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Editor’s Notice: EDM.com proudly publishes 4 installments of annual year-end protection: Trade Leaders, Performances & DJ Units, Music Producers and Songs.
Annually, EDM.com highlights essentially the most daring and revolutionary units, amplifying the artists whose boundary-breaking work is reshaping digital music on a world scale.
From intimate underground showcases to huge competition spectacles, these performances are celebrated not just for their technical mastery, but in addition for his or her capacity to affect cultural actions. This is not about recognition or ticket gross sales—it is a recognition of artistry that cultivates moments followers will keep in mind for many years.
In no explicit order, uncover the perfect DJ units and performances of 2024 beneath.
ODESZA — “The Final Goodbye” Finale, Gorge Amphitheatre
ODESZA’s swan music for his or her “The Final Goodbye” period was a triple-header at Washington’s breathtaking Gorge Amphitheatre. The duo constructed a universe unto itself within the Pacific Northwest, the proper setting for his or her farewell efficiency earlier than an indefinite hiatus.
An immense quantity of planning and coordination goes into bringing any ODESZA expertise to life, however they took it to a different stage within the cradle of the Gorge’s grandeur. Soul-stirring string renditions, highly effective stay vocalists and exhilarating mashups took the group on a journey that in some way felt each cathartic and deeply intimate.
In the meantime, followers was puddles of emotion as they walked by means of “Echoes,” a surrealist, tech-driven artwork set up moonlighting as a monument to their unparalleled reference to ODESZA’s Clayton Knight and Harrison Mills. The duo had shared an nameless cellphone quantity and requested followers to depart voicemails containing their favourite ODESZA reminiscences, which had been performed in 4D audio across the set up’s gleaming towers and transcribed on their LED panels.
Remodeling the concert events into hubs for immersive storytelling, ODESZA proved that know-how can facilitate the emotional launch of their music when wielded with intention and objective.
Phrases by Saad Masood and Jason Heffler.
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Skrillex — Lollapalooza, Chicago
When Lollapalooza introduced that one in all its most iconic phases could be renamed after Skrillex for one evening solely, you knew one thing particular was coming.
Followers attending the storied Chicago competition in 2024 had been handled to 2 performances from Skrillex at Perry’s Stage, which formally reworked into “Sonny’s Stage” on Saturday. He opened Saturday with an early efficiency beneath the Windy Metropolis solar earlier than closing the evening with a spectacular headlining set.
As you may count on from an artist of this caliber, the efficiency was not solely one of many competition’s finest, however one of many yr’s finest. Skrillex used his stage takeover to supply followers a profession retrospective that celebrated all his groundbreaking chapters in addition to the enduring legacy of Perry’s Stage and its namesake, Lollapalooza co-founder Perry Farrell.
From his ageless remix of Avicii’s “Ranges” to his collaborations with Justin Bieber, Damian Marley and Boys Noize, Skrillex reminded us why he stays one of many business’s most prolific artists.
Phrases by Nick Yopko.
Arca — Boiler Room: Caracas
From the shadows of systemic erasure in her native Caracas, Arca took on the strain cooker of Boiler Room and threw down a homecoming DJ set for the ages.
“This set ought to be studied by at the very least 20 anthropologists,” one awestruck fan commented on YouTube.
Amid the continuing, catastrophic Venezuelan refugee disaster, Arca returned house and rebuilt in sound what had been fractured in spirit. Her larger-than-life Boiler Room headline in March reunited a bunch of DJs who hadn’t carried out within the nation for over a decade, in line with native photographer Augusto Silva Alliegro, who called the present “a historic second for Venezuelan music and the nation.”
Arca vogued and vibed as she threaded a latticework of distorted bass and ambient textures, curating a set that was concurrently disruptive and deeply intimate. Highlights included spins of “Rain (I Desire a Divorce)” by the late digital music legend Ryuichi Sakamoto and Arca’s woozy remix of Frank Ocean’s “Little Demon.”
Flexing her thrashing beats and signature unpredictability behind the decks, it was a type of radical storytelling—a transgender artist reclaiming house in a difficult cultural terrain.
Phrases by Jason Heffler.
Keinemusik — Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
There is no doubt that Keinemusik began a cultural motion in 2024. You had been sure to identify somebody sporting the collective’s “uniform”—hat, silk scarf and glasses—at any home music present this yr.
Nonetheless, their set on the legendary Giza Pyramids in Egypt hit totally different. Bringing alongside their signature “kloud,” Keinemusik’s Adam Port, &ME and Rampa delivered a rave expertise for the ages on April nineteenth.
Completely matching the mystique of the pyramids, the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Historical World, the uncommon efficiency helped additional propel Afro-house music globally.
Phrases by Brooke Bierman and Jarett Lopez.
RÜFÜS DU SOL (DJ Set) — Mayan Warrior, Burning Man
The Burning Man neighborhood was devastated by final yr’s heart-wrenching lack of the beloved Mayan Warrior artwork automotive, a logo of unity and magic that set the stage for unforgettable musical moments on the playa. Nevertheless it rose from the ashes in 2024 and—reborn as Galaxyer—ushered in a brand new period with RÜFÜS DU SOL main the best way.
After a five-year hiatus, the group returned to Burning Man for an instant-classic DJ set. The best way they captured the alluring power of the playa was magnetic and their curation impeccable, stacking beloved RÜFÜS acapellas (like “Deal with You Higher” and “Underwater”) atop fashionable melodic home jams (like “Nothing On Me” by Maz, APACHE and Maxi Meraki). The hotly anticipated efficiency additionally featured aching remixes of “These days,” “Music is Higher” and the timeless “Innerbloom.”
Add Galaxyer’s outer space-themed manufacturing and a placing sundown on the playa to the combo, and you have got an audiovisual feast. Black Rock Metropolis got here alive.
“The power we felt throughout the Mayan Warrior set was in contrast to something now we have ever skilled,” RÜFÜS DU SOL stated on the time.
Phrases by Rachel Freeman, Saad Masood and Jarett Lopez.
Justice — Coachella
Seven years after their final efficiency at Coachella, Justice returned to the desert in breathtaking vogue in 2024.
Closing out the Outside Theatre, the long-lasting French duo unraveled a set comprising virtually completely unreleased music. It was dazzling showcase of Hyperdrama, their first album in almost a decade, which launched only a few quick weeks later.
Daring, glitzy and undeniably dynamic, Justice’s Coachella set was a masterclass in stay digital music efficiency that bubbled over with the retrofuturistic electro that made them icons. It was a type of uncommon units the place you could not resolve whether or not to face in awe or lose your self on the dancefloor.
Phrases by Andrea Nguyen.
TSHA — “In The Home” Defected Ibiza Summer time Sundown Boat
Solar, soul, summer season, saltwater and TSHA: the proper storm for an instant-classic DJ set.
TSHA in 2024 launched her long-awaited sophomore album, Unhappy Lady, however first she cruised the Mediterranean Sea on a yacht and threw down one of many yr’s finest DJ units. Again in April, the influential home music producer turned the primary artist to carry out for Defected Information’ revamped “In The Home” combine sequence, which relaunched this yr as a part of the label’s twenty fifth anniversary celebrations.
TSHA’s contact was contemporary but reverent, an ideal tribute to the long-lasting sequence. She dropped a handful of her personal hits, like “Candy Devotion,” in addition to sun-kissed dance data by Amine Edge & DANCE, Monki and Todd Terry, amongst others. Every observe felt like a dialog, the place soulful vocals and dynamic manufacturing spoke to your feelings whereas brisk percussion propelled your physique—and the boat—ahead.
To that finish, the radiant DJ set is a microcosm of TSHA’s artistry. It invitations you to maneuver, however compels you to hear—and in that stability lies her magic.
Phrases by Jason Heffler.
Michael Bibi — One Life London
It is robust to establish an artist who had a extra impactful yr than Michael Bibi, the home music icon who triumphed over a uncommon type of most cancers and made DJing historical past.
His journey from survival to celebration reached its pinnacle at One Life London, a totemic and dramatic efficiency that marked Bibi’s return to the stage after turning into cancer-free. He performed for over 45,000 followers in his hometown, setting a brand new report by headlining the biggest digital present in London’s historical past.
The present was an emotional whirlwind, with poignant visuals displaying clips of his time within the hospital and scenes from his childhood. Bibi bangers like “Bought The Hearth,” “Totally different Aspect” and his remix of “Eyes on Hearth” heated up the group for over three hours, and his father even joined him onstage for a mesmerizing guitar solo.
Bibi’s historic efficiency wasn’t only a live performance—it was a testomony to the ability of dance music to heal, in the end bringing to life a imaginative and prescient that he stated saved him impressed throughout his time within the hospital.
Phrases by Rachel Freeman.
LSZEE — Crimson Rocks Amphitheatre
LSDREAM and CloZee make up the genetic code of their brainchild, LSZEE, however the undertaking is distinctly its personal.
The famend Crimson Rocks Amphitheatre was a picture-perfect venue to unleash the complete artistic pressure of their self-titled LSZEE album, a report about curiosity, spirituality, nature and the exploration of a vibrant world. The duo’s two-night spectacular was an immaculate instance of frequencies in good concord, LSDREAM’s contagious enthusiasm bringing CloZee out of her shell and CloZee’s culturally wealthy music including fascinating layers to LSDREAM’s wubs.
Possibly it was the natural surrounding nature of Crimson Rocks, sending LSDREAM and CloZee again to Joshua Tree the place the LSZEE undertaking was conceived. Possibly it was the palpable vibrancy of the group. Regardless of the case, LSZEE’s exceptional doubleheader is etched within the reminiscences of their followers endlessly.
Phrases by Shakiel Mahjouri and Madison Berg.
G Jones b2b EPROM — DEF Detroit
Whereas the techno world flocked to Detroit for the storied Motion Pageant over Memorial Day weekend, the DEF crew cooked up one of the crucial intimate and unimaginable DJ units of the yr.
Sweat and sizzling breath stuffed the air like a fog machine gone haywire as followers took up each centimeter of Large Pink, a tiny venue that was once a sizzling water tank manufacturing warehouse, for an opportunity to witness G Jones share the stage with EPROM.
Collectively, the virtuosic producers threw down hours of experimental bass, stay acid originals, unreleased tracks and incomprehensible sounds that left everybody surprised after the home lights got here on.
Phrases by Nick Yopko.
Honorable Mentions
ISOKNOCK | North Coast Music Pageant
Porter Robinson | Hollywood Bowl
Sara Landry | III Factors Music Pageant
Of The Bushes | Crimson Rocks Amphitheatre
Martin Garrix | Extremely Music Pageant
ALLEYCVT | Misplaced Lands
Kenya Grace | Coachella
Maddy O’Neal | Shambhala Music Pageant
John Summit b2b Inexperienced Velvet | EDC Las Vegas
Swedish Home Mafia | Tomorrowland
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