The Shambhala Music Festival takes place every year in beautiful Salmo, British Columbia. Showcasing the latest and greatest electronic talents from around the world, Shambhala boasts one of the most impressive and eclectic outdoor electronic music festivals in North America.

Featuring 6 different, elaborately themed stages with music from all varieties, from live funk to drum and bass, hip hop to dubstep, breaks to rumpshaking bass; there are sure to be artists and DJs there to suit the unique and varying palettes of festival-goers.



The Village Stage, resembling an Ewok village from Star Wars is complete with a pKSound (Subvert) 90,000watt hand built and designed soundsystem and is also where most of the dubstep and bass heavy music this weekend will find a home. Check out this youtube of the system in construction and action.




The Bassfaced posse is proud to be making our second music inspired road trip this year and our inaugural journey to Shambhala, where we will be documenting every blip, beep, beat, and wobble from this year's festival. Stay tuned for more mixes and info about DJs playing Shambhala, as well as photos and an all-encompassing review you won't find anywhere else, except 'pon the Bassfaced blog. Keep it locked.

Here are the artists and sets you won't want to miss and where you'll find us trying to crawl into subwoofer stacks.


Excision- Canada [dubstep]













Living Room Stage -- Friday, August 8th 3:30pm-5:00pm
The Village -- Sunday, August 10th 8:30pm-10:00pm

Excision- Dark Side of Dubstep mix

At the young age of 21, Excision has already established himself as one of the rising stars in the world of Dubstep. Upon starting his own label Rottun Recordings, his plans to bring the dark side of Dubstep to the dancefloor have been successful as is evident by the sell out and re-pressing of each release.

When coming across Dubstep in 2004, before it had become an international phenomenon, Excision was hooked on the raw sounds
he heard booming out of the speakers.
While 2006 saw one of his mixes accumulate over 20,000 downloads,
2008 and beyond is already seeing his sound storm onto the Dubstep scene.

Since Excision's track "No Escape" ( featured on Rottun 001 ) was released, he has seen the demand for his services in Dubstep and beyond. Listen for upcoming tunes on labels such as Cyberfunk, Aufect, Shift, Junta Dub, Sub-Urban Trash, Westbay Group, and more on Rottun Recordings.

http://www.myspace.com/excision




Max Ulis- Vancouver, BC [dubstep]










Living Room Stage -- Thursday, August 7th 10pm

Vancity Dubstep.fm Sessions ft. Superisk, Max Ulis, Taal Mala, & Daega

Alongside Vancouver Canada’s Lighta! crew Max has been pushing his dubstep and glitched out digital dancehall sounds up and down the west coast. Lighta!’s Dubforms parties in Vancouver have showcased some of the finest talent Dubstep has to offer. Max has appeared alongside the likes of Skream, Benga, Hatcha, Loefah, Kode 9, The Bug, DZ, Ghislain Poirier, Youngsta, Dj C, Filastine, Knifehandchop, Deadbeat,and the legendary Remarc.Look for Max’s vinyl and digital releases in the new year...

Max Ulis myspace




Skream- Croydon, UK [dubstep]










The Village -- Sunday, August 10th 11:00am-1:30am

Skream Stella Sessions-- July 23rd, 2008

Meet Skream: Croydon's musical wonderkid. At 15 he discovered making music. Five years later he's changed the course of UK urban music, having helped build the foundations of London's most exciting new musical style, dubstep. But he's barely started yet: because right now, Skream is an artist on fire.
Skream's story begins in Croydon, in secondary school year 11. He wasn't getting on with teachers and they weren't getting on with him: but he was getting on with his music. But two friendships cemented then would start him onto the path to musical success.

First he met Benga, another talented Croydon kid who was starting to make music. Then he met Hatcha, soon to be one of the most influential and pioneering DJs in urban music. Around 2000 Benga and Skream set about building on the early dark garage flavours that were to be found on the pirate airwaves around Croydon. Through Hatcha's sets at club Forward» and releases on the seminal Big Apple label, they were about to create a new phase of dubstep.

At first Skream specialised in one flavour of dubstep: dark. His clipped, techy minimal style became a trademark sound. Long before grime existed, it reflected dark murky streets and sinister nights, the sound of decaying London and its frustrated communities, stuck out in satellite towns and sink estates with nothing but a PC and freely available software to channel their frustration into. Stuck in front of a PC for days on end, that's exactly what Skream did.

Then two years ago Digital Mystikz burst onto the dubstep scene, expanding the sound with new flavours and vivid colours. Skream became even more inspired. It not like he wasn't prolific already - rumour has it he's made over 1500 tracks - but out poured a host of bright new tracks from the wonderkid. "Indian remix" took him into trippy Asian territories, "Cheeky..." into Arabia, his unreleased mixes of Sunship fused Jamaican dancehall smut with hooky Kraftwerk melodies. "Smiling Face" broke out cheerful reggae skanks on dancefloors.

But his biggest tune was yet to come. Enter "Midnight Request Line" - on Tempa records - an anthemic explosion of electro arpeggios and dub sub-bass. It's a tune you can sing along to: Skream has it as his own ringtone. When it got dropped by DJ Youngsta at club Forward» grime dons Wiley, Jammer and the rest of Roll Deep began to shock out, flashing their lighters out of hard earned respect. The flip of this mighty release is bassline boomer "I," an excursion into deep dub basslines and shifting cinematic textures.

It shouldn't come as any surprise he likes sub-bass, Skream has grown up around it. His older brother was a member of Croydon's notorious jungle hell-raising raving outfit Intanatty Crew, which featured Radio 1's Grooverider and Bailey's 1Xtra as members. Ollie, Skream's real name, is no stranger to a bit of hell raising himself, famous for his up-for-it behaviour at parties or out on the town. In fact he's the only known music artist with a subdued alter-ego. Most rock stars are quiet by day with flamboyant alter-egos. Our wonderkid is the other way around. But then that's wonderkids like Skream for you: unique.

Skream myspace




BLVD w/ MC Souleye- USA [live electronic band]










Living Room Stage -- Saturday, August 9th 1:00am-2:30am

Fusing live instruments with electronic production techniques, BLVD
combines elements of hip-hop, house and breakbeat to create a refined
and progressive musical experience for its audience. Drummer Dylan
McIntosh and bassist Tripp Bains lock into deep, subwoofing grooves
while electric guitarist Curtis Sloane adds tight, rhythm based,
melodic progressions and heavily effected looping patterns. BLVD
improvises just enough to lead audiences through unexpected segues and
hands-in-the-air crescendos. As a trio, they rely heavily on their
skills in the studio. By creating samples and synth lines they combine
an organic live sound with the repetition and structure of electronic
music.


BLVD's eponymous, self-released debut live album (2004) was recorded
almost entirely live at the Bay Area's prestigious Ex'pression Center.
The trio followed this with their second independent release Before We
See the Sun (2006), produced by duo Chocolate O'Brian (No Doubt,
Flipsyde) and featuring various guest vocalists. BLVD recently finished
their third, all instrumental album, Digital Disorder, released
December 10, 2007 on San Francisco's Cyberset Records. The band is also
featured on Souleye's forthcoming solo album Balance in Babylon,
co-produced by BLVD drummer Dylan McIntosh and due for release in
summer 2008.

BLVD Official Website




Drop The Lime -- NYC, NY [bass]










Fractal Forest -- Monday, August 10th 3:30am-5:00am

Drop The Lime Exclusive XLR8R mix

Set the standard; then raise the bar. Or in New York City’s Luca Venezia’s case – totally destroy that bar on a global scale. The 25-year-old known as Drop The Lime (and Curses!) is the iconoclastic club fiend of the 21st Century. Producer, remixer and DJ, he started out at 17 and has since dropped approx 150 underground classics, each year breaking boundaries of the musical zeitgeist – relentlessly developing concepts and sounds that leaves his many imitators wiping away tears with a white flag. Lauded by critics (XLR8R/Dazed & Confused), premier blogs (Discobelle, Trash Menagerie, Fluo Kids), peers (UK production God Switch named Luca in his top artists of 2007) and the world’s cutting edge record labels (releases on Mad Decent, Counterfeet, Shockout, Ambush, Institubes and Fools Gold), he is the undisputed, celebrated NYC Bass Heavy Champion. Drop The Lime’s acclaimed solo albums – 2005’s “This Means Forever” and 2007’s “We Never Sleep” on Tigerbeat6 saw him murdering bass and bytes – an evolved style, re-appropriating breakcore, bassline house, rave, jungle and dubstep, unforgettably touched with Luca’s own original vocals. Recent remixes for Moby, Robyn, Blaqstarr, Health Disco, Midnight Juggernauts and Infants have fuelled the blaze. HEAT. Lest we forget Trouble & Bass. The movement-defining party, DJ crew and record label established by Luca in September 2006. In two years T&B has smashed the NYC club scene apart with such deafening impact, the rest of the world found the blasphemous bass impossible to ignore. From Brooklyn warehouses to Manhattan clubs, touring his party through London and Paris – with a summer spot at this year’s Coachella. It’s time to get hysterical.

Drop The Lime myspace




Subvert- Calgary, AB [dubstep/glitch]















Living Room Stage -- Friday, August 8th 3:30pm-5:00pm
The Village -- Sunday, August 10th 10:00pm-11:00pm

Subvert hails from Calgary, Alberta and his winding path in music started in 1996. Proof of his dedication to ‘Bass’ is in his track record of creating the world’s loudest competition vehicles, designing pK’s 90,000 watt sound system and managing the Village Stage at Shambhala Music Festival.
He started DJing in 2000 and combined with his extensive work on sound systems and attention to precision sound, he was ultimately & naturally led down the path to creating his own music productions and once again the low frequencies consumed him. Subvert’s sound is a combination of throbbing, relentless basslines, melodic strings and haunting pianos singing through midtempo glitch / acid crunk and dubstep. His attention to detail and the ability to tune into ‘bass that works’ can be felt in all of his music productions, he is an expert in the subsonic, the crowd and the show.

Subvert myspace




Bonobo- London, UK [downtempo]















Labyrinth Stage -- Saturday, August 9th 4:00am-6:00am
The Rock Pit -- Saturday, August 9th 11:00pm-1:00am

Bonobo in the mix XFM 2005

It's all about the levels with Bonobo. Not in a techy, studio kinda way, but in the levels of involvement with his music. On the surface there are the organic, pastoral atmospheres, the catchy melodies, the elements that caught people from his first album. You can engage with a Bonobo tune in that way if you wish, and will be well rewarded for it. But it's the deeper, slightly hidden levels that you should investigate, for they bring the greatest prize. It's these elements that he explored on 'Dial M For Monkey', as a greater focus on live instruments, the intricacies of rhythm, the darker shades of the soul, and almost a sleight of hand, that meant that you could be in one mood one minute, and the next you would somewhere different.

Bonobo myspace