bassline
33 tracksThe lowest melodic part of a track. In dance music it often carries the hook as much as the vocal does, and its rhythm against the kick drum defines the groove.
Rhythm
groove
37 tracks.
What it is
The felt quality of a rhythm that makes people move: how drums, bass and the other parts lock together and push against each other in time.
Read more on WikipediaRelated concepts
swing
9 tracksPlaying pairs of equal notes unevenly, the first longer than the second. Drum machines and sequencers have a swing setting because a little lilt makes a programmed pattern feel played.
syncopation
6 tracksAccents placed where the listener does not expect them: between the beats or on the weak ones. Syncopation creates tension against the steady pulse and is much of what makes a rhythm feel funky.
Hear it in these tracks
Whilk & Misky
I Want Your Lovin' (Edit)
Whilk & Misky's London soul-pop at its most direct: a warm, swinging groove and a voice that asks for exactly one thing, over and over, until you want it too.
Whilk & Misky
Get What We Want
Whilk & Misky blend acoustic warmth with electronic pulse on this track from My Round, Charlie Dickens' soulful voice and Nima Khaste's production chasing a simple wish: to get what we want.
The Supermen Lovers
Moments
A warm slice of French disco-funk from the man behind Starlight, where synths and a rubber-band bassline turn a fleeting moment into a long, glowing groove.
Robin Thicke, T.I., Pharrell Williams
Blurred Lines
A cowbell-clacking, falsetto-laced funk-pop strut from Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. that owned the summer of 2013 and then the courtroom.
Polo & Pan
Canopée
Breathy duet vocals, bright percussive melodies and a lazy tropical groove: Canopée is Polo & Pan's invitation to climb into the treetops and forget the city for four and a half minutes.
Nu, Jo.Ke
Who Loves the Sun
Nine sun-warmed minutes of organic deep house from the Bar 25 world, where Jo.Ke's gentle, sing-along vocal drifts over a loping groove made for golden-hour dancing.
Nils Ohrmann
In Ya Face (Original Mix)
Six and a half minutes of bumping Berlin house from Nils Ohrmann: a cheeky vocal taunt, a springy bassline and a groove that never lets go.
Nicolas Jaar
Time For Us
A young Nicolas Jaar's slow, sultry minimal-house classic, a crooned vocal and dusty, swaying textures that famously sink from dance tempo into a long, swooning breakdown nobody wants to mix out of.
Mount Sims, Toby Dammit
What's the Big Deal
Mount Sims trades the club for a scuffed, shrugging groove, with Toby Dammit of Iggy Pop's and Nick Cave's bands on drums: What's the Big Deal asks its question with a sneer and a beat that will not sit still.
Marek Hemmann
Gemini
Nine minutes of melodic German minimal from the Jena label Freude am Tanzen: Marek Hemmann's Gemini drives on a swinging house groove while synth patterns and funky tenor-sax licks twist around each other.
Marcus Marr & Chet Faker
The Trouble With Us
Marcus Marr and Chet Faker (Nick Murphy) recorded this disco-funk jam in four days in a Brixton studio in July 2015: a funk-flecked guitar riff and a soulful plea about a relationship going wrong, made into a reason to dance.
Joss Stone
Less Is More
A teenage Joss Stone leans into a lilting, reggae-kissed soul groove and sings about wanting less with the husky authority of a singer twice her age.
Jain
So Peaceful
Zanaka's gentle closer, a reggae-tinged sway where Jain lets the album's travels settle into calm, sunlit contentment.
Jain
Mr Johnson
Handclap-light percussion, a bouncing bass and Jain's playful, slightly mischievous delivery make Mr Johnson one of Zanaka's sunniest little stories.
Jain
Come
Jain's debut hit hides a lovesick lyric under a happy bounce: chugging guitar, bashful horns and double-tracked vocals, under three minutes of Afro-pop lightness that went to number one in France.
Hindi Zahra
Music (Remastered Version)
Hindi Zahra sings a love letter to music itself, her warm, smoky voice swaying over interlocking guitars and soft percussion that blend folk, soul and Berber roots.
Gotan Project
La vigüela
Bandoneon, guitar and Cristina Vilallonga's voice drifting over a slow electronic pulse, La Vigüela is Gotan Project's tango heading out into the open pampas.
Glass Animals
Gooey
Glass Animals' breakout is a slow, syrupy jungle of a love song, Dave Bayley's murmured vocal drifting over finger-snap beats, soft guitar and a bassline that oozes.
Gin Wigmore
Kill Of The Night
Gin Wigmore's smoky rasp prowls over stomping drums and a swaggering, bluesy strut, a midnight hunt sung by someone who fully intends to win.
Daft Punk
Give Life Back to Music
The curtain-raiser of Random Access Memories: live drums, Nile Rodgers' guitar and a vocoder mission statement announcing that Daft Punk came back to make music breathe again.
Daft Punk
Episode 3, Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers tells his own story in the third of Daft Punk's Collaborators films, a warm, funny portrait of the guitarist whose rhythm runs through Random Access Memories.
Clea Vincent
All that she wants
Cléa Vincent turns Ace of Base's 1992 hit into breezy, homespun French synth-pop, trading its reggae-pop strut for a dreamy, lo-fi groove closer to hip-hop and R&B.
Chet Faker
Gold
Chet Faker's smoky late-night soul over a slow, finger-snapping electronic groove, a minimal track that gets all its heat from his weathered voice and a bassline that barely moves.