Ultra SA 2016 - Update

The organisers of the countries biggest electronic dance event have heard the plea's of the many Cape Town festival goers and have catered for what they've asked for, Yup, Cape Town will be getting 2 days of Ultra Madness next year as well. Also much was debated about the new venue for the Cape Town and many agreed that the Ostrich Ranch would be better suited so it has been moved back there for the 2016 leg of Ultra South Africa. Camping facilities will be made available at a later date for Ostrich Ranch as well. So Cape Town, don't say nobody listens to you!

Dates for the shows in Johannesburg remain the same, Friday, February 26th and Saturday, February 27th. New dates for Cape Town are Saturday, February 27th and Sunday, February 28th. 

People who have already purchased early bird tickets for the show in Cape Town need not to worry about paying extra as organisers are rewarding their loyal Ultra South African fans with access to both days for the price of their single day pass. 

Tickets are still available for both events and the prices are as follows:

GA 2-day Combo

• Advanced price: R1000
• Full Price: R1250

VIP 2-day Combo

• Advanced Price: R1500
• Full Price: R2000

*One ticket purchase will grant you access for the 2-day festival of choice, either in Cape Town or Johannesburg. Note that ticket prices are not inclusive of camping. More details will be made available at a later date for that. 

For more information, be sure to follow Ultra South Africa on the various social media streams:

Twitter: @UltraSA

Facebook: Ultra South Africa

Instagram: ultrasouthafrica

Website: www.ultrasouthafrica.com

Monday Choon: Zeds Dead & Oliver Heldens - You Know

With just about 11 days to go until the countries biggest dance festival, things are really heating up leading to Ultra 2015 with the first countdown party taking place yesterday at Shimmy Beach. Today's featured international artist is none other than Oliver Heldens, many don't know about the young Dutch sensation so today we thought we'd give you some insight into the 20 year old. Having signed up with Spinnin' Records in 2013, the Rotterdam born Deep House DJ caught the attention of Tiesto with his single "Gecko" and was later signed onto the Dutch Legend's label Musical Freedom. He entered the 2014 DJ Mag Top 100 list at number 34 and has his own weekly podcast show called "Heldeep". Today's featured track see's him partner up with Zeds Dead for their new track "You Know", the track officially releases today and will be available for purchase on beatport. Be sure to catch Oliver Spin this and many of his other hit deep house tracks on the main stage at Ultra South Africa 2015!

Twitter: @UltraSA

Facebook: Ultra South Africa

Website: www.ultrasouthafrica.com
February 13th, Cape Town
February 14th, Johnnesburg
For tickets and pacakages, check the office website: http://www.ultrasouthafrica.com/tickets

PLEASE NOTE: VIP Tickets for Johannesburg are now SOLD OUT

Monday Choon: Armin van Buuren - Ping Pong

He may have dropped down the order in the latest DJ Mag rankings but many still regard him as the worlds best and who's to argue with them. He is one of the biggest names in electronic music and his album Armarda Records is one of the biggest in the industry, his show A State Of Trance recieves millions of listens weekly and his most recent world wide tour "Armin Only Intense" has been selling out in virtually every country. The South African leg was just a few weeks ago and everyone whom attended the show only had great things to say about it. Armin is a pioneer in this genre and he knows what his audience wants and he delivers it every time. Here is one of his latest offerings to get you into a good mood for the week ahead!

Monday Choon: Tiësto & Dzeko & Torres – Can’t Forget

It's Monday and most of us are still coming to grips with the reality that the weekend is over but lets not stop the party. Dutch DJ legend Tiesto last week just released his latest album "A Town Called Paradise" which features a number of hits and collaborations with some of the best in the business. The sales have already been shooting it up the charts and today we celebrate the album launch by featuring one of the songs from it. Many of the songs from the album are quite popular and can be heard on many radio stations but we decided to feature something different, the track features DJ duo Dzeko and Torres and is a banger of note, put it loud and enjoy!

Monday Choon: R3hab & NERVO & Ummet Ozcan - Revolution (Audien Remix)

What do you get when you combine 3 of the freshest new talent in EDM and put them on one track? You get an instant hit, thats what you get. I saw R3hab last year in Cape Town and the guy is an unbelievable talent, the Nervo twins of Australia have earned them selves massive cred by working with some of the top names in the business and Ummet Ozcan needs no introduction with his abilities displayed at Armin van Buurens ASOT parties. Their song revolution is proving to be quite popular on beatport but another DJ, Audien most popular from Amarda Beats records has put a new twist to the song, perfect to get the week going. 

Monday Choon: Moguai - Aciiid

Remember that famous electro track from the movie Blade, it was by the Pump Panel entitled "Confusion". That still remains one of my favourite songs and I could never tire of it. Moguai of Germany has been on the DJ scene for a while now, his first hit "U know Y" made it to the top of the charts in 2002 and from then on he kept it steady in the industry but was more famed for his remixes and edits, well until now. You must be wondering why I brought up that song from the Blade movie, well Moguai's latest offering "Aciiid" sounds very similar to that song and is currently one of my famous songs at the moment. It has a high tempo and fast beat, ideal to kick start your Monday, enjoy!

Monday Choon: Futuristic Polar Bears - Back to Earth

The Futuristic Polar Bears, as much as unique names go that probably takes the cake, the DJ trio who hail from London, England are our featured artist with their song "back to earth". I first heard this song on one of the radio show podcasts and I loved it. It's got a good mix of hard style techno with great build ups and drops into this modern version of Garage music that is so famously associated with English EDM. I hope to hear more from these guys in the future but hopefully they're not polar bears by then!

Monday Choon: Krewella - Enjoy the ride (Armin van Buuren Remix)

The trio from Chicago seemingly can do no wrong at the moment with almost every release of theirs featuring on the charts. Their latest offering "enjoy the ride" is another one that has gained some popularity but mainly due to the legend Armin van Buuren's remix of the track. The lyrics of the song are a bit...strange but its good none the less.

Monday Choon: Lune - Leave the world behind (Ludovika Bootleg)

Its been little over a year since the world bid it's goodbyes to the Swedish House Mafia, with their last performance at Ultra 2013 bringing an end to their One Last Tour. Since then we've seen new DJ's emerge from the ranks to take the world of electronic dance music by storm but still the sounds produced by the Swedish trio seem timeless. One of my all time favourite tracks from them is "Leave the world behind", released in 2009, it was the song that put them on the mark for greatness. It has emerged that they will be releasing a movie soon, entitled Leave the world behind with Lune doing the cover of the song. It's a different take to the orginal, giving it a very eerie feeling but at the same time done brilliantly well. Today we feature the Ludovika bootleg but watch the original video as well which features the former members. 

Monday Choon: StadiumX feat Taylr Renee - Howl At The Moon

You read the artist names and the title of the track, it doesn't ring a bell but this is practically the unofficial anthem of Ultra Miami 2014. The Hungarian Duo, David and Sullivan, otherwise known as StadiumX say their goal is create a new energetic sound with a blend of house, electro and progressive which result in that "Big Stadium" sound. They signed on to Nicky Romero's record label, Protocol and if this track is anything to go by, we will be hearing a lot of good tunes from them in the future.

Monday Choon: Zedd ft. Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant - Find You (Dash Berlin Remix)

Boy oh boy, what a weekend it was in Miami! If you managed to catch some of the live streams you would have seen why UMF Miami is probably the best Music Festival to attend. Every DJ killed it with their sets and I managed to catch a few even though it was in the wee hours of the morning. Zedd was the first DJ I manage to watch, his set on the Mainstage as usual was brilliant, loads of energy and he played a lot of his new stuff. After the set he said he loved the way the crowds sang along to all his songs. Today's choon is a new one from him featuring Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant, the song itself is a great track and sure to get to the top of many charts but I decided to feature Dash Berlins Remix of it. One of the better ones out there. 

Monday Choon: Coldplay – Midnight (Maor Levi, Norin & Rad & Kevin Wild Remix)

There's that famous quote "too many cooks spoil the broth" and more often than not it does prove to be true, now this isn't a broth but the DJ's were cooking when coming up with this remix. Coldplay themselves are a well established multi record, award winning band so remixes their stuff could land you in a lot of hatred from their fans but what Maor Levi, Norin & Rad along with Kevin Wild did here is something magical. No doubt it will be heard sometime during UMF 2014 which kicks off on Friday this week! If you're one of the lucky ones to get to Miami, get down and dirty for us! It's going to be beyond EPIC!

Monday Choon: MoTi - Dont go lose it

It's been a busy few weeks for me but rather be busy that sit around doing nothing I suppose, while doing work I love listening to music and one of my favourite podcasts is Tiesto's Club Life. In one of his latest episodes one song caught my intention and I immediately took a liking to it. After searching the track listing I found out this song was done by MoTi, a dutch DJ who's signed onto Tiesto's label, Musical Freedom, after more digging I found out the song was actually produced from a sample used from legendary South African Jazz maestro Hugh Masekela! How's that for a coincidence? Well it could be a coincidence or it could be the inner South African relating to the beats from another of our great nation, but that is a bit far fetched. Here's the song to kick off your week!

Monday Choon: Martin Garrix feat. Firebeatz - Helicopter

Martin Garrix seems to be the hottest thing in EDM at the moment and it seems the kid can't do any wrong as he produces hit after hit. His latest offering Helicopter was released last week on Beatport and is already surging up the charts. When he was down at Ultra SA, Tiesto played this song during his set with him and Martin both on the decks waving the SA flag. He has a competition running on youtube for fans to send in video's of themselves doing the helicopter and winners video's will be used in the actual music video. Pretty cool hey? Well for now, lets enjoy the song. 

Monday Choon: Twoloud - Traffic (Tiesto edit)

It's been over a week since Ultra and South Africa is still suffering from withdrawal symptoms but fear not, we still here to bring you the hottest in EDM every Monday. Today's featured song is one that will confuse you because it's an edited version of the rework by the artist who made the original song. See what I mean? Tiesto released Traffic in 2003 on his album "Just Be". Its always been one of his most iconic tracks, Twoloud have been granted permission to do the offical remake. Tiesto claims, they are one of the fastest up coming talents in EDM, which is sort of bias since they are signed to his label Musical Freedom but hey, the man knows his stuff so when he says they're good, I trust him and if I had to judge them by this track, they've done a damn fine job of it!

Monday Choon: Zedd feat. Hayley Williams - Stay for the night (Zedd & Kevin Drew Remix)

Following his chart topping success with the song Clarity which featured Foxes, Zedd is back with another catchy tune that has vocals done by Paramore's Hayley Williams. Her voice is quite distinct and the perfect match for this song, the original version of the song is quite cool but because it's calm and slow it is more suited for radio listening, hence Zedd decided to team up with Kevin Drew to bring out a slightly faster version of the song for clubs and festival play, I personally think this track is better than the original! Enjoy!

Monday Choon: Tiesto - Red Lights

This is the week we've been waiting for people, it will be the biggest electronic dance festival to hit our country and they're packing big name artist! For the past 5 weeks we've been featuring some of the big name performers that will be playing at Ultra SA and this week its time for the big daddy, the legend, and I can go on with superlatives to describe this guy but none will do him justice, there's a reason he's playing out the show on both days, because you always save the best for last! 

Tiesto may not be the number one in the world any more but he is one of the highest earners in the business and that just shows you how in demand he is. He just turned 45 but does't show it, perhaps partying for a living is the secret to youth? After seeing him play live 4 years ago, it changed my perception of him, every praise he gets is truly worth the word said. The energy is exudes while on stage is mind blowing, he sends that energy to the crowd and keeps it going till the end. If you haven't experienced it yet, prepare to get your mind blown! His radio show Club Life is one of the most downloaded podcasts at the moment and I personally am a huge fan of it. Today's featured track is his latest single, red lights which has been doing pretty wells since its release, enjoy!

If you missed it, here are the DJ line ups for both Cape Town and Johannesburg, if you are attending, be safe and most of all have a blast!

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.

Monday Choon: Goldfish - Three Second Memory

Its the final countdown people! In just 10 days time we are going to experience something extraordinary with Ultra South Africa! Today's featured artist is major contributor to the dance/ electronica scene in SA and they have been making huge strides overseas. The duo of David Poole and Dominic Peters make up Goldfish whom fuse their melodies with pre-recorded sounds and live instruments during their sets. They made their Ultra debut last year in Miami and rocked the crowds, now they've been given the opportunity to do the same at Ultra SA, definitely one of the biggest local acts that will be playing at the festival so keep an eye out for them! Today's featured track from them is one of their latest offerings and has been doing well in the charts, here is Three Second Memory

Social Media Streams: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | SoundCloud

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.

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.

Social Media Streams: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram

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.

Monday Choon: Martin Garrix & Jay Hardway - Wizard

With just about 24 days to go till this year's biggest party, we continue our focus on some of the biggest acts that will be performing. Today's featured artist is Dutch young sensation Martin Garrix, at just 17 years old he has the EDM scene in the palm of his hand. His new style sounds are a breathe of fresh air to what's being heard normally and his popularity along with his fan base are growing fast. His passion for DJ'ing started back in 2004 when he watched legend DJ Tiesto perform at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens, it was then he traded in his guitar for dj'ing programs and as they say, "the rest is history". The first break-through track of his "Torrent" was co-released with Sidney Samson on Tiesto's music label, Musical Freedom, since then he has now signed with Spinnin Records and his debut solo track Animals was well received across Europe when it was released last June, it then took the world by storm and in turn he became the youngest person to hold the #1 spot on Beatport. This week we feature a new track from the youngster featuring another Dutch youngster Jay Hardway, Wizard. Enjoy!

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.