Dance Down Under

It’s been a fantastic 12 months for Dublin house duo SPLITOOP. They bring the curtain down on a busy 2009 with a nine-date tour of Australia, culminating with New Year’s Eve party in Melbourne. On the recording front, the pair also have two new choons coming out, ‘Toast Club’ and ‘Badman’.

Closer to home, the folks behind Nightflight are bringing Hamburg’s disco maverick Tensnake to the Button Factory on December 11. We can’t wait.
In honor of "Movember", local dance label FVF are donating half the profits from Marc Ashken’s EP of the same name to charity. Check out www.movember.com for more information. On the EP are three tracks by Marc Ashken and a remix by the Donk Boys.
RTE Pulse’s Adam Fogarty is about to launch a new label, Breakdown Records. It will release on vinyl and has also secured digital distribution on the Beatport service. The focus will be on nu-funk and big beat, with the label putting out newcomers from Ireland, Britain and further afield. The first release is Johnny Pluse Market Street EP.
On the subject of Christmas, there’s something for all the family on Mandy – The Mix Collection. Artists include Claude Vonstroke, Christian Martin, Schneider TM and Kpt. Michi.gan. One of our favourite tracks on the album is Crowdpleaser and Ly Sander’s ‘Walking Home’.
Dara O Neil, aka Dancepig, launches a new club in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district on December 4. “Kleine Reise” – meaning Little Trip in German – is a collaboration with the 52 Funk crew, now also located in Germany.
Back in Dublin, meanwhile, Good Bits is a new venue opening in the space previously known as Radio City. On Saturdays, it will host a club night called Punch, featuring Arveene and newcomer Josh Josh Josh. Guests will include Lorcan Mak, whose tracks have been play listed all over the world by the likes of Laidback Luke, Brodinski and Sinden. He has just finished a remix for Kitsuné and his debut EP will be available on Anabatic Records very soon. One to watch!
On December 17 Soulwax will perform at the Ulster Hall in Belfast for a “Soulwaxmas” evening. Pals Erol Alkan or Justice, are likely to make an appearance.