Trance for the memories

There are two Irish tunes on the new Armin van Buuren compilation album, A State of Trance, which is released this month on Resist/Armada. The Dutch DJ has re-edited John O’Callaghan’s remix of Mike Foyle’s ‘Shipwrecked’ to use as the double-CD set’s intro, and he has also included O’Callaghan’s new collaboration with Bryan Kearney, ‘Exactly’.
The latter looks set to be one of the biggest trance anthems of the summer. The world’s number one DJ, Paul van Dyk, has declared it to be “one of my favourite tunes right now”, and a storming new remix from Vandit is being caned by British clubland’s big guns.
Navan-based star O’Callaghan has launched a new techno spin-off project, Elevator Dance-Off, and the first single ‘Joint Operations Centre’ has been signed by the Dutch label Midway, which will be banging it out in September with a Marc van Linden remix. Tiesto, incidentally, loves it.
Hedrock Valley Beats fans should keep an eye out for Decky Hedrock’s new outfit, The Japanese Popstars. He’s teamed up with Gary Curran (the DJ that gave Decky his first gig) and Galo, a fellow Northern DJ who had some success with his re-edits of well-known tracks.
Apart from extensive club work, the trio have been busy in the studio and their first track, ‘Rodney Trotter’, has caused a big stir among the breaks fraternity and in turn aroused much British record company interest. Catch the lads in action at the Celtronic festival in Derry on June 30.
Cork dance/soul collective Cartoon recently released their debut album, Ban the Use of Jazz Music, on their Some Operation label. It follows a string of successful EPs on the ultra-hip Brique Rouge label run by French house music icon, David Duriez.
The eight-piece’s hard-earned reputation on the live circuit means they are bound to be one of the highlights of the Garden Party at Ballinlough Castle in Co Meath on June 4. (See elsewhere this issue for full details on the inaugural festival.)
The Dennis Ferrer remix of Cork’s house outfit Fish Go Deep featuring Tracey K’s ‘The Cure and the Cause’ is included on the new Fabric 28 album, which is sublimely mixed by the Wiggle boys, Terry Francis and Nathan Coles.
New albums surfacing this fortnight include Jimpster’s deep and soulful Amour (Freerange), his third official artist album, and Afterlife’s heavenly chill-out session, The Afterlife Lounge (ILabel), an ideal Ibiza companion which sees creator Steve Miller hook up with the likes of Chris Coco, Kid Stone and Dos Hombres.
Matthew Herbert’s sweet and soulful Scale (!K7) veers from avant garde to pop with the aid of his partner Dani on vocal duties and all manner of wild orchestration. Aquarian Moon’s Onuslade (BBE) keeps the house beats but adds sweeping cinematic soundscapes – it’s big and clever.
Transferring one’s old worn-out vinyl collection onto a hard-drive or CDs is a time-consuming affair, so until someone opens a one-stop shop for .wav files of dance music’s history, albums such as The Hacienda do a most helpful job.
There are many contemporary compilations on the same tip. Café Mambo: Ibiza 2006 (Defected) is compiled by the aforementioned Afterlife and Pete Gooding, and has 26 choice chillout cuts in their full-length glory.
Various Artists: NRK Singles 8 (NRK) rounds up the top UK house label’s output from the past 12 months (and comes with a free mix CD put together by Italy’s DJ Ralf). And if you really love the live DJ mixing thing, then Cristian Varela’s relentless techno onslaught Intecnique 02 (Intec) is as good as it gets this month.
Signum’s all-time trance classic (first released in the mid-‘90s) ‘What Ya Got For Me’ – the biggest selling Tidy Trax single ever – is being re-released this month on Armada alongside a stunning new track, ‘Supersonic’. The Germans headline the trance room at Revolution 3 on June 16 at The Vaults in Dublin.
Also due out this month on Armada are top-notch new singles from M.I.K.E (‘Voices from the Inside’) and label boss Armin van Buuren (‘Control Freak’). The latter comes with a Sander van Doorn remix.
Timmy Vegas and Barbara Tucker’s ‘Dutty Funk (We Can Do)’ has been confirmed as the main bed for the ‘beauty spot’ of every match shown during the BBC’s World Cup coverage.
On the clubbing front, the second annual Trade festival at Blackwater Hotel in Wexford on June 24 features Andy Farley, Ian M, BK, Steve Thomas, Rachel Auburn and yours truly. Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.
Planet Love has been confirmed for Shane’s Castle in Co Antrim on September, and it will be headlined by the aforementioned Paul van Dyk. Full line-up details next issue … THE BEAT GOES ON!