8 tracks that smashed HARD Summer

Photos: Jamie Rosenberg

HARD Summer festival returned over the weekend to its Southern California home at the Pomona Fairplex, with performances from The Chemical Brothers, Jimmy Edgar, The Weeknd, Jack Ü, Hannah Wants and many more. 65,000 attendees flooded the festival grounds and did their best to endure the high temperatures in order to see their favourite artists of the moment.

The weekend saw plenty of DJs, a handful of live-electronic acts, some extremely popular rappers and an overwhelming amount of bass-drops. While it wasn't easy to pop around to all five stages in the absurd heat, Mixmag was able to catch a variety of solid tunes over the weekend.

The Chemical Brothers - 'Sometimes I feel So Deserted' [Virgin EMI]

The Chemical Brothers headlined the HARDer Stage on Saturday and schooled everyone on what a proper live-electronic show is supposed to look like. Their visual-perfection paired with this killer track off of Born in the Echoes closed out the first night right.

Dubfire & Oliver Huntemann - 'Agua' (C2 Party Mix) [Ideal Audio]

It happened. A bunch of sweaty neon-clad kids stumbled upon the Pink Stage, accidentally discovered techno and loved it. Thank you Kevin Saunderson for showing them the light.

Major Lazer - 'Be Together' (Mija remix) [unreleased]

LA-based rising star Mija played at 2pm on Saturday, and had one of the most enthusiastic crowds of the whole weekend. When she dropped her unreleased Major Lazer remix of 'Be Together', the indoor hangar erupted like she was playing a main-stage headlining-slot.

The Weeknd - 'The Hills' [Republic]

When Canadian lady-killer The Weeknd dropped 'The Hills', the massive crowd at the HARDer Stage lost their minds and then quickly abandoned that same stage as soon as The Chemical Brothers were due to arrive. Most likely, they trampled each other on their way to see Dillon Francis.

Tiga - 'Bugatti' (Jauz remix feat. Pusha T) [Mad Decent]

This tune was a big one on Sunday during Jauz's afternoon main-stage set. His future-bass sound has commanded the attention of a new generation of ravers in particular, and the rest of the American dance-music scene has taken notice.

RL Grime - 'Valhalla' (feat. Djemba Djemba) [WeDidIt]

A vast majority of the HARD crowd would have been content with RL Grime tracks being played out on a loop for the entirety of the festival. The LA-native has a particularly dedicated fan-base and the ability to drop an insane amount of pounding trap music without sounding dull. This track in particular is an absolute banger.

Leftwing & Kody - 'Blow' (original mix) [Suara]

Maya Jane Coles closed out the Pink Stage on Sunday night and naturally delivered one of the most solid sets of the weekend. This track was a total crowd-smasher.

Axel Boman - 'Nokturn (Grand Finale)' [Pampa]

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (aka TEED) played a DJ set on Sunday night and played out this Axel Boman evolving tune. It easily lives up to its name and was one of our favourites of the weekend by far.

Check out our gallery of photos from HARD Summer above.