If there's one aftermovie I look forward to every year, it's definitely Ultra Music Festival's in Miami. The production and great editing by Final Kid Productions is next level, they encapsulate what the festival is all about and get you so engrossed that you feel like you were there and makes you want to buy tickets for next years festival. Essentially that is it's purpose as Ultra always launch the Aftermovie when tickets go on sale for the following years festival. With Ultra Music Festival 2019 venue being in jeopardy with the city siding with residents around the Bayfront Park area to ban the festival from taking place there next year, it is still unclear if a resolution will come about or Ultra will choose another location, but for now, lets just enjoy another great aftermovie.
Ultra Miami 2018 tickets are now on sale, it will be the 20th anniversary of the world's biggest dance music festival and it will be taking place from the 23rd till the 25th of March 2018. The popular dance music festival has grown in leaps and bounds of the 20 years and coincides with the Miami Music Week which originally started off as Miami Winter Music Conference which saw DJ's and Producers from around the world descend on the tropical US City. It turned the place into a party capital of the world for that week and so on it went. People who have pre-registered can buy Tier 1 and Tier 2 GA tickets but last I saw, Tier 1 has already been sold out so act fast to get Tier 2 before they get snapped up too!
To find out what went on at this years Festival, watch the memoirs clip which was released on Monday to give you a good idea on what you're missing out on. UMF Miami is still my ultimate music festival and even though I have not attended one year I try to watch most of the live streams or listen to the sets after it has been completed, maybe one day I can be there to witness the madness for myself.
Some times you just need some hard bass and that's what this weeks featured track is all about. Dutch progressive house legend Sander van Doorn is back with "The Snake 2016" a reword of the 2006 track by Fred Pellichero and it is a banger of note. It was one of the featured tracks on the Ultra Miami Aftermovie and a firm favourite to many who enjoy the progressive scene. The two just rocked the Amsterdam Dance Event this past weekend and should be hitting the road on other tours soon but for now lets enjoy the song.
On Monday, Ultra South Africa revealed the much anticipated 2016 After Movie, sharing with us the memories and highlights of this years mind blowing event. It also celebrated the launch of the Early Bird ticket sales for next years event. So if you haven't already registered and purchased your tickets as yet, what are you waiting for? Check our last weeks post for all the information regarding ticket sales and how to get them. And if you missed out on all the fun this year, or you just want to relive the magic, here is the official Ultra South Africa After Movie, with South Africa's very on Black Coffee!
Fedde le Grand is no stranger to the Ultra Music Festival, he has been a regular at Miami and Europe for a while now and even the song "Sparks" in which he and Nicky Romero collaborated on, was shot entirely at the festival in Miami.
This will be the Dutch DJ's first visit to South African shores as he makes up part of the headliners at Ultra SA 2016. Fedde's popularity grew after his hit single, "Put your hands up for Detroit" hit number when it was released, this weeks featured song I chose from his work in 2014. It's still one of my favourites and was also used in the Miami Ultra after movie for that year. Here is Fedde with "Dont Give Up".
Who is HI-LO? When the first track of his "Crank it up" was released in June this year, it drew quite a following as it was a great track but no one had heard of this guy before. Turns out HI-LO is an alias used by an already big up and coming name in the dance music genre and with it, he decided to launch his new record label "Heldeep" on which he will release all his music. Well, the question you must be asking still, is who is he? He is none other that Dutch Deep house genius Oliver Heldens! This kid can do no wrong it seems, his HI-LO alias is to produce high bass, fast paced Deep House music. This week's track is HI-LO's new one, "Renegade Mastah", it may sound familiar to you as it was used in the UMF Miami Aftermovie. It's a great track and quite a catchy one, and you got to give it up to Oliver, many of the new young EDM producers on the scene tend to head down the high techo sounds but he's sticking to what he loves and doing great with it, hopefully we'll see him again next year at Ultra South Africa.
Dutch deephouse DJ Oliver Heldens is carrying on his trend of producing big hits, this time around he's teamed up with Canada's Shaun Frank and Delaney Jane on the vocals. Shades of Grey may sound familiar to some as it featured on the Ultra Miami Aftermovie which we featured last week. It's a mellow track with a great beat and tempo, the vocals are just fused into the mix to make it that extra special. It's been playlisted on some of the local radio stations of last week and sure to be a track for the summer.
I've always been a big fan of the aftermovies produced by Final Kid for the Ultra festivals, they always seem to manage to blend the right amount of production, special effects and music to give one the feeling like they were present at the event. Which is why I was left a bit disappointed last year when they ditched their normal style and broke the movie up with interviews of people and DJ's. Don't get me wrong, I love to hear what they have to say about the festival but for me the Aftermovie is about experiencing what was Ultra in that 10 or so minutes, giving the viewer that sense of fomo and euphoria at the same time and I'm glad that they realised this as this years aftermovie they have reverted back to the usual style, just mind blowing production with some of the sickest beats merged into a video that will make you itch to fly to Miami for next years event. Final Kid are the geniuses again behind this epic video and they out did themselves again, you can view it in 4K and yes while it is bandwidth thirsty, trust me, it is worth it. Miami is the ultimate party, they can be Ultra's in many countries, tomorrowlands, electric carnivals you name but this still remains the number EDM party of the world and this video is proof of it. They used a wide range of electronic music in the video, starting off mellow and ending with the hard trance, it is nothing short of epic!
The memories of Ultra 2015 still linger on like it was just yesterday even though the event was 3 months ago, that is the magnitude of the festival that wowed crowds both in Cape Town and Johannesburg. This week organizers of Ultra South Africa released the much anticipated Aftermovie, produced by legends Final Kid and available in 4K! Watch as Martin Garrix takes you through his story behind ultra, all while reliving Ultra 2015 in quad HD, if you missed the video, we have it for you below and at the end don't miss the special message pertaining to next years event.
Every year Ultra aim to please crowds by bringing in the hottest and biggest names in electronic dance music to our shores and this year was no different but from the time the festival ended in the early hours of February 15th in Joburg, there were loads behind the scenes already beginning work on next years event. Its going to be bigger and better with the schedule changing a bit by Joburg getting to host the event before Cape Town and the big news is that the Joburg leg will be over 2 days! From the 26th of February 2016, 3 days of EDM madness will engulf the country with the final leg being in Cape Town at a new venue, the River Club on the 28th of February 2016.
From what we've witnessed over the past 2 years, there little doubt that next years is going to be yet another unforgettable experience. Pre-registration for early bird tickets has opened on the website, so make sure you get your details in now to stand a chance to get your hands on the first batch of tickets that go on sale on the 30th of June next week!
Probably the most antiscipated event from Ultra other than the music festival is the official release of their aftermovies. With Final Kid in charge of the mammoth task in creating the ultimate experience for fans around the world to relive the event, they have their work cutout with them having to make this years even better than the years before which was mind blowing! They're calling this video "a short movie" with the tag line "United We Dance" and is different from previous after movies with only one track featured in the entire 15 minute duration. Also they feature interviews with the various DJ's and some of the frequent fans that visit the festival. All in all it still is a damn good production, the added insights from the DJ's really give you a sense of what they're going through while performing for the masses and it just makes you want to be there, to experience it all! If theres one thing an Ultra After Movie does, it makes you want to attend the next one and this definitely does that, enjoy!
If you watched the Ultra South Africa 2013 aftermovie, you would find this song very familiar as it was used for that very video. Many though seem to think the song is by Nicky Romero since he featured it in his set but this is to set the record straight, it's not by him but rather DJ duo Tritonal of Austin Texas and Paris Blohm with vocals from Sterling Fox. The song was released in June this year by Spinnin Records and has been popular with many of the top rated DJ's, including Nicky, it's a great song and hence it makes our featured track of the week, enjoy!
