Four clever approaches to kick drums

Prince - When Doves Cry The standard piece of nerdy music production trivia will tell you that this Purple Rain classic doesn’t have a bassline, but there’s more to it than that. Why is there no need for a bassline? Because the kick’s doing all the heavy lifting, with Prince’s beloved Linn LM-1 filling the bottom end of the mix. Genius.

New Order - Blue Monday One of the most distinctive pieces of 80s kick drum programming can be found on New Order’s iconic 1983 single Blue Monday. The track opens with an Oberheim DMX banging out semiquaver kicks. It’s a very unusual pattern for a kick, but the stuttering rhythm defines the track.

Kanye West - Love Lockdown Yeezy’s 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak is a love letter to Auto-Tune and the TR-808, which was already rapidly approaching its 30th birthday when the album was released, but the minimalist aesthetic breathes new life into the sound. On Love Lockdown, the melodic kick acts like a pulsating heartbeat.

Four Tet - Spirit Fingers Do you even need a kick? These days, Kieran Hebden is best known for dancefloor sizzlers like Planet and Question. It’s easy to forget just how endearingly weird a lot of his earlier Four Tet material was. 2003’s Spirit Fingers is a case in point. It’s such a mesmeric, driving track that you almost forget there’s no kick.