Blog - EDM

It looks like a spacecraft, sounds like the future and once belonged to electronic music's most elusive architect—Aphex Twin’s personal Yamaha GX-1 synthesizer has landed on the auction block.

An ultra-rare Yamaha GX-1, painstakingly restored and MIDI-enhanced for Aphex Twin himself, is now available for purchase through a VEMIA auction. With a starting price of £99,950 ($127,784 USD) and a provenance as rare as the synth itself, the listing marks a moment in the ongoing mythology surrounding one of electronic music's most prolific talents.

Introduced in 1973, the Yamaha GX-1 was towering with three manuals: a foot pedalboard, dual tone programmers and a pair of colossal speakers. Fewer than 100 units are believed to have been produced and even fewer remain intact, let alone in playable condition.

VEMIA

Aphex Twin's ear and technical curiosity made him one of the few capable of wrangling the product's immense potential. The artist acquired the synth in the late '90s after it passed through the hands of British pop producer Mickie Most, and under his ownership, the GX-1 underwent a transformative restoration.

The result not only returned the instrument to its original glory but outfitted it with MIDI capabilities across all three manuals, opening a portal to the creative controls of the 21st century. The synth featured prominently in Aphex Twin's side project The Tuss, particularly in the track "GX1 Solo." 

The unit's auction is scheduled to close on April 12th, and given the instrument's scarcity, condition and celebrity ownership, it’s unlikely to go quietly.

X: x.com/aphextwin
Facebook: facebook.com/aphextwinafx
Spotify: spoti.fi/34xoFmQ

In Dallas, a place where live music often plays second fiddle to sports and barbecue, Breakaway Festival made a compelling case for change.

In a city known for its big hair and bigger personalities, the nation's fastest-growing traveling music festival managed to successfully plant its boots in a market long overlooked by the EDM circuit. Breakaway's Dallas debut this past weekend was a big moment for the barnstorming brand, which in late-2024 announced its expansion to six new locations before being named by EDM.com as the year's top event organizer. 

Dallas was the first of those new cities. Over 12,000 daily attendees arrived at Fair Park April 5-6, hungry for the experience upon which Breakaway has built its rapidly expanding empire—and free toasted subs from Jimmy John's. They took in performances by headliners Gryffin, SLANDER, Louis The Child, Afrojack and Zedd, the lattermost of whom stole the show with his encyclopedic arsenal of dance anthems.

Zedd closed out the festival's first day with a euphoric spin of "Clarity," a track that refuses to age, continuing to swell hearts and spark singalongs over 12 years after its release.

His rapturous encore was a microcosm of Breakaway's growing influence. In a landscape where mega-festivals have become synonymous with coastal cities and cultural capitals, the organization has carved out a different path, one rooted in accessibility and regional identity.

What distinguishes Breakaway isn't innovation so much as execution, delivering established festival tropes with remarkable consistency and polish across its dozen markets. Its success lies in that duality, identifying and satisfying historically fringe electronic dance music markets like Atlanta and Grand Rapids, where hip-hop and indie-rock respectively dominate.

The raving community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area had been starving for a large-scale spring EDM festival. Lights All Night doesn't come until the annual ball-drop over New Year's Weekend, and Disco Donnie's Ubbi Dubbi event in April caters to the dubstep and bass music niche, as does Shaquille O'Neal's "Bass All-Stars Festival."

To that end, the debut of Breakaway Dallas leaned into a communal energy that felt like a reunion of strangers. In fact, the crowd itself told the most compelling story.

"Finally" was the weekend's unofficial mantra. We overheard conversations between sets that revealed genuine gratitude among attendees who had previously traveled to Houston, Austin or even across state lines into Oklahoma for a tried-and-true EDM experience. SILO, which opened in Dallas' Design District in late-2024, has admirably filled the void, but nightclubs can only offer so much.

If this Dallas debut serves as an indicator, Breakaway's festival expansion strategy is just heating up. The brand has identified a genuine need in the market and meets it with competence and flash, proving that you don't need to reinvent the wheel—just make sure its spokes are strong enough to reach the people who need it most.

X: x.com/breakawayfest
Instagram: instagram.com/breakaway
TikTok: tiktok.com/@breakawayfest
Facebook: facebook.com/breakawayfestival

Something wicked is coming to Red Rocks—again.

SVDDEN DEATH has announced his long-awaited return to the legendary Colorado venue with "The Valley of Darkness III," a two-night spectacle set for November 13-14, 2025. Red Rocks has long been a bucket-list venue, but in the hands of SVDDEN DEATH, it becomes a portal to the underworld.

Known for turning dubstep and bass music into a full-blown cinematic horror show, the DJ will be headline the first night as his alter ego, VOYD, before closing out performing as SVDDEN DEATH. The doubleheader marks the third installment of the series, and judging by the lineup, it may be the most chaotic yet.

Joining the fray are dubstep heavyweight Zomboy and electropunk star Alice Glass, whose genre-defying sounds are sure to add a surreal edge to the already menacing atmosphere. Each night promises heavy doses of visual madness, theatrical production and unrelenting sound design that fans of the darker side of bass music live for.

True to form, Red Rocks is shaping up as a must-visit in 2025 for fans of EDM. Dubstep icon Skrillex last week revealed a five-hour DJ set on May 13th and French electronic music superstar Madeon announced a landmark show on October 3rd. Meanwhile, Martin Garrix, who is widely considered the world's top DJ, is poised for his long-awaited debut at the legendary venue from October 23-24.

SVDDEN DEATH is launching a pre-sale for "The Valley of Darkness III" on Wednesday, April 9th at 10am MST with the code VALLEY. The general on-sale will then take place at the same time on Friday, April 11th.

X: x.com/svddendeath
Instagram: instagram.com/svddendeath
TikTok: tiktok.com/@svddendeathdubs
Facebook: facebook.com/suddendeath
Spotify: spoti.fi/3yUw3Zn

As the electronic music industry returns to pre-pandemic crowds, an enduring question has never been more urgent: how do we party without putting people in danger?

Last week, the Association For Electronic Music (AFEM) convened a virtual roundtable titled "From Dance Floors to Festivals: Rethinking Crowd Safety," offering an in-depth look into the challenges and solutions being discussed by the industry at large.

Moderated by powerhouse publicist Nikki McNeill, who is also an AFEM Executive Board Member, the panel featured Claire Wright, founder of BUDDY, which claims to be "the world's first social utility app"; Carl Loben, Editor-in-Chief of DJ Mag; Jason Euler of the Arizona-based electronic music event organizer Relentless Beats; and crowd safety pioneer Paul Wertheimer, founder of Crowd Management Strategies.

The discussion touched on the escalating complexity of event safety, the emotional toll of fear-based messaging and the persistent threats facing women on dancefloors. Though differing in backgrounds, the panelists shared a common belief: safety cannot be a secondary consideration in music. It must be embedded in the DNA of every event, no matter if it's an underground warehouse rave or a sprawling festival.

As Wertheimer, a veteran in the field since the 1979 Cincinnati Who concert tragedy, has long argued, safety must be integrated into every aspect of event planning, from venue design and crowd flow to real-time response and public education. Euler, whose organization produces large-scale events across the United States, emphasized those logistical rigors required behind the scenes.

Emergency action planning is crucial, he explained, noting that Relentless Beats takes steps to ensure its chain of command is abreast on active shooter trainings, CPR preparation and Narcan certification. "Having more people that are multifaceted to be able to help in different types of emergencies—and having that preparation—is really everything," Euler said.

The raves continue, but so does the risk. His comments reflect a new reality for promoters operating in a post-pandemic world, where staff are expected to be not only hosts, but also first responders. The significance of such preparation is underscored by recent tragedies at concerts around the world, including crowd crushes and drug-related deaths, incidents that have led to growing scrutiny from local governments and the public.

Peter Speyer

Elsewhere in the roundtable, Wright called for a recalibration of how safety information is delivered to attendees. There's an abundance of material out there, she said, but it's positioned in a way that stresses them out and instills a sense of trepidation.

"There's so much fear-based information, like on social media and press... It's stopping people from going out," she explained. "That's not what we want. We're not here to scare people, we're here to inform them."

McNeill ultimately pointed to a disturbing truth: for many women in nightlife, safety is not a theoretical issue, but a lived experience due to rampant sexual assault. "It's more the girls who tend to feel unsafe," she said, "but obviously that's a wider issue."

While she acknowledged the culture of mutual care that often defines the electronic music community, she cautioned that individual vigilance has its limits.

"I think we do tend to look out for our friends when we're out and about clubbing or at festivals, but that can only go so far," McNeill said. "So it's harder to tackle a wider society problem, but I always think the electronic music sector is a leader in taking on new technologies and an early adopter of things." 

You can watch AFEM's full roundtable here.

A crane collapsed during the opening day of AXE Ceremonia, a popular music festival held at Parque Bicentenario in Mexico City, resulting in the deaths of two people and prompting the event's abrupt cancellation, its organizers confirmed Sunday.

The victims, identified as photographers Berenice Giles and Miguel Hernández, were killed Saturday when the structure at the festival site gave way during a gust of wind, according to reports by the Associated Press and local newspaper El Universal. The two were rushed to Dr. Rubén Leñero General Hospital with traumatic brain injuries and multiple fractures, Mexican public health agency IMSS-Bienestar confirmed.

"It is with profound sadness that we confirm the deaths of the two people injured during today’s incident," the festival's organizers said in a statement, translated from Spanish. "We are deeply saddened by this loss. We are contacting their families to be with them during this difficult time and offer our full support and solidarity. The safety of our community has always been our priority, and we have maintained, as we have from the very beginning, close collaboration and complete openness with the authorities."

AXE Ceremonia, which draws tens of thousands of music fans annually for its celebration of Latin music, was set to run over two days. Saturday’s tragic incident led to the cancellation of Sunday's scheduled performances—like influential electronic music group Massive Attack and chart-topping rapper Tyler, The Creator—and Ticketmaster will issue automatic refunds for those who had purchased tickets, organizers said in a separate statement.

The tragedy has rippled through the music industry at large, with tributes pouring in for Giles and Hernández. "My heart is with the families and friends of Miguel and Berenice," said Grammy-winning dance-pop superstar Charli XCX, who performed at AXE Ceremonia the night prior.

Both photographers were reportedly on assignment for Mr. Indie, a Spanish-language music site. The outlet on Sunday lamented their deaths in a statement, writing, "Bere and Miguel weren't just part of Mr. Indie. They were our friends, our colleagues, our eyes behind the music."

AXE Ceremonia's organizers said they are working closely with local authorities to investigate the collapse and ensure support for the victims' families.

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.

For decades, audio engineers have lived by Hofmann's Iron Law, the fun-killing principle that essentially says you can have deep bass or portability, but never both. It's like being told you can have either cheese or chocolate, when any reasonable person demands both.

Enter Brane Audio's mind-boggling Brane X, which solves that problem with a technological apparatus that essentially gaslights the laws of physics.

Founded in 2015 in Austin, Texas—because of course a company breaking audio rules would set up shop in the live music capital—the organization has been quietly plotting this sonic coup since the pandemic while its competitors were busy adding another 15 minutes of battery life or an even more confusing voice assistant. 

Brane Audio

EDM.com visited Brane Audio's storefront in Austin to demo the Brane X, which the company claims is the "first portable speaker with a true subwoofer built in." CEO Joe Pinkerton played music through speakers from a number of high-profile competitors, and it took no less than three seconds to hear the difference not only in bass, but in overall fidelity. It's one of those things you experience and instantaneously think, "I need this now."

Their subwoofer breakthrough represents one of the most significant commercial advancements in speaker technology in some time—no small claim in an industry that thrives on hyperbole. In fact, Pinkerton tells us, the Brane X delivers roughly 10 times the bass of competing speakers that dwarf its size.

Brane Audio

In this eternally crowded landscape of portable speakers, where incremental improvements masquerade as innovation, the sleek and unassuming Brane X is a genuine paradigm shift. The secret lies in what Brane calls its Repel-Attract Driver (RAD), which elegantly circumvents Hofmann's Iron Law, the long-standing acoustic principle that has forced speaker designers to choose between size, efficiency and bass response.

By deploying a proprietary configuration of permanent magnets to neutralize internal air pressure forces, the Brane X can produce notes as low as 27Hz, territory previously accessible only to speakers approximately 35 times its size. For context, that's like having a concert subwoofer that fits in your tote bag—a solid value proposition at a $499 price point.

What's perhaps most impressive about the Brane X is how it achieves this sonic sorcery without demanding the typical sacrifices. Battery life isn't compromised. Size remains manageable. It's waterproof. And your grandmother could figure out is connectivity right out of the box, not to mention Alexa is built in.

Brane Audio

Brane Audio

Developed by a phalanx of renowned physicists and engineers, it's very much the real deal. Pinkerton studied applied physics at Columbia University before leaving to pursue entrepreneurship. In the early 1990s, he founded a tech company in Austin that developed a battery-free, energy-efficient backup power system, which he took public in 2000. After leading the firm for six years, he briefly retired before launching Clean Energy Labs, which went on to incubate Brane Audio.

The company has now been issued seven patents, according to Pinkerton, who says the best is still yet to come. Brane is now developing a "substantially more powerful" speaker that delivers the same experience, but outside.

"This [Brane X] sounds great in a room, but we're working on something that—when you take it outside—sounds just like what you heard, but in the middle of a field. This thing scales to concert level speakers with the same advantages. Right now we've got about a tenfold advantage over everyone else, but our next product will be between 30 and 40x... And we've got a pretty good line to get to 100x."

In an era where genuine innovation often feels like a marketing mirage, the Brane X reminds us that sometimes, the most impressive technology isn't another screen to stare at or app to download, but one that fundamentally transforms how we experience the things we love—or at least how we irritate our neighbors from much greater distances than previously possible.

You can find out more about the Brane X here.

Leave it to Tchami, the Parisian priest of house music, to give temptation its own sound.

Teaming up with OOTORO, their new single "Late Night Secrets" is a sultry yet pumping house track where every beat feels like it's biting its lip. The Indonesian upstart said it took a year for him and Tchami to finish the track, which released today via Confession.

"Late Night Secrets" is tailored for those who love their house music with a wink and a smudge of lipstick. While Tchami keeps the production polished and cinematic, OOTORO injects just enough heat to fog up the windows.

Silky yet urgent, the song's breathy vocal delivery perfectly suits its clandestine mood, a lovers' pact sealed between shadows and synths. Meanwhile, a slick groove from the producers unfurls like a bedsheet at 2am, setting the scene for lyrics that feel ripped from a locked Notes app: "I need you like I need water."

Listen to "Late Night Secrets" below and find the new single on streaming platforms here.

X: x.com/iamtchami
Instagram: instagram.com/tchami
TikTok: tiktok.com/@tchami
Facebook: facebook.com/iamtchami
Spotify: spoti.fi/30ORbPE

X: x.com/ootorowho
Instagram: instagram.com/ootorowho
Spotify: tinyurl.com/5n6ftdn9

"In the end, Progressive House always wins."

Those are the words of Nicky Romero, whose new collaboration with DubVision whisks us back to the genre's golden era, when euphoric drops and unapologetic emotion washed over EDM festivals. Out now via Martin Garrix's STMPD RCRDS, "Live My Life" is a melancholic reflection on lost love, entwining shimmering synths though a pulsing bassline and aching vocals from Oaks.

The release arrives in the midst of an explosive revival of progressive house music. And while the Dutch compatriots don't reinvent the genre's wheel here, they spin it with such finesse that you'll swear it's flying.

Memory serves as both muse and tormentor in Oaks' vocals, which channel a bittersweet alchemy. Grand, doomed and drenched in longing, her anguished lyricism is Romeo and Juliet meets Ibiza sunrise. The chorus, a vow to "live my life for you," lands like an emotional gut-punch amid Romero and DubVision's crescendoing production.

Listen to "Live My Life" below and find the new single on streaming platforms here.

X: x.com/dubvisionmusic
TikTok: tiktok.com/@dubvisionmusic
Instagram: instagram.com/dubvisionmusic
Facebook: facebook.com/dubvisionmusic
Spotify: spoti.fi/2Zv75N1

X: x.com/nickyromero
TikTok: tiktok.com/@nickyromero
Instagram: instagram.com/nickyromero
Facebook: facebook.com/djnickyromero
Spotify: sptfy.com/6IW1

X: x.com/winonaoak
Instagram: instagram.com/winonaoak
TikTok: tiktok.com/@winonaoak
Facebook: facebook.com/winonaoak
Spotify: tinyurl.com/5acv9zrt

The architectural impossibility of the Vegas Sphere finds its sonic equivalent in "Work," Anyma's new single featuring surging hip-hop phenom Yeat.

The track's recent debut during Anyma's historic residency at the $2.3 billion Sphere marked a significant cultural milestone. Yeat delivered the venue's first-ever rap performance, shattering yet another invisible barrier between techno's underground roots and hip-hop's mainstream cultural dominance.

The accompanying music video presents the duo as silhouettes against a backdrop of frenetic lasers, creating a visual as disorienting and compelling as the music itself. Rocking sinister masks and metallic, monochrome clothing, the duo channels the man-machine aesthetic of Kraftwerk, but reimagined for a more dystopian world.

"Work" will appear on The End Of Genesys, Anyma's third album, which is set to release May 23rd. According to a press release, the album "will complete the score of the Genesys trilogy" and feature recent singles "Hypnotized" (with Ellie Goulding) and "Voices In My Head" (with Argy and Son of Son) alongside new music Anyma premiered live throughout his Sphere residency.

Other collaborations rumored to appear on The End Of Genesys, which is primed to be one of the year's biggest electronic albums, include tracks with Grimes, FKA twigs, 070 Shake and Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun.

You can watch the official "Work" music video below and stream the new single here.

X: x.com/anyma_eva
Instagram: instagram.com/anyma
TikTok: tiktok.com/@anyma
Facebook: facebook.com/anyma.ofc
Spotify: tinyurl.com/2p976k79