Best of 2025 | Albums | Guestlists | Irish Albums | Irish songs |
The Irish Times label him as the ’45 King’ and Baz Hickey has earned the right to be described as such. As the only Irish member of the worldwide 45 Live DJ crew alongside heavyweights like Mr. Thing, DJ Format and Coldcut’s Matt Black, he continues to push vinyl culture through new reviews on the website as well as hosting a monthly show on French station Radio Krimi.
1.
Delu Kanam – Mafaro
This is Delu Kanam’s debut release entitled ‘Mafaro’. Led by label producer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ Matt Davies AKA Dirty Hairy, this ensemble’s infectious African groove shines through. We’re talkin’ pure dancefloor heat that will live long in the play box.
2.
DJ Dard & Box-On – Will You Come To Me?
Simply put, this is a Sasquatch feet pounding powerhouse of a track. This track is a big dirty unshackled ‘eff off’ to those who leave this soulstress waiting in line for love. The crew waste no time in charming our ruddy pants off once more.
3.
Smoove – Prerogative (Boogie Mix)
Settle down on taking the moral high ground with these cheeky Wack releases. Take a wacky chill pill. Producer to the stars Smoove let’s no time slip in churning out another clutch of heat rocks for the club massive. He strikes gold once again on this release, boasting some heavyweights from the 80’s to work his sorcery on.
4. Method Man & Busta Rhymes (Remix)
Tom Caruana delivers a masterclass in how to move the crowd and hit all the dopamine spots you never knew existed with the aid of raw materials from Meth, Bussa and Jimi Hendrix. This one simply knocks it straight out the park.
5.
Double A – Not Your Legal Type Of Fella
It is fair to surmise that Double A ain’t your legal typa fella. From an artistic viewpoint, he breaks all the rules when he approaches a project and on this clutch of edits he blows the effin doors clean off. Rearranged, reconfigured and put back together for complete dancefloor obliteration.
6.
Mark-Ski – Back In The Day
The producer provides an infectious funky rolling bassline loop for Rasheed Chappell to spit rhymes over on the track ‘Back In The Day’. Over on the flip, we jump head first into neck snap land on ‘Dry Sockets’.
7.
Blunted Soul & Declaime aka Dudley Perkins – Space Debris
Here’s some outernational adrenalin-fuelled hip hop from the Blunted Beats label. ‘Space Debris’ is a record that yells ‘BEEP!!!!’ on our interstellar quality control radar. It’s a real treat for all the rap 45 fiends out there and trust me when I say we’re dealing with a lot of science on this one.
8.
Ney Faustini – Promessas
The producer has road tested these edits in digital format but thanks to some smart minds at Beijinho do Brasil we now have both cuts on glorious forty-five. What we’re dealing with is two sides of certified heat, with some teflon coated drums to boot. Two heavyweight cuts from producer Ney Faustini on this brand new label Beijinho do Brasil.
9.
Cheeky Boy – Once Upon A Plastic Time
This little scamp has served up a double dose of doozies that will turn a small mingling into a heaving crowd when dropped in the club. ‘Once Upon A Plastic Time’ channels all that curious Byrne braggadocio into a glorious party DJ track thanks in no small part to some sample source action that perfectly compliments the Heads groove.
10.
Soothsayers – Love Will Find A Way feat. Maia Avery & Akin Soul (Victor Rice Mixes)
Sound those horns and mute those jingle bells! It is the glorious return of reggae high priests Soothsayers for it is they who we have relied upon to lift the spirits when all seems lost. Give it up for the crew for blessing us for this slice of reggae with a message of love for this holiday season.
Best of 2025 | Albums | Guestlists | Irish Albums | Irish songs |
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
