Monday Choon: Alesso & Sacha - Destiny

 

Sacha is no stranger to the EDM world with her collaborating with some of the biggest names in the industry, most recent it was Armin with "Set Me Free" and last week Friday, her mega track with Alesso was released titled "Destiny", it was a song that Sacha wrote and sang, she posted it on her TikTok channel and it went viral, Alesso picked up on it and decided to release it with Sacha and the end result is just pure flames!

Monday Choon: Alesso, Sentinel, Sick Individuals - Upside Down

Many say he should have been the fourth member of the Swedish House Mafia but, for me, Alesso brings a different dynamic to house music and while he may hail from Sweden as well, he has managed to build his own legacy in the electronic music industry, so much so that he is one of the most requested DJ's for major festivals. His remix of Nadia Ali's pressure still remains one of my all time favourite songs, today's featured track from Alesso has been featured on a number of his sets at festivals over the past year, and it's finally been released. "Upside Down" see's him team up with Sentinel and Sick Individuals, and they have produced a banger that has already had crowds at festivals off their feet, so you know its good. 

Monday Choon: Alesso, Nate Smith - I Like It

 

Avicii was the first to introduce the country EDM genre to us in 2013 with "Wake Me Up", at the time, most of us including myself though it would be an epic fail but here we are 11 years down the line and it still remains a popular genre to many with many adaptations and collabs that have seen massive successes, most recently David Guetta's track with Shaboozey "Tipsy" has been racking up the plays on the charts. For today's featured track, Swedish DJ Alesso teams up with American country singe "Nate Smith" for their track "I like it", it has nice mixture of country, rock and dance which is why I found it more appealing. The mixture is captivating and has a great bassline which hooks you in from the start till the end. The guitar backtrack gives the track that rock element but the overall feel of the song is no doubt EDM but the way its all brought together is just sublime. 

Ultra South Africa 2023

After 3 years the Ultra Music Festival returned to South African shores to mesmerize and thrill local electronic dance community. Cape Town and Johannesburg were treated to some of the best in international and local artists over Friday and Saturday with an unconfirmed record crowd for the Johannesburg leg. While there were many despondent comments after the final line-up was released, with the lack of headliner acts for the main stage especially, the ones who were named did not disappoint!

Local acts such as Kyle Cassim, Gold Fish and Grammy award winning artist Zakes Bantwini got the masses going on the main stage before the international acts took over. Gold Fish who have toured the world with their mixture of electric and live sounds, signed with Armin van Buuren's record label Armada have been entertaining crowds world over, and their set in Johannesburg was nothing short of world class. 

Next up, that crazy Australian Fisher took to the stage with what can only be described as electric energetic performance that had the crowd jumping on their feet.  Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens got the groove on with his future house style deep melodic sounds before Swedish maestro Alesso played probably the best set of the night for me, kicking up classics like his remix of Pressure by Starkillers before ending his set with the iconic "If I loose myself Tonight" with One Republic which had the entire crowd singing in harmony. Ending the night on the mainstage was another Aussie, Timmy Trumpet. His hardstyle big room music took the crowd over 150 bpm as it was a rather raucous end to the night. 

Resistance stage as always did not disappoint with Dane DJ Kolsch and Adam Bayer sending the crowds into pure ecstasy with their sets. I was a bit disappointed with the lighting and stage design for Resistance as I felt it was cut down a lot compared to the 2020 show. Being in an indoor venue there was so much more that could have been done in terms of lighting. Overall though, Ultra SA 2023 proved to be one for the record books with massive crowds, excellent organization and plenty of stalls for beverages, food and top up kiosks for the cashless wristbands. I'm glad to hear that the festival will be back next year on the weekend of March 1st, with shows confirmed for Cape Town and Johannesburg. 

One sad thing to come out from the festival was the passing of Costa Titch who sadly passed away after collapsing on the Smirnoff Stage midset. Condolences go out to his family, friends and fans. 

ULTRA SA 2023 - Final Line Up

The final countdown to Ultra South Africa 2023 has officially begun! In just over four weeks, on 10 and 11 March in Cape Town and Johannesburg, the iconic Ultra stages will be set up, the Ultra Angels warmed up and choreographed, and the biggest names in dance music brought together for the continent’s biggest electronic music festival, Ultra South Africa! 

Recently added to the already stellar Main Stage lineup is returning future house superstar, Oliver Heldens, homegrown heroes Goldfish, and very recent Grammy winner and additional homegrown legend, Zakes Bantwini!  

They will join none other than global icon Alesso, Australian firecracker, Fisher and of course, the dynamic Timmy Trumpet for the first time on SA soil. Local heroes set to wow the fans are Sun-El Musician, Kyle Cassim, Timo ODV, Max Hurrell and New Hero. 

Moving over to the Resistance Stage you’ll find some of the world’s finest underground house and techno artists including legendary DJs Adam Beyer, Joris Voorn and Kölsch. Joining them will be none other than Desiree, Hyenah, Djeff, Floyd Lavine, Jamiie, Abby Nurock, Natasa, Fogshow b2b Karoo, Talia Zaken and Siphe Tebeka. 

The Smirnoff Storm Room is a brand new highlight of Ultra SA showcasing the hottest AmaPiano and urban culture stalwarts featuring the likes of Focalistic, DBN Gogo, Uncle Waffles, Msaki (Electronic Set), Musa Keys, TwoBunnies, DJ Buhle, Mat Elle, Lisa Stofella, DJ Lag, Kooldrinks, Costa Titch and Lelowwhatsgood.  The Smirnoff Storm Room will debut as a stage at Ultra South Africa Music Festival, before becoming a touring event property for the brand.

Staying in the City of Gold, the Clubhouse Stage is also a new feature at Ultra SA which is designed to bring budding club culture into a festival environment, creating a space for artists to play all shades of club music, including house, afro house, tech, bass and everything in between... This stage will feature a lineup designed for dancing that includes Cinimin, Vimo, Das Kapital, Aidin Caye, Karyendasoul, Lemon & Herb, FKA Mash, Jevan Binder, Jordan Arts, Blanka Mazimela, Roz, and Sons of Denis b2b with Tristian. 

So… Are U ready for a festival experience of a lifetime? 

Book your tickets to Ultra South Africa, happening in Cape Town and Johannesburg this March, now before they sell out.

CAPE TOWN | 10 MARCH | HOLLYWOODBETS KENILWORTH RACECOURSE | CONFIRMED LINE-UP

MAIN STAGE:

Alesso, Goldfish, Fisher, Karyendasoul, Max Hurrell, New Hero, Oliver Heldens, Timmy Trumpet, Timo ODV and Zakes Bantwini.

RESISTANCE:

Adam Beyer, Desiree, Floyd Lavine, Fogshow b2b Karoo, Hyenah, Joris Voorn, Kolsch, Talia Zaken, and Siphe Tebeka. 

JOHANNESBURG | 11 MARCH | EXPO CENTRE, NASREC | CONFIRMED LINE-UP

MAIN STAGE:

Alesso, Goldfish, Fisher, Karyendasoul, Kyle Cassim, Oliver Heldens, Sun-El Musician, Timmy Trumpet, Timo ODV and Zakes Bantwini.

RESISTANCE:

Abby Nurock, Adam Beyer, Djeff, Floyd Lavine, Hyenah, Jamiie, Joris Voorn, and Kolsch.

SMIRNOFF STORM ROOM:

Costa Titch, DBN GOGO, DJ Buhle, DJ Lag, Focalistic, Kooldrink, Lisa Stofella, Lelowwhatsgood, Mat Elle, Musa Keys, TwoBunnies, and Uncle Waffles. 

CLUBHOUSE STAGE: 

Aidin Caye, Blanka Mazimela, Cinimin, Das Kapital, Jevan Binder, Jordan Arts, Karyendasoul, Fka Mash, Lemon & Herb, Roz, Son of Denis b2b Tristian, and Vimo.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS TODAY

Have you booked your tickets to Ultra South Africa 2023? With only a few weeks left, make sure you get your hands on tickets today! Click here to book. 

Ultra South Africa 2023: Phase 1 Line Up

ULTRA South Africa, the continent’s largest electronic music festival, will return in March 2023 with an incredible lineup of world-class talent. 

The last ULTRA South Africa in 2020 brought 50,000 ecstatic partygoers together for gold-standard performances, pyrotechnics and party moments - the memories of which have lasted until today. But now it’s time to make some new ones. 

Friday, 10th March 2023 will host ULTRA South Africa’s first show at its brand-new Cape Town home. The well-known, well-situated and beautifully designed Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Racecourse. Home to some of Cape Town’s most iconic events, the ULTRA South Africa organisers will transform this space into a fantastic festival fantasy-land. From the iconic and jaw-dropping Main Stage set-up, to the mesmeric RESISTANCE experience, this venue is the perfect setting for an expansive outdoor festival like ULTRA South Africa.

On Saturday 11th March, 2023, ULTRA South Africa will take over the historic Expo Centre at Nasrec in Johannesburg for the 8th time since the festival’s inception. Maximizing the vast space of the venue, ULTRA will host the best international and local talent with unparalleled production.

Are you ready to go big at ULTRA South Africa 2023? If so, you’ll be in good company with the following incredible Phase 1 international headline artists. 

MAIN STAGE LINEUP

Fisher

Australian DJ Fisher, AKA Paul Nicholas Fisher, is known for his undeniably electric presence and party tech-house style. He’s a crowd favourite, and knows how to get a party started better than anyone, as he’s proven over his 10 year career with tracks like You Little Beauty, Losing It and Ya Kidding. 

Black Coffee

South African DJ, producer and songwriter Black Coffee is a legend in the industry. His long list of hits, including Turn Me On, Never Gonna Forget, and Ready For You has won him a massive following. He has bagged major awards along the way, becoming the first African to win a Grammy. 

Alesso 

Swedish DJ Alesso is a bonafide superstar, known for his progressive music hits and collaborating with acts like One Republic and Calvin Harris. He’s developed a global following thanks to his ubiquitous hits like Falling, I Wanna Know and Sweet Escape.

Chris Lake 

Blackbook Records boss Chris Lake will bring his dynamic brand of house music to ULTRA South Africa’s Main stage for an invigorating performance. The British producer and DJ skyrocketed to fame over the past decade with chart-topping releases such as Turn Off The Lights, Boneless, and Deceiver. 

Timmy Trumpet

Australian multi-platinum artist Timmy Trumpet is known around the world for his unique blend of electronic music with tracks like Oracle, Mad World and Call Me. His infectious stage presence makes for an unforgettable headlining performance as he incorporates live trumpet and jazz elements.

RESISTANCE LINEUP

Adam Beyer 

Swedish DJ Adam Beyer is heralded as a techno titan, having founded his own tastemaking Drumcode Records imprint and curating Drumcode Radio Live which reaches nearly 11 million listeners weekly. His iconic discography includes timeless tracks like “Your Mind,” “Going Down” and “Teach Me” and his legendary performances make him one of the most sought after techno acts. 

Joris Voorn

Joris Voorn’ sits at the epicenter of the Dutch electronic music scene, celebrated as one the most renowned and instantly recognisable underground artists from Holland. For the last 20 years, he’s been a favourite in the festival circuit, wowing audiences to his hits like “Ringo,” “Transmission” and “Safe.” 

Kölsch

Danish DJ Kölsch is known for his otherworldly productions, concocting melodic, emotional dubplates and selling millions of records worldwide. His body of work, including tracks like “Grey,” “Loreley,” and “All That Matters” have made an indelible mark on the techno landscape.

Tickets are on sale now at https://ultrasouthafrica.com/. 

Stay connected with ULTRA South Africa on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for additional updates and phase 2 lineup announcement. 

Monday Choon: The Weeknd Vs Alesso & One Republic - Save Your Tears Vs If I Lose Myself (Djs From Mars Bootleg)

Mash-up's are great but what many don't realise the technical aspect behind them, listening to beats, waiting for drops, allowing for the perfect transitions of fusions takes skill and not many have this. It's quite different from remixes as the point of the remix is to alter the original sound of the song while mash-ups are taking two completely different tracks, merging them together and allowing for both of the tracks to play in harmony, not making it sound off or weird. DJ's from Mars have been doing Bootleg mash-ups for a while now and recently dropped todays featured track which includes the hit track "If I Lose Myself" Alesso and One Republic along with the Weeknd's "Save Your Tears". I heard it on Tiesto's Clublife podcast the other week and loved it so much that I just had to feature it on the blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

Ultra SA 2014

It feels so surreal, sad at the same time because it's over but glad to have experienced it and looking forward to what the future holds from South Africa and this great franchise. I've always been a massive fan of UMF and it's on my bucket list to visit the main party in Miami one day but with the current exchange rate drama it just wasn't feasible. Luckily though the guys at Electric Music heeded my and I'm sure many others call, after 2 years of planning and negotiating, Ultra South Africa became a reality. 

This past weekend saw the festival take place in Cape Town and Johannesburg, in what was the most anticipated music event in 2014, it did more than live up to expectations. With over 40 artists, 11 of which were DJ's that have been voted in the DJ Mag Top 100 charts, crowds were entertained to some of the finest music from some of the best in the business. I attended the Johannesburg leg which saw over 25,000 of the combined 40,000 from both shows take in the sounds and party from 12pm till just after 2am on Sunday morning. 

The variety on offer was quite impressive from the Nicci Beach stage that featured many of the local DJ's playing electro and house music, Soul Candi stage that had deep house and then the impressive main stage, which was HUGE! that featured all the head liners. The local contingent got things under way with the likes of Fresh and Euphonik, Rodger Goode and Goldfish warming the crowd up to what was to be an epic night. 

The first of the international line up was Blasterjaxx, with them being most known for their hit track faith, it was a great way for the crowd to experience what they were all about. The 17 year old wonder kid, Martin Garrix was next, with his new age sounds, his hit tracks Animals and Wizard sent the crowd into raptures. The kid isn't even old enough to drive, heck his dad was here to oversee proceedings and to see him on stage with such a presence was just mind blowing, it seems like he can do no wrong at the moment. 

The next performers was probably the ones I was most looking forward to seeing, ever since hearing them on ASOT 500, I was sold. Willem and Wardt bring a very different style of electronic dance music, with a more harder style sound but very catchy at the same time. If their own work isn't enough, their remixes of many hits by other DJ's just shows you their versatilely. Their remix of Zedd's clarity is still one of the best I've heard and was a firm favourite by the crowd as well. I do hope they tour again as a 1 hour set isn't enough of this talented duo, we want more!

Prior to UMF 2013 in Miami, many didn't even know about Krewella, what a difference a year makes as people could not wait for their set. The energy by the sisters on stage was incredible, their songs although becoming commercial is only a credit to their success and what they have achieved, if you think they killed it last year at UMF, be sure watch out for them at this years event in Miami as I was thoroughly impressed by their performance. 

A few years back when Steve Aoki toured SA, he brought with him at the time not very well known Nicky Romero, to my disappointed Nicky didn't make the Durban leg of that tour but as I expected he stole tbe show at the concert with many saying he was even better than Steve, which I don't find hard to believe, his talent is endless with almost all his productions being massive hits. He rocked Ultra SA with most of his top releases and remixes, there was no stopping him as he started off with his first chart topper Toulouse and just went on from there. He was definitely a  firm favourite with the crowd as some told me they were there just to see him!

Now after seeing such a stellar line up, dancing and jumping all day does get to you but suck it up, down another Red Bull because you still had 3 more to go! Alesso, who some feel should have been the 4th musketeer in the Swedish House Mafia came on soon after Nicky, his hit remix of One Republics "If I lose myself" was by far the crowds pick of his set. Afrojack formed part of the double header head liner, not really a fan of his recent stuff but as I told a friend, seeing him live made a difference and changed my perception about him. 

As you can imagine by the end of Afrojack's set, mine and I'm sure many others feet were ready to give up. It was 12:30am, it was cold, we were exhausted and quite frankly we should be heading home but no one moved towards the exit gates. Damian Pinto, the voice of Ultra came on stage to gee up the crowd for the final artist but he didn't have to. The man, the legend, Tiesto came on to a thunderous welcome from the crowd, kicking off his set with Pair of Dice, he went on to play some of his new work which included 'Take Me', 'Red Lights" and the new remix of John Legends 'All of me'. He has such a presence on stage, it's indescribable and he just knows how to keep the crowd going as he pushed out, mix after mix.

Halfway through his set the rest of the crew came on to join Tij on stage with Afrojack hoisting him up onto his shoulders with the help of South Africa's DJ Fresh. While up there Martin Garrix  hijacked the decks for a bit to spin his latest song, Helicopter, Tiesto soon got back on and then put Martin on his shoulders, all of them on stage at once, not sure if it's happened before but it was a sight to see! Tiesto then ended off his set with some classics of his, pick of the bunch had to be his remix of Deliriums Silence but hearing Adagio for strings for the first time live was an experience on its own! 

The show ended with a flurry of fireworks and all the artist waving the Ultra South Africa flags, Damian Pinto came on stage to thank the performing artists, the sponsors and the crowd. He let slip that this wont be a once off thing and from the response they got in Johannesburg, they might consider 2015 to be held over 2 days. This has been by far one of the best Ultra's outside the USA, the show on the whole was a great success and not only was the calibre of acts good but the sound and lighting to match. The production team can be pretty chuffed at what was accomplished and I'm sure they gave each other pats on the back when this was all finished. Everyone was suffering from depression on Monday with the reality that what we were once looking so forward to has now come and gone but boy was it worth it, till 2015!

PS, lookout for the after movie coming ;)

Monday Choon: Alesso Vs OneRepublic If I Lose Myself

We're into the teens! Yes, 17 days and counting till Ultra South Africa people! Excitement is mounting all over the country and this weeks featured artist will just add to the hype. Hailing from Sweden, many feel he could have been the fourth musketeer in the Swedish House Mafia but Alesso, although only really kicked off his career in 2011, chose to keep doing things his way and who can fault after producing some pretty cool stuff over the years. He's worked with some of the best in the industry, the likes of SHM, Avicii, Sander Van Doorn and most recently Calvin Harris and at age 22 one can only see him do better in the progressive house industry. The song we chose to feature from him today literally tore through charts and airwaves last year and was dubbed the theme song of UMF2013. He also played on both weekends in Miami and was well received on the main stage, this song features OneRepublic is still a big favourite of mine and many others as well, it just gets you into a good party mood.

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More info on Ultra South Africa:

Cape Town

14 February 2014

Ostrich Ranch

Johannesburg

15 February 2014

Johannesburg Expo Centre, Nasrec

Tickets available from Computicket.