Night Vision 2.23

Back to the Thursday slot, y'all !

I hope some of you really are planning your week-end according to my advices, because it's a bitch of a pain for me to do this on Thursdays, in between my Sumo practice and my breast-feeding sessions. I also have to put my fireman suit on the clothesline, and trim my Elvis moustache to look like John Waters once again.

May I offer a word of advice to the lost souls out there ? Arm yourself with supplies NOW, because the coming week-end will be an orgy of funked up moments all blended into one big fat good times memory in a few years.

To remember, take pictures. And to forget, indulge into a panoply of hedonistic pleasures. You only live once and, although my muslim office co-workers thinks my views on the afterlife are rather "simplistic", from my convinced atheist perspective, you might as well have fun while you're young and fun is, well... more "fun". Get it ?


News en vrac

Watch out : summer's here and it's either melt or move, boys & girls !


28/06

At Helm's Thursdays, you can have your every expectation met : Jeff Fontaine will fill your ears with nice beats, and the lovely Karine will fill your glass(es). Duo de choc for free !



Here's the deal : Gregor Tresher, Germany's answer to Israel's Guy Gerber (they're actually good pals & production partners), will shake the foundations of Parking alongside Mini. The floor will shake, and the ceiling will crumble, so raise your tiny fists in the air like snail antennas in the wind.



It's the Chronic Bass release party at Saphir's Mix Thursdays ! There's a Pad Class live show at midnight, a Poontz Vs Milton Clark tag team, a DJ Dialect set and of course, Deebass ! At Saphir, for a ridiculous 5$.

At Pas-Sages, Slovakia's Milos plays alongside Alexis Bowles and Diagraf. It's minimal madness in a pub setting, with no cover !


29/06

The Jazz Fest has begun ! There are several interesting things to hear and see, so head to their official website for an exhaustive schedule, and don't forget to scat !



At S.A.T., the Akarien boys are celebrating their 12th Électro-Chic party with another banger of a night. Clown opens the festivities, Axel Klein lets the intensity grow and at 12, Sean Kosa takes over for a maniacal performance. Omni closes the night from 1:30 'til the end, and you better be ready to have a rockin' good time !



For jackin' good times, get your groove on and head to Salon Daomé. A special Soulmeka night brings you Chicago's Gene Farris, and Leon Louder opens. Gene launches his new CD, "A Decade of Beats", and it will be sweet as hell.



After a week off, Loose Joints resume at Le Social, and this week it's Dave Shaw's great return. He's bringing along San Francisco's Robot Hustle, and the disco will flow like good champagne in a coffee mug. Bring it back !



At Olympia, the terrasse is opening and Allied Nations plays with Vega all night, for free. Can you beat that ? No you can't !


30/06

Lots of things are going on but two parties are falling right in the middle of our tastes :



The Nu Ravers on the Block party #5 brings you NYC's Junkies, with Jordan Dare and the Ravers themselves spicing up the bill. Wear your best fluo costume, pour vodka straight into your open mouth, and prepare to hear the dirtiest basslines around.



At Mile End Bar's Panorama night, an explosive guest is visiting from France : Oxia. It will be his first time in Montreal. And it will also be packed as hell ! Bender will warm up the crowd, and Oxia will finish you off with a deadly jab. His recent tracks are breath-takingly good, so don't sleep !


01/07

It's Canada day and you might as well start it on a good note : Piknic is temporarily moving to Jardin des Floralies for an edition filled with lush, funky and soulful house, all happening in a gorgeous garden near the Casino. The guests are all different in a way, but will probably go very well together : Alain Jackinsky, Miles Moore, Eddy Jasmin & London's Desyn Masiello. Do it for love !

At Saphir's Beat me Up, a surprise awaits : Sunday Luv is back ! With Sean "The Beast" Kosa as the guest, you can expect fireworks, Mary Hell's trademark blue underwear, candles flying through the room, the maple leaf as you've never seen it before, and rowdy music for rowdy people !



Olympia hosts one big motherfuckin' party : Israel's Infected Mushroom bring their psychedelic trance to town, and the openers alone are worth the admission price. Confused Recording's Bender and Citizen Recording's Sad Mafioso will heat up the room. Did you say... trippy ?

If there's any energy left in your dead body, and your feet aren't achin' too much, head over to Stereo where Deep Dish's Dubfire will finish you off, Mortal Combat-style. No sleep 'til Monday.


03/07



At DizzyPhunk, Nathan Burns welcomes Yaz. Set the Salon Daomé on fire, it's burnin' hawt !!


Next week

Bordello @ Bistro de Paris launches with a bang ! Omni hits Panorama ! Piknic gets very minimal ! And more, WAY more !

Until then, suffer well !

Night Vision 2.22

Happy birthday, quebecers ! It's time to hold hands in Parc Maisonneuve and chant along to the sounds of Paul Piché... not !

I've never had any reason to be excited about St-Jean Baptiste, except when I was underage in Shawinigan, and that the festive spirit of Québec was one of the many events where I was allowed to get piss drunk in public. I don't really believe in national pride, that one nation is better than another, or that I should celebrate my roots. Lumberjacks, fur traders and Duplessistes aren't that glorious.

But I'm personally touched when the time comes for everybody to scream "Party !" and drink like there's no tomorrow. While some of us will be in Laval to hear Mes Aïeux or in Québec City to walk on passed-out teenagers on the Plaines d'Abraham, I'll be takin' it easy, same as usual, with a few too many drinks anbd the best music in town.

[My apologies for last week's "missing edition", but I was hung over for two whole days after a rather heavy-boozed Piknic, and I was overloaded with work. We are definitly back on a weekly basis starting NOW.]


News en vrac

A little last minute, right, but nevertheless very worthy of mention : Gregor Tresher will be at Parking next Thursday, on June 28th. The man is one of the many production partners of the new Israeli genius Guy Gerber, and is about to release an ace album on Great Stuff Recordings, "A Thousant Nights". This is a night you won't want to miss.

A little early to mention it, OK, but UK electrorockers Simian Mobile Disco (of "Hustler" fame) will be at La Sala Rossa on Sept. 16th. Couldn't think of a worst spot for a dance party ? Us neither. But what the hell, let's all get mashed and pogo, and maybe we won't notice that the sound kit is SHIT.


22/06

All I have to say today is that people might take it easy and get their batteries reloaded for the big week-end ahead. BUT since we all like to have a drink in the sun, and that we have some vivid memories of their last few bashes together, we might head to Terrasses Bonsecours to hear the Quattrophonic boys throw it in our faces once more. Eloi Brunelle, François Lebaron, The Autist & Vega will tag team t'il death until 3 AM< which is candy to your ears, no doubt.

At Circus, techno connaisseurs will be glad to hear that Preach is back, alongside Driss & Viktor Destin. All night, homies.


23/06

St-Jean Saturday coincides with the start of an impressive week-end for Piknic Électronik : their fuckin' 5th anniversary ! Those of us who have been there from the start might want to shed a tear or two over the loss of our innocence, and the rest of you might want to get trashed and enjoy the beats; we'll personally choose both. To start the day on a good note, you can hear the Nu Ravers on the Block, MEN (two of Le Tigre's grrrllls in DJ format) and Frigid, as well as witness yet another iPod Battle.

At the Mile End Bar's Panorama, Bender battles Arsen, the booze flows, and all's good.



A new era of disco launches at Academy Dancehall : Compact Disco. The cozy spot on St-Laurent has previously seen its share of disco dancing folks, and it only made sense to a few old-schoolers in town to start a new monthly there. To mark the occasion, your friends Eduardo Cabral, Raw Soul, Dr. Love and Loose Joint's Chris Paré are all on the decks.



I know a guy who spends more time here than in his hometown of Boston, where he also works an office job. His ego is big enough; he had a t-shirt made with his name on it, spelled in CAPITAL letters. He has made the freshest bookings this city has seen in 2006 and so far in 2007, and is a party freak. His name is Jeff Grosse and he celebrates his birthday at Velvet, with newcomer Allied Nations ! Give the boy a big kiss on the butt.

If you're in the mood for a good old degenerate loft party, with none else than L.A.'s Guns & Bombs, head over to 254 Queen. Better be there early, as it will probably fill up fast and offers an extremely limited capacity. Going down from 10 to 6.


24/06

Can we say P-P-P-Piknic ? Nothing says "happy birthday" better than a sweet-ass dreamy minimal set by Millimetrik, followed by a soul-healing set by Montreal's best house DJ, Fred Everything. Now if this doesn't make you run to Ile Ste-Hélène, consider this : Josh Wink. Acid house, myths, and madness. Yes, those Piknic programmers are crazy, but that's the way we love 'em !

At Saphir, Mary Hell & Cherry Cola are keeping their guest a surprise, but they promise it will be a big one.


26/06

At Dizzyphunk, Mightykat goes solo all night. That always means that good things come to those who wait. Word. At Salon Daomé.


Next week

Night Vision returns to Thursdays ! Gregor Tresher overdoses ! Électro-Chic turns 12 ! Girl Talk, Oxia & Junkies come to town ! Infected Mushroom, Bender and Sad Mafioso clash @ Olympia ! And the Piknic gets an extra dose of soul !

Until then, raise your white & blue flag...

Night Vision 2.21

Since we barely survived the week-end, we won't really linger in explanations about life's big instruction manual. Let's just say that the Mutek marathon concluded on a nice note with a 4 hours crazy set by two very drunk & hairy Wighnomy Bros, and that Michael Mayer's 4h30 set at Metropolis the night before changed some people's lives. It certainly blew me away.

I've seen so many known faces during this wonderful week-end that I am re-assured I'm not alone in my everyday battle to fight off bad music and replace it with quality beats.

Summer's just starting, and that's the way to do it !


News en vrac

Ever heard about No Commercial Value ? These shadow warriors, Jason Deliz & Dave O'Brien, have been hard at work to come up with quality stuff for their label, and they're now launching it officially on June 14th at Saphir. They're also launching their first EP featuring Max Miles & Deliz himself. What they're doing is called "atypical dance music" and if you wanna hear what it sounds like, head to this address to be blown away.



We at Mirrorballs always are looking to provide you with good music, be it for breakfast or supper, at a reasonable price. We don't believe in big-ass gigs - although they can be fun from time to time - but in small, intimate nights with an emphasis on the quality. It's been a while since anything really interesting happened regularly on Fridays, save for the Knightriders' Joyride at Tokyo with Mr. Dare. Well after much deliberation and research, we have finally found a home on the Plateau, and this new home is called Bistro de Paris. The night is called Bordello, we're giving you a preview on June 15th, and it starts officially on July 6th. It will be hosted, residenced & curated by Romeo Kardec & myself, and it will feature the best of locals & some guys & girls from beyond from time to time. Stay tuned for the July bookings - it's coming up ! To make it sweeter, the party will always be free, and the Bistro offers you ridiculously priced beer.

And speaking of locals gone wild, Mirrorballs present a DJ booth in the middle of the fuckin' street right in front of the former Paramount theater, on Ste-Catherine, on July 14th. So far, confirmed artists include Axel Klein, Dirty Licious, Fu Ancko, Romeo Kardec, X-Cube and King Louis. A nearby hair saloon will operate some funky stylin' to the groovy beats, and it's free, of course.


08/06

The Eresys boys are doing it again at l'Appartement for their monthly, and this time around their guest is Quebec City's Fake I.D., who'll play live & DJ a bit. Alongside Christian Thibault & Kressel, you know you're gonna dance !



Mightykat's guest at this month's Diskfunction is Sety, the Frenchman behind the Circus Company label. Released artists include Ark, Mossa, Nôze, and Samim. The man has played with so many legends in so many clubs it would be tiring to make a list - rest assured he'll bring the funk. That's a dream date with the Mighty Kat. Going down at Academy Dancehall.



Mary Hell launches a new weekly at Sky, and it will feature guests every week. The mission : 80's Vs electro. With Frigid's new night on Thursdays, it looks like Sky's management is ready to try and steer clear from cheesy house, at least for two days in a row.



The Hopscotch Players are this week's guests at Loose Joints. It's disco time, so have a few drinks and dance, mo'fos ! Le Social is on fire and we need your skills to extinguish it !


09/06

At Mile End Bar, it's always good to have a 20/20 vision as there's stuff to see all over the place. On top of all the pretty girls, there's a lady called Sofisticated playing with Bender this week, and that's all the ingredients you need for a good party.



My first encounter with Kavinsky took the form of a blow to the face when I heard Testarossa Autodrive. It was everything Sonny Crockett wanted to play in his Ferrari while cruising Ocean Drive with wind in his hair. Kavinsky is the spiritual son of Jan Hammer & Giorgio Moroder, and it is rumoured that he pulled an Easton Ellis and died crashing his Testarossa. It's his zombie corpse that's playing the clubs now, and you'll be glad to know that the putrid one stops by Academy to perform a DJ set alongside Why Alex Why. The dead never sounded so good.


10/06

Don't head to Ile Ste-Hélène unless you wanna get your hearing ruined; Grand Prix prevents Piknic from happening.

Saphir's Beat me Up lives on, and this week John Lee drops by. The bearded man has a few cards up his sleeves and you'd better be drunk. With residents Cherry Cola and Mary Hell.



If you're looking to escape the eurotrash invasion that the Grand Prix brings around town, and feel sick just thinking about the Guetta family, there's an alternative for you and it's called Vendetta. At Balroom, King Louis fights Bender all night, and the booze is yours to discover. Watch the two dudes blow the roof off !


11/06



At Green Room, arts & crafts lovers reunite for a night of funk : as part of the Fringe Festival, the Spins & Needles night touches down. You get to hear Broken Speaker, Philgood, Ottawa's Jason Pelletier and myself for a very good price, my friend. Even if you're not big on knitting, come by for a drink and a dance.


12/06

It's a lady's affair at Dizzyphunk, as the two dames behind Microzoo & Dizzy share the decks all night : Maus & Mighty Kat will feed the masses their funky tech-house all night, and we all know it's quality soul food ! At Salon Daomé.


14/06

Fricoti, at Salon Daomé, proposes a resident's night with Mir and Bleuchut.

Helm Thursdays feature Clifford Brown, and it's always a pleasure to have a few beers with you !

At Overdose, Mini welcomes Jordan Dare, and the discotheque will be shaken by the basslines !



At Terrasses Bonsecours, let me assure you you'll be glad : Jeff Fontaine and X-Cube will share the decks and shred it up !

At Saphir, No Commercial Value are officially launching their label. If you like your beats crunchy & effective, head over !


Next week

Bistro de Paris becomes a Bordello ! Microtek invades O Patro Vys ! Piknic Electronik returns !

Until then, switch your flick all night long...

Night Vision 2.20

A bassdrum, hi-hats and a few synth pads are all we need. The ambient humidity will take care of the rest. What I like to affectionately call the "humidégueu index" is through the roof, and it's moist all over. Time to explore around y'all and touch. Instead of jumpin' around, TOUCH around. And don't miss the bus. It won't take you to the rave, because there's a time and place for everything. It will take you to MINIMAL CITY.

Pronto, please.

Since the news are slim this week, let's cut to the bone and take a deeper look at that tasty, juicy steak of a week.


01/06

Citizens 7 (already !) rolls into town with a theme : "Hot Wheels" ! Always going on at Alizé, it features the sweet all-over-the-place sounds of (in order of appearance) : Magz, Intoccabile, MelodrastiK, Seismologick, Toltech and Metzen. It's a dance-o-thon, it's wild, it's in the Centre-Sud : Citizens !!



At Musée Juste Pour Rire, it's time to BOUNCE THAT BOOTY ! You can't go wrong when you've got a fella like DJ Assault, who wears brown sandals over white socks, spinning the best booty house around. He's the ambassador of yo' girlfriend's bum ! Paris' Boogalo Freeze is pimpin' too, and locals Rhys Taylor and Sarcastic bring on the funk.

At Stereobar, the Hi-Tek pre-party features Tazz, and an all-out battle between Canada & America, Boston and Montreal, and Jeff Fontaine against Jeff Grosse. Yes indeed !



At Le Social, Friday night's disco extravaganza Loose Joints is still at it ! Davey & Chris are doing a special "Dreaming of You" bash, because they miss Dave Shaw a lot. Come & get all nostalgic with them !



Tokyo Bar's The Joyride still happens every fuckin' Friday, and this week the Nightriders are bringing you a very fuckin' hot threesome : resident Jordan Dare welcomes Ed & P of the infamous duo Nu Ravers on the Block ! Perfect excuse to indulge in life's most under-rated pleasures : dance & booze !

Mutek's Nocturne 3, going on all night long (yeah baby !), features an orgy of minimalist wet dreams : Matthew Dear's Big Hands, Kalabrese, The Mole, Cobblestone Jazz and Bubblyfish will all get it down with many, many more acts in a massive two-rooms party.



At Stereo, the legendary Carl Craig lands on the dancefloor in his UFO, with his co-pilot Gamall, for a night of guilty pleasures with the Demon Days experience. Mossa opens, and it's all yours courtesy of the fine DiskHo folks, now entering an afterhours phase that we hope will last until we're all very exhausted.


02/06

Ever felt like partyin in the morning ? It's now possible : Carl Craig's after-party will be held at Stereobar, and will feature DiskHo's The Ostrich and Philgood, who will be celebrating his birthday ! It starts at 8 AM and it ends whenever it ends, fellas !

Once you get out to breathe some fresh air, and are wondering what to do next, why don't you listen to your heart and head over to Piknic ? If you know what "Mutek" means in esperanto, you'll understand the gravity of the situation : international artists Claude VonStroke, Chic Miniature, My My & Audion will provide the beats and for 10$, it's a mighty good deal. In case the weather's shitty, it's all going down at S.A.T. from 1 to 8 PM.



When the night comes, it's time to get nasty, and as usual you've got plenty of choices. At Velvet, the night is Vicious with Omni, Axel Klein, Dirty Licious & Alakazoo. You know you're in good hands !

At Academy, it's time for Fred Everything to do his trademark Lazydays night. Always soulful, always fun, and always well attended. If you haven't seen the revamped Academy Dancehall, now's the time !

At the Mile End Bar, it's time to put things in perspective and see life in Panorama. Bender welcomes Julian Prince, and there's an open bar for all the ladies between 10 and midnight. You know what they say about drunk chicks...

At Metropolis, Mutek's Nocturne 4 delivers another solid rock line-up to the lucky ears : Pantha du Prince, Matias Aguayo, Miskate, Pheek, Someone Else, Michael Mayer and fuckin' Gui Boratto are there, alongside a few others. It's going on all night, it's minimalicious but just not that, and you don't wanna miss it for all the gold coins in the world.


03/06

Start your day on a good note at Piknic : Digitaline, Heartthrob, Jesse Somfay, Sutekh and the bombastic Wighnomy Brothers (Robag's a bit of a schizo ya know ?) are on a roll. And so should you. In case it rains, it'll go down at Metropolis from 8 PM to 3 AM. For the same friendly price, of course !

At Saphir's Beat me Up, the K duo will attack your ears : alongside Cherry Cola & Mary Hell, Kosa & Kardec will land behind the decks like birds of prey, so you'd better hide that flask and moist palms, and shake your head.


06/06

Loved 'em when you were younger ? Still nostalgic of the sheer terror and adrenaline rush their music created ? They ain't dead yet. The legend lives : Skinny Puppy play Spectrum for their "Mythmaker" tour, and in case you forgot, they're LOUD ! Bring the earplugs !


07/06

Helm Thursdays are a good way to start off the week-end : the happy hour extends until 1 AM, people slowly slip into "flirt mode" and the beer flows heavily. The beats are flowing too, especially this week, as Arsen takes care of them. Free !



At Salon Daomé, the Fricoti night keeps on smooth sailin' and this week, Complot boss Mossa touches down with residents Mir and Bleuchut.



Frigid starts yet another night, this time called F*ckstar, at Sky's 3rd floor disco. For the pre-launch, he has invited Mary Hell, and as the promo says "drinking is so cheap that by the end of the night everyone is the ultimate F*ckstar". Hope it's true. Free before midnight, and the booze is at the "3$ for almost everything" price range.



At Saphir's Mix Thursdays, BC's Andrew Spence (aka DJ Slim) gets busy with Mana, Murdock and Somsay.


Next week

The roaring grand prix cars prevent us from getting a Piknic. Downtown is to be avoided at all costs. Kavinsky drives into town in his Testarossa and parks it in front of Academy. David Guetta comes to Opera with his trashy wife... and many, many more !

Until then, keep on biking and save the world !