It's Monday, so time for another BBB! 🗞️✨
ENJOY 💙💙
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NEWS
Dodge & Fuski's '2.0'
Oooh, what's this then? Something seems to be building a head of steam over in Minnesota, where Englishman Rob Talbott - aka Dodge from Dodge & Fuski - resides. Last week, Dodge embarked on a mission to get a selection of people from the Bass scene to promote a new project he's labelling as '2 .0'. I was happy to be included in this, as well as producers from all walks of Bass music life, from Bar9 to Chime, Loompaskettee to Micah Martin and many more beyond that, as you can see pictured below. Do I know more about what this will lead towards? Potentially (😏), though it isn't really my thing to talk freely about. It is something to get excited about though, I can say that.
In all honesty, given who Talbott is - his history not only as a producer within the scene but as a label head too - you can probably connect the dots to an extent with regards to what he's planning. But there is, I think, more to it than the simple and straightforward answer you're likely arriving at. I think that's all I can say for now, apart from to watch this space. 2026 is shaping up to be a year of prosperity for all in the modern Dubstep scene!
Do you guys have any inkling as to what could be going on here? 🤔 💭
Apashe's new Ukraine-set music video
On 16th January, Bass-Classical fusion artist Apashe took to Instagram to remind fans of his trip to Ukraine in June last year, where he wanted to 'see the reality' of his friends that lived there. In the midst of that excursion, he ended up returning with 'recordings of a traditional Ukrainian choir and a chamber orchestra', which was reported on in a BBB around that time. He also mentioned that the whole process with the choir had been filmed, and that a music video had been made from it, and now we finally have the end result.
Along with the release of his brand new Hymns of Resilience EP on his very own Majestic Collective, said music video titled 'Kyiv' has been released in collaboration with Ukrainian vocalist Alina Pash. In a moving post sharing the short film, Apashe said 'The choir was recorded on a calm day, between nights of air raids and shelling. As I'm writing this, Kyiv is in a blackout ... I hope this video can, in one way or another, help people understand what is happening there'. He ended the post by saying that all artist proceeds will be donated to the Children Of Heroes charity.
Music video trailer: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTvYBviiSKl/?igsh=b2J6MTZhNXB6NW56
He shared similar words regarding the EP, writing that 'we recorded the music during the war ... days that felt almost normal, followed by nights of sirens, explosions in the distance, and decisions you're never prepared to make, whether to go to a shelter, whether to stay, whether to sleep'.
He also said that he 'came back with recordings, images and emotions I didn't know how to process', but it's clear he's done a stellar job of compiling all his findings. It isn't too often that seismic, world-known events are incorporated into Bass music creation, let alone this well. And that isn't just the quality of the music and visuals, but the depth of emotion portrayed throughout the video - it doesn't put a foot wrong. Apashe risked his life to pair his artistry with the devastation of what's happening in Ukraine, and it's hard to think of a project more daring and ambitious to come from the Bass scene in recent memory. There's hardly a better way to be reminded of something important happening outside of your life, than through one of the biggest musicians in the scene you follow most attaching it to their endeavour. Apashe has executed this perfectly, and it's immense, never-ending props to him and his team for this achievement.
I know it's only January, but for the feat of it alone, might we already be looking at the track / EP of the year?
MUSIC
Peekaboo drops sophomore album
Matthew Lucas, aka Peekaboo, has just released his second album, and first with Warner Records. The LP is a 13-tracker titled Are We Dreaming?, and contains collaborations with the likes of Skrillex, Nitepunk & LYNY, Badklaat, borne and more. I covered the project on the channel as it dropped last Friday - my First Listen / reaction coverage is up now for you all to see.
First Listen / reaction link: https://youtu.be/nj0QtbiUz7Y
Stream Are We Dreaming?: https://soundcloud.com/peekaboobeats/sets/are-we-dreaming-641888000
Interestingly, someone took me up on the fact that I used the word 'sophomore' as another way of saying 'second', calling it elitist. Is sophomore an elitist word to use? Am I missing something?
Anyway, let me know what you're making of Peekaboo's SECOND album in the comments below!
Fox Stevenson releases deluxe version of Sunk Cost Fallacy album
One of electronic music's best albums of 2025 has been given the VIP treatment - in a mini kinda way. Now, to go with the original Sunk Cost Fallacy album, we have a smattering of extras from Mr. Stevenson - featuring a 'Tryhard' VIP, a 'That Choice' redux and several acoustic demos too. These add-ons are sure to be well received by fans and followers of his, who mostly loved the original LP. From what I've read before listening, apparently the VIP is a House-y cut with a notably darker groove compared to anything on SCF, so I'm looking forward to checking that and the rest of the collection out!
Have you heard this deluxe project yet? If so, are you enjoying any of the VIPs / acoustic demos more than the originals?
(Ideally I would've shared a link for the project that's accessible to everyone here, but it's not yet up on Soundcloud)
Barely Alive & INFEKT drop new collab
Hang on, this is their first collab together? I could've sworn they'd made another track in the past, but it could just be my mind playing Dubstep tricks on me. Regardless, 2026 has already been a year of huge collaborations in Bass music, and here we have another. The track is called 'Obscure Vibe' and clocks in at just over 2.5 minutes, coming out on INFEKT's Port Zero label. Will this be a part of a future project for either INFEKT or Barely Alive? I suppose we'll have to wait and see!
Stream 'Obscure Vibe': https://soundcloud.com/infektdubstep/obscure-vibe
Most importantly though, can we all agree on how sick that artwork is?!
The big Bass releases of the week
Along with everything mentioned above, there were several other significant releases from the world of Bass music to drop last week. Talking of big-name collaborations, you can hardly get bigger than Fred again.. teaming up with Rap legend Young Thug right? That might not actually cross over into Bass music - I haven't heard it yet - but given what Fred's been putting out in the last year or so, I'd be surprised if it didn't have some kinda Bass-y element to it. Zeds Dead and IMANU also dropped their second track together last week on Deadbeats.
Also notable was the EP of remixes to complement Sammy Virji's 2025 album Same Day Cleaning, aptly called Next Day Cleaning. BAKEY, Malugi and Douvelle19 feature on that. It was a pretty mad week for remixes generally, with the likes of Sleepnet and MPH putting out official ones, and Dyatic unleashing his Soundcloud-exclusive take on Skrillex's recently-released cut 'Someone Said'. I've also gotta highlight Taiki Nulight's new edit of Justice's classic tune 'Stress', as well as new originals from Simula and Tokyo Machine.
Happy listening all! 🔊💙
DISCUSSION
One of the worst musical feelings
One of the worst feelings in the world, generally speaking? I'm not so sure. But one of the worst feelings musically speaking? Yeah, I can get on board with that. Underground producer CamaCon has highlighted quite a specific phenomenon here, that thankfully doesn't happen too much across all music-making to my knowledge. Interestingly enough, the track I've had this exact thought with repeatedly is Skrillex and Four Tet's 'Butterfly', which someone actually mentioned in the comments, and CamaCon then replied to! It's great to know I wasn't going crazy in noticing that difference, but also that others haven't liked the change either. It's true, the old drums in the original version of the track were far, far better.
There are a few layers to this. On the one hand, there's the thing of a track being left in its authentic state, true to its original creation as a perfect representation of all the energy that went into it in that moment. On the other hand, sometimes a musician will have things they don't like about a track of theirs that they couldn't change at the time - it could be a time constraint, it could be a contractual thing - but now can with a new freedom. You then have different kinds of fan, some of whom champion the authenticity, and others who function more along the lines of perfectionism and constant improvement, and appreciate alterations made to specific cuts.
There's a lot at play, but ultimately again it's one of those 'the artist is doing it with good reason' things. Skrillex hasn't exactly done this to the majority of his discography, it's just the odd tune here and there so far it seems. I think fans also have to be wary of the phenomenon of getting so used to a track that any alterations are bad simply because they're not used to them. This is why I almost never listen to IDs or WIPs before they're out in full. I don't wanna develop a fixed feeling on something that's ultimately gonna evolve, leaving me inevitably miffed about the musical changes made.
It's another interesting topic for the BBB to cover, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it too!
An 'unc take' on DJing and fame
This take has far more to it than the usual ones I'd post in this section, so I'm gonna just leave the screenshot here and let you guys mull on it, and discuss in the comments section too.
What do you make of this claim from @moorhaus_ on X - do we need to remove ego from the DJing profession? Is this even an 'unc take', or actually something quite agreeable?
Thoughts below please!
FUNNIES // COOL STUFF
The riddim piano
Absolutely sensational stuff from producer-turned-manager Sub Antix.
It's the relief that at least some people see things the way I do.
Graphic design is my passion
First of all, 12/10 meme. Second of all, can you identify all the artist logos in said meme?
I've got Chee, Yellow Claw, Excision, Skrillex, Spinnin' Records and Justice to finish. What's the second one along?
This cannot be real
This I cannot believe, and I don't think I'm gonna do it justice by trying to explain it, so I'll just leave it to your discovery.
It's one of those where I can't help but say to myself 'this can't be real', so it's definitely worth checking out.
Of course this was posted on TikTok, right?
BLVNKSPVCE tweet link w/ other producers' responses: https://x.com/blvnkspvce_/status/2014784956820750679?s=46&t=TEbbHyZ3OlICtgts4_3J0g
This is interesting
Not strictly Bass-related, but interesting nonetheless. Music criticism site Pitchfork shared their rubric for how they score albums, with detailed explanations for each 0.5 decimal range. It's always intriguing to me how some critics try to capture thoughts with a number, which I've never been completely sold on myself - it feels like a kneecapping of sorts. Anyway, it's still interesting like I said, so do give the article linked below a look-over.
Pitchfork article: https://x.com/pitchfork/status/2015454764750999877?s=46&t=TEbbHyZ3OlICtgts4_3J0g
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Did I miss anything from the last week in Bass music? Let me know below! 😌