Featured Acts

Some of electronic music’s most recognizable names are slated to appear at Ultra Music Festival, from Richie Hawtin and Fatboy Slim to Sasha and John Digweed. But the full lineup (available at www.ultramusicfestival.com) reveals a certain curatorial skill even beyond all of the star power, offering samples of house, techno, trance, rock, and beyond. Here are some of the potentially under-the-radar treats in store:

Friday finds Dutch DJ/producer Sander Kleinenberg performing from the very bleeding edge of technology as he presents a special “DVDJ” set. That’s right — DVD imagery can now be manipulated as swiftly as vinyl or MP3-formatted tunes, opening up a third eye into mixology and bringing new meaning to the term disc jockey. Meanwhile up-and-coming German duo Digitalism will unleash a blistering electro-funk live set sure to attract fans of more established acts like Daft Punk (whom Digatalism has remixed).

On Saturday, so many influential drum ‘n’ bass DJs from the UK (including, but not limited to, Goldie, Grooverider, Ed Rush & Optical, Photek, and Andy C) will appear on the Contagious Musiq-sponsored stage that London clubbers are sure to feel a booming void back home that night in their collective absence. These genre architects are sure to turn the party out, but don’t be shocked if the sets of the day on this stage actually end up belonging to Miami jocks the Engineer and DJ Craze. Saturday also brings the “Florida Favorites” area, which should be a treat for locals and visitors alike, from the deliciously propulsive breakbeats of Miami Beach duo Devine & emilyPLAY to the creative Ft. Lauderdale-based electroacoustic group KonunDrumz, a trio headed by Hungarian transplant Okulus Anomali.

With three stages on Friday and a whopping nine stages on Saturday, Ultra has an abundance of original beats in varying flavors planned for revelers. Seriously, if you can’t find anything to groove to here, you must not like to dance.