Cork whiz Mark O’Sullivan’s debut album, as one half of DK7, Disarmed, is released on October 28th on Output. O’Sullivan first surfaced on his own King Syndrome Sounds label in 1999 as The Mighty Quark. Earlier this year he set up Ork Recordings with fellow Corkmen Greg Dowling and Shane Johnson of Fishgodeep fame.
His partner in DK7, Stockholm native Jesper Dahlback, co-founded Sweden’s Globe Studios with Adam Beyer, and most recently had a hand in producing the Tiga album, Sexor, which will be released in January on Pias.
Belfast ex-pat Paul Masterson has just remixed the new Bananarama single, ‘Look On The Floor’ (A&G) in his Yomanda guise. He’s also got a new Yomanda single, ‘On The Floor’, ready to go.
Edwin James’ seedyR label has two releases out this month to coincide with the DEAF 4 festival in Dublin (see What’s On section for full details). The LMD 64 EP features mixes by I Am An Exit and James in his Corrugated Tunnel guise, while the Ikeaboy EP is a joint release with, Invisible Agent, who, along with Lakker and Corrugated Tunnel, provides the remixes.
Albums surfacing this fortnight include the Baby J-compiled F.T.P. (All City), a collection of new productions from UK hip-hop’s rising star that has contributions from the likes of Skinnyman, Dead Prez and Blade. Zook’s Music from the Accumulator (Tummy Touch) is a self-styled acoustic funk set that cuts a sweet groove.
The President Is Dead, Long Live Boston Rodriguez(Little League) is the Latin-flavoured funky breaks-propelled debut from Boston Rodriguez, well known in drum ‘n’ bass circles as Shredder and Squadron Blue. Blockhead’s Downtown Science (Ninja Tune) further explores the masterful epic hip-hop displayed on his 2004 debut Music By Cavelight.
New compilations include Danny Rampling’s Break For Love (ITH), a triple-CD retrospective of the London club pioneer’s favourite tunes from an 18-year career that he is calling time on. Annie’s DJ Kicks (!K7) is an eclectic DJ debut from the Scandinavian starlet of Anniemal fame. 2K6: The Tracks (Decon) is the impressive basketball video game soundtrack which features exclusive cuts from Redman, Common, RJD2 and The Roots among others. Diplo’s FabricLive 24 (FabricLive), is an eclectic rollercoaster ride from the Florida funkster.
Diplo has also remixed ‘Seat Yourself’ from Roots Manuva, which is paired with ‘Awfully Deep’ as an EP on Big Dada. Other singles to watch out for include ‘Three Days’ from Hard Kandy (Catskills), taken from their forthcoming album Last To Leave, hip-hop supergroup One Self’s ‘Paranoid’ (Ninja Tune), and Bob Sinclair’s Ibiza anthem, ‘Love Generation’ (Defected).
The biggest single of the fortnight will undoubtedly be D.O.N.S. feat. Technotronic’s ‘Pump Up The Jam’, which is widely tipped as a UK No1.
Technotronic will be appearing in Dublin on October 28th at Heaven in Blanchardstown, as part of the club’s Fantasy Nights weekend which also plays host to Shena, the vocalist from Michael Gray’s ‘The Weekend’, on October 29th.
Over the same weekend, b-boy extraordinaire Buck 65 jets in for a three-date tour. Performing tunes from his awesome album Secret House Against The World), the Canadian beatmaster plays Roisin Dubh, Galway on 28th, The Village in Dublin (29th) and The Limelight, Belfast (30th). And Larry Love and the Reverend D. Wayne Love from Alabama 3 makes a rare DJ appearance at Voodoo Lounge, Dublin on the 28th.
Hard dance pioneer Steve Thomas will play Liquid in Bray, also on the 28th, supported by James Devlin. Fans of the more banging genres also have Godskitchen at The Point and Mauro Picotto at The Ambassador, both on October 30th, to look forward to.
November is a busy month for hard fans too, with BK at Maddison Bar, Rathmines in Dublin on November 4th, Andy Farley at Nemo's in Dun Laoghaire on the 12th, and Captain Tinrib’s last ever Irish gig on the same night at Liquid in Bray. The hard-NRG stalwart is moving to Australia in December.
Dublin house club Bodytonic celebrates its second birthday with a series of Friday night specials at Wax this month. The highlight is the eagerly anticipated return of Cork legends Fishgodeep on October 21st, and there’s a residents special on October 28th.
Techno club Electric City has two huge parties on its November schedule. The top Thursday nighter, which runs at Traffic, hosts a rare DJ set from early ‘90s rave act Altern 8 on November 17th. While a week later, the club hosts two rooms with Andrew Weatherall headlining in one, and Richie Hawtin in the other. Tickets are on sale now at Selectah Records.
This year’s ITF Irish DJ Championships are being sponsored by Sony’s PSP, and run at Crawdaddy in Dublin on October 22nd with DJ Flip defending his title judged by esteemed turntable technicians such as DJ Hype and Krime.
The winner will go on to represent Ireland at the European DJ Championships, which this year take place in Dublin for the first time, at The Village November 20th (at 3pm). Artists performing include LA hip-hop crew, Giant Panda. Tickets cost €10 (Irish final) and €12 (European final) and are available from www.tickets.ie. For more information, including details on how to enter, see www.choicecutsonline.com …
And finally, 2FM has reinstated Mr Spring to peak-time on Saturday nights, from 9pm until midnight, ahead of its foray into digital radio territory early in 2006, with Spring among the many DJs being lined up to cater for a youth audience … THE BEAT GOES ON!