Over the last 18 hours, we here at Crossfade have provided you with 18 reports from our first day wandering through Ultra Land and beyond. So far, we’ve played a few rounds of Ultra Bingo. We’ve gone to pool parties and Sunday School. We’ve enjoyed sweaty encounters with CSS, Erasure,…
Emerging from New York City’s early-’90s acid house rave scene, Moby debuted with a deep, aqueous, tribal sound that would veer from ecstasy-rich techno to aggro industrial before crystalizing into the crossover poptronica of 1999’s multi-platinum Play. Along the way, this socio-politically outspoken musician became an unlikely figurehead as his…
The Three Deck Wizard (AKA Carl Cox) and a couple of his friends, Laurent Garnier and Loco Dice, kept last night’s crowd of young heathens sweaty and screaming at the New Carl Cox and Friends Two-Level Mega Structure. (Sorry, that’s what the event is calling it.) Three-decade electronic music vet…
We are waiting until after the full 36-hour rager known as Sunday School: The Lost Weekend to give our verdict. But after stopping by last night (this morning, really), Sunday’s climax seems promising. We arrived early in the night to find it a little dead. But after returning at 4…
Putting Trentemøller on the penultimate slot of Ultra’s Live Stage last night was a ballsy move. As a producer, the smart Anders Trentemøller makes sweeping, beautiful soundscapes that are truly cinematic. But they take patience and concentration to digest.So, in a live performance, how would he translate this with a…
Last night at the Fixed Freakout, Marcus Lambkin’s Shit Robot Show made its Miami debut at the Vagabond in front of an ecstatic crowd of electro-poppers. Churning out reworked tracks from his back catalogue, the Irish-bred, Germany-based producer provided the perfect sonic nightcap after a day of fist pumping with…
If you live in Miami, you might think you live in the most dance-music-saturated place on Earth — unless, of course, you’ve spend a lot of time in the U.K. Dance music is part of the pop fabric here, with synth sounds regularly charting on pop radio. It’s a phenomenon…
If you’ve only ever heard debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release, you might think otherwise. But Simian Mobile Disco was never just a killer indie-dance crew. Sophomore record Temporary Pleasure had its fair share thudding, tech-y moments, not the least on sparkling, climactic “10,000 Horses Can’t Be Wrong” and the…
After several years of complete absence from Miami, Norwegian duo Röyksopp more than made up for it last night. The pair’s pulsing, tripped-out nighttime set on the live stage is already a contender for one of the best shows at the festival.Though their latest album, Senior, was mostly instrumental, slightly…
Can CSS be considered electronic music? Barely. Except for a few synthesizers, the band is more about live instrumentation. But it was a welcome relief to ears already tired of the bleeps and bloops that come with attending a festival like Ultra.However, it being the first day, it seems like…
Adding dance-rock originators Erasure and Duran Duran was a smart move for Ultra organizers. The performances should have bridged the psychic gap between old synth work and the newer acts on the live stage — and anyways, who doesn’t love some good ’80s jams?Well, thousands of Benny Benassi fans, apparently…
Maurice Benjamin and Addy Weitzman are a Montreal-based band called Footprintz, one of several groups currently signed to the Visionquest label. They’ve been friends for a number of years. And thanks to a few chance intersections with label co-founder Seth Troxler, they just scored a record deal. Yesterday’s set at…
Guy in gasmask, pointing toward Duran Duran’s lead singer Simon Le Bon: “My dad totally hated that dude!” Girl in smiley face bikini: “What? Him? Why?” Guy in gasmask: “‘Cause my mom really, really, really wanted to fuck him. She was crazy obsessed with that song about a wolf or…
Pete Tong’s Pool Party With Sam Zarif, Sleepy & Boo, Nervo, Joris Voorn, Sharam, Kaskade, James Zabiela, Pete Tong, Luciano, Richie Hawtin, and Riva Starr Surfcomber Hotel Friday, March 25 Better Than: Being at Ultra. After navigating one smoky cloud of weed after another at SXSW, it was surprising to…
When people speak of that classic ’90s house sound, whether they know it or not, they’re pretty much refering to the sound of seminal producer Marc Kinchen. His legendary dubs are the blueprint for today’s transatlantic house: soulful yet brooding bass-heavy four-on-the-floor funk.MK’s highly-coveted studio skills would see him take…
See the full 23-photo Pretty Lights at the Fillmore Miami Beach slideshow. It’s Miami Music Week! How do we know? ‘Cause Denver party dude and record label boss Pretty Lights (AKA Derek Vincent Smith) confirmed it last night at the Fillmore Miami Beach, shouting: “It’s Miami Music Week! That’s what…
View photos from Hard Miami at Grand Central.The line stretched around the block. And inside, it was already packed. Numbers-wise, Hard Miami was a resounding success. On Wednesday, Poplife announced that the event was sold out, so demand was obviously pretty high for tickets. But unlike other sold-out events at…
Stumbling straight off the hot, hard streets of the Bay Area’s grittier easterly half, Oakland’s Bare Wires is a group of three guys — Matthew, Nathan, and Brian — who look like pretty ’70s stoners and make a sound they describe as slop pop. If the threesome’s new-ish song “Don’t…
Where will you be this evening at approximately 8:15 p.m.? Well, if you’ve got a ticket (and even if you don’t), make plans to go stand at the foot of Ultra Music Festival’s Live Stage. It’s definitely where you’ll find Crossfade, because synth-y Norwegian duo Röyksopp will be prepping its…
Ultra Week, or Miami Music Week, or the Week Formerly Known as Winter Music Conference, is amazing in that on any given night, there are a number of world-class lineups from which to choose. That can be a bad thing too, though, because with so many competing events, some deserving…
WTF! The 2011 edition of Ultra Music Festival hasn’t even started but the festival’s organizers have already announced dates for next year’s date. Mark it down, because the three-day electronic music gathering will return to Miami on March 23 to 25, 2012.Early artwork also indicate the week during the festival…
Tomorrow’s the day! And finally, Ultra Music Festival’s organizers have released the entire list of set times for the massive three-day gathering.It really helps a lot knowing beforehand what to expect when attending a festival the size of Ultra. You are going to have to possible make some tough choices,…
