It's Monday, so time for another BBB!
ENJOY 💙💙
—
NEWS
Zomboy and Barely Alive release new collab 'Time Machine'
This is significant enough to go in the NEWS section, not the MUSIC one. Last Wednesday, a three-way Instagram post emerged from Zomboy, Barely Alive and Monstercat depicting glitchy 2D versions of the two artists' mascots drifting around DVD standby-style over a background continuously changing in colour. With that story share, the dots were instantly connected, and the Bass scene went into a collective rapture. In 2026, we would be getting a collaboration from two of the biggest names in Brostep music called 'Time Machine', and it would drop on mainstream modern electronic music's most renowned label, the aforementioned Monstercat.
Ultimately, I see this as news because it is huge for the modern Dubstep scene at large. There is renewed optimism that musicality, story-telling and in-drop dynamism will become a fixture again within the heaviest forms of Dubstep music. It's also artists being alive to this resurrection of sorts, and acting on that by working together to give fans the ultimate nostalgia trip - with pristine, updated production techniques too might I add. Barely Alive in particular seem to be on a tear with this, as not just this collab, but several more, are on the way alongside other big artists of modern Dubstep yesteryear, such as Kill The Noise. These kinda releases shape where the sound goes into the future, which is no small thing.
As for the track itself, I did some First Listen coverage of it over the weekend, and the reaction is up on the main channel now. If you've yet to see the video, I shall link it below, but the TLDR from me is: pretty short track, but still really packs a punch, especially in the 2nd drop. And I personally think the video is worth watching for said 2nd drop reaction alone, because it really did knock my socks off!
Vid link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxm0jZtW6Xk
The 15/16-year-old me buried deep within somewhere still cannot quite believe this link-up is a thing, and in many ways it was very much worth the wait. But what are you guys making of 'Time Machine'? It's generating some good conversation online, so I'm very interested to hear what you all think of it too. Drop your thoughts below!
ILLENIUM ghost produced by Porter Robinson?
At the beginning of February, An X user by the name of @ithinkitsaDanny posted a clip of a recently-released ILLENIUM track titled 'Paris', from his 6th studio album ODYSSEY. The caption for said clip post said 'It’s been 12 years and illenium still can’t help himself but reheat Worlds nachos' - Worlds being Porter Robinson's debut album. This garnered a lot of conversation online, especially after another user @lycheebeach replied by saying 'As soon as I heard it I opened the song credits fully expecting to see porters name. He didnt even try to change it a little'. Others in the replies brought in more egregious examples to highlight how clear ILLENIUM's ripping-off of Robinson has been over the years.
However, last week new information was discovered, and subsequently revealed by @ithinkitsaDanny. As shown below, now when you load the Song Credits for ILLENIUM's 'Paris', you can clearly see that Porter Robinson was involved as a 'Composer' for the track, meaning he had a part in putting together the song's idea, alongside Nicholas Miller which is ILLENIUM's real name. This begs the question as to why this wasn't in the Song Credits section already, but also whether it was changed because of the public outcry surrounding it. Alternatively, this could be ILLENIUM being forced into crediting Robinson because of how similar 'Paris' sounds to something from the Worlds album, though how that would have been engineered I'm not entirely sure. Robinson just says 'this sounds like my music, credit me' and that comes to be? Regardless, one user summed up the ridiculousness of the situation, and dynamic between the ILLENIUM and Porter Robinson projects, perfectly in response to @ithinkitsaDanny (pictured below).
For those of you on this Patreon who are ILLENIUM fans, does this debacle leave you feeling any differently about his music, and project overall?
More AI use in the Dubstep scene
I feel like we have to be consistent with this. If I'm gonna highlight the artwork-maker for Samplifire and Calcium's recent collab, then I should bring this to light too. An X user by the name of @yowhotfistippy quote-tweeted the trailer for Aweminus' new EP on Sounds of Mayhem titled ULTIMATE BASTARD with the caption, 'okay dude im not tryna accuse nun but am i going crazy or do these visuals look Ai'. Unsurprisingly, several people took to the comments to give their thoughts on the imagery, and the responses were interesting.
One user, a self-proclaimed 'ai nerd', said 'you're correct but it's only for around 50% of the video. that weird hand spiral was ai, and there's some doom that's been run through an i2v model'. Another user @HVRBINGR was a bit more dubious, saying 'Could be. It's getting harder and harder to tell and being that they don't specify it's a bit studs at time' (whatever that final bit means). Then there were accounts that played it off more, saying things like 'That looks like DOOM gameplay with some other effects on top of it' and 'That's just DOOM 2016', so maybe the AI use isn't as clear-cut as originally thought.
Regardless though, is it really that difficult to just have a human put this kinda thing together? If you're already doing 50% of it, for example, why not go the full hog and do the entire thing? It's incredible how normalised it is already for creators to rely on AI, even if it's a little bit. Is it being used as a clutch for things they maybe can't be bothered to do? Who knows?
MUSIC
Dylan Brady drops 'Needle Guy'
NEEDLE GUY IS HERE PEOPLE. I REPEAT - NEEDLE GUY IS HERE.
It's pretty crazy how quickly a track can generate hype from just one clip, isn't it? In mid-November last year, Skrillex shared a snippet to his Instagram story of a Tokyo B2B with one half of 100 Gecs, Dylan Brady. The ID was a gurgly 140 Dubstep cut with the caption 'NEEDLE GUY', and it threw me so much upon hearing it that I had to screen record it and share across social media to ask - with desperation - if anyone had any idea what this track was. Some thought it could be Casey Club, others thought potentially Simula, but the proof is now in the pudding with the official release of the track - it's a Dylan Brady tune.
With the track's drop, there's also a music video to go with it - an unsurprisingly odd watch given it's come from the half-brainchild of 100 Gecs. I want to try and sum it up for you, but it's probably best to watch it and try to figure it out for yourself. I'm just extremely happy that this track actually saw the light of day, and so quickly after being hyped in the way it was, because often IDs like that lose their momentum and end up never being released. There are countless examples of this in the Bass scene, as you all know too well.
Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNPtdUg6O50
I streamed my reaction to it on Saturday, and that video will be going up on the channel later today. Happy watching for when that's out!
Getter announces new ID with Svdden Death
More big-name collab alert! Last week, Getter took to Instagram to announce that a new track with a fellow Dubstep legend, Svdden Death, will be dropping soon. The tune is called 'UNORTHODOX', and beyond that I'm not sure we have any more information at the moment. Within the post, Getter shared a clip of the ID, which I will link below.
ID clip: https://www.instagram.com/p/DVMkGNkktU8/?igsh=MTNsbjhseHhlYmtjdA==
It's certainly refreshing to see an artist announce a singular track that isn't gonna drop one or two days later, and will instead be given some time to build hype. Like the old days, you know? I'm very much looking forward to hearing this one in full!
Rumoured Niteharts 2026 lineup apparently fake
I mean, it was just too good to be true right? Whilst I would certainly back ISOxo and Knock2 to get Martin Garrix and Porter Robinson for their Niteharts festival this year, seeing them both on the same flyer - along with every other name stamped on it - did leave me a little bit suspicious upon first inspection. And so it proved, with one of ISOKNOCK's managers taking to Discord after this was shared to tell fans and followers that the flyer hasn't even been made yet. However, that doesn't mean that these names won't be on the actual flyer, and playing the actual event. So there is hope yet, though I wouldn't hold out for it personally! Again, it's just too good.
If this did turn out to be the actual line-up, I would do everything in my power to try and get myself there. I mean look at it, wouldn't you?!
The week's big Bass releases
Last week, as alluded to above, Aweminus dropped what is already his second EP of 2026, following January's Immortal with February's ULTIMATE BASTARD. On the EP front, we also got a new collection from underground gem Ophion titled Twin Fang, which dropped on Savage Society Records. In terms of extensive projects, I should also mention the new Alix Perez Dubstep mini-album Sabotage, which I checked out whilst streaming over the weekend, the reaction for which will likely be going up on Tuesday.
To go with all the collaboration chat above, we also got pair-ups from Adventure Club & Flux Pavilion, DIGITIST x yvm3 x EXECUTIONER and Teminite & Nokae (covered on the Patreon). Moreover, listed here are some big-name solo single releases from last week that you should be aware of: INFEKT, Code: Pandorum, MPH, Camellia, Moore Kismet, Lizdek, Samplifire and Vanfleet.
As ever, happy listening! 💙
DISCUSSION
The Dubstep rut
Ah, we're calling it the Dubstep 'rut' now? I'm down for that, I think that's an apt word to use. But which period of time, or era, within the modern Dubstep scene are we meaning exactly? From 2017 when Brostep was beginning to evaporate, and headbang culture started to stamp its authority on the scene? Or maybe it's just out of Covid-inspired isolation, and back into show-going, around 2022? Perhaps it could be the last couple of years, stretching back to 2024 and still ongoing today? Let's discuss below.
Whenever one might think the rut started from, I'm very much of the belief it's still ongoing. Letting aside the vast amount of one-dimensional, hitting-my-head-against-a-wall headbang material that's coming out even today, one only has to go to Lost Lands for proof the rut is still in play. If you go to that festival, literally everywhere you go you can hear a hard, crushing, repetitive BWAH BWAH sound. I'm not exaggerating, you can hear it everywhere - the campsites, the food stall areas, walking anywhere on the festival grounds itself from one stage to another. Now, we don't know what LL2026 will be like, as 140 and Brostep gradually push themselves back into modern Dubstep popularity. But it would take a monstrous shift from last year's event to this September to stop the BWAH BWAH sound from still pervading the scene. And that will always affect how the music that's played is made.
The fact of the matter is, a lot of the very biggest artists in the scene still make that music, and so that stands as the example from the top down. Musicians such as Subtronics, Ray Volpe and TYNAN, who didn't major on this kind of Dubstep in the past, are now filling their extensive projects with it. Arguably the biggest modern Dubstep producer of them all, Skrillex, is making zero music like this, and has actually been an influential force for 140 being as prevalent as it is today. Yet it still hasn't usurped Riddim, which perfectly illustrates the levels of acclaim one genre / style / movement would need to fully get Dubstep out of the 'rut'. Something that, to me, has been building for at least eight years, potentially nine.
But what do you guys think, has there even been a Dubstep rut for the scene to get out of? If so, when do you see it as starting? I wanna know all your thoughts in the comments!
FUNNIES // COOL STUFF
One of the best things I've seen this year
How can something be so simultaneously good and hilarious? It's one of the best pieces of Bass content to drop in 2026 so far - Skrillex's F**K U SKRILLEX ... project but sped up into triplet form (kinda). Everything's quicker, and it makes for some genuinely fantastic flows and general evolutions on the original material. But I'm also laughing pretty hard throughout the mix - with it, not at it, I hasten to add. An absolute must-listen!
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBG2MB8GkY8&t=98s
Bring your kid to work day
Say what you want about Excision, but this is undeniably very cute. Short but sweet - top content!
Reel link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVMx-faAEpM/?igsh=Y2doNnZxdmZjN2dm
The Dubstep iceberg except ...
So is the idea here that if you're on Discord a lot, you're not on social media so you think Subtronics, Excision and Svdden Death are deep-cut artists compared to those at the top of the iceberg? Do tell me if I've completely missed the meaning there!
It got a fair bit of good feedback so there must be some good sense in this listing, even if it's completely satirical.
Modal Nodes reveal?!
Hahahahah try again suckerrrrzzzzz.
The Dubstep Twins
"Yeah but have you ever seen HOL! and HURTBOX in a room toge- oh".
Get by with a little help from my Dubstep friends
Some might see a post like this as a sad one, but I think it's extremely refreshing to see something as transparent, open and soul-bearing as this from an artist in the scene.
If you live in LA and like Dubstep, go hit up YATIX and hang out with him!
Why indeed
The AI music problem persists, and will continue to as more time passes.
—
Did I miss anything from the last week in Bass music? Let me know below! 😌