Ultra Music Festival 2012 Preview

Main Stage

10:30 PM – Tiësto

Headlining the first day of Ultra is one of the biggest DJ performers in the world, Tiësto.  The Dutch musician has played everything from the Athens Olympics in 2004 to the biggest electronic audience in America last year (QRO live review), and is highly suited to headlining Ultra.

9:10 PM – Skrillex

Originally frontman for L.A. post-hardcore outfit From First to Last, Sonny Moore – a.k.a. Skrillex (QRO photos) – has since reinvented himself as the electro-house/dubstep DJ (QRO photos).

7:45 PM – Afrojack

Another artist hailing from The Netherlands, Afrojack is one of the hottest new DJs in the world.

6:40 PM – Benny Benassi

While Italy’s Benny Benassi has yet to match the success of 2002 summer club hit "Satisfaction", he’s recently be coming close to those heights.

Also:

5:40 PM – Martin Solveig

4:40 PM – The Knocks – QRO photos at a festival

Live Stage

11:00 PM – Pretty Lights

Colorado-based producer Derek Vincent Smith (QRO photos at a festival) puts some energy behind his electronic work as Pretty Lights (QRO photos at a festival), with 2009’s Filling Up the City Skies free to download.

9:30 PM – Kraftwerk

None of the artists playing Ultra, none of the artists who’ve ever played Ultra, would exist without Kraftwerk.  The German outfit pioneered electronic music back in the seventies, not to mention bringing in minimalism, classical, vocoder, and much more.  Everyone to the likes of George Clinton (QRO live review) has praised and cited the importance of Kraftwerk, who recently sold out eight nights (playing a different album each night) at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

8:10 PM – Miike Snow

Stockholm’s Miike Snow (a band, not a person – QRO photos at a festival) have been getting serious notice recently with their combination of indie-pop & electro-dance, especially live (QRO live review).

6:40 PM – New Order

Ultra isn’t all twenty-first century continental European DJs.  New Order formed in post-industrial Salford in the early eighties – after the tragic suicide of singer Ian Curtis, the rest of Joy Division (along with new keyboardist Gillian Gilbert) became New Order, and became the band that perhaps most defined the eighties dance club sound, as well as influencing the alternative and rave scenes of the nineties while the group was on hiatus.

The original trio of Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner returned with the new millennium, but in 2007 Hook permanently departed and Morris & Sumner became Bad Lieutenant (QRO album review).  But now, even as Hook as been redoing Joy Division (QRO Hook live review), Morris, Sumner, and the returning Gilbert have returned as the iconic New Order.

5:20 PM – Neon Indian

Alan Palomo worked solo as VEGA (QRO photos at a festival) and recruited a live band as Neon Indian (QRO photos at the same festival), where he’s far stronger (QRO photos with his band), especially outdoors (QRO photos outdoors with band) & at a festival (QRO photos at a festival with band).  He comes to Ultra (QRO photos) behind his latest, Era Extraña, and after touring colleges (QRO live review), museums (QRO photos), and even Down Under (QRO live review).

Also:

4:40 PM – Afrobeta – QRO photos

4:00 PM – Jack Beats

Carl Cox & Friends

10:00 PM – Carl Cox

British techno-house DJ Carl Cox has become something of the ‘elder statesman’ of electronic music – he was the first person ever named ‘Number One DJ in the World’ by DJ Magazine (when it started its annual ‘Top 100 DJ’ lists, back in the Paleolithic era of 1997).  So it’s fitting that he’s got his own stage for him & his friends, and is playing two days at Ultra.

Also:

8:00 PM – Richie Hawtin 

6:30 PM – Loco Dice

5:00 PM – Dubfire

4:00 PM – Jon Rundell

UMF Korea

11:10 PM – Wolfgang Gartner

Los Angeles’s Wolfgang Gartner headlines the UMF Korea stage.

10:20 PM – Dada Life

Swedish electro-house duo Dada Life (QRO photos) are frequent Ultra performers.

9:20 PM – Groove Armada

Bigger beats come to Ultra thanks to London duo Andy Cato & Tom Findlay, a.k.a. Groove Armada.  Following releases of an updated Greatest Hits and GA10: 10 Year Story rarities collection, the pair put out Black Light (and remix album White Light) in 2010.

Also:

8:20 PM – Dirty South

7:30 PM – Porter Robinson – QRO photos

6:40 PM – Madeon

5:50 PM – Chris Lake

5:00 PM – Michael Woods

4:00 PM – Nicky Romero

Main Stage

11:00 PM – Avicii

Swedish DJ Avicii (QRO photos) was topping the charts last year in countries across Europe, and now is invading America.

9:40 PM – Justice

One of the biggest breakouts in the recent dance-rock craze has been France’s Justice (QRO photos at a festival), who followed up smash 2007 debut † with last fall’s Audio, Video, Disco, as well as expanding their live show (QRO photos a week prior).

8:10 PM – Fatboy Slim

Though electronic dance music has been around for almost as long as electricity has, Quentin Lee Cook – a.k.a. Fatboy Slim (and more recently as Brighton Port Authority) – is still something of a pioneer, despite only adopting the moniker & breaking out in the late nineties, paving the way for today’s British DJ-producers to be known for their music, their production, and more.

6:45 PM – Duck Sauce

Remixologist Armand Van Helden recently teamed up with A-Trak (see below) as Duck Sauce.

5:30 PM – Laidback Luke

Dutch DJ (though he was born in Manila) first became known for his graffiti work, before moving to the turntables, so expect visuals aplenty with your beats.

4:25 PM – Erick Morillo

Miami couldn’t have a festival without some Latin flavor, and bringing it is Columbia’s many-pseuodnymed Erick Morillo.

3:20 PM – Hardwell

Dutch Progressive electro-house DJ Hardwell is one to keep an eye on.

2:20 PM – A-Trak

Montreal’s Alain Macklovitch got notice when picked to be the personal DJ to none other than Kanye West (QRO album review), but has also produced for the likes of Lupe Fiasco (QRO photos at a festival) & Kid Sister (QRO photos at a festival), as well as his recent work with Armand Van Helden as Duck Sauce (see above).

Also:

1:25 PM – Zedd

12:45 PM – Alex Metric 

12:00 PM – DJ Koo

Live Stage

11:00 PM – 2manydjs 

Brothers David & Stephen Dewaele of Soulwax do the brotherly thing on live as side-project 2manydjs.

9:30 PM – DJ Shadow 

Mixologist Joshua Paul Davis, a.k.a. DJ Shadow (QRO photos) has been at the forefront of today’s sampling movement (QRO photos at a festival).

8:00 PM – M83

How is it that France does such great atmospherics?  M83 (QRO live review) actually exceeded countrymen Air (QRO album review) with 2008’s Saturdays = Youth (QRO review), their most accessible electronica album to-date, and come to Ultra behind Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (QRO review), which has led the band to bigger shows (QRO live review) and bigger stages (QRO photos at a festival).

6:30 PM – Metronomy

Fresh off the NME Awards Tour (QRO review), London’s Metronomy (QRO photos at a festival) bring it on record (QRO album review) and especially live, even outdoors (QRO live review outdoors), with light-up buttons.

5:00 PM – Little Dragon

From chilly-but-beautiful Gothenburg, Sweden comes the chilly-but-beautiful electronic outfit Little Dragon (QRO photos in Florida), who’ve collaborated with everyone from Gorillaz (QRO album review) to José González, but recently put out their own Ritual Union (QRO review).

3:30 PM – Digitalism (DJ set)

Even if Hamburg duo Digitalism (QRO photos) are only doing a DJ set, I Love You Dude (QRO review).

Also:

2:10 PM – Carbon Airways

12:55 PM – Mord Fustang 

12:00 PM – Miss Nine

UMF Brasil

11:00 PM – Borgore

Asaf Borger has one of the most unusual backgrounds in dubstep – hailing from the Holy Land, he’s also the former drummer for Israeli death metal band Shabira.

Also:

10:00 PM – Datsik

9:00 PM – Andy C

8:00 PM – Pendulum (DJ set) – QRO photos

6:30 PM – Flux Pavilion b2b Doc P

5:00 PM – 12th Planet 

4:00 PM – Des Dead

3:00 PM – Skream / Benga – QRO photos at a festival

2:00 PM – Mt. Eden

1:00 PM – Big Chocolate

12:00 PM – High Contrast b2b Netsky

Main Stage

10:00 PM – Armin Van Buuren

Dutch trance producer Armin van Buuren has long since spread his wings, from his worldwide weekly radio show ‘State of Trance’ to his own acclaimed DJ performances, but returns to Ultra for a pair of performances (QRO live review at Ultra 2010).

8:50 PM – David Guetta

Paris’ David Guetta had a very good few years, from producing The Black Eyed Peas’ number one hit "I Gotta Feeling" to putting out his own One Love (QRO review), capping it in January with a Grammy win.  He’s followed that up by working with such high-profile ladies as Lady Gaga, Madonna, Céline Dion & Britney Spears, as well as international #1 singles of his own like "Sexy Bitch" (featuring Akon) and "Memories" (featuring Kid Cudi – QRO live review), and is currently rated the #1 DJ by DJ Mag.

7:40 PM – Kaskade

Kaskade’s origins start a little tame for an Ultra performer (real name Ryan Raddon, born in Evanston, IL), but include a two-year mission in Japan for the Mormon Church before becoming a top electronic musician.

Also:

6:30 PM – Fedde le Grand

5:25 PM – Knife Party

4:20 PM – Steve Aoki – QRO photos at a festival

4:05 PM – DEV

3:00 PM – Cazzette

2:00 PM – Bingo Players

1:00 PM – Cedric Gervais

12:00 PM – Shut Da Mouth

Live Stage

10:00 PM – Bassnectar

A festival mainstay, Lorin Ashton (a.k.a. Bassnectar) brings the lights live.

8:45 PM – Chase & Status

Electronic music duo Saul Milton & Will Kennard – a.k.a. Chase & Status – broke through in the last few years, rising to be one of the U.K.’s top electronic acts.  They’re also much in demand on the festival circuit, with the kind of full-fledged live show that so many in electronica don’t bring.

7:20 PM – The Bloody Beetroots (DJ set)

Italy’s dance-punk project The Bloody Beetroots comes to Ultra for a DJ set on the Live Stage.

6:00 PM – Magnetic Man

Skream & Benga (see above) add Artwork to form the dubstep trio Magnetic Man (QRO live review).

5:40 PM – Katy B

After getting a slew of nominations but no wins in 2011, burgeoning electro-pop star Katy B finally racked up a W this year at the NME Awards with ‘Best Dancefloor Anthem’, "Broken Record".

4:40 PM – Flying Lotus

While Flying Lotus (QRO photos outdoors) might be best known for making the music in Adult Swim’s bumpers (that text right before a show on the cable channel), he’s also an accomplished producer, as well as making & playing music in his own right (QRO live review).

3:30 PM – SBTRKT 

London DJ/producer Aaron Jerome, a.k.a. SBTRKT, has been impressing with his post-dubstep work, which he brings live to Ultra.

Also:

2:15 PM – Big Gigantic 

1:00 PM – Savoy (live)

12:00 PM – Keys and Krates