Felix Da Housecat, Mini & G O'Brien @ Aria

Only a few weeks after Loco Dice's outstanding appearance at Aria, the Montréal afterhour club welcomed Felix Da Housecat last Friday for another great night of partying.


The Rue Saint-Denis venue welcomed a mixed crowd of partygoers and Aria regulars, creating an exceptional ambiance. A warm party vibe spread thru the crowd like wildfire from the first notes of Mini's opening set to the last of G O'Brien's. But on to the main course…

Some will argue that Felix is not the smoothest deejay on the planet. That may be true, but one cannot deny his unequalled instinct: the guy will play anything, and always at the right moment. It can be quite disconcerting at times, as going from rock to minimal in just a few minutes can be a bit strange, but one has to trust Da Housecat and just go along for the rocket ride.

Rock, house, electro, techno, minimal, disco – whatever he feels like playing - if it's good, well, it's good. Enjoy it, 'cause we only get too few evenings like this one.

Felix started his set with "Jack U", his classic collaboration with P. Diddy and followed it with another of his own productions, the Adult remix of "Silver Screen Shower Scene" featuring Miss Kittin's lovely vocals. A nice start, as if Da Housecat intentionally decided to shove his own tracks out of the way, giving himself the freedom to take his set in any direction.

Here's a shortlist of just a few of his other picks:

A few tracks from Soulwax's Nite Versions ("NY Lipps", "Miserable Girl" & "Krack"), 3 Depeche Mode remixes ("The Pain That I'm Used To", "Precious" and "Enjoy the Silence"), Hot Chip's "Over & Over", the original versions of Nirvana's "Lithium" and Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People", The white label cut of Prince's "Controversy", The Tiga remix of LCD Soundsystem's "Tribulations", The Rolling Stones' "Emotional Rescue" (the same version Tiga plays, off a 2004 white label I think), Underworld's "Born Slippy", Ame's "Rej", The Sebastian Ingrosso remix of Dronez vs Metallica's "Dancin", the James Holden (or Martinez? – don't remember) remix of Nathan Fake's "The Sky Was Pink" and the Vitalic remix of Miss Kittin & The Hacker's "1982", as well as the original version of "Frank Sinatra".

The most shocking track he played was definitely Marilyn Manson's classic mid-90s hit "The Beautiful People": such an unexpected song to hear in an afterhour club. Frankly, it was a disturbing experience, not so much because the song might've felt out of place but because the fact that Felix played it in a set full of RETRO songs might've made just a few of us feel a bit old. The 90's are over, but is it already time to start preparing for a 90's revival?

Whatever the case may be Felix delivered the goods in ample quantity. We never have enough of these wonderful parties, and last Friday was unquestionably a night to remember. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Aria gained a few regulars out of Montréal's electro crowd. People were expecting a lot, and that's exactly what they got out of Da Housecat: a memorable performance from the Chicago deejay that helped define the sound of the early millennium, and who promises to keep things interesting for years to come.

Felix Da Housecat and Aria are on the web.