In recent years, no doubt related to the blogosphere and social media, club music has been boosted into overdrive. New genres are born every month, and every night of the week–in all major cities around the world–there are outlandish, haphazard parties mashing all of these new club bangers together. Some are flashes in the pan; some are here to stay. In the City of Brotherly Love, one crew stands out and continues to dish out quality tracks. Over the last decade, Philadelphia based bass record label and DJ crew Seclusiasis has managed to ride the wave of it all and develop their own innovative sound: “street bass.”

As early as 2000, Dev79 founded Seclusiasis by throwing underground parties around town. Later that year, he began releasing music incorporating elements of hip hop, glitch, rave music and grime in his production style. In 2004, sci-fi bass titan Starkey joined the label and continues to co-pilot the direction of the sound. After a few years of more forward-thinking releases, 2006 suddenly became a pivotal year for the Philly label. It was the year Street Bass Anthems Vol. 1 dropped, which would coin the term of their distinct sound–“street bass”–which they’re famous for today. The compilation included bootleg remixes of popular, well-known rap anthems such as Clipse’s “Wamp Wamp,” Rich Boy’s “Throw Some D’s” and Pharrell’s “Frontin’,” all tailored and refixed to the street bass style. The popularity of this underground mixtape lead to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th installments of the Street Bass Anthems series, this time including bootlegs and originals from collaborators and bass kings Chrissy Murderbot, DNAEBEATS, Siyoung, BD1982, Slugabed, Stagga, Hovatron, Buddy Leezle and more.

Branching and expanding outside of the Street Bass Anthems series, the duo moved forward with their Philly bass ethos by releasing a series of original singles, EPs and LPs from like-minded artists around the world. One of my favorite tracks from Seclusiasis is Raffertie‘s “Wobble Horror,” co-released by Planet Mu Records. All at once the track combines elements of grime, dubstep, dirty south hip hop and rave into one big street bass banger. Though Seclusiasis is notorious for its filthy Philly basslines, they’re not afraid to drop innovative, creative and left-field albums, such as Kotchy‘s 89 and BD1982′s Let’s Talk Math along the way. In 2010 and 2011, the label expanded their roster by including EPs from Siyoung, Kastle, Halp and an album by San Francisco-based futureblap badman, DNAEBEATS.

What separates Seclusiasis from other bass labels, aside from their great catalog and talented DJs, is the parties they throw in Philadelphia. In the last two years, the Who Run It?! party series has been a defining moment for the crew, where they bring in all of their international friends in the name of street bass. Seclusiasis has brought in the likes of Plastician, EPROM, Distal, Gemmy, AC Slater, Udachi, Mike Slott and many more. If you have never been to any of their parties, you’re missing out. Simply put, no one throws parties blending all things heavy bass, rave, rap and dubstep with such an original swag, unique to Philly and the rest of the world.

Not stopping anytime soon, 2011 is continuing to be a massive year for the long running bass label. You can expect a new EP from DNAEBEATS called Tangled in Technology, an EP from Edmonton-based duo Knight Riderz called For Real,” a 7″ from Atlanta-based speed demon Distal for his tracks “Eel / The Kurgan,” as well as another Siyoung EP and a solid single, “Street Hawk”, from old school grime producer J Sweet that has been recently making alot of waves along side veteran Alias.

Last but not least, the highly anticipated Street Bass Anthems Vol. 5 will be dropping this Fall. As if that wasn’t enough bass for your face, you can catch up on their sister label “Slit Jockey Records,” operated by Starkey, Dev79 and El Carnicero, and their infamous Who Run It?! podcast series. When it comes to North American East Coast bass bangers, look no further than that Philly raw street bass.

- Rx