DMNW Staff Picks: The Best Albums of 2014

[authorbox authorid=”286″ title=”Pete Zachara: Bassnectar’s Noise vs. Beauty“]On June 24th of 2014’s impressive year of music, the original basshead and all-around awesome dude that is Bassnectar released his tenth studio album entitled Noise vs. Beauty. This album truly embodies Bassnectar’s sound; a culmination of noisy and abrasive gnarliness always layered and contrasted with beautifully melodic and ambient sounds. Noise vs. Beauty is rich, balanced and diverse. The listener truly explores Bassnectar’s wild imagination as the album ebbs and flows through a mixture of dubstep, drum and bass, trance and acid house. Lori Ashton’s ability to collaborate frequently and meet his featured artists in the middle yet keep the track within the context of the album is masterful.

With Bassnectar headlining Paradiso the weekend following Noise vs. Beauty‘s release, the album was put on showcase for the Northwest dance music scene as Lorin seamlessly mixed most of the tracks into an incredible set. The Gorge absolutely quaked and shook. It was energetic and live with intensely psychedelic visuals that kicked the music up a notch. Noise vs. Beauty has undoubtedly cemented itself into the hearts of many Paradiso-goers by bookmarking a set, weekend and year that nobody will ever forget.

Noise vs. Beauty is quintessential Bassnectar. Ranging from all-out speaker busters like Gnar to the dreamy melodies of track like You & Me, this album has it all. You can always expect innovative and unique sounds from Bassnectar, yet Noise vs. Beauty still manages to surprise. Albums that receive endless hype can easily be letdowns. Fortunately for dance music fans, that isn’t the case here. In an overall incredible year of music, Noise vs. Beauty rises to the top through Bassnectar’s brash experimentation, creative collaboration and unique sound design.