Norman Jay, one of the hottest house DJs in the UK, is bringing his Good Times Sound System to Koh in Dublin. It’s all going down on the Sunday of the upcoming Bank Holiday Weekend. Norman has been the king–pin of warehouse parties since the ’80s, with Good Times... drawing 15,000-strong crowds to its annual Notting Hill Carnival party. And he was awarded an MBE in ‘02 for his contributions to music! His upcoming Dubin gig is a unique chance to see a legend in an intimate setting. “Expect a rollercoaster ride of the best in black music,” he reflects. “I love coming to Ireland and I’m really looking forward to this gig.” normanjay.com.

The leaves are falling but the festivals keep coming. In honour of Halloween, Samhain is going down at Glendalough House, Wicklow on October 27. Loads of time to get tickets for this spooky event, which includes Nina Kraviz, Marcel Dettman, Todd Terje, Solar Bears, Frank B and New Jackson among its line-up. Four stages, over 40 acts, BYOB, fancy dress. Simples! Check samhain-festival.com
Speaking of festivals, Bodytonic’s sixth annual Beatyardbash takes place in Dublin from October 19–28. It’s a collaborative event with a huge list of promoters teaming up. Among the highlights is a special 25th anniversary gig by Cork production duo Fish Go Deep! who play on the opening in the Twisted Pepper. the-beatyard.com has all the details.
On the subject of the Real Capital, promoters Riseup, Dubculture and Bastardo Electrico Recordings return to The Pavilion and are bringing some immense techno, dubstep and bass music with them. Joining forces, they’ve lined up DJ Mag Best Producer nominee Trevino (aka Marcus Intalex) for an October 18 performanvce. Trevino’s next release has been confirmed with 3024 Records. elasticartists.net/artist/trevino/
Say hello to Anti–PoP, a new party night going down once a month at different Dublin locations. The sound policy is deep house, house and new disco; their ethos is to build a community with a shared sensibility. Anti–PoP’s next event takes place in The Grand Social and features Coma, a Cologne production duo signed to Kompact Records. Coma’s last EP, My Orbit, was a huge success, notching up over 120,000 Soundcloud plays. Catch them on October 11, with support from Swag, Nando PGM and Manjero. residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?507089
I’ve been grooving to my favorite Belgium label Eskimo Records – specifically the first instalment of their new Pink Collection series. It features tracks from among others Majestique, Martin Brodin, Kasper Bjorke, Holy Models, ATTAR!, Satin Jackets and Copy Cat. Eskimo Records was set up in ‘00 by The Glimmers and released particularly tasty tunes by Lindstrom, Prins Thomas and Aeroplane. eskimorecordings.com/newsdetail.php?idn=4163
Dublin producer Rory O’Connor has hit me up with his new release, ‘Gotta Prove It’, out now on English imprint Electro Juice. Next up for this deep and tech house producer is a two–tracker with Irish label Redbox Records. ‘Gotta Prove It’ has already been championed by Spanish producer D–Formation. Show your support by catching the man himself, spinning at Cork’s Long Island Bar on October 19 and November 2!