If you don’t like bikini clad women (some aren’t even wearing bikinis) please do not click play. That being said – looks like Kazantip is one hell of a party (2012′s Kazantip will take place from July 20th – August 26th). What could be better than a huge music festival fully equipped with world famous DJs and a beach (it’s on the edge of the Black Sea)? The intro is mixed by Swanky Tunes and Hard Rock Sofa who happen to be the premier Russians in the house music scene today. Do you think an astronaut take over of this festival is in order?
SmarterChild (Rick Markowitz) was featured on our Stargazers column in November and has been climbing up the charts rapidly since that time period. He brings us his rendition (alongside Oxymorron) of the Gym Class Heroes’ “Ass Back Home.” This mellow progressive remix adds a club feel to the original mix and the chopped up vocals towards the end of the tune gives us a little added flavor to the chorus. Talent never goes unnoticed by Dancing Astronaut, and SmarterChild just oozes with it.
It was a little over a year ago that Sonny Moore independently released the My Name is Skrillex EP for free. In the months that followed, the EDM landscape was permanently changed. Millions of newcomers were drawn to his unique sound, rock-like stage presence, and bad haircut. Love him or hate him, Skrillex has shown time and again that his production skills are impeccable, his energy unmatched, and his artistic vision inspiring.
The Bangrang EP is 7 track collection of eclectic, genre-bending productions. While not as impressive as Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, this EP is just the sort of heavy-hitting, yet melodic, fare we’ve come to expect out of this young producer. With incredible collaborations alongside Wolfgang Gartner, Kill The Noise, 12th Planet, and The Doors (not to mention the insanely addictive title track) Skrillex has once again proven that he is at the top of his game. As his sound continues to evolve and grow we can’t wait to see what he has in store for 2012. But we just have one question, where are “Voltage” and “True Gangsters?”
Remember “Dancin” from the summer of 2005? It may seem like a ton of time has passed since the original release, but artisans such as Laidback Luke and Mark Knight have been dropping the acapella version of this tune in their live sets forever. Luke uses his trademark electro chords to create an official remix that is sure to keep you bouncing around for months to come. We feel that the trumpet is one of the most underused sounds in the game today, however, Luke mastered the instrument like no other. Check back for the release on January 19th (which is a day to mark on your calendar – just in case you are a release junkie like we are) it will be available exclusively on Beatport.
We can’t tell you who the best DJ in the world is because the word “best” is absolute and dance music is subjective. That’s why we covered our asses and decided to call it the “Top Artists” instead.
Dancing Astronaut can’t tell you who the #1 Artist in the world is because that title cannot be bestowed by one person, group, or media organization. What qualifies a person to be #1? The amount of fans he has? The size of his name on a poster? The number of people who would vote for him in a popularity contest?
We have no idea how these five artists affected you personally, but we do know that each one of our top five has shaped the global dance music scene in identifiable, concrete ways. This isn’t our attempt to guess who your favorite artists is (and by “you,” we mean “everyone who listens to EDM”).
This is our account of events that we have seen with our own eyes, heard with our own ears, and felt with our own hearts. This is how EDM made history in 2011.
Just in time for the holidays — and after some recent leaks — Ultra Music Festival has just given us a hugely exciting gift: the long-awaited Phase 1 announcement for the 2012 fest! The acts aren’t entirely unexpected, but we can’t deny that this is going to be one hell of a weekend.
Just like clockwork, the first few artists of Ultra Music Festival are starting to leak out, and so far there aren’t really any big surprises. MiamiMusicWeek.com reports that Knife Party and Chase and status have been added to the Sunday lineup, which will be headlined by Armin Van Buuren who will be occupying the ASOT 550 Arena. This information hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but the site seems confident in its accusations. The site also reveals that Carl Cox will be taking Saturday to convert his tent into “Cocoon featuring Sven Vath.” We’ve been trying to find out more information ever since UMF announced a new venue a little while back, but so far haven’t come up with anything. Here’s to hoping that the news starts flowing in 2012.
There’s something to be said for consistency, and we have to say that Swedish House Mafia is consistently one of the best groups we’ve ever seen at teasing us with cryptic messages. First it was numbers, then it was scrambled codes in shows, and no they’re back again with a new cryptic website (MasqueradeMotel.com) counting down to Miami 2012. After their impressive showing at Madison Square Garden, we’re certain that they will be trying to raise the bar and do something even more wild than last year. Maybe they’ll even do a multi-day extravaganza, and, you know, be able to accommodate everyone who they sell tickets to. The three clocks on the teaser website are still a mystery to us, but you know we’re already digging for intel on what they have up their sleeves this time. Sound off with your conspiracy theories in the comments.
Update: We’ve just been tipped on another teaser website up at MasqueradeMotelMiami.com with an even bolder teaser. To see the message for yourself, click through below… And no, we have no idea why the third clock has three arms.
Update 2: After a bit more thinking, we’ve deduced that the clocks above point to 07.04.12, or April 7th, 2012, which also happens to be a Saturday. Might SHM back away from UMF in 2012 and claim an entire weekend for itself? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Update 3: The site has again been updated, this time with 28 clocks, 24 of which currently activate when you hover over them. This looks like some countdown of sorts, but beyond that we don’t know anything else.
Tommy Trash is not only part of the Musical Freedom family, but he is also making headway with the Mixmash crew. Looks like a guy this talented is getting picked up by everyone (kind of like the unbelievably hot chick at a club). “Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll” is Tommy’s techiest track to date, it still has electro influences, but you don’t experience those deep drops that are standard in most of his tracks. This reminds us of a dirtier version of David Tort’s “Acid Rocker,” the structure of the tunes are almost exactly the same. At DA we love when artists go out of the box and increase their versatility – Tommy is proving that he can conquer multiple genres.
We’ve been counting down our top artists of 2011 all week, and we’re really starting to get down to the wire. Today we’ll reveal another five of our top picks, but we’re holding back on the highest honors for tomorrow. In case you want to check out how we got here, don’t forget to look back at our posts from throughout the week and seeour rankings thusfar. We know you’re dying to see who we’ve slotted in our super-exclusive top 10, so keep reading to find out.
