It's Monday, and so time for a new BBB! 🗞️✨
ENJOY 💙💙
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NEWS
Lost Lands announce first part of 2026 lineup
The lineup rollout for the 9th edition of Excision's famed Lost Lands festival is under way. Last week, the first part of the Ohio event's 2026 roster - the 'Early Arrival Lineup' - was revealed, with a surprising amount of big names playing on Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th September alongside the gargantuan annual B2B on both the Prehistoric and Crater stages. On the Wednesday, you have iconic Brostep duo Barely Alive playing, as well as other significant Dubstep names such as Caspa, Distinct Motive, Calcium and Riot Ten. You also have a selection of artists performing that day who've gained a significant following in recent years, from Mad Dubz to MUERTE, Hairitage to Usaybflow and beyond. I have to mention Nikita, The Wicked as well, who's one of my personal favourite Bass musicians at the moment! Big names on the Thursday include Funtcase and Dirt Monkey, whilst flipmeister Phrva is also playing that day, as well as a host of well-known underground names like Deadcrow, Super Future and rSUN.
Unsurprisingly, online pushback online following the 'Early Arrival Lineup' drop was easy to find. There was the classic annoyance at the 'same artists playing every single year' from some quarters, but more understandably many were frustrated about so many household names playing too early in the festival. Indeed, why are Barely Alive and Funtcase playing on the Wednesday and Thursday respectively, for example? Are these the only days they could each do? Is it actually cheaper to book these bigger artists for the earlier days, as one user suggested? Others were simply lauding the fact that the early arrival section of the lineup looks this good, a testament to Lost Lands being easily the biggest mainstream Bass festival in the world.
Are any of you guys going to Lost Lands this year? I'm currently still unsure whether I'll be able to make it, but this inaugural lineup drop is definitely doing a good job of tempting me. I'm not sure when the full lineup drops, but when it does it's sure to be another big one from Jeff and his team!
MUSIC
Debut Akeos album
HUGE album news dropped in the Bass scene last week, as underground sensation Akeos announced she'll be releasing her debut album at some point later this year / early next year. The LP will be titled LOVE ME, LOVE ME NOT and will consist of 8 tracks. The first single from the project, 'unto me', came out last Friday along with the album release news. It'll be her first multi-track release since the Bloodlust EP for Disciple Records in February 2023. And there isn't much to say about it beyond that at this point - it's just something to get extremely hyped for!
For me, 8 tracks is a little disappointing to announce as a debut album for an artist as exciting as Akeos, but regardless I'm still very much looking forward to this project dropping in full. Given we still have a while until the whole collection is out, I'm definitely gonna be checking out the pre-LP singles beforehand to get a taste of what it'll be like. It's refreshing to have album news broken this far in advance of it coming out, and not just the week before, which has become more of a Bass norm in recent years. More of a build-up creates anticipation for the album, and gives it stature in the lead-up to its release. Like the good old days!
Stream 'unto me': https://soundcloud.com/akeos/untome
My Instagram reel coverage of the announcement: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYAUKupsjNb/?igsh=ZzlrbjE3bXhnM3hj
How excited are you guys for this album to drop?
Debut Digitist album drops
In other significant album news from the Bass music underground, Digitist released his debut LP last week. The album is called SUBSISTENCE, consists of 15 tracks, and is a self-release alongside Create Music Group. In a world still chock-full of Riddim - especially in the Dubstep underground - Digitist has continually proven himself to be one of the most unique producers and artists within that particular Bass space. If I hadn't been so busy with 2025 Year End work, I would absolutely have streamed my reaction to this on Twitch last weekend. I might even still end up doing it coz I rate his material so highly. Definitely give this collection a run-through when you can!
Stream the SUBSISTENCE album: https://soundcloud.com/digitist/sets/subsistence
New Desembra track!
New solo Desembra music? In 2026?! I haven't checked this track out yet, and with h4shtags (I can't type that word out fully coz it randomly generates a load of them and I don't know how to undo it) on the track such as 'Dancehall' and 'edm', I somewhat doubt it'll be the classically ravenous, heavy Desembra of old we know and love. However, it's still incredibly exciting to see him putting out music on his own once more, after having a big hand in the production of Swedish House Mafia's 2021 debut album Paradise Again. And it isn't just a random clip that's been thrown on Soundcloud out of nowhere, Desembra shared it to social media as well. It even has its own visualiser too, so maybe this will be the start of a new era for the revered Swedish producer. I'd certainly love that, regardless of which electronic styles he ends up going for. Check 'THUNDERCLAP' below and let me know what you make of it!
Stream 'THUNDERCLAP': https://soundcloud.com/officialdesembra/thunderclap
Skism speaks about legendary track 'Jaguar'
Yet another reminiscing delight from ex-Never Say Die head Skism! In this particular reel, he talks about his renowned Dubstep cut 'Jaguar' in collaboration with Habstrakt and Megalodon - an absolute monster track for those who remember it! He talks about how he found the main "Me a cougar, me a jaguar, me a every 'gar" sample, and how Tiesto played a significant role in the track's success. I won't ruin it beyond that, it's one of the must-watch bits of Bass content from last week - so get on it!
Reel link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYAEO8nyiVi/?igsh=MWN0ZDNsdTlyOGJtaA==
Biggest Bass releases of the week
It was another pretty quiet week release-wise last week, but there were still some notable names to highlight. Firstly, bejalvin dropped their latest album PLANETARY DEVASTATION - 12 tracks and 33mins of meme-infused, high-octane Bass music, no doubt. It's also worth mentioning the first EP on Convexity's recently-launched label TELEFUZZ, from the imprint head himself. There are also new A/Bs from Modal Nodes and Dr. Ushuu, a collaboration from Samplifire & INFEKT, and singles from KOAN Sound, Ivy Lab, borne, COPYCATT and MUERTE. Happy listening! 💙
DISCUSSION
The mysterious artist dopamine drop-off
Modal Nodes dropped a new A/B last week, as reported on both this BBB and its preceding edition. But indeed, as underground Dubstep producer / DJ roi* asks, why doesn't the world just stop when there's a new release from that artist? Well, it may have done in the past, but now that the human endeavour behind the project has been revealed, the instant dopamine fix associated with it has vanished. Let's explore this a little further.
Pre-world debut live performance, Modal Nodes was bound up in so much mystique that it (he? she? they?) became arguably the most talked-about Dubstep act in recent memory. The Star Wars-themed introductions and pencil-drawn artworks - importantly having the same image for every single clip - formulated an allure that gave the alias an edge above everything else in the Riddim field. It also helped that the music was very well-made, of course. But the branding was so on point that it actually felt like the music was being created by some kind of non-human being or entity. For many, the tunes were so well produced that it almost seemed impossible a person could put them together. However, now that the human input behind the alias has been revealed, the sense of unknown - where our minds can wonder and create stories about this fictional character - no longer exists, and the hype associated with it subsequently dwindles. Do I wish this wasn't the case? Absolutely, and there's no fault for anyone to bear here. Modal Nodes were always gonna play live given the success of their Soundcloud output alone so far. It's just what happens when the veil is lifted on something previously so baked in mystery, but which is now rooted in something far more real - and relatable, perhaps. That's what takes the edge off.
But what do you guys think? Might there be another reason that Modal Nodes' releases don't do as well from this point, following the incredible run of Soundcloud drops?
Is this a bit weird?
I don't wanna go too deep on this one, but besides the fact that this piece of plastic costs $95 (ninety five!!!) are we not getting into dangerous levels of idolisation in the scene again with things like this? Is this not quite a worrying form of parasocialism? It definitely shifts the whole 'Cult of REZZ' from something mostly innocent into something slightly more concerning, in my opinion. It might not be a drastic shift, but the idea of someone having a miniature figurine of an actual, real-life person - not a fictional character of any sort - adds a potential layer of worship that I'm not sure is entirely healthy for the figure themselves, or those that follow them.
Or maybe I'm thinking about it too much? I dunno, it just struck me as a little odd when I saw it. But please do let me know what you're making of this in the comments below!
FUNNIES // COOL STUFF
What happened to Space Laces?
I'm still not entirely sure why Space Laces went through the effort of putting this together and posting it as a full reel on Instagram, but it's still funny and worth a watch! ⚡
Reel link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYDbaaBPjE6/?igsh=NHJlZmxmenJrem5l
Burial's post-Untrue discography
It's another Ramon Pang classic, has to be said! I related to- and resonated with with those sounds far, far more than I should have.
Post link: https://x.com/ramonpang/status/2052515707766906905?s=46&t=TEbbHyZ3OlICtgts4_3J0g
It's absolutely true
Damn, this could actually be a thing you know 😂
A link that had never fully clicked in my head, but which actually makes pretty good sense.
Yeah fair play
Clever, funny and music-related is always a good mix, I find. Bravo @ayojoestar on X for this one!
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Did I miss anything from the last week in Bass music? Let me know below! 😌