Though the Phase 1 lineup was leaked last week by Avicii, Ultra officially announced the complete Phase 1 today. While the headlining acts haven’t changed, Ultra has included a plethora of new “live” acts for the first installment of their lineup. DA favorite Disclosure have been added, along with Major Lazer, Modestep, and Rudimental. Check out the full lineup here. In tandem with their Phase 1 release, Ultra has already begun hyping Phase 2, claiming their intentions to create “a lineup that will fuse the mainstream and the underground…a lineup complete with an unprecedented array of Deep House and Techno artists.” With Richie Hawtin on the bill and Carl Cox returning with his famous stage, Ultra is laying the foundation to fulfill this promise. The biggest question on my mind remains: where is Pryda?
Ultra has also released the official Phase 1 teaser video, and as expected, it’s quite tantalizing. Watch the video above, and start preparing for the Phase 2 announcement.
In keeping with the holiday spirit, Morgan Page gifts fans with a free download to a track called “Videon.” The bootleg is a mashup of his massive track “Video” and Dohr & Mangold’s “Avalon.” The mix hits a bit harder than both of the original outputs, forming an electro-driven house production paired with surging guitar riffs and bursting kick drums. The synthesized beat bubbles over with funk — making for a perfect present for the Christmas season.
With his groundbreaking CNTRL: Beyond EDM tour in the books, Richie Hawtin takes a moment to look back at its Midwestern home stretch with a video recap. The techno legend recounts playing with friends like Gaiser and Kevin Saunderson, as well as the tour’s impact on young attendees and global onlookers.
“I think we’ve planted seeds and the energy has been dispersed. We’re at the end of chapter one of the CNTRL EDM tour,” says Hawtin at the video’s conclusion. “Where it goes next? Who knows? Let’s hope it continues to evolve and remain as vibrant as it always has been.”
We recently interviewed and featured Chicago dubstep trio Krewella after their performance at GLOWfest, gaining insight into their fast-paced, rockstar lifestyle. Now Krewella has released the first episode of KREWLIFE, a web series documenting their frantic, exhilarating tour life. The inaugural episode follows the crew’s performances from SoCal Music Festival in San Diego, to Electric Zoo in New York, to Grand Central in Miami, all within the span of 36 hours. KREWLIFE is a candid glimpse into the hardships of an ambitious tour schedule, from lack of sleep, to endless flights, to constant sweat-stained clothing. KREWLIFE is also a portrait of the galvanizing gratification of playing multiple shows in a short amount of time. At the end of the day, it’s quite clear that despite the endless toil of touring, Krewella couldn’t be happier with their situation.
Glitch hop fans rejoice! Much revered digital freedom fighters Gramatik and Griz have collaborated under the moniker ‘Grizmatik’ to release a groovy, guitar-ridden, glitch hop/dubstep production. “Digital Liberation is Mad Freedom” — a combination of their two most recent album titles — is an impressive showcase of live instrumentalism, well-executed samples, and funky dubstep. It begins with an engrossing guitar riff, before adding layers upon layers of head-bobbing drum work, soulful samples, and glitchy bass. Pretty Lights fans will instantly be infatuated with this collaboration.
As the track title suggests, Gramatik and Griz are two of the biggest proponents of free distribution of music, and thus will be releasing “DLMF” for free in the near future.
If you didn’t get a chance to catch Arty at one of this year’s festivals or club outings, the young Russian producer is giving you another opportunity. He has added 10 US and Canada stops to his tour in November, starting with The Estate in Boston on November 7th and ending at The Palladium in Los Angeles on November 24th. You can expect to hear a slew of popular EDM tracks, including his own “Together We Are” — due out later this year — and “Must Be The Love.”
Arty has also released the official after-movie for Nocturnal Wonderland to thank his supportive fans. Check out the video below the break (along with the full list of November tour dates) and get yourself amped up for another Arty show. (more…)
Drumsound & Bassline Smith unveil the official video to their soon-to-be-released “Daylight,” with vocals from Hadouken. This time around, the British drum & bass trio does not offer glimpses at an apocalyptic world (like they did in the previous video for “Through The Night“), but instead chooses a more minimalistic route. The music video features a light show with little more than silhouettes of the group, leaving the focus on the music and the vocals.
You should also check out the Tom Swoon remix of “Daylight,” which we exclusively featured earlier this month. The track has a November 12th release date and is available for pre-order now on iTunes.
On the day before the release of Swedish House Mafia’s final Until Now album we thought it’d be cool to share their documentary, Take One. Many of you have probably seen it already, but if not, it’s a great look at Axwell, Steve, and Seb right as Swedish House Mafia was starting to take off. This is from a time long before things like “Greyhound,” “Masquerade Motel,” Madison Square Garden, and Milton Keynes Bowl were in the equation, and it’s pretty crazy to see how far they have come in just a few years. Whether you’re a fan or not, it’s impossible to overlook their incredible rise to superstardom. Take One is a solid throwback to remind everyone how they got here.
Readers in the United States can watch the high quality version of this on Hulu.
Before embarking on their last mega-tour, Swedish House Mafia asked fans to submit photos resembling their iconic three dot logo. Ranging from eggs and nail polish to bagels and bottle caps, the results are in — along with a five-minute mini-mix of their final album (released Monday), Until Now.
Anyone in the mood for another pair of teenage Dutch producers? Julian Jordan, who first stormed onto the scene by collaborating with Sander van Doorn on “Kangaroo,” has teamed up with Martin Garrix to preview the progressive-meets-electro house bomb, “BFAM (Brothers From Another Mother).” The finished product offers progressive synth leads, a whiny bassline, and a stuttering, down-winding sidechain drop. The official video features footage of the underage duo destroying dancefloors at Privilege Ibiza and raging harder than your average seventeen-year-olds. Check it out and stay tuned for the November 12th release via Spinnin’ Records.
