Beats + Pieces: Trance-y that

Belfast-born trance producer Greg Downey (now living in England) follows his recent DJ trips to China, Canada, Poland and Germany with the release of a new single on Discover.
‘Vivid Intent’ is being hammered by Eddie Halliwell, and it’s featured on his new Cream compilation CD.
Downey, who has played parties at top UK clubs Serious, The Gallery, Passion, Scream and Twisted this year, will follow it with a remix of Marc van Linden’s ‘False Sense’ on the German label Midway. A collaboration between the Irish ace and van Linden is also in the pipeline.
Along with the Greg Downey tune mentioned above, Eddie Halliwell’s Cream album includes two other Irish productions: trance pair O’Callaghan & Kearney’s scorching ‘Exactly’ and techno DJ Phil Kieran’s ‘Snakefight’.
The Larne lad remained upbeat, however, saying: “I never thought I would be on my school radio, never mind Radio 1! The support they have given to me over the past five years has undoubtedly helped me to develop and mature as a DJ. So thanks Radio 1! In new music we trust! Happy Dayz.” Fergie’s last show will be aired in September.
Set to be one of the biggest dance albums of the year, Cicada’s self-titled debut on Critical Mass has been put back until August following the huge success of their recent single, ‘You Got Me Feeling’.
The band, made up of Aaron Gilbert (also known as Mr Natural), Alex Payne, and Icelandic vocalist, Heidrun Bjornsdottir (formerly of Gloss and 4AD’S Gus Gus), has an impressive remix CV which includes damn fine jobs on New Order, Editors and Depeche Mode.
Keep a close on their blend of influences such as Can, Sugarcubes, Cocteau Twins and Daft Punk. They mash-up live instruments and old skool synthesisers to great effect and write great songs.
Notable albums surfacing about now include Zero 7 keyboardist Neil Cowley’s jazzy and soulful Soundcastles album, out under the moniker Pretz (on I Label), Krust’s drum ‘n’ bass double shot, Hidden Knowledge (Full Cycle), and Jehst presents Underworld Epics (Low Life), which is graced by top MCs such as Rodney P, Verb T and Micall Parkinson.
Alexander Kowalski’s Changes (Different) is Berlin vocal techno at its most banging. If you’d prefer some seminal techno classics performed live by a 70-piece orchestra in France, then you’d best buy Jeff Mills’ Blue Potential (Uncivilised World).
New to the compilations racks are Fabric 28, mixed by Evil Nine, who manage to take in The Clash among the choice breakbeats and remixes of Franz Ferdinand and B-Movie’s lost ‘80s gem, ‘Nowhere Girl’. Fabric 29 sees Tiefschwarz deliver an electro-techno-house tour de force that includes cuts from M.A.N.D.Y and Riton. Roedilius: Works (1968-2005) is a great starting point for anyone remotely interested in Krautrock, and a good ‘best of’.
Soulful house fans watch out for Allister Whitehead feat Beverly Skeete’s ‘Heaven’, a cover of The Chimes’ classic on Toolroom.
The biggest single so far this summer looks like the collaboration between Axwell – best known for last year’s hit ‘Feel The Vibe’ and his remix of Hard Fi’s ‘Hard To Beat’ – and fellow Swedish hotshot DJ, Steve Angello, who has remixed the likes of Moby, Royksopp and Goldfrapp.
Bassbin has announced an old skool session for Traffic on bank holiday Sunday August 6th. London record store owner extraordinaire Nicky Blackmarket and Irish ex-pat DJ Dara will join resident Rohan.
TBMC in Dublin has unveiled three big drum ‘n’ bass parties for the autumn. Grooverider plays on October 14th, Goldie drops by on September 30th, and Mercury Award winner Roni Size will play his only Irish date of the year a fortnight earlier (16th). Tickets for all three are on sale from Ticketmaster now.
Another big d'n’b event just announced is at The Savoy in Cork on November 17th, when Pendulum with MC Verse will be supported by Jet Li and Source. 
The next Soma vs Nice N Nasty night is at Pod on July 21st. Marco Bernardi aka Octogen brings his live electro and banging techno show to town. Fellow Soma act Funk D’Void, aka Lars Sandberg, (a Scotsman living in Barcelona) makes his first trip to Dublin in well over a year to play Pogo on July 22nd.
And on Thursday July 20th, the capital’s long-running techno club Electric City launches at its new weekly home in Wax with a residents’ party featuring Giles Armstrong, Eddie Brennan, Simon Conway, Barry Donovan, Dan Power and Rian Ryan … THE BEAT GOES ON!