It’s been a wet, tense summer and our nightlife has responded in kind. Steamy, sweaty hotspots feature veteran DJs slinging therapeutic grooves for a stress-crazed public desperately primed for dance floor hypnagogia. As festival crowds and their mainstream tastes tempt tourists and promoters, the abstract, possibly escapist and certainly hedonist draw of electronic music is contrasted in sharp detail.
Montrealers have seen world-renowned electronic music artists Richie Hawtin, Radioslave, Joris Voorn, Bonobo, Ed Rush, Hightone, Goth-Trad and Plastician visiting over the last few months. We heard two of Detroit’s Big Three last weekend alone: Juan Atkins at Parking and Kevin Saunderson at shadowy new club Panthère Noire. It’s easy to miss the fact that a new generation of local artists have established themselves as bona fide pros in the ever-swirling landscape of Montreal’s scene.
Event organizers, renovators, soundmen and resident DJs at St-Denis’s diminutive Pearl club, Fancy Fhreek and Minimanimal have built a welcoming home for DJs, dancers and socialites with their Tek-mission weekly. Shifted to Friday since the spring, Tek-mission added a killer sound system and barbecue to their growing list of improvements. Friday, Aug. 14, Pearl welcomes the entire Eresys collective behind the mixing board, namely Le Boucher, Mono-poly, Fu Ancko, Sequential Factory, Kressel and Yan Leigh, promising "100 per cent pure techno on the musical side." Low ceilings and a small dedicated dance room, like at Passeport next door, afford listeners at Pearl a concentrated blast of sonic enlightenment via bass (info: www.eresys.ca).
Fancy Fhreek gets a well-deserved chance to guest DJ Saturday with Ira Sentesy and Jan Pienkowski at their dual b-day jam (at Les Passages, 951 Rachel E.). More than a simple evening of techno, beer and practical jokes, the night also marks the launch of Ono Records’ new 3-D concept: three-dimensional visual projections created on the spot by VJs Pink Rubber Lady, Jocool and Marxel3D for audience members wearing those cellophane trip machine glasses they give you at Imax (info: www.onorecords.com).
Passeport’s Forward Thursday continues to host a variety of alternative genres as dubstep, breaks, techno, grime and more struggle for dance floor supremacy. Basement Maxx is joined by Bijoux at tonight’s (Aug. 6) full-moon shindig; Dialect and Pinky 38 square off against Construct and Lazerface Aug. 13. Residents Wally and Rhys Taylor preside.
Salon Daomé remains a favourite for four-on-the-floor seekers, the sombre crimson interior, dark hardwood floors and creepy idols, bongos and carved hand-shaped chairs lending a tribal aura where house, tech-house and swinging grooves rule the roost. Microzoo’s long-running Dizzyphunk weekly cruises into August with wiz beatcraftsman Soundshaper joining resident Nathan Burns this coming Tuesday, Aug. 11, Gabo and resident Maus the next week, and Archipel.cc head honcho Pheek, perhaps Montreal’s most celebrated manufacturer of abstract and experimental minimal techno, Aug. 25 (microzoo.ca). Acclaimed producer of slick melodic techno for Force Inc, Harthouse and Kompute, Billy Dalessandro performs at Daomé, Aug. 15. Thursday nights have been refitted to host monthly events: Mr. Sounderson and Mr. Honeydrop, a.k.a. Zest, join resident Mir at Fricoti’s eagerly awaited monthly tonight; Noerg presents tech-house DJs Olivier Saint-Germain and Jeff Fontaine next week (info: www.noerg.com).
Pour some on the curb for Ravemontreal.com. The popular bilingual message board celebrated its 10-year anniversary and announced their end of operations in July. Founder Creator DJs with James Holden at Piknic, Sept. 5. That same weekend, brace yourself for the triumphant rebirth of a renovated Stereo, our city’s best afterhours club and world famous for the quality of its house music, sound system and staff (stereo-nightclub.com).
12-inch of the week: Jerome Sydenham makes his Drumcode debut with a pounding hypnotic remix of Joel Mull and Adam Beyer’s equally devastating Forming Dies (DC54).
