As Insomniac’s landmark celebration of Dance Music approaches, the chief priority on your mind has to be how in the world you’re going to catch all of the acts on your perspective schedule. With the seemingly infinite choices out there and the conflicts that are bound to arise, we’ve compiled some recommendations in three distinct categories: acts that gripped our attention from the lineup reveal mix, big firsts on the speedway, and EDC veterans who we believe have more than a 90% chance of playing a memorable set.

The Insomniac crew pioneered a smart and fun way to reveal their lineup for EDC Las Vegas: play mixes for each stage with song samples from the DJs who will be playing. One way to approach the mix is to look for artists who’s song you know
but what about those moments you get swept away by a track that may be new to you? We decided to share an artist from each stage who’s quick music clip grabbed our attention, whether it’s an artist who’s new to the electric sky or an established act who’s track had us pause, rewind and fire up Shazam to dig through their extensive discography.

StereoBLOOM: Kai Wachi – Sunday, 12:30 – 1:30AM

The Stereo Bloom stage is poised to predominantly feature some of the sexiest house sounds there are, but there are also going to be some entries from Insomniac’s roster of artists whose sound is a little different. Our attention was yanked pretty hard by “Bodied,” a heavy dubstep cut by Kai Wachi. The Boise based producer is a veteran of Black Tiger Sex Machine’s 2017 tour as a member of Kannibalen Records alongside the aforementioned group, Apashe, and Snails. Amongst the several emerging artists at this stage, Kai Wachi is an artist who we think is going to really shake things up.

 

CircuitGROUNDS: Whipped Cream – Saturday, 4:30 – 5:30 

We can’t resist Canada based producer Whipped Cream’s style. We also can’t mistake it, which is why even though we hadn’t heard her latest single on Mad Decent “Time” in a minute, it stood out of the Circuit Grounds announcement mix exponentially. A proud member of Skrillex’s NEST HQ, she has released banger after banger since the label told their fans to watch her in 2017. Her song selection and mixing skills are good enough to keep a crowd at a music festival from 3AM on, as she did in her own backyard at Shambhala Music Festival. 

Better still, she hit up Twitter to announce her plans to play a boatload of brand new material at her set. A little more than a week ago, she even said she finished what could be her “best song to date.”  Considering the progress she’s made, it would be a privilege to have a front row spot for all of her projects that the world has yet to hear. 

QuantamVALLEY: Gentech – Friday, 3:30-5:30AM

Mark Sherry and Scot Project’s collaborative Trance effort Gentech made waves by creating the official anthem of Dreamstate SoCal “Feel My Love” this year, so we made it a point to listen closely during the QuantumVALLEY announcement for it. Lo and behold, the unmistakable melody made its way into the 5-minute mix and spiked our anticipation for going into(what we assume will be) the new megastructure design. Both acts in question are legends in their own right, with Sherry injecting a slew of records into the Tech Trance ecosystem via his own Outburst Records and Scot Project rocking German clubs as a resident DJ since the ’90s. We can’t wait to see what unfolds when they both put their heads together for the first sunrise of the weekend.

BassPOD: Badklaat – Friday, 

Never Say Die always gives you go to artists for complete and utter destruction on the dancefloor. Known by his friends as Adam James, Badklaat has been pushing out heavy beats out of his lab in the UK for nearly a decade. The fruits of his labor are collaborations with and remixes of artists like Megalodon, Trampa, TrollFace and Excision. Amongst the several dirty basslines, we encountered in the BassPod reveal mix, the grittiness of “Campers” in particular struck us the hardest. Better still, his most recent collaboration with Kompany on NSD Black Label echoes that same texture, but with a dramatic musical quality that we know is going to floor us on the speedway. 

KineticFIELD: Loud Luxury – Saturday, 7-8PM 

Loud Luxury’s single “Love No More” got the remix treatment from Fedde Le Grand, which should give you a clue into how much recognition they’ve inspired. The duo incorporates is a nice blend of chilled out melodies and main stage energy in their productions. If you have the courage to take on a Craig David classic, you’re ready to play one of the biggest festival stages on the globe. Don’t let traffic stop you from catching these guys fill up the Kinetic Field like nobody’s business. 

WasteLAND: Atomszfears – Sunday, 12:30 – 1:30

Atmozfears is no stranger to the Wasteland, but his sets always go off at EDC. This is why his 2015 anthem “Release” grabbed our attention. Our heads immediately fast forwarded three years and change to today, where his newest single with Sound Rush, “Together as One” is rocking the airwaves while only a ripe 9 days old. The producer has a slew of new melodic Hardstyle tracks under his belt including his Lose it All EP on Monstercat. His whole catalog of potential weapons for this year’s dancefloor includes collaborations with  Hardwell, Adrenalize and Lady Faith. He’s more than equipped to take the primetime slot on Day II.

NeonGARDEN: Layton Giordani – Sunday, 8-10 PM

Releasing a 12 track album on Adam Beyer’s Drumcode is a hell of a debut. Layton Giordani not only impressed us with that featuring but with subsequent collaborations with the label boss himself and Green Velvet. We were especially enamored by the track that got our attention during the loaded Neon Garden mix: his new Unspoken EP. He’s poised to make some magic happen with Bart Skills on the last day of Neon Garden this year, so we recommend you get yourself psyched early to make it to the venue for round III. 

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