Northern Lights

DSNT presents the Belfast Electronic Festival at Brown’s Warehouse on Saturday November 5. Twenty-five local and Irish bands and DJs are lined up, guaranteeing the biggest show to date, with three stages full of talent. Perc, Cave DJs, Dan Sykes and Michael Forshaw are a very small handful of the acts to look forward to. Last year’s BEF tickets sold-out fast, so visit dsnt.co.uk/tickets immediately to avoid disappointment.

10th Planet are bringing the fabulous Dinky over on November 12 for a three-hour set in Crawdaddy, Dublin. This heavy-hitting DJ and producer from Santiago in Chile has four successful albums under her belt along with running her own Horizontal Records label. She’s also the envy of many, as the resident DJ at the prestigious Panorama Bar in Berlin. See myspace.com/dinkydj.
Malahide techno don Brian Taaffe, who’s creating huge interest with the just released ‘Make Me Famous’, has another tune in the pipeline that’s been assembled with Dublin DJ, promoter and producer David De Valera. If you harbour your own turntablist ambitions, Mr. De Valera is also hosting an eight-week DJ course at The Pod, Dublin starting on November 7. For more details check facebook.com/daviddevalera myspace.com/djbriantaaffe.
Straight from Toronto, Canada Azari & III make their Irish debut in Dublin’s Crawdaddy on November 5. The quartet, whose growing fan club includes Annie Mac, Boyz Noize and Broken Social Scene, are reminiscent of the ‘90s Detroit scene, and recently picked up a Track Of The Season gong at the 2011 Ibiza DJ Awards. We can also heartily recommend their eponymous debut album, which in addition to CD and digital is available as a very limited-edition vinyl package. Sign up to their azariandiii.com mailing-list to get a free Creep remix of one of its standouts, ‘Manic’.
SideTracked Dublin celebrate their second birthday on November 10 in The Bernard Shaw with Jevan Neilan, Niall Darcy, Cian Murphy, Kevin Aiken and Shane Gormley among those taking to the decks/laptops.
“This night is going to be something special,” promises main promoter and resident DJ Daire Carolan. “It’s great to be celebrating two years, feels not that long but still such an achievement.” There’s also a December 3 blowout to look forward to in the Twisted Pepper where Chris Wyse, Mark Alton and former Hot Press-er Gavin Feeney are among those appearing. Check out facebook.com/sidetracked.dublin for details.
The Cork scene is about to get bumpy and loud, but in a good way! Radikal Guru has his Rootstepa LP launch happening on November 4 in The Pavilion. Known for his reggae/dubstep mash-ups, Radikal Guru, aka Matthew Miller, arrived in Cork six years ago from Poland with an admiration for “the sounds of the Asian Underground”, and a tendency to experiment with dub and a wide variety of sub-genres. The night’s DJ line-up also features the World Bass Culture collective, ManG, Spetz, Kukura, Almer and T–Lab. The special guest MC is Cian Finn, a singer from the west coast of Ireland known for his work with the band Intinn. See myspace.com/radikalgurumasterplan.
It’s not even Christmas yet and Dublin’s favourite girl and Radio 1 superstar Annie Mac already has a gift for us in the shape of her Annie Mac Presents 2011 Compilation. The two-disc package includes choice cuts from the aforementioned Azari & III, Sebastian, Jack Beats, Jami xx, SBTRKT and Calvin Harris, to name but six. The accompanying AMP tour brings Ms. MacManus to Belfast’s Stiff Kitten superclub on November 12, go to anniemacpresents.com.
Finally, it’s “happy birthday” to Derry club night La Musique, which turned four recently in Sandino’s. DJs Jean Luc Van Dance and Dolly Devereaux are responsible for bringing in biggies like Alex Metric, Hystereo, Strip Steve, Evil Nine, Filthy Dukes and local heroes The Japanese Popstars for the Saturday night fun and house, electro and techno games. See facebook.com/people/LaMusique-Derry/100000071913296.