The dad and dog lover PACES – real name MikeyPerry – cloaks everything he does in happiness and explosive color as he blurs the line between club and pop music. That electricity translates to PACES’ live performances as well. He’s earned himself a name for his wild live shows which incorporate dancers, light-up inflatable animals, confetti cannons, hypercolour visuals and the added bonus of guest vocalists. It’s incredible to witness.
In between delivering a new lofi pop project called Dayliites and launching his independent Off Leash Records, PACES is returning with a new single – out November 20th – called “Losing My Head”, that we are thrilled to premiere for you.
Featuring fellow Aussie talent Truples, the track is addicting from start to finish, featuring bright pop melodies laced with infectious emo touches as Truples taps into his post-hardcore vocal roots. It’s a wonderful blend of genres that really works. Hopefully this is the start of many more collaborations between the two!
PACES explains, “I first met Truples a few years ago via a competition run by Stoney Roads blog. People had to submit their demos and the prize was a session with me where we’d work on their track together. I picked Truples as the winner and we hit it off over a shared love of electronic music and memes lol. We stayed in touch and recently began working on this idea in which I wanted to combine my production style with an emo vocal. Truples has a background as a singer for a post-hardcore band so thankfully he obliged my weird idea and we ended up with Losing My Head – a super fun track with a very distinct sound ?”
Truples adds, “A dinner with Paces at a vegan Asian restaurant in Canberra sparked the idea for doing something emo inspired as a song. A week or so later, I put lyrics together and put it to some of his work-in-progress beats. It worked out pretty well as I used to be in a post-hardcore band before I started Truples and writing stuff like that was like second nature to me. The lyrics focus on the self-tormenting damage and the fight within oneself to feel something while grabbing the inspiration from 2000s emo/punk lyrics of sensory abilities failing as a metaphor for being sad and angsty (which was super fun to write).”
Garrett Lockhart, who to friends and fellow musicians was affectionately known as i_o, tragically passed away at the age of 30 on Monday, November 3rd.
The gifted techno and deep house producer was coming into his own, in every sense of the term. Since shedding his skin as Fawks, an alias in which he cut his teeth in the electronic music scene as one of its brightest drum & bass producers, he charted a path to stardom after establishing his spellbinding i_o brand. Lockhart recently celebrated his momentous signing to Armada Music as well as the launch of his own Label 444 banner.
Ergo, perhaps the most devastating aspect of Lockhart’s sudden death isn’t what he has done so far, but rather how much more he had to accomplish.
The EDM family has banded together in the last 24 hours to pay tribute to Lockhart and share their memories of the late music producer, who Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella called a “beautiful soul.” You can view a handful of those tributes below, from the likes of deadmau5, REZZ, Kayzo, NGHTMRE, and many more.
A trance portfolio wouldn’t be complete without a touch of Gareth Emery, and Ophelia Records knows this well. The proof is in the former’s remix of Fatum and Dylan Matthew‘s “Train To Nowhere,” through which Emery becomes an addendum to Ophelia’s array of domestic and invited trance talent, including label head Seven Lions, Jason Ross, and various Anjunabeats acts.
A debut is a time to make an impression, and Emery ensures that his first outing on Ophelia asserts his presence. The larger-than-life aura of Emery’s “Train To Nowhere” twist derives from his tasteful accentuation of Fatum’s original, with bass and melodic breaks proving his adaptive aces. A guest sure to attract another Ophelia-issued invite, Emery follows his October LP, THE LASERS (Unplugged), with the spin; stream below.
Featured image: Rukes
Tags: dylan matthew, fatum, Ophelia Records, Train To Nowhere, Trance
Jay-Z has continued his foray into the marijuana industry, becoming the Chief Visionary Officer of a new cannabis company.
Last month, the rapper revealed his new new cannabis brand called Monogram, and was named Chief Brand Strategist for California-based cannabis company Caliva last year.
READ MORE: The 20 best songs about smoking weed
The deal comes as the SPAC have acquired Caliva and another company called Left Coast Ventures, a cannabis and hemp producer. They will all come under the umbrella of the TPCO Holding Corp, of which Jay-Z will be Chief Visionary Officer.
Billboard describe the new deal, which also extends to artists that work with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation management company, as “a corporate venture fund that will invest in Black and minority-owned cannabis businesses and contribute to progressive criminal justice initiatives”.
Jay-Z. CREDIT: Craig Barritt/Getty Images
Jay-Z said in a statement: “Although we know we can’t fully redeem the injustices created by the ‘war on drugs’, we can help shape a brighter and inclusive future.
“The brands we build will pave a new path forward for a legacy rooted in equity, access, and justice. We’re creating something people can trust and we’re investing in our future, our people, and our communities.”
In a statement last year, after being appointed as Caliva’s Chief Brand Strategist, Jay said: “Anything I do, I want to do correctly and at the highest level.
“With all the potential in the cannabis industry, Caliva’s expertise and ethos make them the best partners for this endeavor. We want to create something amazing, have fun in the process, do good and bring people along the way.”
In other Jay-Z news, the rapper is working with Will Smith on a new documentary about the life of Emmett Till and his mother at ABC.
Women Of The Movement will be a six-episode limited series focusing on Mamie Till Mobley and the moments sparking the beginning of the Civil Rights movement in the USA.
Road to Ultra Taiwan 2020 went down earlier this month and the recap has us missing festival season more than ever.
Headlined by dance music heavyweight Alesso, the lineup also featured go-to festival acts Slander, ViniVici, and Kayzo, and supporting talent, Junior, RayRay, and PeiPei. Some of which, you can catch glimpses of in the video below — but the focus is mainly on the attendees and the Ultra production.
While the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has left the vast majority of US music festivals postponed or canceled indefinitely, Taiwan is one of the rare places able to enjoy large-scale events like this again.
Although the recap runs just one minute, it’s enough time to send us into trance. We can’t wait to feel the sound booming from main stage and the energy of the crowd all around us once again.
As a kid, Rebillet was reserved, messing around with music in his room with no intention of ever taking it beyond its four walls. With a personality like his, however, it was only a matter of time before his broiling charisma bubbled to the surface. Rebillet is like a soda can—too much action on the inside, and it’ll explode.
With his madcap brand of absurdist music, the one they call “Loop Daddy” is America’s smuttiest sweetheart. More teddy bear than he is mad scientist, the magnetic Rebillet croons about life’s dirty fantasies with a compelling exuberance rarely found in musicians. Armed with nothing but a keyboard, a loop station, and a silk robe, Rebillet isn’t only bulldozing the boundaries of proper lyricism, but also the bridge between individualism and music.
Never in its most nightmarish fever dreams could his microphone have imagined its owner would utter such things into its iron coils.
“It just sort of happened to evolve this way as a result of the things I’ve been trained to do my whole life—play the piano and act,” Rebillet told EDM.com. “Those are just two things that I’ve been studying since I was five years old.”
“Spending a decade-plus in the corporate world, in a variety of jobs—none of which I was ever interested in—and having this sort of nebulous creative dream floating up there as this unfulfilled thing for that decade just put me in this place of really wanting to see if I can make something out of that dream,” he continued before calling out fellow improvisational virtuoso ReggieWatts as an inspiration. “When I saw [Watts] do these improvised performances years ago, it sort of unlocked this thing like, ‘Man, you can actually get up on stage and not have a plan, and just do something.’ He was really the catalyst for that.”
Someone like Rebillet, an innate trailblazer with his own unique craftsmanship, can seem shocking at first before he garners a legitimate fan base. Before he headlined the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium and toured Europe from Glasgow to Rome, Rebillet cut his teeth in Dallas, where he performed at local bars and restaurants for people who were simply there to dine and socialize—not watch him shove a microphone in his underwear and listen to him sing about tampons over kinetic EDM beats.
It was a special and strange relationship that I really never could’ve predicted.
Rebillet considers himself indebted to those open-minded Dallas venue owners who were brave enough to give him a platform to engage with their customers. In retrospect, those venues ultimately served as serendipitous launchpads for his remarkable career in music. “One of my favorite things about playing at that time was the sort of confrontational nature of those shows—and you can see it on a lot of the livestreams I did from a place called Braindead Brewing in Dallas—where I’d be playing to a lunch crowd who didn’t pay to see me and didn’t want to necessarily,” he exulted. “I’m so grateful to these owners who let me do this to their clientele.”
“It was a special and strange relationship that I really never could’ve predicted,” Rebillet continued. “The fact that I wanted to do sort of absurd things and found a way to couch that in music sort of took its own shape where a lot of people, when they first saw the show, just sort of thought, ‘What the fuck is this? What the hell is this dude doing?’ Then as they would sit there and have another drink or whatever, by about an hour into the set, I would have 80% or 90% of the people stopping their conversations and they would be engaged with me. And I noticed that pattern as I continued to play these bars and restaurants, where I would win people over over the course of a set. And that made me feel really good.”
Rebillet doesn’t just flaunt his captivating variety of bawdy ridiculousness on the concert circuit. He is also a prolific streamer, amassing millions of fiercely loyal YouTube viewers, who hang on his every libido-fueled word. With videos such as “I’m a Maniac,” “Cocaine Discovered Inside Emmy Award,” and “Hormones,” his catalog is something to marvel at.
There aren’t many musicians who can record a song called “Work That Ass For Daddy” and refrain from cracking a smile, let alone make it sound like a hit. But Rebillet did, and managed to create an aphrodisiac of a track with the soulful joie de vivre of a raunchy version ofWattswith less hair and more steam.
It has just so happened that most of my musical heroes have reached out in one way or another to express something to me about what it is I’m doing.
Rebillet’s plan was never to become a superstar or a musical icon, but artists of the sort are flocking to him like pigeons on a bread crumb. He jammed out with Flying Lotus. He recorded with Snoop Dogg. He can safely count JohnMayer as a fan. He collaborated with T-Pain. He even once performed live with ErykahBadu, the queen of neo soul.
“This is really the most insane thing about it all. It has just so happened that most of my musical heroes have reached out in one way or another to express something to me about what it is I’m doing,” said Rebillet. “It’s just insane. Flying Lotus, Reggie Watts. It’s fucking insane. I don’t know what it is. I can’t really put a finger on it.”
Why are these living legends gravitating to Rebillet, an unheralded electronic musician who sings about anilingus and once performed in a bra thrown by a fan? Artists live a regimented life in the limelight. They release music on a stringent schedule, publish robotic captions to satisfy a predetermined social media content calendar, and trudge from studio to studio for marathon sessions in which they are pigeonholed into working within the same styles and sounds.
Rebillet, however, is emblematic of catharsis—an escape from a monotonous, colorless routine. In fact, he eventually wants to use his infectious gusto to instill the same explosive creativity in other artists.
“I’ve been saying for the last year or so that one of my dream jobs would just to be in the studio with people as a sort of consultant,” Rebillet said. “Basically a consulting producer who comes up with ideas for you in your studio, who will help you get into a good place musically and creatively and let you follow your whims. I would love to do that for bigger artists.”
That gusto isn’t contrived or forced, though. It was cultivated from a deeply compassionate—and often fraught—relationship with his father, GilbertRebillet. Rebillet describes their connection as one of complexity, rife with the adolescent struggles of a classic father-son relationship.
Rebillet said his father came from a broken home and built a life for himself out of nothing. Due to his success, Gilbert firmly believed that his son was capable of the same level of fulfillment—an arc that a young and naive Rebillet simply did not agree with at the time. “I just didn’t want to hear it,” he said. “I wanted to smoke and chill and live my life and try and make music on the side. He would always say, ‘You need to be on stage. You need to be singing. You need to get out there. You gotta kick the door down. You gotta keep going until you make it.’ I didn’t want to do any of that shit. It was just not something I wanted to hear, and he would just say it again and again and again.”
“I hated it,” Rebillet added. “And then, of course, years later, I’m turning into him.”
Gilbert passed away in 2018 at the age of 75 after a four-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. A revered designer, who Rebillet called “an extraordinary human and incredible character,” Gilbert worked in fashion in 1960s France, where he once met TheBeatles. Gilbert, whose obituary lists his greatest accomplishment as being a father to Marc, was able to hang onto his love for his son even in the most vicious throes of dementia. “I watched him disappear,” Rebillet said. “I actually grew and developed this very tender, sweet relationship with him. As he went away and stopped being able to communicate, speak, and remember things, people and places, he always still knew me. Not necessarily by name, but he definitely always knew me. I was the love of his life.”
“So once all of the sort of annoying hustle encouragement went away—and all of the really intense, constant advice—he became this shell of himself where I was finally able to really get close and be tender with him, and hold him and love him,” he continued. “And his decline coincided with me deciding to try and get gigs and do this. So he never got to see any of this, which is probably my greatest regret. Man, he would have fucking loved this.”
The sharpest swords are forged in the hottest fires. The final moments spent with Gilbert seem to have a profound impact on Rebillet, who was able to find a flicker of light in the darkness of his father’s declining health. The anguish he experienced triggered a set of values that propels him to this day. While his art may seem crude on the surface, at its bedrock are togetherness and freedom of expression—two of the most important values not only of musicians, but also humans.
“The core message of the show has evolved a little bit over time,” Rebillet asserted. “At first, it was really about getting people’s attention, because I was scared. None of it is planned, so it tended towards the vulgar, the shocking, the insane, and the dirty. But recently, now that I have people that are willing to pay and come see me, the message of the show has shifted a little bit towards more what my values are and what I want to impart to a crowd of people, which is a broader feeling of positivity, togetherness, love, encouragement, inspiration, all these big ideas that I think a lot about and that help me throughout my day. Like, ‘You got this. You can do this. You’re good enough. I love you. Don’t stop. Keep going. You got this shit.’ That’s a big thing for me. People need to hear that.”
The ridiculous stuff is as valid as the empowering stuff because those are both things that are a part of me.
It’s clear that the foundation of Rebillet’s artistry has an existential nature, rooted in the idea that each of us has the ability to create our own sense of meaning and peace. He does so with his music. It’s unhinged, abrasive, and unapologetic, but where its true beauty lies is in its empathy. When Rebillet tears up a stage and sings about dirty, taboo topics, he invites his fans to do it with him. For them, it’s a chance to hear a musician speak their unexpressed language and invite them to partake in public fashion with no consequences—a purging of sorts.
“Life is a whole mess of shit,” Rebillet said. “It’s a whole smorgasbord of sorrow, pain, loss, joy, happiness, and overwhelming emotion. So that should be reflected—in as honest a way to yourself as it can be—in the stuff you make. The ridiculous stuff is as valid as the empowering stuff because those are both things that are a part of me.”
If something comes to me and I think it’s entertaining and I think I can present it in a way that is authentic to me and my style, then I’ll do it.
One has to wonder just how far Rebillet plans on taking his brand of absurdity. When a musician tweets about his aspirations to host music videos on Pornhub and raps about performing sex acts on grandmothers as a flamingo, it’s only natural to think there must be a limit. “I don’t think there necessarily is [a limit]. I think it’s really a personal thing,” he explained. “You just have to use your instincts.”
“I don’t really think there is anything I wouldn’t do, unless I just don’t want to or I don’t think I have anything to contribute,” Rebillet continued. “My limits are not really bound by any guideline or ‘it stops here.’ That’s not really how I think about it. If something comes to me and I think it’s entertaining and I think I can present it in a way that is authentic to me and my style, then I’ll do it. I don’t give a fuck what it is.”
As his legend grows, fans can look forward to Rebillet branching out into other avenues of entertainment, including film. However, he said he sometimes contemplates how to keep his show from becoming one of threadbare imagination. “Sometimes I wonder how I can keep this show creatively interesting and stop it from becoming stale,” he digressed. “And once it reaches that point, I’m going to have to move onto something else. I’ll have to do TV, film, some other [avenue].”
“I’m working on this album right now. How I’m going to play that onstage will probably be completely different,” Rebillet divulged. “Not the same thing at all. This will evolve and change. It’s not going to be this show forever, so my advice is to come and see this show while you can.”
Lastlings are the latest sibling duo to grace electronic airwaves, and their highly anticipated debut album, First Contact, has finally arrived. The multifaceted 12-track body of work weaves traces of darkness and energetic bursts of light in and out of its diverse track list, which find Lastlings tap into a variety of genres ranging from darker pop to pulsing alt and indie. Exploring the concept of “first experiences” and the accompanying emotions, First Contact is an exhibition of siblings Amy and Joshua Dowdle’s cutting-edge dynamic, with Amy’s wistful lyrics and ethereal vocals paired seamlessly with Josh’s electronic-driven production.
In addition to the full album release, the visual pairing for previously released single “Out Of Touch” has arrived as well. Shot on location at a series of stunning landscapes throughout South Australia and Queensland, and led by Sydney-based director and creative Dylan Duclos, the video sees Josh and Amy exploring an otherworldly realm.
The duo speak about the album in an official release, stating,
“First Contact is all the moments we experience for the first time, how special they are and how important they are in shaping us as people. It is about those beautiful moments when we feel love for the first time, a child taking its first steps or traveling to a new destination. It’s also about the somber moments in our life where we have lost something or someone for the first time and how we grow and change from these. We hope that this album sparks all the beautiful and important memories, feelings and emotions that you felt when you experienced something for the first time.”
First Contact is out now via RÜFÜS DU SOL’s Rose Avenue Records and Astralwerks Records. Stream below.
Tags: astralwerks, First Contact, lastlings, rufus du sol
The nominations for the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards are in — and here are the nominees.
As the headlines declare, Beyoncé leads the pack with nine total nominations, followed by TaylorSwift, DuaLipa and RoddyRicch with six each. Meanwhile, TheWeeknd is noticeably snubbed with not a single mention of After Hours or “Blinding Lights” to be found.
As for the Best Dance/Electronic categories — “On My Mind” by Diplo & SIDEPIECE, “My High” by Disclosure featuring Aminé & Slowthai, “The Difference” by Flume featuring Toro y Moi, “Both of Us” by Jayda G and “10%” by Kaytranada featuring KaliUchis, are up for Best Dance Recording. Arca, Baauer, Disclosure, Kaytranada, and Madeon are up for Best Dance/Electronic Album. Rac, MorganPage, LouieVega, Imanbek, and Bazzi vs. Haywyre round out the Best Remixed Recording category.
The 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards air Sunday, January 31 on CBS.
Scroll down to see nominees in major categories and see the full list of nominations here.
2021 GRAMMY Nominations
Best Dance Recording On My Mind – Diplo & SIDEPIECE My High – Disclosure featuring Aminé & Slowthai The Difference – Flume featuring Toro y Moi Both of Us – Jayda G 10% – Kaytranada featuring Kali Uchis
Best Dance/Electronic Album Arca – Kick I Baauer – Planet’s Mad Disclosure – Energy Kaytranada – Bubba Madeon – Good Faith
Best Remixed Recording Phil Good – Do You Ever (Rac Mix) Deadmau5 – Imaginary Friends (Morgan Page Remix) Jasper Street Co. – Praying for You (Louie Vega Main Mix) Saint Jhn – Roses (Imanbek Remix) Bazzi – Young & Alive (Bazzi vs. Haywire Remix)
Record Of The Year Beyoncé – Black Parade Black Pumas – Colors DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch – Rockstar Doja Cat – Say So Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now Post Malone – Circles Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé – Savage
Album Of The Year Jhené Aiko – Chilombo Black Pumas – Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) Coldplay – Everyday Life Jacob Collier – Djesse Vol. 3 Haim – Women In Music Pt. III Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia Post Malone – Hollywood’s Bleeding Taylor Swift – Folklore
Song of the Year Beyoncé – Black Parade Roddy Ricch – The Box Taylor Swift – Cardigan Post Malone – Circles Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted H.E.R. – I Can’t Breathe JP Saxe Featuring Julia Michaels – If the World Was Ending
Best New Artist Ingrid Andress Phoebe Bridgers Chika Noah Cyrus D Smoke Doja Cat Kaytranada Megan Thee Stallion
Best Pop Solo Performance Justin Bieber – Yummy Doja Cat – Say So Billie Eilish – Everything I Wanted Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar Taylor Swift – Cardigan
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny & Tainy – Un Dia (One Day) Justin Bieber Featuring Quavo – Intentions BTS – Dynamite Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – Rain On Me Taylor Swift Featuring Bon Iver – Exile
Best Pop Vocal Album Justin Bieber – Changes Lady Gaga – Chromatica Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia Harry Styles – Fine Line Taylor Swift – Folklore
Best Rock Performance Fiona Apple – Shameika Big Thief – Not Phoebe Bridgers – Kyoto HAIM – The Steps Brittany Howard – Stay High Grace Potter – Daylight
Best Metal Performance Body Count – Bum-Rush Code Orange – Underneath In the Moment – The In-Between Poppy – Bloodmoney Power Trip – Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe) – Live
Best Rock Song Phoebe Bridgers – Kyoto Tame Impala – Lost in Yesterday Big Thief – Not Fiona Apple – Shameika Brittany Howard – Stay High
Best Rock Album Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death Michael Kiwanuka – Kiwanuka Grace Potter – Daylight Sturgill Simpson – Sound and Fury The Strokes – The New Abnormal
Best Alternative Music Album Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters Beck – Hyperspace Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher Brittany Howard – Jaime Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Best Progressive R&B Album Jhené Aiko – Chilombo Chloe X Halle – Ungodly Hour Free Nationals – Free Nationals Robert Glasper – F*** Yo Feelings Thundercat – It Is What It Is
Best Rap Song Lil Baby – The Bigger Picture Roddy Ricch – The Box Drake featuring Lil Durk – Laugh Now, Cry Later DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch – Rockstar Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé – Savage
Best Rap Album D Smoke – Black Habits Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo Jay Electronica – A Written Testimony Nas – King’s Disease Royce Da 5’9” – The Allegory
Best Rap Performance Big Sean featuring Nipsey Hussle – Deep Reverence DaBaby – Bop Jack Harlow – What’s Poppin Lil Baby – The Bigger Picture Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé – Savage Pop Smoke – Dior
Best Country Album Ingrid Andress – Lady Like Brandy Clark – Your Life Is a Record Miranda Lambert – Wildcard Little Big Town – Nightfall Ashley McBryde – Never Will
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical Jack Antonoff Dan Auerbach Dave Cobb Flying Lotus Andrew Watt
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Devon Gifillian – Black Hole Rainbow Katie Pruitt – Expectations Beck – Hyperspace Brittany Howard – Jaime Sierra Hull – 25 Trips
Best Latin Pop or Urban Album Bad Bunny – YHLQMDLG Camilo – Por Primera Vez Kany Garcia – Mesa Para Dos Ricky Martin – Pausa Deb Nova – 3:33
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album Bajofondo – Aura Cami – Monstruo Culturo Profética – Sobrevolando Rito Paez – La Conquesta del Espacio Lido Pimienta – Miss Colombia
Best Folk Album Bonny Light Horseman – Bonny Light Horseman Leonard Cohen – Thanks for the Dance Laura Marling – Song for Our Daughter The Secret Sisters – Saturn Return Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – All the Good Times
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Max Richter – Ad Astra Kamasi Washington – Becoming Hildur Guðnadóttir – Joker Thomas Newman – 1917 John Williams – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Best Song Written for Visual Media Taylor Swift – Beautiful Ghosts Brandi Carlile – Carried Me With You Idina Menzel & Aurora – Into the Unknown Billie Eilish – No time to Die Cynthia Ervio – Stand Up
Best Music Film Beastie Boys – Beastie Boys Story Beyoncé – Black Is King Freestyle Love Supreme – We Are Freestyle Love Supreme Linda Ronstadt – Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice ZZ Top -That Little Ol’ Band From Texas
Sunday night was big for music as the American Music Awards saw some of the industry’s most presitgious names recognized.
If you missed the broadcast, you may be surprised to hear who took home the honors for dance music’s favorite artist. Lady Gaga bested both Kygo and Marshmello for the award in what was—by all accounts—a competitive category.
Gaga released her sixth studio album Chromatica this year, a record that embodied an expansive palette of electronic music styles and featured a formidable array of dance music producers in its illustrious credits. The combined talents of Tchami, BURNS, BloodPop®, and Boys Noize could not be denied as the album’s second single, the filter house-styled “Rain On Me,” rocketed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year.
The single also landed Gaga nominations in the “Collaboration of The Year” and “Music Video of The Year” categories, though Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift came out on top in those contests.
With BloodPop® not only helming the executive production, but also the album’s A&R, production of Chromatica maintained a strong dance music presence throughout. Skrillex, Madeon, and Axwell were included among the electronic music producers who contributed to the record.
The electronic music industry was sent into an unwavering shock on November 24 when the news of i_o‘s sudden passing was disclosed on his social channels. While typing that sentence still feels all too surreal fewer than 24 hours later, Dancing Astronaut is taking a moment to not only reflect on i_o’s true musical genius but also honor his life by revisiting his unforgettable performance from EDC Las Vegas‘ circuitGROUNDS in 2019.
Based solely on social media’s reception of a video of i_o playing out his “Alchemy” remix for Above & Beyond from the desert, it’s clear that i_o’s sunset performance was one to remember. In just a few short years, i_o was single-handedly pushing the confines of electronic music, introducing an innumerable count of listeners to an unfamiliar world of techno by capturing empyreal emotion and blending it into the dark, pulsating energy of the genre’s pure state. i_o was tasked with formally opening circuitGROUNDS that weekend and made every single second count. Filling up the hour-long affair to the brim with a sweeping catalog of fan-favorite originals, sought-after IDs, and more, i_o wholly exemplified why he was viewed as one of the scene’s brightest talents and how his passing has now left an irreversible void moving forward.
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