News From The Dance Scene

Temple Theatre’s Darren Flynn has recorded a single with current teen dance phenomenon Mauro Picotto. Flynn made the headlines earlier this year when his ‘The Smoke’ 12” was nominated for Best Dance Track at this year’s Smirnoff Dance Awards despite the fact that there was only one copy in existence!

Picotto, who reached number two on the charts here with ‘Komodo’, is currently the darling of the young Irish clubber. Flynn’s track will be released during the summer on Nukleuz across the water, and on Picotto’s Media stamp throughout the rest of Europe…

Jay Pidgeon and Raff’s latest single on their Raffdagaff label, ‘Safe Distance’, shows huge promise that hasn’t gone unnoticed in the UK – the pair have just had their first remix accepted by Virgin Records offshoot Nebula and are currently working on a remix of The M Experience’s ‘Rock Your Body’ for Redemption… Mister Spring’s Fundemental single The Premature Ejaculation EP is followed this month by the double album ZX2001, which has been licensed through Edel to most of the major European territories…

Mowax’ers The Psychonauts are the special guests on April 14th when Beatsuite returns to Morrison’s in Belfast. Skate fans will also be able to feast their eyes on the latest videos from Point Seven Five Clothing… Not content with having his new album drooled over by the UK and Irish media, Firstborn supremo Oisin Lunny mans the SL1200s again at The Shelter on April 20th. His Feel No Pain: It’s A Northern Soul Thing! co-conspirator for the night is Ray O’Reilly… Why import DJ talent when there’s plenty of it on our own doorstep? The Kitchen is the venue on April 20th as local boys done good Glen Brady, Arvene, Back To Back and Red Settaz do their respective house and techno things… In what could prove to be one of the year’s most interesting collaborations, David Bowie has recorded a version of the classic ‘Nature Boy’ with Massive Attack. Described by the still-Thin White Duke as "a riveting piece of work", it’s already been co-opted onto the soundtrack of Baz Luhrman’s new film, Moulin Rouge…

Horan’s resident Paudi Cronin’s profile is set for a boost in the coming months – his stunning single ‘Automate’ (co-produced by Junior Coffee) is released on DJ Q and Under The Counter’s Cordless label in May. Beats & Pieces rates it as one of the most accomplished tracks we’ve ever heard… Dublin based UMack collaborators Anodyne and Deep Burial both have tracks featured on Si Begg’s new compilation album The Death Of Cool Part 2. Anodyne’s ‘Breakbeat Exp. 9’ and Deep Burial’s ‘Gimme That Wine’ sit beside tracks from internationally renowned producers like Neil Landsrtumm, Jamie Lidell and Mouse on Mars. Another U:Mack collaborator, Ambulance, have their eponymous second EP out this month on Front End synthetics…

The recommended third single on Dublin drum‘n’bass label Bassbin sees Zero Tolerance opt for an old vs new school soundclash on ‘Catfight’, while Beta 2 gets all dreamy and melodic on ‘Make U See’… Belfast based Slide Recordings is also up to its third release – Discojuice from SD Grooves (aka DJ Gavin Wilson) is a deep and funky tribal groove with production as tight as a pair of nipple clamps!…

Robbie Nelson makes his debut on BBC1FM’s Essential Mix on April 29th with a two-hour set being recorded live at Fusion in Derry on Easter Monday. Robbie, Fergie and David Holmes are the only Irish DJs who have been invited on to the hugely popular BBC1FM show… Exposure at Julian’s in Swinford has just gone weekly and is going from strength to strength on Saturdays with residents Jonathon Rice, Allan Nous and Dave Hegarty… Big parties this Easter weekend include Deep Dish (playing a six hour set at Red Box) and Gatecrasher (at the now 8,000 capacity Odyssey Arena). Full details in What’s On… And finally, congratulations to Metisse members Aida and Scully, who had a baby boy last week. “Metisse is now officially a three-piece,” jokes the proud dad. “We’ve finally got the drummer we were looking for.” Congratulations also to Stevie G and Aran Macmahon – they haven’t had a baby but their Brown Sugar club just celebrated its 2nd birthday… THE BEAT GOES ON! (MK)