Dance music's illustrious story has largely been told from two sides of a pond, but we often forget that it's grown by leaps and bounds on the other side of the world as well. Sunburn Festival, which is widely regarded as the largest EDM festival in Asia, just followed up its 2014 edition with an official aftermovie that proves just how hard India goes.
There's no denying that music festivals have become a major segment of the live music industry in recent years. While legendary gatherings like Woodstock set the mold in previous generations, they would pale in comparison to the sheer production magnitude of iconic events like Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival and Tomorrowland. In case the rapid rise of festivals was in any way subject to speculation, Complex took it upon themselves to compile some of the phenomenon's most compelling statistics into this infographic-driven video.
A couple weeks ago we aired our dissatisfaction with Zeds Dead's deviation from their dubstep roots, and they must have taken heart, as the VIP they've released of their April track, "Hadouken," sounds more like the Canadian duo we know and love.
Techno figurehead Carl Cox boasts a long and storied history with legendary superclub Space Ibiza, and he's just announced that he will continue his residency at the venue into a 14th year. In addition, he's released the lineup details for the first two months of the residency - and techno purists will undoubtedly rejoice at the names mentioned.
It must be about time for TomorrowWorld's organizers to start making announcements, because the festival just released an official "afterlapse" of its 2014 edition. Set to Sander Van Doorn's "Ori Tali Ma" - which ironically did not come out in 2014 - the video showcases imagery intended to tease the experience to prospective attendees.
Nicky Romero's been relatively quiet as of late. The Dutch progressive house mainstay and Protocol Recordings label head spoke with us not too long ago about how he became one of EDM's most sought-after names in the past five years, but his releases seem to have been sparse in recent months. That's why when we caught word of his edit of Magnificence and Alec Maire's "Heartbeat," we knew we had to check it out - and his take on the track certainly did not disappoint.
Movement Detroit has announced the official stages and set times of its 2015 installment, and the festival promises to be an electronic music spectacle for the books. Spread across six stages curated by the event's own organizers as well as the likes of Beatport and Thump, the official lineup features seminal dance music icons like Richie Hawtin and Maceo Plex alongside contemporaries such as Dog Blood (Skrillex and Boys Noize) and Disclosure.
It's been barely a year since L.A.-based producer ZHU captured the industry's attention by strategically non-marketing his hit single, "Faded," and a new track submitted anonymously to Proximity bears many of the young artist's studio hallmarks.
As festival season ramped up over the last month, so did EDM releases. This April saw standout tracks from the likes of Nero, Jack Beats, FTampa and Kungs - ranging from trance to dubstep. Give our April 2015 picks a listen and tell us what you think in the comments section below.
