Your Super Unnatural Soundtrack
October 31, 2024
October 31, 2024
Say Hello to Leap96, the Collaborative Project from ALRT & Sam Silver
This years Ultra Music Festival is jam-packed with artists from every edge, corner, and crevice of the electronic music spectrum. This is certainly going to be a year to remember for the prestigious festival with several reunions, a few live debuts, and secret performances out the wazoo. Here are Relentless Beats’ 7 acts that you absolutely must catch while at Ultra Music Festival this year!
1. Crystal Castles
Although a far cry from many acts playing Ultra this year, Crystal Castles is something special among the lineup of big name house artists. Crystal Castles is known for their minimal indie electro-rock sound, something that is certainly not prominently featured at the festival. Since front-woman and vocalist of the band, Alice Glass’ departure Ethan Kath has brought on new lead vocalist Edith Frances. After teasing a new track a few months back with Edith rather than Alice, it is looking like a bright (or dark in a good way) future is ahead of the band. Check out Crystal Castles at the Live Stage on Saturday, March 19th at 8:00pm!
2. Getter
Getter is a name that has been on the rise since releasing his EP Allegiance via Owsla last year. Since this release, including the popular track “Headsplitter”, Getter has dropped remix after remix, demonstrating his excellent skill in Dubstep, and proving that he is much more than just a comedian… “Suh Dude”. Getter has just dropped his latest EP Radical Dude on March 11, a sampling full of raw talent, dirty dub, and diversity you don’t see much of elsewhere. The latest EP includes a collaboration with Ghastly and vocal tracks from Tree, Sneak, and George Ku. Getter is going to absolutely command the stage and take full control of everyone and their senses at the UMF Radio Stage sponsored by Owsla on Saturday at 8:00 pm!
3. Purity Ring
This one is special for myself in particular as they were one of the groups who helped to bridge my interest from more of a indie-rock sound to an electronic music fiend. Purity Ring is a fine mixture of synthetic melodies, playful vocals, and heavy, yet supremely relaxing basslines. Their latest album, Another Eternity was released last March and since then the band has become a prominent force in live electronic music having even perfromed live on Conan earlier this year. Check out the sweet and sexy vocals of Megan James and the instrumental talents of Corrin Roddick as they close out the festival at the Live Stage on Sunday March 20th at 10:10 pm!
4. Deadmau5
I know. It seems like Deadmau5 is making news everywhere, and most of the time it would be because he trolls so hard that it’s hard to ignore. But this time the news is sufficient and quite exciting. Deadmau5 will be playing at Armin Van Buuren’s A State of Trance stage after the Armada label-head called the mau5 out via Twitter, telling him that he’d like him to show us what a true trance set was. Well, its happening. Deadmau5 will be treating Ultra attendees to a “true trance set” on Sunday night at 6:10 pm preceding Eric Prydz and Armin himself. Get ready to witness the settlement of a year old tussle between two electronic heavy-weights.
5. Carl Cox
If you’ve never been to Ultra you’ve absolutely got to check out a Carl Cox set. Carl Cox has been a resident at the festival for as long as anyone can remember and plays host to his own stage two days in a row. Often featuring very special extend sets from top-notch and well-known techno artists, the Carl Cox and Friends stage is highly representative of Ultra and Miami. You can catch Ultra’s resident master-mixer Carl Cox closing out Friday and Saturday night of the festival at the Carl Cox and Friends stage at 10:00 pm each night!
6. Miike Snow
Consisting of production duo Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg (Bloodshy & Avant) as well as vocalist Andrew Wyatt, who recently collaborated with Flume on the track “Some Minds”, Miike Snow is the live Swedish indie pop band who have release thre albums since their debut in 2007. Their latest album, iii, which was just released on March 4th, will likely be the main focus of their performance; something that is extremely exciting given the bands 4 year hiatus between albums. Partially due to band member Christian Karlsson taking time to focus on his other project with Style of Eye’s Linus Eklow, Galantis, the return of Miike Snow has been long awaited and should be high on your list of acts to catch. You can see Miike Snow at the Live Stage on Friday night at 11:00 pm.
7. Pendulum/Knife Party
How could I not include this? One of the most massive stories coming out of Miami this year is of course the long awaited return of Pendulum Live! This is the first performance that the band will be performing live in over 4 years. And even better yet, their set will be B2B with a Knife Party set. We get the best of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen all at once. I won’t ramble on about what to expect, but check out our article on the 5 tracks to get you pumped for Pendulum’s return at Ultra!
