Max HeyraudThis week’s Mix Of The Week entry is fresh off the presses, as Lunaks and OisínOK share their live set direct from Fuinneamh, where they took to the coveted Ogham Alignment Stage last Sunday for a blistering 90 minutes of modern techno.
This year’s Fuinneamh was a stellar showcase of just how much local talent is brewing across the isle of Ireland, and few acts made quite as much noise over the weekend as Lunaks and OisínOK. Taking over what has become one of the festival’s homes of techno, the duo delivered a no-holds-barred, mid-day showcase of contemporary techno, moving between steppy, glitchy and grainy grooves into punishing, loop-driven cuts.
Tracks mixed with ferocity and intensity, yet always with a measured, deliberate touch. Both DJs brought distinctly different flairs in terms of selection and approach. Chaotic, then calm; tough, then instinctive; visceral, then considered. Rather than competing for space, those differences became the driving force behind the set, creating a constant tug-of-war that seeped from the booth into the crowd, who were firmly in the palms of both selectors’ hands.
B2Bs only really work when each artist is adding something to the equation. Pushing the other DJ somewhere they might not have gone alone, bringing out the best in one another and taking the set somewhere greater than the sum of its parts. Here, that was most certainly the case. One would head in a particular direction, with the other immediately tuning into that energy and pushing it one, if not two, steps further.
When two local DJs are among the talk of the festival, it says plenty about the strength of techno coming out of Ireland right now. More importantly, it proves that local artists can be given a serious platform on a successful festival stage and rise to the occasion. Bravo to Lunaks and OisínOK, and bravo to the Fuinneamh programmers for putting them there.