2012 has been an exciting year for dance music, the scene has grown beyond any of our comprehensions, supplanting itself in popular culture, fueling the soundtrack of commercials, sitcoms, and even a Disney movie — shaking the foundation popular culture by establishing a new wave of music consumer. At the forefront of everything have been the artists, the true pioneers of the electronic dance music wave. With a scene as large and expansive as EDM, it was hard to honor only 50 – for every David Guetta or Calvin Harris there are droves of aspiring bedroom producers all doing their fair share of pushing the movement — simply by creating and sharing their art. With the EDM explosion officially in full swing in 2012, we saw countless new artists emerge, seasoned producers experiment with new sounds, and massive collaborations form that made crowning the “best” artist a nearly impossible task.
We’ve already covered 40 of the Biggest Artists of 2012 – hop past the break to see our picks for the final 10.
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Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instragram each week. This week we decided to include a bonus edition featuring twelve Christmas snaps from Carl Cox, Diplo, Tiesto, and more.
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We thought there were an insane number of residents in Las Vegas this year, but it seems 2013 will be even bigger. With the opening of LIGHT at Mandalay Bay and Hakkasan at the MGM Grand, booking DJs has become pricey and competitive. Big names like Deadmau5 and Tiesto are reportedly pulling in between $250,000 and $425,000 a night.
The Wynn and Encore will be losing and gaining some residents (including Knife Party, Eric Prydz and Madeon) as LIGHT’s talent manager has already signed Alesso, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Nicky Romero and possibly eight others for an early April opening. Deadmau5 will venture to Hakkasan and will play alongside Tiesto, Steve Aoki, and Calvin Harris, all of whom are making the switch. Two Hakkasan residents will be performing at this years’ Grammy’s and they will be announcing arena shows and possibly a festival at the MGM Grand around that time as well. Seems like every DJ will be in Las Vegas this year making it the place to be if you’re a dance music fan — as if it wasn’t already.
Via: Las Vegas Sun
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instragram each week. This week, we’ve got gems from Nicky Romero, Steve Angello, Diplo, and more.
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It’s inevitable that countdowns will always spark controversy, that’s just the nature of the beast. Some tracks will be snubbed, some overlooked, and some ranked higher than you may have expected. We’ve already gone over our ranking criteria at length but despite our own self-imposed guidelines, 2012 proved to be more difficult to rank than years past. With the EDM explosion officially in full swing throughout the year, the sheer number of releases was mind numbing, and — consequently — nearly impossible to rank. There has been no greater challenge for the editors at Dancing Astronaut than creating the list of the Biggest Tracks of 2012.
Yesterday we kicked off our countdown with the biggest tracks of 2012: 50-41 — Hop past to break to for our picks from 40-31.
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First premiered on Eric Prydz’s Epic Radio, “I Can’t Stop It” is Fehrplay’s follow up to his massive remix of “Everyday.” The Pryda understudy is moving up in the world of EDM quickly, having already made his American debut by opening at the Roseland Ballroom in support of Prydz. While his previous originals “Incognito” and “Nightride” first caught our attention, Fehrplay’s forthcoming “I Can’t Stop It” is sustaining our belief in the Norwegian newcomer. With an addictive vocal hook, an engrossing, chord-laden breakdown, and a clean, sparkling drop, “I Can’t Stop It” is shaping up to be a huge release. “I Can’t Stop It” is due out on Pryda Friends in January.
It’s inevitable that countdowns will always spark controversy, that’s just the nature of the beast. Some tracks will be snubbed, some overlooked, and some ranked higher than you may have expected. We’ve already gone over our ranking criteria at length but despite our own self-imposed guidelines, 2012 proved to be more difficult to rank than years past. With the EDM explosion officially in full swing throughout the year, the sheer number of releases was mind numbing, and — consequently — nearly impossible to rank. There has been no greater challenge for the editors at Dancing Astronaut than creating the list of the Biggest Tracks of 2012.
Love them or hate them, overplayed or under-appreciated, here are the songs that defined the 2012 EDM explosion, numbers 50-41.
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In an era dominated by singles and two-track EPs, the album often seems like an antiquated format. So many producers are caught up in a formulaic rinse and repeat methodology of singles that it’s easy to forget our origins as an LP-centric community. In an attempt to give credit to the producers who’ve put their time, heart, and soul into the extended release format, we’ve ranked our biggest albums and EPs of 2012.
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Dance music’s presence in last year’s Grammy awards was undeniable, marking the first time a DJ had been nominated for the Best New Artist category. The DJs and producers who were big in our world had finally crossed over into mainstream relevance by way of Skrillex’s five nominations and three wins. This year, Skrillex received three nods, each in the categories he won last year. Diplo’s nomination for Best Producer is also an accolade that is long overdue. Only three highly-recognizable dance music artists were nominated in 2012, but this time around there’s a much healthier selection.
Click below the jump to find out who made the cut and in which categories — prepare to be surprised.
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Best of the Rest is a daily feature from Dancing Astronaut that recaps the most important posts of the day as well as the stuff we didn’t get to. With the rapidity that dance music news and releases come out it’s difficult for us to hit everything — we hope BOTR serves as a catch-all. Make sure to check it out at the end of each day to ensure you don’t miss anything!
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