Electronica Oasis

Starscape 2012: What You Need to Know

By Staff on June 7th 2012

Written by guest writer George Kiladze

The Basics

For those that are taking the plunge into 16 hours of non-stop EDM at Fort Armistead National Park this Saturday, preparing for this event is unlike what most EDM lovers can expect. Right on the mouth of the Patapsco River, this 50 acre park in Baltimore is a perfect place to hold such an expansive festival, with the water making Starscape a perfect scene. Starscape offers travel packages with 3rd party companies such as Muzik Bus, but I’d rather save money and take the Megabus. Hotels are also being offered through Starscape but it would be cheaper to find one reasonably close to the park. I would highly recommend a hotel for Saturday and Sunday as after 16 hours you can imagine…well just imagine how beat one would be after a lineup such as this.

Before we dissect this lineup, one must evaluate Starscape’s niche of being the enormous one-day festival that takes every effort to cram as many artists from 2pm on Saturday until 6am on Sunday. Thus, with it’s enormity, set times of your favorite artists will end up falling on top of each other as the night progresses. Devoting time is a key to see as much as you can so having a rough plan of where you are going to go is probably a good idea. Arrange yourselves because this one will certainly test you.

See the full guide after the jump!

Flux Pavilion – I imagine that at least half the people attending this year’s Starscape are primarily coming to see Flux Pavilion and his Bass profound set. Hailing from the UK (also known as Dub Step Nation), his unique take on low bpm bass audio has brought him into the top echelon of EDM, with exclusive plays from other revered artists such as Rusko and Caspa. Flux Pavilion comes on at 145 and goes for roughly an hour and fifteen minutes. It’s safe to say that everyone else playing at that time is probably a little irritated to share times with this man. Furthermore, expect him to drop a bunch of new bass heavy tracks as his album is most certainly on the way.

Shpongle – This musical project can only be described as a psychedelic ambience in a downtempo style. Simon Posford and Raja Ram combined in 1996 to mix traditional music all around the world with western synthesizers to create heart stopping grooves with a jungle feel. Their set will start at 3-15 and go for 2 hours so there will be plenty of shpongling for everyone.

Zomboy – Yet another UK artist on the rise, Joshua Mellody, 22, is about to make the dubstep scene his and his alone. Everyone across the pond is naming this kid the successor to the “omnipotent” Skrillex. The production talent with Zomboy is extraordinary as shown with tracks such as “Organ donor” and “Dirty Disco”. He even took Bass Cannon from Flux and Doctor P and made it sound better. Yeah, he’s that nice. Get there 10 minutes early for Zomboy because it’s going to be a wild show.

Two Fresh – Kendrick and Sherwyn Nicholls, alond with their drummer Colby Buckler combine to make a trio that takes hip-hop and jazz to take electronic music into a new stylistic frontier. Performing at SXSW, Two Fresh has been on the come up for some time now and are starting to become recognized in the EDM scene. They recently signed with STS9’s label 1320 records

Tittsworth – This well renowned DJ recently turned producer starting putting up a clinic in his sets with his own original tracks. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a few new original tracks that he’s been keeping safe for Starscape. He also just linked up with the ever-present DJ Ayres to start his own label.

Who You Can Pass On

Chase & Status – This London Duo is definitely something to see and if there’s nothing else that interests you during their set time then check them out. Personally speaking, their performance at Starscape will be a DJ set, whereas they usually perform with both performers as well as a live band. Furthermore, Zedd and Dillon Francis will be performing at different stages at the same time and I would consider them more worthwhile to see.

Wilkinson – This London bloke is traditional Drum & Bass and has great production ability, remixing Chase & Status “Time” and making it pop, but Drum & Bass is always going to be Drum & Bass and Wilkinson honestly sounds exactly the same as Nero and the rest of the D&B artists I know. If you have time, I would see him, but this is Starscape and there’s a million other things going on at the same time.

Wolfgang Gartner – Illmerica

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Tittsworth & Alvin Risk – La Campana feat. Maluca

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Sazon Booya – Lluvia

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Dada Life – Kick Out The Epic Motherfucker

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Zomboy – Dirty Disco

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