As the summer X Games are set to kick off tomorrow in Barcelona, Spain, the event’s musical performers have been announced. Headlining the X Games concert series is hip-hop star 50 Cent who will join Zedd, along with Spanish-favorite NACH, on Saturday the 18th. 50 Cent has been one mainstream artist who has kept his distance from the bubbling electronic scene, but he will finally unite with a dance music young gun this weekend.
Tune in to XGames.com to stream the live performance.
It’s obvious at this point that dance music has reached commercial prosperity, but what would be considered the ultimate peak? A cameo on Glee. “Clarity, ” by Zedd featuring Foxes has been a ubiquitous festival and remix favorite of the season, reached #1 on the Billboard dance charts and even received some late night exposure on David Letterman. It must have caught the attention of Glee’s producers for they chose the cast to perform it on the pivotal season finale. The show choir version boasts a feverish Broadway-like intensity with a heavier bassline and lower vocal sung by American Idol runner up Jessica Sanchez. The exposure has undoubtedly opened up the world of dance music up to an entirely new audience who will only be craving more. In fact, Zedd’s original version broke the Top 25 American mainstream iTunes chart over the weekend. Click here to watch Zedd play piano while Jessica sings an acoustic version.
German wunderkind Zedd has been sitting pretty since the release of his chart-topping debut albumClarity, and who can blame him? Putting out ten tracks of that caliber must have felt like giving birth to decuplets, and the producer deserved to revel in his success with a post-partem break.
A listen to the preview of his forthcoming remix for Empire of the Sun is a swift reminder of exactly why it’s so good to have him back. No one strikes the delicate balance between lead synth noodling, stabby complextro and big room builds like the 23-year-old prodigy, and all are on display in this multifaceted remix. Zedd channels “Stars Come Out” on the high-octane electro introduction before building into Empire of the Sun’s pre-drop chorus. The lead synth line recalls Alesso a bit, but Zedd throws in enough trademark melodic flourishes to make it his own. Expect plenty of play for this remix on the summer festival circuit.
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instagram each week. This week, we feature gems from Steve Angello, Afrojack, and Diplo.
Gearing up for its grand opening weekend at Mandalay Bay, the Cirque du Soleil inspired nightlife experience LIGHT has just announced its lineup featuring Nicky Romero and Axwell on the 26th and 27th of April. To create even more buzz for the grand debut, LIGHT will be opening its doors on Wednesday evening, allowing Zedd to be the first artist to turn on the sound system, lights and visuals of the 38,000 square foot night club. In addition to the grand opening, LIGHT has revealed their first month of residencies from Alesso, Baauer, Thomas Gold and Krewella, all of whom are set to deliver memorable inaugural performances in the month leading up to Memorial Day.
Grand Opening Weekend tickets are currently on sale to the public. For more information on LIGHT and tickets, please visit www.thelightvegas.com
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instagram each week. This week, we feature gems from Kaskade, Skrillex, Seth Troxler, and more.
While Pioneer CDJs were easily the platform of choice for DJs at Ultra, both Zedd and Porter Robinson took to their MIDI controllers on Sunday for two hours of rapid and thrilling mixing. Though the world of DJ’ing has been continuously dominated by variations of the CDJ for more than 10 years now, Zedd and Porter’s rise to fame has been facilitated not by the trusty digital CD player, but by Native Instrument’s small, compact, all-in-one MIDI controller: the Traktor Kontrol S4. Both Zedd and Porter have received heat for their use of the controller, as the age-old beatmatching argument is constantly evoked. At the end of the day, however, both Zedd and Porter are two of the most entertaining live performers in the business, ultimately begging the question: does it matter what platform a DJ mixes on?
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instagram each week. This week, we’ve got gems from Skrillex, Pasquale Rotella, Dillon Francis.
Hundreds of DJs, seven stages, two weekends. Where do you start? Who do you see and who do you skip? Dancing Astronaut has you covered. We’ve filled you in on the acts you can’t ignore for Weekend One, spearheaded by dubstep and deep house-heavy rosters. The second weekend, however, sees another two genres at the forefront along with some of the biggest names in popular dance music. From the whopping trance offerings to the invigorating trap overture, to the best in progressive and electro, here are the stages you can’t ignore at Ultra Weekend Two.
Pete Tong is back this week with another Essential Selection featuring a flurry of the best in house music across the dance music spectrum. English producer Michael Woods, known best for work with Deadmau5 and Chris Lake, showcases his favorite tunes at the moment, including his newest release, “Platinum Chains,” and Vince Moogin’s “Love Me Right.”
Last week’s Essential New Tune, Hot Natured & Anabel Englund’s “Reverse Skydiving,” was succeeded by Footprintz “Fear of Numbers,” a Montreal-based synth-pop duo signed to Visionquest Records. Progressive lovers were treated to Tiesto’s new remix of “Clarity” as well as Lazy Rich’s “Insomnia,” Jeremy Olander’s “Let Me Feel,” among others.
