Beats & Pieces

Northern trance duo Chris Agnelli and Robbie Nelson (pictured) will next month release the second single under the banner of The A&N Project. ‘Just When I Think There’s An Answer’ continues on the rock-infused trance path of its predecessor ‘Wear The Dress’ and comes armed with two superb remixes.
The ‘Jelyon Petch vs Eklektric Disco’ mix is a marvellous marriage of nu-skool electro and old skool house, while fast rising Northern youngsters Mog & Crawf turn in a tremendous techy mix that will do much to boost their profile in Britain.
Belfast-born trance whiz Simon Patterson has remixed ‘Fallen Tides’ for the Anjunabeats label. The Mark Pledger vs Matt Hardwick featuring Melinda Gareh effort is out this fortnight, and is followed on April 4 by a compilation Anjunabeats 100.
Mixed by its lynchpin act, Above & Beyond, who incidentally are performing at Letrik at Sky in Dundalk on April 12, the album, as the title suggests, marks the 100th release from the leading trance stamp.
Barcelona-based Dubliner Mano Le Tough has signed his ‘Warhorn’ and ‘Halve The Sun’ tracks to en vogue Norwegian Prins Thomas’ Internasjonal imprint.
Trance phenomenon John O’Callaghan’s ‘Big Sky’ single has been nominated in the Best Progressive House/Trance Track category at the 23rd annual International Dance Music Awards, which take place later this month at the Winter Music Conference in Miami. The single – released on Dutch label Armada – has already been voted Best Tune of 2007 in Europe.
German label Great Stuff is planning an Olympic album which will feature a track from various countries, and techno champion Fergie has been chosen to represent Ireland. The Northern Irish ace has been busy in the studio of late. His remixes of Bigger Than Jesus’ ‘Itchy Glitchy Spider’ and King Unique’s ‘Hinode’ are out now on Silver Planet and Curfew respectively.
Neutronyx has announced the return of the Life Festival to the beautiful grounds of Lough Cutra Castle in Co Galway from July 4 to 6. Among the dance music delights on offer in this third year of the highly acclaimed chilled-out weekender are Ninja Tunes pioneers Coldcut, North Irish glam-techno warriors Alloy Mental, drum ‘n’ bass dons DJ Marky, Calibre and Marcus Intalex and dubstep heroes Skream and Mala. Tickets are on sale now from www.life-festival.com
Godskitchen returns to our shores with a 2,500-capacity arena event at INEC in Killarney, County Kerry on Saturday May 3. The aforementioned John O’Callaghan has been given the prominent billing he deserves alongside European giants Scot Project and Filo & Peri.
Psych-rockers The Horrors have rescheduled their Sassy Sue’s GoGo Inevitable date to April 4 at The Sugar Club after events conspired to force a last-minute cancellation of their planned February 29 appearance.
Techno club Electric Shock has put tickets on sale for its next two events at the Tivoli in Dublin. The first bash, on Saturday March 29 features a live set from French outfit Technasia along with DJ sets from Chicago’s DJ Funk and Dublin’s Barry Donovan and costs €22.50 (plus booking fee).
The second blowout, on Saturday April 26, is €25 (plus fees) and features live sets from Frankfurt’s Alter Ego, Berlin’s Marc Houle and DJ sets from Manchester’s Kevin Gorman and Dublin’s Dan McElligott. Both gigs run from 10pm until 4am.
Back-by-popular-demand to DJ in Dublin is Dexy’s Midnight Runners frontman Kevin Rowland at The Academy on Friday March 28. The soul rebel last played here at Sassy Sue’s at The Sugar Club.
Warp Records innovators Plaid make a welcome return to Dublin to perform at Crawdaddy on June 6 ahead of the release of new album Scintilli. Tickets to this guaranteed sell-out cost €20 from City Discs in Temple Bar.
Hot Press spies have managed to ascertain that Dutch trance icon Tiesto will be appearing at a 10,000-capacity outdoor event in August in the greater Dublin area, courtesy of PoD Concerts.
Rumours also abound that RTÉ Radio is planning a 24-hour dance station on the digital radio platform. A 90-minute loop of club anthems has been picked up repeatedly recently on DAB radios. Watch, or rather listen to, this space.
The Bodytonic collective is hosting a dance music record fair at The Bernard Shaw on Camden Street from noon on March 22. Dozens of turntable listening posts will be set up and many top DJs are running stalls.
And finally, congratulations to Portrush club Lush!, which celebrates its 12th birthday with two parties next month. On April 5, regular guests Seb Fontaine and Nic Fanciulli join resident Col Hamilton, while a week later the DJ Mag poll’s world number one, Armin van Buuren drops by to spin a four-hour set. Tickets for both events are on sale now from usual outlets. The Dutchman, incidentally, also plays a sold-out gig at Tripod in Dublin on April 11… THE BEAT GOES ON!