It’s Hard House But Somebody’s Got To Do It

One of Irish dance music’s all-time classics has just been remixed by two hard house DJs from the UK, JP & Jukesy, who run the Deprivation record label. 2FM dance show host Mister Spring’s ‘Voyager’ was first released on the then Judge Jules-run Manifesto Records in 1997. The new mix has the full backing of Springer, BEATS & PIECES has been told, although the 2FM presenter has denied any knowledge of what he is claiming is a bootleg hard house mix of his original, as it’s just a speeded up variation with tougher kick drums and hi-hats. However, Voyager 2004 is credited to Mr Spring, and it’s on Deprivation’s sister label JPJ. Sources close to the 2FM presenter have suggested further non-hard house mixes are in the pipeline …
Another Irish single worth sniffing out, even though it’s not strictly dancefloor-aimed, is God Is An Astronaut’s majestic ‘Fragile’, which will be followed in the New Year by their second album on Revive, When Everything Dies … Definitely for the dancefloor is ‘Unbelievable’ by Dublin duo Splitloop, out later this month on top UK breaks label Sinister. Already being caned on BBC 1FM by Annie Nightingale, the tune has received much club play from breaks scene leaders like Plump DJs and Hyper (more on him below). Splitloop recently signed a four-album deal to UK label Supercharged (home to Krafty Kuts, Freestylers and Skool of Thought), and they are currently working on their debut album Here On Business, which is due out in April, to be followed by a UK tour ...
Irish trance bods Kevin McKinney and John O’Callaghans have their ‘Frostbite’ single, released under the Siberian Sun moniker, to United Records new label Dedicated. It will be released with a Fred Baker remix in December … Irish folktronica bods, Cane 141 – Sandra Friel, Colm Hogan and Michael Smalle – from Galway, whose name was inspired by The Go-Betweens’ cult classic ‘Cattle And Cane’, have signed their Flutters For Cuts EP to Play Recordings, who release it this month with a Christian Vogel remix … Dublin hard dance label Hard Sounds has signed Aftermath’s gargantuan ‘Basuco Beat’ for its second release …
Oh No is the son of soul singer Otis Jackson, nephew of jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis and brother of hip-hop producer Madlib. Oh No’s debut album is as diverse as his family heritage might indicate. The Disrupt is out now on PIAS. Also out about now and worth checking out are The Kings Of Disco (glitterball delights mixed by Dimitri From Paris and Joey Negro, released on BBE), Faith 3 (house collectables chosen by Terry Farley and Stuart Patterson, on NRK), and the Soma Compilation 2004 (featuring all your favourite stars from the Scottish label, Slam, Envoy, Funk D’Void and Mark Broom) …
This year’s DJ Magazine Top 100 DJs Poll saw a record-breaking 91,481 clubbers voting Olympic Games opener, Tiesto, as the World’s No1 DJ. It’s the third year in a row he came top (yawn) … Congratulations to Irish DJ Keith Allen, who came third in a recent Battle Royale for hard dance DJs at Turnmills in London, the venue that’s home to Trade and The Gallery… And congratulations to U:Mack, pioneering Dublin electronica promoters and record label types Alan O’Boyle and Paul ‘Punk’ Timoney, two of the most endearing and affable characters to have graced the Irish club scene this past decade. And in O’Boyle’s case, one of the most musically gifted too. The pats on the back are for reaching their 10th anniversary, and naturally enough there’s a mother of a meltdown, which takes place at Vicar Street on November 27th. The all-star line-up includes Plaid, Shellac, Redneck Manifesto, The Bug, and Decal and hey with a line-up like that you can appreciate why there’s strictly no guest list …
Thoughts of Christmas and New Year are now prominent in most minds. The hotpress office is already in yuletide mode, with the compilation of next year’s Music Industry Directory underway. DJs, promoters, producers and clubs should get their listings updated and submitted to [email protected]. For those who just want to end the year with a bang, then news of the following parties should whet your appetite for the festive season. Rotterdam legend Speedy J plays Electric City on December 30th … Roger Sanchez plays Spirit in Dublin on December 27th and Trinity Rooms in Limerick on December 28th … Redbox is hosting The Bond Ball on New Year’s Eve …
In the more immediate future, Tall Paul is at Hogan’s, Downpatrick, Co Down tomorrow (Friday 19th), SOI, Portrush, Co Derry and The Word, Belfast on Saturday (20th) … Acclaimed UK breaks DJ Hyper – behind the Distinct’ive Breaks label and Y4K compilations – is playing Breakbeat Therapy at TBMC tomorrow … Dublin act Liquid Wheel – now down to just two members, Lar Doyle and Jay Oglesby – will be previewing tracks from the follow-up to their debut album Candidates tomorrow night at The Sugar Club in Dublin with the backing of a full live band. The new opus, like its predecessor, was co-produced by Mister Spring, which is roughly where we came in …
THE BEAT GOES ON!