She's Electric! : A rum affair

Not a sliver of mud on the wellies yet, and Oxegen’s epicentre of electronic beats, the Bacardi B-Live Arena, is shaping up to be the place to sip those Mojitos. Basil Isaac will be the host of the arena over the course of the three days, hopping on and off the decks to play percussion whilst also Djing. With such an excellent line up of DJs and live performers from home and abroad, sure you may as well set up camp here.

Kicking off the three days on Friday afternoon we have the Dublin Streets crew – normally known for their blogspot snapping of trendy heads around the city. Andrea and Matt will be spinning everything from Little Boots, Janelle Monae and Ellen Allien to Phil Oakley and Jacques Lu Cont. Festival craic assured.
No point in leaving the area after this, then, as Friday night also sees the appearance of Beardyman, the UK beatbox champion twice over who uses cutting edge technology to layer his voice over beats. Having witnessed Beardyman at Sonar in front of 10,000 people, I urge you to check him out.
A clubber once called a tune by Martin Reeves “krafty” while he was in the middle of cutting up some beats. Thus Krafty Kuts was born, and he turns up at the B-Live Arena after Beardyman. Straight from the Summer Break festival in Romania, A Skillz will also be performing on the Sunday.
Other Friday highlights include Belgian duo Aeroplane who first performed at Kennedy’s Dublin in 2008. Their mellow disco beats and synths are sure to lull you into the festival spirit. Having remixed artists such as Das Pop, Lindstrom, Cut Copy and Grace Jones, we eagerly await their forthcoming debut album.
BBC’s Annie Mac is making a trip back home to perform at the Oxegen Dance Arena on the Saturday night. She'll be joined by Yuksek, who stuffed the Twisted Pepper bar and club to the rafters last May. Check out his remix of Phoenix's ‘Lisztomania’.
Back under the heat of the Bacardi B-Live Tent, Horse Meat Disco are performing a slot on the Saturday afternoon. Horse Meat Disco has become an institution to many due to their dedication to the world of disco. Inspired by Manhattan nightlife legend Adam Goldstone, HMD founders James Hilliard and Jim Stanton hark back to the disco frenzy of seventies New York. Also in the HMD collective are Severino from Italy and Filthy Luka – a complete disco addict. Expect quite a few suprises with HMD as their club nights tend to also include some very creative performances. If you miss them at Oxegen you can also catch them at Wax Club in Dublin on the July 25.
A regular to HMD nights and also appearing at Oxegen are The Unabombers who will be fresh off the festival circuit from Scotland’s T in the Park. The Unabombers are famous for their Electric Chair club in Manchester. Luke and Justin will be taking control of the B-Live Arena on the Sunday afternoon.
Caroline Herve, aka Miss Kittin, and Michel Amato, aka The Hacker, met in the early 90s when French label Tekmics asked Miss Kittin to write a track, and she looked to her DJ partner for assistance. They have not looked back since... Check out Two, their new album.
Having had some unusual meetings with DJs over the years, one in particular that often comes to mind was my encounter with Felix da Housecat in a car park after 2007 Oxegen festival. Yes indeed, dodgy dealings were done dirt cheap as he handed me a copy of some unreleased tracks. Now he's back dealing out the electronic pop delights in the Oxegen Dance arena. Fresh from mixing it up with P Diddy on the ‘Jack U’ track and partying hard at the Miami Winter Music Conference in March, Felix is sure to knock those festival visors right off your head on the Sunday night.
If you lose your crew at Oxegen, head straight for Bacardi B-Live, you won’t be long standing alone. Getting lost at a festival never felt so good.

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