Before the world got too cynical, dance music used to be about inclusivity, protest and community as well as the inherent futurism in exploring the new human-machine interface. But while the ‘community’ or ‘scene’ is […]
Tag: house
The Mannheim Sound: Nick Curly and Marc Sholl pick their top 10 Cécille Records tracks
German electronic label Cécille Records is relaunching after going on “indefinite leave” in 2015 — rebooting a rich legacy of deep, minimal house and techno that became known as the ‘Mannheim Sound’. Founded in 2007 […]
Bicep taking it beyond the clubs
It’s been an extraordinary year for Belfast duo Bicep, who have made the leap from techno clubs to theatre venues on the back of their 2017 debut album, which joins the dots between techno house, […]
Leftfield interview: ‘Leftism live is an enormous output of emotion’
Ask any random person to recall 1995 in music and Britpop will come up right away. If you were to commission a talking heads nostalgia programme or a Q magazine special, you’d be searching for […]
Everything ship-shape: DGTL festival in Amsterdam
It’s still not warm enough to ditch your jacket and the sky is a hundred shades of grey, but we’re waiting on a ferry at the back of Amsterdam Centraal station – festival season is […]
House nation: Interview with Joey Negro
In this climate of reissues and retromania it’s easy to turn your nose up at major labels wringing pennies out of dormant rock acts with best-ofs or anniversary releases full of leftovers. Retrospectives in dance music generally […]
The Mothership lands: Octave One interview
ONE of my biggest thumbs up of 2014 was my first ever trek to Roermond in the Netherlands for the dance festival Solar Weekend — with Detroit techno legends Octave One a chugging, soulful highlight […]
Hitting the bullseye: Interview with Matador
GAVIN Lynch may have spent the last few months banging out techno at festivals worldwide and taking the controls as a resident at ENTER. in Ibiza, but the Dubliner is crashing back into domestic life […]
Ain’t misbehavin’: Interview with Annie Mac
THINGS move quickly in the world of Annie McManus. Within a week of this interview for her latest Annie Mac Presents compilation and club gigs in Belfast and Dublin, she’d sold out the Twisted Pepper and […]
Everything under the Sun: Solar Weekend in Roermond
IF YOU walk up to the entrance of a festival and you’re greeted by Rapunzel in a purple castle, you get the feeling you’ll be letting your own hair down for a few days. Rapunzel’s […]
Push the Sky Away: Primavera 2013, day three
Day three begins with a pact to massage the head and turn the dial down a notch, so we set up camp from 4pm in the 3,000 capacity Rockdelux Auditori, the indoor concert space in […]
It goes it goes it goes it goes: Primavera 2013, day one
There’s a level of smugness and one-upmanship that comes with Irish music fans’ annual pilgrimages to foreign festivals. Most of us are guilty of the gloating Facebook status updates and links to obscure headliners, the […]
Release the Pressure: Leftfield live in Dublin
The sweat’s dripping off the Tripod walls but MC Djum Djum is bringing Big Freeze chic indoors – bouncing around the stage in a puffy parka jacket. It’s a half an hour in and his […]
Moo Kid 