Beats from the Ford Of The Elderflowers

This is Johnny Pluse, Bitches

Trim. It's name derived from Baile Átha Troim, or "Ford of the Elderflowers". I'm no toponymist (I just googled "Trim" purely out of idle interest), but back in my childhood I'm sure I'd have seen the link, incredibly clearly. Every year we would make two visits to Trim, to visit an elderly great aunt, who, being a nun, lived in the Mercy Convent in Trim, and indeed all I really saw were Elders, going about in quiet institutional fervor. Aunt Kathleen, or Sister Raphael as she was known, took holy orders close to the age of 40, having served as a nurse with the British army, mostly I believe in India. She smoked her last cigarette as she walked in the gates of the convent all those years ago to begin a new life, and became both a nun and a music teacher. I think music, along with my Father's sympathetic distraction techniques, helped get me through those visits, as there was a rather nice piano, and on a few occasions I got to sneak a shot on the chapel's organ. Apart from that, it was pretty dull to a kid, despite the genuine kindness of the nuns to visitors (ie. Jelly & ice-cream/biscuits etc). I never really saw any other part of the town, so my only perception of the place was based on a huge dark stone building populated by mostly elderly ladies, around whom you had to be on your best behavior...

Johhny Pluse vs Trim Castle

Flash forward, and imagine my amusement and delight when I find that Trim today is a hotbed for bangin' beats and thundering bass! No longer is it the bubble of boredom I experienced as a child, but the vibrant home of Bulabeats Records. Yes Massive, County Meath is kickin, and just to prove the fact, Bulabeats Bossman Johnny Pluse

is back with another EP, "The Big Sounds & Noise" (Cat No. BB0056), the promo blurb of which reads (rather honestly!) "This Might be Moombah or Dancehall was not sure...But These Tunes have been Tried and Tested and they go off!!!". The 4 track E.P. is a slight departure from his usual style, with the press release further explaining, "JP has infused some dub Inspired Sounds over Tight Drums and Speaker Shattering Bass to create some original 110Bpm club friendly Floor Smashers". My fave so far (due to my love both of reggae and mid-tempo breaks) is the The Sunshine Skank, which in celebration of the E.P.'s release is available for free download from Soundcloud for a limited time (I imagine). Check it out:

This is in fact the only track I've been able to play out so far, but below you'll find the complete E.P. preview, and you can go get it from JUNO on Monday 12th August. While you're over there getting "The Big Sounds & Noise" you can check out Mr. Pluse's impressive discography, along with previous Bulabeats releases, including all that tasty Nu-/Ghetto/Bass Funk (whatever-ya-call-it) from the very talented Dusty Tonez. Let me know how you get on, or better still, let Johnny know! You'll catch him on Facebook, or curating the Bulabreakdown blog.

That's all for today, gotta hit the town and do a little planning for an October event (still under wraps for the moment, but you'll hear about it soon right here!), then on to Doyles Bar for a Thursday night session...

Irie!