As we finish reflecting on 2015 and begin to turn towards the future, it’s obvious that the past year has been nothing short of epic for bass music culture on all fronts. But if you thought 2015 was the peak and it’s all downhill from here, you’re definitely wrong. The following list of our most anticipated projects of 2016 proves that we are in the midst of a full-on bass music renaissance that is showing no signs of slowing down.
While this is in no way a comprehensive list of the onslaught of music headed our way, here’s a sampling of the projects that some of our favorite artists, labels, and crews have cooking in the lab:
Flux Pavilion and the Circus crew are so fuego right now. With huge singles from Doctor P locked, a Cookie Monsta EP on the way as well as DISKORD’s new single “Anything You Want,” already crushing it on the VIP circuit, there’s obviously no stopping the heavyweight crew. It will be interesting to see what other goodies DISKORD has up his sleeve, as rumors of a series of collaborations featuring the likes of Krewella, Zeds Dead, Mayhem, Brillz and more continue to surface.
Also on our radar is the fourth Never Say Die compilation album dropping later this month, as SKiSM and the NSD crew continue to curb stomp their way into the hearts and minds of dancefloors across the globe. Projects that have our attention include the debut EP from Spag Heddy set to drop next month as well as a Zomboy EP project to follow on its heels in March. Eptic is apparently locked in the lab working on a “conceptual extended player” set to be released as a series of singles mid-year, somewhere around the time Megalodon takes the reigns of the third Black Label XL album compilation project which promises to arrive just in time to get you fired up for festival season.
Speaking of festival season, Party Thieves continue their dancefloor takeover as they lead the way with collabs with JayKode, Dr. Fresch, Flosstradamus, and a solo EP all in the works. With clothing collaborations lined up with BoogieMADE and yet another Australian tour in the works alongside international dates in Mexico and Canada, 2016 is looking stacked for one of our favorite artists to emerge from the Discover Project lineup in recent memory.
Buygore is looking stacked as the head honcho Borgore is not only in the studio working on an album release by the end of the year but monster EPs from the likes of Half Empty, Adair, Tasty Treat, Pyramid Scheme, Axel Boy, and Dabow are rounding out a massive run of singles featuring Jackal and Dr. Fresch, Jaykode & Party Thieves, Dan Farber, and K Theory.
Other miscellaneous projects that have us buzzing include Jackal linking up for monster collabs with the likes of Brillz, Torro Torro, Baewatch. We’re also amped to check what kind of heat the genre-flipping bad boy known as Getter is bringing to what is being touted as his “biggest EP to date” set to drop on OWSLA sometime in the coming months.
On the drum & bass front, Kasra and the Critical Music fam continue to blow doors as the Brighton trio known as Klax are set to deliver the next installment of the Critical Presents: System series, before things kick into high gear with a series of white label VIPs and remixes of Mefjus’ Emulation album find their way to the dancefloor via heavyweights like Audio, Ed Rush, and more. With monster full-length projects on the way from Emperor and Current Value, you’d think that was enough to get us hot under the collar but we’re chomping at the bit to get a taste of this collab EP from Ivy Lab and Alix Perez that’s on the way!
Ram Records continues their quest for world domination with albums on the way from Calyx & TeeBee and Delta Heavy, alongside some hot singles on the way from Andy C, Loadstar, Audio, June Miller and Teddy Killerz are going to be decimating the dancefloors in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Hospital Records continue to build on what was a smashing 2015 for both the mother ship and its sister imprint, Med School. With massive albums on the way from Keeno, Logistics, Maduk, and Fred V & Grafix, the crew are also set to drop a six-track Future Sound of America EP hot on the heels of a 10 Years of Med School LP compilation that perfectly situates the imprint in the crossroads of the past, present, and future of drum & bass culture.
Last but not least InsideInfo and Cyantific are set to deliver full-length LPs for Viper Recordings with rumors of a Brookes Brother LP to follow by the end of the year. More album rumors seem to be swirling around the social media accounts of Metrik, Foreign Beggars, The Upbeats, and Teddy Killerz, who all seem to be prepared to deliver full-length projects in 2016. And what’s this about Ivy Lab and Noisia in the studio together? Until then, this is our most anticipated list and we’re sticking to it.