D-d-d-d-rop The Bass
It seems the days of dubstep have come and gone. Mr. Skrillex hasn't dropped anything in years and no one we know is too distraught over it. Nevertheless, here are some of our favorite tracks with drops in them a.k.a. Bangers. Enjoy
LCD Soundsystem - "Dance Yrself Clean"
Is this too obvious? This was the opening song at one of the "farewell" tour dates at Terminal 5 and I'm not sure hearing it live wasn't the greatest moment of my life. Honorable mention to the drop in "how do you sleep?" which proves that LCD has still got it.
-Meg West
Glass Animals - "The Other Side of Paradise"
On their 2016 sophomore album, How to Be a Human Being, Glass Animals experiment with layering sounds. Textured with guitars, various synths, vocal melodies, drumbeats, and an array of woops and twirls, "The Other Side of Paradise" is one of the most complex tracks on the album—but three minutes into the song, David Bayley, producer of the album and the band's frontman, drops most of these layers. For a minute or so, the song is built by adding back and intensifying some of these layers. At the end of the minute, the song drops to the chorus. It's a pretty cool effect, and the rest of the album is filled with similar techniques and beat changes that contribute to the album's energetic flow.
-Kelsey Gordon
Lemaitre - "Blue Shift"
This is the song you hear in your friendiversary videos on Facebook. There isn't much more to say about it... it's cute and fun and surprisingly easy to find (thanks, Shazam). Catch drops at 0:20, 1:41, and 2:14.
-Amy Geiger
Deerhunter - "Living My Life"
Nothing propels a song like some driving drums—but when they make you wait, it feels so much better. "Living My Life" is cheerful and catchy with awesome songwriting, held steady and kept serene by an obtrusive drum machine beat. But the song becomes infinitely better when they ditch the drum machine for heavy-hitting drums during the last chorus - and you're subsequently transported to bliss.
-Adam Manson
Rustie - "Slasherr"
The drop on this track is so goddamn good. The buildup is executed perfectly; there’s bizarre-sounding handclaps and a synth line that just makes you want to move. After that classic snare escalation, Rustie takes the song to another level with the drop. The main driving force here is a razor-edged synth line that soars over a massive beat—the constant cymbal sound that underpins the whole thing does so much for the immensity of this track and I love it. Then, the middle section uses the polyrhythmic synth from the beginning of the track and just goes wild with it. I don’t know man, this track just makes me feel good.
-Alex Richwine
Animal Collective - "In The Flowers"
There is no moment in Animal Collective's discography that can compare to the drop (2:30) on the opening track of "Merriweather Post Pavilion". The explosion of drums and cymbals after Avey Tare sings "If I could just leave my body for a night" takes you from an ethereal dream state to a Berlin night club within the first three minutes, an incredible opener for an incredible album.
-Allison Hsu
Robert DeLong - "Global Concepts"
Listening to this song in 2012 in 8th grade brought me great joy, as I always thought it was very rebellious to listen to a song with the word "fucking" in it. The alt-indie electronic artists known as Robert DeLong has always been known for combining melodious and catchy vocals and pop hooks with rather unorthodox dance beats. His breakthrough song "Global Concepts" showcases this unique talent. There are two major beat drops in the song, the first being at 0:42 and the second more prominent beat drop at 3:38. Although it is not a very popular and mainstream song, it did allow for DeLong to become an established artist in the alternative music scene, as shown when a couple year later he topped the charts with his most successful song "Long Way Down". Don't be afraid to check out this song and the rest of his music!
-Gabriel Ballard
Mount Kimbie - "Delta"
Delta, off Mount Kimbie's Love What Survives, is a chase. It's violent and complex and leaves no time for questions. With a wringing synth backdrop accentuated by a constantly building percussion-keyboard duo, this song reminds me of hyperventilating, of something overwhelmingly large and consuming always just behind your back. Listen for the buildup starting at 3:03, and try not to nod your head.
-Ezra Kohn
ZACH wiTNESS feat. Jon Bap - "Keep Faith"
I've been a huge fan of Jon Bap's experimental R&B, genre-bending music for a long time, and this song is probably the most fun song I've ever heard him on. It's never boring. Constantly exciting and effortlessly smooth. Its beat changes and drops turn it from one good song into banger after banger.
-Manny Unger
