Featured, Review | Lollapalooza 2012
Posted by dshaq on August 14, 2012
As a first timer at Lollapalooza, nothing could prepare me for what I witnessed last weekend. 3 days worth of 100,000 people, 130 acts, 8 stages and one astounding Chicago skyline adding the finishing touch to every night. Lollapalooza 2012 reeled in artists from almost every possible genre of music and every corner of the globe, with a crowd of all ages that was alive every second from start to finish.
Friday welcomed the weekend with open arms and clear skies. Perry’s Stage, known for featuring electronic artists, was stripped of its roof and enlarged to accommodate the recent growth of EDM fans. With artists such as Madeon, Porter Robinson, Zedd, Nero, and Bassnectar all in one day, it’s no surprise the stage and entire surrounding area was packed to the brim. Of the most memorable, 18 year old Madeon managed to squeeze in every one of his crowd favorites, from “Finale” to “Pop Culture” in one hour of solid fist pumping, while the underrated duo, Nero, blew the crowd away with their “Feels So Close” remix and “Promises,” featuring live vocalist Alana Watson. For the more laidback audience, there was Passion Pit, M83 and The Shins, never failing to deliver an uplifting show. And for those who just wanted to get down, Wale, Black Sabbath and The Black Keys finished off the day, rocking the night away into the after shows, which kept the music going across town until 4am.
Events, Review | Identity Festival Philadelphia 7/29 Recap
Posted by Middy on August 3, 2012
Identity Festival made its triumphant return to Philadelphia with a quality lineup for all tastes with the likes of Arty, Madeon, Noisa, Excision, the master Eric Prydz and more. Though the lineup may not have been as stacked as last year as booking fees have risen astonishingly high in the last year, causing ticket prices to go even higher (or the other way around, chicken and the egg) the lineup was still very good and Identity Festival is going to provide an excellent show with outstanding visuals at a great price. It is something that we are seeing less and less these days.
The day started off with good sets from upstarts like “The Eye” and “Le Castle Vania” and when 5 rolled around it was time for Noisa to grace the stage with their eclectic Drum N Bass style, kicking the night into full gear. Pulling from a full array of their own songs as well as Electro and Dubstep tracks from others, Noisa’s set helped bring the festival to energy level it needed to be at with the crowd levels coming to their peak capacity. Pictures are now up on Facebook. Hit the jump for more of the recap.
Events, Review | Global Dance Festival Colorado Recap
Posted by CHAZZZ on July 28, 2012
*Guest post from the FreshNewTracks’ Intern Zoe
One week ago marked the 10th anniversary of Triad Dragon’s Global Dance Festival. First known as Rave on the Rocks, Global Dance Fest started in 1999 at the legendary Red Rocks amphitheater featuring The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim for a mere $20 ticket. Since its early days, Global has been well known for showcasing up and coming artists on the brink of chart-topping popularity. As the festival has grown, pioneers of electronic music such as Paul Van Dyk, Paul Oakenfold, Tiësto, and Deadmau5 have helped give Global the reputation it has today.
This year’s lineup was no let down for the big celebration. Headliners including Steve Angello, Above & Beyond, Wolfgang Gartner, Excision and Zed’s Dead kept the festival alive from start to finish. On Friday, Hardwell, Knife Party, and Steve Angello tore up the main stage with nonstop crowd pleasers and confetti cannons while Krewella, 3LAU and Felix Cartal started fist pumping and shuffling riots at the Global Bass Stage.
Things escalated even more when Manufactured Superstars sent hundreds of inflatable astronauts into the audience and Above & Beyond led an hour and a half long session of group therapy. Wolfgang Gartner. However, remains the most memorable, taking the crowd on a derpgang roller coaster with tracks ranging from “Flexxx” to Notorious BIG’s “Hypnotize.”
Dubstep, Review | Meta – The Alpha EP
Posted by Mach on July 27, 2012
Lifted Music, the epic label owned by the legend, Spor (Feed Me), has been one of the most powerful labels in Drum & Bass and now taking on the Dubstep community with the upcoming duo, Meta. Meta however is not limiting themselves to just Dubstep, the duo claims to be masters of all EDM styles. In this debut release, Meta shows us what powers they hold with their intro track, “Alpha.” The track is solely melodic with a strong emotional finish leading to “Phoenix Down.” As I would expect from Lifted Music, “Phoenix Down” starts melodically, but drops heavy into a mind blowing bass-line. “Flare” is styled slightly different, by has an elongated euphoric opening. By the middle of the track, you are reintroduced to the same type of filth as “Phoenix Down,” owning your eardrums. With a debut EP like this, it is no surprise it released on such legendary label.
Dubstep, Electro-House, Review | Zeds Dead & Omar LinX – The Living Dead EP
Posted by Mach on July 25, 2012
Redbull posted up a preview only premiere yesterday on their site for this insane EP and the feed back has been immense. Zeds Dead has again teamed up with Toronto’s master lyricist Omar LinX to dish out another knockout blow to our eardrums. If what we have been hearing from these three isn’t enough proof that they should become an official trio, I don’t know what is.
“Crank” kicks off this EP with Zeds Dead’s notorious bass-crunch. Omar LinX opens up the track by putting the mic on its knees, the spitting coming from him alone. Zeds Dead takes the rest from there finishing strong, but just getting started. The next track, “Take A Chance,” is another crunchy Dubstep track. Again Omar LinX was a key factor in its perfection, while Zeds Dead created the feel Omar cooked. With great things also come disappointments here and there, that being said this EPs only disappointment in my mind was the EP’s title track, “The Living Dead.” The idea of the track is cool, but hearing it in action you can tell it is lacking in any form of excitement. Though the title track was not anything special, the last track of the EP is undoubtedly one of Zeds Dead’s and Omar LinX’s best works. Omar does his thing, expressing his emotional flow flawlessly over the calmed beats of the track. Zeds Dead gives us a drop style we are not use to hearing from them, as if we are supposed to be Crunkstepping in the lights of Swag. With the one exception in this EP, it is still an amazing compilation from Zeds Dead & Omar LinX.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE EP ON iTUNES
CLICK HERE TO GET THE EP ON BEATPORT
Events, Review, Trance | Dash Berlin & Tritonal @ Governors Island 6/30 Review
Posted by Middy on July 2, 2012
There is always something special about a trance concert and Saturday night festivities of Dash Berlin & Tritonal with Zack Roth opening was no exception. Zack Roth got the crowd nice and warmed up with a new influx of people coming over on the ferries ever hour, creating a new addition to the trance family in attendance. Once 7pm hit and Tritonal graced the decks, the show kicked into full gear with the bass projecting well across the small span of water separating Manhattan and Governor’s Island, getting the party started on the ferry. Once past the thorough, but fast moving security and onto the Island, the excitement was palpable. The sweet, soulful sounds of Tritonal’s trance was blasting out of the speakers at the front of a large tent packed with trance addicts losing themselves in the music. Going further back beyond the tent was a beach filled with people taking a break, enjoying a cold beverage and chatting on the sand with Tritonal still very much audible behind them.
Tritonal played a great set, not just picking songs from their growing discography or confining themselves to trance, but also moving outside of the genre with tracks like twice played in the night Porter Robinson -Language, “Calling”, the Swedish House Mafia remix of “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall”, a mashup by Gareth Emery of John Dahlback – Life, Madeon’s remix of “The Night Out” and more. Those songs got great reactions, but this crowd was truly here for some trance and thus the peak time moments of the sets were from songs like Jochen Miller – Zodiac, Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford vs. Omnia & Ira – The Fusion Tonight (Chris Schweizer Mashup) and of course their tracks like “Lifted”, the dub mix of “Slave”, “Everafter” and finishing off with the Seven Lions remix of “Still With Me”, complete with them coming in front of the decks and jumping around like fans. Their stage presence was impeccable, showing off a whole ensemble of dance moves and when they were not displaying their djing abilities, they were leaving the decks for a minute or two to either rage on top or in front of them. More of the recap after the jump.
Events, Review | Nervo & Norman Doray @ Pacha NYC 6/16
Posted by Middy on June 26, 2012
Though this was 10 days ago, the memory is still quite vivid at the Nervo sister’s ability to manipulate the crowd and Norman Doray’s mastery behind the decks. I was unable to head into the area behind the dj booth as I was 96 hours away from my 21st birthday, but sometimes being in the crowd is just as good being able to share all the energy of the music with your fellow music lovers. Nervo stepped onto the decks at around 1pm after a solid opening tech set from the resident Dj at Pacha getting the crowd at a fever pitch of anticipation for the Aussie twins. They started off their set with some different tracks than your typical top 40 beatport rotation, which was very interesting and refreshing to hear. They then transitioned from these tracks as the clock moved towards 1:45 with their upcoming hit single with Hook N Sling – Reason (video below) that is a going to be huge when it releases.
Then they started to pick up the pace with their set, getting into their progressive sound with their tracks the Hook N Sling remix of “We’re All No One” and their collaboration with Steve Aoki and Afrojack on the Tomorrowland Anthem. Tommy Trash made a surprise visit to support his compatriots, which brought the crowd to a frenzy and the Nervo twins obliged by dropping his remix of “Wicked Woman”. Tommy Trash was a ball of energy in the Dj booth, but let the Nervo twins have their night as they continued to churn out hits with tracks like “Trio” and then more unreleased tracks such as “Like Home” with Nicky Romero (video below) and their famed song with Omarion “Army” (video at end in 2 parts). They finally relinquished the decks at around 3am, leaving the crowd sweating and wanting more, but it was time for the French up and comer, Norman Doray to show us what he was made of. Check out the rest after the jump.