Beats + Pieces: The sky's the limit

‘Big Sky’ might be the moment that finally propels John O’Callaghan into the stratosphere. words Mark Kavanagh

The pride of Irish dance, John O’Callaghan, has signed his first ever vocal trance track ‘Big Sky’ to Armind, the biggest of Armin van Buuren’s Dutch stable of labels. The vocals come from Derry gal Audrey Gallagher, formerly the vocalist in north-west rock combo, Scheer.
Tiesto and Paul van Dyk are both huge supporters of the track, which will be released with a remix from Agnelli & Nelson that O’Callaghan has described as “pure class”. Judging by the early hysteria, ‘Big Sky’ looks set to propel the Navan-based producer deservedly into the DJ premier league.
Irish house outfit Hystereo appear on the new Soma Recordings compilation album, Coma: Out of Body Experience. Their ‘Velocity’ cut sits alongside tunes from big guns such as The Black Dog, Slam, Alex Smoke, Funk d’Void and Silicone Soul.
The latest album from Keith Downey’s Dublin-based electronica stamp Psychonavigation is a superb melancholic set produced by Enrico Coniglio in Venice. Areavirus: Topofonie Vol 1 features a host of musicians including Hans-Joachim Roedilius.
The new single from Letrik club resident DJ and Spin FM host John Gibbons sees him team up with Simon Tist for a wet ‘n’ hard house workout entitled ‘Beautiful Filth’. It has already been given the Judge Jules seal of approval on BBC1FM.
Galway-based deep house stamp Elevation Recordings dishes up its next treat in September. ‘Cat Attack 2’ by CGT (Cosmic Groove Transmission) is the 10th Elevation release, and it features remixes from Belfast’s Timmy Stewart, Aberdeen’s Ian McPherson and London’s Ben Parkinson.
Cosmic Groove Transmission have shown up on labels like Brique Rouge, Odori, Low Pressings and DiY in the past, and the original ‘Cat Attack’ appeared on Chris Duckenfield’s Odori label a few years back.
The Stiff Kitten resident DJ Stewart, meanwhile, has mixed the free cover-mount CD for the August issue of respected English clubbing mag, IDJ.
Another Irish label has reached its 10th record. Desy Balmer’s Nice & Nasty serves up (on 12inch vinyl) a double-header from filthy electro-techno duo Sourcecode and melodic techno maestro Chymera. Both artists also have full EPs online (www.niceandnasty.net), and there are remixes from Celtek Twinz, Tomas Jirku and Octogen.
Dublin trance producer Paul Webster’s ‘Wavelength’ and ‘Blindside’ tracks are out in September on Captivating Sounds. DJ supporters thus far include the luminaries van Dyk, Eddie Halliwell, and Sander van Doorn.
The ‘Corruption’ creator has also completed three storming remixes. Mark Sherry’s ‘Here Comes The Drums’ is out in September on Detox, Judge Jules and Michael Woods’ ‘Lonely Tonight’ is due on Maelstrom in October and Sven Webber’s ‘Bassman’ is scheduled for September on Armada.
Hard house don Karl Davis has three tracks lined up for August on British labels: one for Dynamic Intervention’s DIP imprint and two collaborations with Steve Gillen on CTW.
Organic house stamp Queep’s next single is from Mr Fuzz presents Twisty Fuzz. ‘Berlin Flight No1’ comes in a host of mixes from the likes of Djamel and AlexMo, with the best an outstanding rework from Northerners Discount Rhinos.
Techno crew Invisible Agent have two outings from Ikeaboy – ‘Metanoia Vol 1’ and ‘Metanoia Vol 2’ – ready to drop in September.
Having announced their Belfast show at King’s Hall on October 6 in the last issue of Hot Press, Underworld have now confirmed they will be playing Dublin’s Tripod on October 4. Both dates coincide with the release of their first album in five years, Oblivion With Bells.
Techno legend Dave Clarke has been added to the line-up of the first ever Planetlove Summer Session festival and will headline the Collective Music/dancemusicireland.com arena. Another addition is hard dance heroine Anne Savage, who will be playing a back-to-back set with queen of the beats Lisa Lashes. Tickets for the 12-hour marathon, which runs from 2pm-2am on September 8 at Fairyhouse Racecourse, cost just 169 and are now on sale from usual outlets.
PoD regulars from ‘90s will be polishing up their leather trousers ahead of the August bank holiday Old Skool party at Zanzibar in Dublin. Joining FM104’s Al Gibbs on the CDJ1000s is the man for whom the term ‘motorway DJ’ was invented, Jeremy Healy (a former member of ‘80s pop act Haysi Fantaysi).
The Planetlove warm-up looks like being the massive Godskitchen arena event at Theatre Royal in Castlebar, Co. Mayo on August 25. DJs include German hard trance hero Scot Project and fast rising Dutch remixer Richard Durand. The seven-hour session runs from 7pm until 2am, and tickets are now on sale.
Ireland’s DJ presence in Ibiza this summer is the greatest of any year so far, with Japanese Popstars, Col Hamilton, Paul Webster, Neal Scarborough, John O’Callaghan, Paul Webb, Kandyflipperz, Dermot C, Greg Downey, Simon Patterson and John Gibbons among those playing at several venues over the course of the summer.
Limerick superclub Trinity Rooms’ fortnightly parties continue at Eden on July 31 and August 14, while Fergie’s weekly techno bash, Excentric at Kayna, runs every Monday from midnight until 6am with guests such as Slam, Funk d Void, Gregor Tresher and Phil Kieran.
Congratulations, incidentally, to Joe Clarke and all at Trinity Rooms, which this month celebrated its fourth birthday … THE BEAT GOES ON!