Electric dreams

Dance music shifts from its normal stomping ground of sweaty basement clubs to the opulent surrounding of The Electric Ballroom this year at Oxegen. Red Bull has decked out their club music tent with full on ‘30s style ballroom decor over the weekend of Friday 8 to Sunday 10 July to house, among others, Sven Vath, The Bloody Beetroots and Tiga. All three acts sold out their Dublin appearances last year to rave reviews and they’re joined on the line-up by a battalion of big acts including Bloody Beetroots mentor Steve Aoki, the bass-house royalty of Crookers, Afrojack and Fake Blood, veteran Justin Robertson and eclectic maestro Diplo. Find out more at www.redbull.ie

Arveene and Misk have been on a roll recently, with their mutant dancehall remix of The Japanese Popstars’ ‘Song For Lisa’ in particular picking up love from all corners. Their next single ‘10 K’, coming out on acclaimed London label Arcade Pony, gives producers the chance to get their hand on the parts and flip them for an upcoming remix competition. Hosted by one of the original and best dance blogs, Discobelle, the competition will see the winner included on a second remix package for the single, which is getting a full digital release later in the summer. The bits are hosted on Discobelle and you can download them at www.discobelle.net/2011/06/07/arveene-misk-10-k-favour-remix-competition/ Get the finished master piece to [email protected]
Cork’s finest, Corrugated Tunnel, make it a hat-trick with their latest release ‘The Rejection’ out this month. Following two of last year’s best Irish dance releases, ‘Remedy For My Soul’ and ‘Transist’ (both from their acclaimed 2010 album ‘Minor Obsessions’) the single once again features dark soulful vocals from Antoinette Dunleavy. The remix package keeps it Cork, with FishGoDeep teleporting clubbers back to the early ’90s with a tribute to their legendary Sweat night at Sir Henry’s. The ‘Sir Henrys ‘92’ has been singled out by misty-eyed DJs countrywide and is joined by the equally retro ‘Casio RZ1 Oldskool Mix’ from Dutch electro boffin Legowelt. For more info, check www.corrugatedtunnel.org
Irish electronica’s answer to Autechre and Aphex Twin, Anodyne is following up his successful ‘Corrosion’ album last year with a string of releases on separate Irish labels. ‘Destruction 808’ – a techno-edged stormer which lives up to its name – is out now on Sunil Sharpe’s Earwiggle label this month, along with his ‘Empires’ EP on Combat Recordings. Following up later in the year is his debut on up-and-coming Belfast label Acroplane, a mini-album called ‘War Of The Machines’. For more details check www.acroplane.org
The summer’s after-party season is kicked off by Dublin’s man of the moment Max Conte whose DeepIntoTheBowelsOfHouse operation bring us their After Life party on Saturday 25 June in a secret Dublin location running from 12 am - 8 am. Their tent at last month’s Life Festival was one of the big stand-outs. According to Max “we’ll be aiming for the same energy, people who were there will have a good idea of what to expect.
“The venue has a full bar too,” adds Max, “and we have a special guest planned for the night.” The event is ticket only. More info at [email protected]
Dublin’s Mercantile – sitting on the Dame Lane site of Irish clubbing landmark Sides – is adding another clubnight. Rebirth. It begins Saturday 25 June with a live set from The Preston Browne Project. A new deep disco and house band made up of old hands Darren B and Neil Preston will feature tech and deep house alongside indie and the occasional oldskool classic. Find out more at [email protected].