It's hard to imagine MTV holding the interest of anyone over the age of 16, but these days it doesn't even seem in touch enough for that. This year's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) nominees have been announced, and for the most part the network seems intent on shoving the same artists down our throats that it did five years ago.
If there's one thing Diplo knows, it's how to make a hit. Through his Major Lazer side project, the pop music tastemaker called upon notable 2015 collaborators Justin Bieber and MØ for last week's "Cold Water," and the song has already shot to #1 on Spotify's global Top 200 chart.
I get the rationale behind building anticipation for a release over a long period of time, but past a certain point it does more harm than good. Skrillex and Marshmello announced their collaboration all the way back in October and shared snippets this February, and finally, after the better part of the festival season has passed, its arrival appears imminent.
Martin Garrix has led a tumultuous relationship with music distributors over the past 12 months, but the ink has dried on an agreement which he thinks might make for a light at the end of the tunnel. The Dutch talent has announced that he will sign a worldwide distribution deal with Sony Music.
Diplo's Major Lazer project has grown from a Jamaican dancehall-inspired side project to a full-blown pop culture phenomenon, carrying some of mainstream music's biggest names along with it. Although the hip-hop/bass music icon has made it a point to limit the amount of information he releases to the public about Music Is The Weapon, he spoke to Beats 1 host Zane Lowe about some of the artists involved in the upcoming effort.
Co-opting Scandinavian heritage is usually something that only metal bands do. Apparently we should keep it that way. It's not like Tritonal put out particularly challenging music to begin with, but their Cuebrick collaboration, "Iceland (Viking Clap)," embodies the most thoroughly played-out sound in electronic music. Somehow, they've managed to play it off as an homage to the Nordic, apparently resulting in placement at numerous sporting events.
Now you can return to Tomorrowland - even if you weren't there to begin with. EDM Machine had spared no expense in sharing the highlights of Day 1 and 2 of the festival's 2016 edition, and now they've uploaded a playlist of live sets from Day 3 on SoundCloud as well.
If there was a performance that marked the peak of the 2016 festival season, it was undoubtedly that of deadmau5 and Eric Prydz last Friday at Tomorrowland Belgium. The progressive house power duo subsequently teased that they may bring their live show to the US, and the former artist has also now shared the first photo of his Cube 2.0 stage concept.
ZHU fans are counting down the days until the Los Angeles DJ/producer drops his debut album, GENERATIONWHY, and thankfully, he's offered up something to tide them over in the meantime. Not too long ago he shared one of the album's richest sonic dreamscapes titled "Palm of My Hand," and he's now followed it up with the markedly more upbeat "Hometown Girl."
Electro house's most whimsical duo have embarked on an interesting creative tangent recently. Dada Life have utilized their one-of-a-kind production style to put out techno-inspired cuts like "Red Is The Color Of Rage" as of late, but their new track, "Yellow Is The Color Of Happiness," marks a more genuine return to their early style.
