Listen to 8 PNW stars on Excision’s new Subsidia label

Excision rocked the bass music community this past weekend during his ‘Couch Lands: Episode 3’ set. As he counted down to a cryptic announcement on his website for the past two weeks, fans speculated a new album was on the way. His actual surprise was much larger, as he unveiled a new label dedicated to the rising bass music stars across the scene.

That wasn’t all Excision had in store for us. His new label, Subsidia, would go on to release a massive 120 tracks this Monday. Around 140 artists received a nod from the bass mastermind, across three massive compilation albums. While all artists are very much worth listening to, we wanted to give special recognition to our local PNW-originated or based artists that Excision has featured on Subsidia.

There are still a few lingering artists with mystery around their location. Excision hand-picked Subsidia artists across the globe, from nearly every US state to Argentina, to Belgium. Many of the other artists that may not consider the PNW their home base still have strong ties to the region. Including Excision himself, hailing from a small town in western Canada. Others are up-and-coming DMNW favorites previously spotted, like LICK.

NXSTY – Vancouver, B.C.

Featuring producers NXSTY and Sweet Teeth, and rapper Clonethekid, Imminent Death is a hybrid trap and hop-hop track with a sample of some mechanized metal screeching. NXSTY has made moves right out of the gate this week, additionally releasing a 5-track EP with Kelland of the same brand of hybrid trap.

Subchvrge – Seattle, WA

Subchvrge made waves on the Dawn compilation album, the more melodic bass albums out of the three on Subsidia. With a cross of riding the new wave of future riddim with some early 2010’s melodic synths, Need You Now is a testament to a new spin on the old.

VRG – Oregon

First earning a spot in our hearts with the long-anticipated Womp Womp with Rated R (another artist under Excision’s wing on Subsidia), VRG has been steadily on the rise. 9 Milli with YDG is another trap/dubstep hybrid with laser-sharp chops of bass.

Hairitage – Oregon

Hairitage sums up the versatility in bass music hitting both high emotional melodic tracks and monstrous, aggressive dubstep. After nailing a remix of Wooli and Excision’s Lockdowna few weeks ago, he’s been on our to-watch list. And based on both of his features on Subsidia, the hunch was correct. Both Oh No! with Whales, and Death Kneel with Rico Act and Gladez hit hard. Death Kneel is an angering testament of police brutality in the United States inspired by the infamous murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Jiqui – B.C.

Jiqui also earned two releases on Subsidia’s Night compilation album with some heavy riddim-influenced dubstep. Brink with Cyclops fires off a full round of bass during the drop, wielding it an instant classic angry-bass track. The Fallen with Zetta Dubs is another catastrophically heavy bass tune, in good line with most of Jiqui’s other releases.

EMGO (Everything Must Go) – Seattle, WA

One of the most surprising features across Subsidia is from EMGO. The duo is made up of long-time electronic music veteran KJ Sawka of several different well-known projects. Both one of the members of Pendulum (who just returned following a decade-long absence), and Destroid, the project of Excision and Downlink. The other Seattle native of Everything Must Go is SuperSquare, who has been independently making music for around 8 years. The two teamed up to pen Disappear and Sabotage, both on the Dawn compilation album.

Blake Lewis – Redmond, WA

The vocalist behind Everything Must Go’s Disappear may sounds familiar. Blake Lewis, runner-up on the sixth season of America Idol, has been releasing a platter of songs over the years. This dabble into the realm of electronic music comes in the evolution of pop vocals he’s known for.

AfterMyFall – Seattle, WA

In a track with Ruvlo AfterMyFall has released a dark, wobbly-sounding trap hybrid with On My Own. Topped with strained vocals reminiscent of metal, the ominous track rounds out the experimental Dusk compilation album.

No matter where they’re from, Excision’s Subsidia releases are packed full of experimental, melodic, heavy dubstep. But the common denominator is, as always, bass. We’re glad to see Excision featured so many PNW artists featured on the first round of Subsidia. Whatever Excision has cooking for the next wave of Subsidia is sure to bust open the bass music scene. You can find the full playlist of releases from September 29th here, and relive his Subsidia mix during Couch Lands here.