Now that the line-up has had time to sink in, we’re taking the chance to go deeper into the who’s who of Stereosonic 2012. For each Live Preview feature over the months ahead, we’ll be choosing five acts from the line-up to get in-depth with, bringing you new music and sets worth wrapping your ears around. To kick things off, we’ve got a mixed bag from different corners of the line-up: Mr Oizo, Carl Cox, Brodinski and Gesafflestein and Flux Pavilion. The countdown begins!

Carl Cox

“There’s no hierarchy or big stars,” Carl Cox told us last year when we asked about the vibe of his now-customary Stereosonic stage. That simple line could sum up the techno icon’s entire party-throwing philosophy, whether it’s at an Australian festival or inside Space Ibiza. In the years the Carl Cox & Friends arena has been stationed at Stereo, it has featured a diverse cast: Andy C, Major Lazer, Luciano, Empire Of The Sun, Afrojack, DJ Sneak, Pretty Lights and Dirty South included.

In 2012, the DJ is tweaking the formula slightly, presenting a new techno-focused stage to the festival, Carl Cox Revolution. Given the techno manifesto, it’s where we’re likely to see Adam Beyer and Loco Dice doing their thing. The arena is inspired by The Revolution Recruits, Cox’s Tuesday night residency at Space in Ibiza. Last year marked a decade on the White Isle for Cox and his crew, and this season he’s joined by returning alumni and new faces. Guy J, Ben Sims, John Talabot, John Digweed, Fatboy Slim, Sasha and Sebo K are amongst the diverse line-up, and several of the nights will hinge around an extended set from the big man himself.

Luckily for his fans who can’t be there lost in the haze of the Space dancefloor, Cox is uploading highlights from his sets to Mixcloud. Here’s the first in the series, which finds the Recruits leader in typically storming big-room mode, working in the likes of Marco Bailey and Christian Smith with lesser-known tech-house talents.

2012 marks a significant milestone for Carl Cox: his 50th birthday. Instead of a private party, the veteran is celebrating in the best way he knows how – by sweating it out in the Space DJ booth. It’s mind-boggling to think how many sets he has played across a career of at least 30 years. “Years ago I was playing really hardcore techno,” he told inthemix. “I mean I was starting off my sets at 155-BPM, and it went up from there. I hear some of these sets now and think how did I do that? Now I’m playing beats from 124-BPM and if I get up to 128 it’s like, ‘Woo, I’m really rocking it!’”

“Really rocking it” comes naturally to Cox – and here’s some video evidence. Befitting his stature, the DJ was tasked with closing the main open-air stage at the Awakenings Festival outside Amsterdam recently, following a heavyweight run that included Cristian Varela, Joel Mull and Len Faki. Looks like he had no trouble keeping up.