the legendary BurningMan Festival (30,000 in attendance). As a producer, he has delivered scores of 12 inch releases, charted by the likes of Annie Nightingale (BBC Radio 1), James Zabiela, Rennie Pilgrem, DJ Hyper, and Simply Jeff, with support from Adam Freeland, Karsh Kale, Freq Nasty, Uberzone, and Krafty Kuts.

The tracks enjoyed international praise from such publications as BPM, XLR8R, Mixer, and Muziq, and have been licensed by MTV for shows such as Making the Video. Having recently released Tempo Rosso, a full-length downtempo CD for Red Bull, Bassnectar is ready to go full-force with Mesmerizing the Ultra. Imagine the heaving basslines of Drum ‘n’ Bass and Breakbeat (think Dieselboy, Freestylers, Tipper, Aphrodite), the massive beats of old school Hip Hop (think Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Run DMC), glitchy tones and sonic tricks of modern Electronica/IDM (think Prefuse 73, Plaid, Pest, Underworld, Aphex Twin) all mashed up with hip hop lyrics, cut-up dancehall/ragga vocals, samples of political speeches and pumped through a variety of tempos – you will only have some idea of what this album holds in store!