Blog - EDM

Imagine walking into a concert where the lead synth is a barcode scanner and the rhythm section is powered by a television from 1983. That's the world of ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS!, a Japanese collective rewiring the obsolete into the operatic.

At the center of the imaginative collective is Ei Wada, a Japanese artist whose life's mission, spurred by a childhood vision of a music festival at the base of a crab-legged CRT tower, has led him to orchestrate a nationwide symphony of scavenged electronics. Techno meets the trash heap with ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS!, now nearly 100 members strong across six Japanese cities.

Their playground is a graveyard of archaic technology from relatively recent history. Tube televisions become percussion instruments while ventilation fans morph into synths. As Japan and the world confront the mounting waste of outdated tech, ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS! offers the unexpected solution of turning it into music.

In one of their most compelling inventions, barcodes are scanned to make improvisational techno. Their so-called "barcoder" generates sounds by connecting signals of a barcode scanner to a speaker.

Check out footage from the performance below.

Swedish House Mafia have officially signed with SUPERHUMAN, a Stockholm-based record label and multidisciplinary creative company.

Speaking exclusively to EDM.com, a SUPERHUMAN representative confirmed that the organization has indeed signed Swedish House Mafia after the trio teased the news on social media. SUPERHUMAN will be providing comprehensive creative services tailored to the group comprising Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso.

The deal will encompass external releases from both Swedish House Mafia as a collective and its individual members, giving them a unified creative home under the SUPERHUMAN umbrella. This broad scope aligns with the group's expansive creative vision, which has historically included ambitious live productions, innovative marketing campaigns and multimedia projects beyond standard music releases.

The signing represents a homecoming of sorts, with both parties sharing Swedish roots. Swedish House Mafia, which has been instrumental in shaping the global electronic dance music scene since their formation in 2008, will now work with a company that reflects their cultural heritage after stints with major labels like EMI and Virgin.

For SUPERHUMAN, landing one of EDM's most iconic acts represents a significant coup, positioning the company for greater global visibility as they continue to build their roster and expand their creative services portfolio. The label is accepting demos from music producers, according to its website.

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Dirty has never sounded cleaner in M42's new single, "Gimme That Dirty," a sleek and snarling drum & bass track.

The emerging duo's moniker nods to the Orion Nebula, Messier 42, an "enormous cloud of dust and gas where vast numbers of new stars are being forged," per NASA. In Mayan mythology, it was revered as the "fire of creation," believed to be the place where the gods kindled the first fire and initiated the creation of the world.

Messier 42 held deep spiritual significance as a celestial birthplace tied to their origin stories and rituals. M42 have turned that celestial fire into blistering electronic music in their new single, a dark, kinetic blast of drum & bass.

"Gimme That Dirty" is engineered for maximum impact and minimal mercy. Spacey synths slither atop a tight, propulsive drum groove and the bass rips through the mix like barbed wire.

The track arrives in the midst of a strong year for M42. Hailing from Los Angeles and Austin, the duo recently shared the stage with DVBBS at The Concourse Project and performed at Spinnin' Records and Kanary Records' rooftop sessions at last year's SXSW festival.

You can listen to "Gimme That Dirty" below.

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Markus Schulz, Tim Clark and Linney have joined forces for a new collaboration, "You Belong," a radiant trance track.

Warm and full of promise, "You Belong" finds the three artists at different yet complementary stages of their careers but converging to deliver a track that moves bodies and hearts on the dancefloor. Schulz’s time-honored trance instincts, Clark’s dynamism and Linney’s ethereal vocal prowess unite for a memorable dance record.

The track's message, a poetic invitation to endure and emerge stronger, offers listeners a sense of shared struggle and renewal. It’s this same warmth that’s made Linney a beacon in dance music, a light that continues to shine even brighter as a newly minted member of the EDM.com Class of 2025.

From a production standpoint, the track is embraces vibrant sound design with Schulz’s trance roots running deep. Melodies unfold in cascading waves while gated vocal chops set the spirited pace. It’s a sonic sanctuary, built by artists who understand that even in dance music's most euphoric moments, there’s power in vulnerability. 

You can listen to "You Belong" below and find the new single on streaming services here.

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[UNVRS], Ibiza's new technologically advanced "superclub," has announced one of the most anticipated bookings of the island's 2025 season, an eight-show residency featuring Anyma.

Running Tuesday nights from July 8th, the residency marks a significant pairing between one of electronic music's most innovative artists and the island's cutting-edge new venue.

Coming off a remarkable year that saw Anyma become the first electronic artist to hold a residency at the record-breaking Las Vegas Sphere, the DJ will bring his distinct fusion of emotive techno and immersive visual storytelling to the White Isle.

c/o Anyma

[UNVRS], which is purpose-built for multi-sensory experiences, represents the perfect canvas for Anyma's ambitious creative vision. Each night promises to deliver a real-time, responsive experience "aligned with the visual language he’s developed over years of interdisciplinary work," according to a press release.

"Perception fractures, the real blurs with the unreal, and a transformative universe begins to take shape," Anyma said in a statement. "A quantum odyssey at the intersection of music, art, and technology. This is Anyma at [UNVRS]."

"It's an honor to welcome Anyma to [UNVRS]—a truly meaningful moment," added Yann Pissenem, owner, founder and CEO of The Night League and Ushuaïa Entertainment. "The impact of his work speaks for itself, and his artistic vision is perfectly in tune with the spirit of [UNVRS], which was conceived to host and showcase the most forward-thinking creators of our time. I'm looking forward to sharing his new universe with the world."

The residency's lineup is massive, featuring Dom Dolla, John Summit, Amelie Lens, Solomun, Adriatique, Argy, Cassian, Kevin de Vries and Mind Against, among other influential techno and house music acts.

Tickets for Anyma's residency at [UNVRS] are on sale here.

c/o Press

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The electronic music community is constantly evolving with new sounds inspired by the scene of yesteryear. EDM.com's weekly Fresh Picks series discovers new music and unearths influential tracks that help define the underground dance scene.

You can find the below tracks on EDM.com's Fresh Picks Playlist. Follow to stay up-to-date and submit tracks for consideration here.

Five years after its initial rejection, a father-son LEGO tribute to electronic music legends Daft Punk has evolved into a creation that could soon sit on store shelves worldwide.

The pyramid stage that defined the robots' groundbreaking "Alive 2007" tour may soon be manufactured as an official LEGO set thanks to the persistence of Patrick Harboun and his son.

The duo's stunning design, a meticulous recreation of the stage containing over 2,000 bricks, won the Grand Prize in LEGO's global "Music To Our Ears!" competition back in 2020 but was passed over for commercial production. However, it has now earned a second chance at immortality in plastic after receiving the requisite 10,000 public votes on LEGO's Ideas platform to advance in the company's approval process and face its notoriously exacting Review Board.

Patrick Harboun

The genesis of Harboun's project speaks to the peculiar alchemy of lockdown creativity. While others baked sourdough or discovered Peloton, the father-son team channeled their shared Daft Punk obsession into LEGOs. His son, eight years old at the time, built a prototype cobbled together from his existing brick collection before the elder Harboun used his engineering background to expand the concept digitally.

At its heart, the design features a rotating transparent-brick box nestled inside the iconic pyramid, powered by a motor with hanging lights that recreate the pulsing light show that accompanied tracks like "One More Time" and "Around the World" during Daft Punk's career-defining tour. It's a fitting tribute to a tandem whose aesthetic sensibility has always straddled the line between retrofuturism and meticulous attention to detail, qualities that LEGO's own design philosophy mirrors with uncanny similarity.

Patrick Harboun

Should the project survive LEGO's rigorous review process, which scrutinizes everything from "playability" and safety to brand alignment, it will enter development later this year. Every potential LEGO product goes through this process and must meet the same standards, according to the company.

If approved, the set will enter the Development phase, the longest stage of the process. During this time, LEGO's model designers will refine the concept and prepare it for release while the team develops all supporting materials, including packaging, instructions and marketing assets.

The final verdict will be made and announced toward the end of 2025, Harboun tells EDM.com. As the robots themselves might put it, he and his son are "doin' it right" the second time around.

The LEGO review process will officially begin in May 2025. You can find out more about the project here.

Steve Aoki built Dim Mak's reputation on sonic anarchy at the turn of the century, and Laidback Luke and Nostalgix just reminded us why.

The title of their new single "1000 BPM" is hyperbole, but its energy isn't. Reckless, rebellious and built for the kind of night that ends in daylight and sweet regret, the track is a lipstick-smudged throwback to the label's heyday, when its parties left nobody without a bruise or a story.

"'1000 BPM' is all about being in your party girl era—living in the moment, letting loose and prioritizing fun above everything else," Nostalgix said in a statement. "It's about dancing with your friends, not caring what anyone thinks and just enjoying life.

An undeniable highlight of "1000 BPM" is its claustrophobic tempo switch, where Luke and Gix zip you inside a synth-stitched leather corset of tension. But just when the pressure becomes unbearable, they break the valve and unleash a ferocious electro house drop.

Meanwhile, Nostalgix delivers the hook with the conviction of a rapper who's tired of apologies: "Don’t care what you want, I’m not one of them / I just want to party, 1000 BPM." Bratty and unbothered, she purrs with the kind of glamorous detachment that only comes from the bloghouse era.

You can listen to "1000 BPM" below and find the new single on streaming platforms here.

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While other artists chase viral TikTok moments and disposable streaming numbers, Dabin has spent nearly three years crafting Aura Park, an album that prioritizes depth over drops to explore what it means to be painfully human.

The Korean-Canadian producer and instrumentalist today released his fourth album, which functions as an audio journal of contemporary relationships. Its 13 tracks navigate heartbreak and hope with tact and tenderness.

The paradox of Aura Park is how something so carefully constructed can feel so organically emotional, like watching tears form in perfect geometric patterns. Look no further than "Deepest Water," where Dabin produces a distorted synthscape that washes over a walk-on-air electro drop as Syd Taylor sings about the messy promise of unwavering loyalty.

Elsewhere, Stephanie Poetri's vocals on "Not Enough" deliver self-preservation wrapped in melancholy, with Dabin allowing space before uncorking an effervescent four-on-the-floor drop. It's the sound of moving on, delivered through weightlessly euphoric dance music.

The fan-favorite "Hollow" finds Dabin at his most experimental, entwining fluttery future bass with the ferocious dubstep and metalcore of Kai Wachi. With its existential vocals from Lø Spirit, the single, which was named by EDM.com as one of 2023's best electronic tracks, is a risk that pays off.

"I See You," one of the album's surefire highlights, is vintage Dabin. Co-produced by NURKO, it's a melodic bass tearjerker elevated by the typically stunning vocals of Skylar Grey, whose visceral performance reminds us that electronic music can still trigger genuine goosebumps. The same can be said of "In The End," his latest joint effort with longtime collaborator Said The Sky, where Clara Mae's haunting vocals conjure the presence of someone who was never there.

All said and done, Aura Park isn't revolutionary in its approach, but its execution is immaculate. True to form, Dabin has crafted an album that demands you dance but insists you feel something in the process. And in a genre that often sacrifices substance for style, that's something worth celebrating.

You can listen to Aura Park below and find the new album on streaming platforms here.

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Boys Noize has revived Human Resource's "Dominator," honoring the 1991 rave classic while reanimating it with menace, swagger and a fresh coat of chaos.

Joey Beltram's seminal remix set the bar high over three decades ago, but Boys Noize was clearly up for the challenge. He weaponizes the original's snarling hoover synth, a sonic war cry of the early hardcore scene, but in his skilled hands, what surrounds it now is all gleaming steel and scorched earth.

The original "Dominator" commanded ravers with its raw, almost militant simplicity, but Boys Noize goes haywire and transforms it into a serrated techno banger with fangs. The influential producer dials up the distortion and acid squelch, providing an essential bridge between raving's anarchic origins and techno's technical present.

The track arrives after Boys Noize was revealed as the exclusive opening act for Nine Inch Nails' expansive "Peel It Back World Tour," which follows his remix album of the band's brooding score for Luca Guadagnino's Challengers film. One of its tracks, "Pre Signal [MIXED]," was named by EDM.com in its list of 2024's best electronic records.

Boys Noize's rework of "Dominator" is out now under Armin van Buuren's Armada banner. You can listen to the new single below and find it on streaming platforms here.

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