Aidan Hanratty and Antoin Lindsay preview all the very best electronic gigs, tracks and mixes of the week.
GIGS
Shine 20th Birthday at Queen’s Student Union
Saturday 31 October
The best lineup Shine has done in ages? Probably. The best option to spend Halloween in Belfast? Almost definitely. Local boys Bicep head the bill at the usual spot with a cracking raft of other DJs in tow. Heidi will be joining them in room 1 and in room 2 you can catch the blistering Ryan Elliott. One-half-Belfast AnD will be joined by Dublin’s primo techno supremo Sunil Sharpe. Plenty of choice all round then. AL
The Discotekken Halloween Bash 2015 at Tengu Izakaya
Saturday October 31
Ah, Halloween, the liminal period between autumn and winter, between the world as we know it and the spiritual world of the unknown. Let’s party, right? You’ve already seen our interview with Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti, who plays District 8 alongside I-F, The Horrorist and Umberto, among others, so let’s look at something a bit lighter in this column. Discotekken are putting on a night of house/techno/disco in one room and hip hop/reggae/afrobeat in another, with some of Dublin’s best DJs (Frank B, Platinumray). Fake blood given on arrival. AH
Mylo (DJ set) at Opium Rooms
Saturday October 31
Okay so this one isn’t cool or on it or anything, but MYLO! Best known – only known, let’s be honest – for that wonderfully concise album Destroy Rock & Roll (and a few excellent remixes), he’s done little since the mid-00s, bar a CD for Mixmag in early 2010. What he’ll play is anyone’s guess, but even if it’s not the coolest party this weekend it might be the most enjoyable. AH
TRACKS
Rezzett – Zik Zak [The Trilogy Tapes]
Fresh from a collab with Zomby, Rezzett definitely aren’t making themselves scarce lately. I don’t mind, of course, and ‘Zik Zak’ seems to be the first taster in what will be a new EP on The Trilogy Tapes. I can’t really understate how much I enjoy Rezzett’s music, I’m a total sucker for how everything they put out feels like it’s barely being held together, sounding like it could fall apart at any given moment. They’ve gone down the melodic, delicate route here (by their standards) but with all the scuzz you’d come to expect from them. AL
Greg Beato – When Monkeys Attack [Apron]
Few things will get me more excited than the words “new Greg Beato”, and they’re words I’ve heard nowhere near enough over the last few years. To my relief, everything I could have wanted is still here. Granted, we haven’t been privy to the full track yet, but it’s undeniably hypnotic, fun and raw as hell, which is basically what makes Greg Beato so great. Should be killer. AL
Xosar – Hathor Material
This is an odd one from Xosar, in that it’s not as playfully mischievous or angrily snarling as her usual work. That said it’s beautifully understated, seemingly an ode to the Egyptian goddess of, among other things, music and feminine love and music. It’s a far cry from last year’s seasonally minded Psychick Justice, but that’s no bad thing. AH
Macheteoxidado – Agua Santa Limpia Me [Shimmering Moods]
I’m sick so indulge this ambient excursion. Shimmering Moods go digital was this elegiac release, inspired by and dedicated to the 43 disappeared/kidnapped students in Iguala, Mexico. Heartfelt stuff. AH
RELEASES + MIXES
Attitudes in Error – Discus Mix #11
The other 2/3rds of the wonderful Acting Press label that aren’t PLO Man, Attitudes In Error keep it relatively short and sweet with this. There’s barely a kick drum in the whole thing either, it’s all distinctly ambient which is a bit of a departure from the breaks-y stuff that’s appeared on Acting Press to date. Lovely stuff nonetheless. AL
Tama Sumo – Beats in Space Show
Undeniably one of the finest selectors out there, Tama Sumo brings her ridiculous knowledge of disco, house and vibes to the Beats in Space show. You shouldn’t need any convincing to listen to this really. She was accompanied this week by Tornado Wallace, who also brought the groove. AL
Concrete/Field Meets Luke Lund – Induktio (Induction)
I can’t recall how I came across this snarling mess of noise, but it’s perfectly appropriate for this mind-melding time of year. Sonic blasts, metallic clank and an unending sense of dread, it’s one for the ages. AH
