Bass Junkie

U.K.-based producer Phil Klein issues Miami bass-inflected new school electro under the Bass Junkie moniker. His latest appearances have come via the Breakin' Records label and his own Parallax imprint. The Bass Junkie output pulls extensively from electro-funk and bass music touchstones, citing Freestyle's "It's Automatic," Unknown DJ's "808 Beats," and Maggotron's "Planet of Bass" among its touchpoints, while layering abundant samples atop crisp, uptempo rhythms and the heaviest bone-rattling bass. Although tracks have surfaced under the additional aliases Battle Systems, I.B.M., and Cybernet Systems, Klein's most widely recognized catalog remains the Bass Junkie material, due in large part to its connection with Breakin' Records, itself linked to Rephlex Records recording artist DMX Krew. After two Bass Junkie outings on Parallax, he inaugurated his Breakin' association in 1997 via the Unknown Funk EP. A second EP, In Bass No One Can Hear You Scream, and the LP ºss Junkie both followed on Breakin' in 1998. Klein's engagement with bass music has also produced an extended partnership with one of its foundational figures, Scott Weiser, better known as Miami-based Dynamix II. Bass Junkie and Cybernet Systems tracks have featured on multiple Dynamix compilations, and the label issued a full-length CD of Bass Junkie material in 1996; Bass Time Continuum arrived three years afterward. Klein and Weiser further share songwriting credit on the title track of the 1996 Borg EP released by Panic Trax, as well as on several I.B.M. releases.