Beats + Pieces

Northern dance duo Agnelli & Nelson have enlisted the services of Navan-based newcomer John O’Callaghan for remix duties on their upcoming single ‘Shiver’, tentatively scheduled for a May release on Xtravaganza. O’Callaghan has two new releases out this month on the English label Discover. The first is a remix of Thomas Datt’s ‘Alone’ and the second is Inertia’s ‘The Chamber’. John recently DJed at legendary London club The Gallery for the first time, and he has just begun hosting an Internet radio show on www.ETN.fm. It goes out between 8pm and 10pm on the first Tuesday of every month… Irish rapper Rob Kelly, who has won a number of MC battles in California, has co-founded his own record label, Acquisition Records Ltd, with Dublin-based ITF World Scratch champion winner DJ Flip. Rob’s debut single will surface this summer…
The first three releases on Jay Pidgeon’s re-launched Crash Test label have been confirmed as double a-sides. Raff n Jay Pidgeon’s ‘Mayday’ is paired with Wayne Reid’s ‘Rave Injection’ and is out this fortnight. Raff n Grit Greenglow’s ‘Alphatekno’ is flipped by Alan Pullen’s ‘Some of This’ and is out on April 29th, and Raff n Jay Pidgeon’s ‘Midnight’ comes with Wayne Reid’s ‘Devastating Sounds’ on May 27th. Elsewhere, four releases groomed at Raff’s RDG Studios are set for release. Due next month are Raff & Jay’s ‘Na Na Na Na’, on hard house stamp Deprivation, Raff & Karl Davis’ ‘Speakerbustin’, on Dublin label Hard Sounds, and Robbie Curran’s pounding assault ‘Hustler’, on techno imprint 2CB. While Raff & Roy’s Technotronic-inspired smash, ‘Razorjuggs’ by Evil Twin Brother, is out this fortnight on Bootek… Last but by no means least on the RDG Studios front, BBC1FM DJ Judge Jules recently played aspiring Galway producer Jason Kelly’s unsigned tune ‘Angels Sing’ three weeks in a row on his radio show. Jules has done his own re-edit of the tune, which was co-produced by Raff, and top UK trance label Incentive has just put in a bid to sign it …
Tuesday March 29th sees the release of a compilation of Irish electronic music, CD Eire Electronic, in aid of the Asian Tsunami relief effort. All profits from the sales of the CD will go to the GOAL charity, and there is a fundraising launch party on Easter Sunday (March 27th) at TBMC in Dublin. Over 20 DJs are performing, and the admission price will include a copy of the CD…
MTV’s urban guru Trevor Nelson will be playing The Vaults in Dublin on April 2nd… hotpress scribes Barry Redsettaz and Richard Brophy play Electric City at its new venue Traffic in Dublin on March 31st… Hard house legends The Tidy Boys play TBMC in Dublin on April 22nd. At the same venue a week earlier, Rosman Promotions return with Joey Beltram… Carl Cox’s press agent informs BEATS&PIECES that he is playing an EIGHT-HOUR set at Redbox on May 1st. The performance forms part of the Carl Cox & Friends European tour of equally long sets to promote his forthcoming album, Second Sign. Redbox must be opening at 7pm to cater for the legend!…
Club Matrix in Dungannon, Co Tyrone does open at 7pm for one of its two massive Easter parties this weekend. On Saturday (March 26th) the Rendezvous series of hardcore events which have been running since 1997 return with Ulimate Buzz and Northern DJing heroes Binman, Xray, Sci, Tizer and Eddie Wray. And on Easter Monday (28th), Big LOVE kicks off at 7pm and is headlined by trance act Above and Beyond, hard dance DJs Tidy Boys and Anne Savage along with Belfast production whiz, Jupiter Ace. Support comes from resident DJs Chris Davis and Ryan Maxwell… Also this weekend, house legend CJ Mackintosh guests at new club Soulprovider in Belfast, while mash-up merchants Plump DJs and X*rox team up at Crawdaddy in Dublin (Saturday). Boogaloo returns to Black Box in Galway, Ibiza stalwarts Alex Pand Brandon Block are at One in Fairyhouse, Co Meath, and techno Gods, Green Velvet and Phil Kieran, return to Resistance, which runs at Ten in Waterford …
And finally, a new survey has revealed that just 13 per cent of DJs are happy in their work. Hairdressers surprisingly topped the job unhappiness stakes (40 per cent), with DJs a sadder bunch than plumbers (20 per cent), florists (18 per cent) and even butchers (14 per cent). The survey was by an English City & Guilds training organisation. One reason for the shock statistic could be the job’s unsociable hours, as another new English study reveals that night-working is ‘more damaging to health than 20 cigarettes a day’. German legend Sven Vath may have the cure, however. He insists that any DJ who has not “made the international big-time” by their mid-30s should retire as to continue would be an embarrassing waste of time… THE BEAT GOES ON!