It was pretty clear from the time Noisia discovered Russian duo Abstract Elements and put their track “PMS!!!” on Invisible’s compilation series Invisible 007 that they were bound to be a label favorite. Three Invisible comps and a bunch of other releases including tracks on Phace and Misanthrop’s label Neodigital later, Abstract Elements have landed their own EP on Invisible, called Join Us.
Invisible as a label is meant to highlight artists who are definitely in bass music but tend not to follow the standard 174 tempo and kick-snare beat structure of drum and bass. This could not be more true for Abstract Elements, as their work barely follows any standard bass music structure. It’s still heavy, dark and with impeccable sound design per Noisia’s standards, but as Join Us exemplifies, the duo live up to their name; there are many and sundry Abstract Elements in this EP, and they are all cool as hell. 
With beat structures ranging from soundsystem to bass house all the way to jazz ¾ triplet structure, it’s clear that Abstract Elements have a lot of different musical influences, and it’s definitely not all bass music or even electronica. Your EDM was curious to know what kind of music inspired Abstract Elements to put this EP together, so we asked them for a playlist of some artists and songs that they feel directly influenced this EP, and they certainly delivered a killer list. So, as the net that bass music casts gets wider and wider and with this duo at the leading edge of said net, Abstract Elements and Your EDM invite our readers to listen, enjoy and Join Us in the bass music future via the influential artists from the past who got us here.
Proket – Show Me
Proket’s sound was so fresh and «in your face» when we first heard it, it was a big revelation for us. I think you can easily hear an influence of his music on our sound in this EP, especially in “Posthuman.”
Subwave – Dead Head
“Dead Head” by Subwave is one of the best examples of minimalistic techno DnB out there. Actually, when we sat in the studio with him to make a collab for Join Us our goal was to make “Deadhead” 2.0, but maybe a bit more energetic and slightly more “epic” if you can say that.
Count Basie – Jive At Five
Banger!
Jeff Mills – The Bells
Classic tune. We love that slightly hazardous atmosphere, I think in some tracks on the EP we were trying to make kind of similar mood – dissonant, a bit raw and industrial.
Clarity – Off the Cuff
https://youtu.be/Lxztql0eS8g
We are really into halfstep and grey area sound, this is one of the good examples of the early halfstep goodness. And “Zinaida” sounds slightly similar to this one in terms of snare and percs (unintentionally). But if «Off The Cuff» by Clarity is a serious work, «Zinaida» is more a grotesque.
Kemal & Rob Data – Star Trails
Timeless classic. We just can’t find any words to describe how good this one is. Obviously, such artists as Konflict, Bad Company, Ed Rush & Optical, Stakka & Skynet influenced our sound a lot, even more, they influenced us to start to produce drum&bass in general.
Duna – Kommunalnaya Kvartira
Very good for drinking vodka.
Join Us is out now on Invisible Recordings and can be streamed or purchased on a number of platforms by clicking here. Also check out Abstract Elements’s guest mix on Noisia Radio below.
