ill.Gates’ expansive 16-track ‘Departures’ LP is cinematic, formless, and wildly effortless

ill.Gates is not just a certified bass music aficionado in his own right. Dylan Lane is more or less known for being much more invested in spreading his extensive production knowledge to as many people who are willing to absorb it. The bass music aficionado is the founder of a highly in-demand master class for bass music, an Ableton genius, and long-time collaborator with close friend Bassnectar. Although, following a bevy of inane rumors circulated amongst Ashton’s cult fanbase, he makes it very clear that he has never ghost produced for Lorin Ashton.

The Toronto-native doesn’t release a full-length LP too often. He’d rather focus on churning out bass music’s next big artist. His workshop series, Producer Dojo, evolved from video tutorial webcast, into a members-only site, and now a full-functioning record label. But today, September 14, marks the official release of ill.Gates’ third studio album in 10 years with his Departure LP.

The expansive 16-track album elicits high-powered collaborators with KJ Sakwa, Stylust, and Mr Bill, alongside a cast of lesser-known bass music talents. With five previously-released tracks in “CTHULHU,” “Step In My Dojo,” “Bottom’s Up,” “BAMBOO,” and “Harmonica Lewinsky,” Departure comes together effortlessly as a full survey of experimental bass music. The entire LP also brings the producer’s last seven years of studio work full circle.

Cinematic, formless, forward-thinking, and extremely diverse in it’s compilation of mind-bending compositions, the album pays no mind to genre categories. Rather, Departure shows off ill.Gate’s judo-master-level production abilities and his penchant for being a bass music tastemaker.