Rating: NNNNN
Started Saturday night off with a visit to Junior Palmer’s new soulful house night at Temple Bar. Not many attended the opening of the low-key monthly event, but those who did come out were dancing their asses off by the end of the night to DJ Bavero’s feel-good deep house mix.
Bavero has a good sense of timing. His transitions always sounded musical, and once he got the crowd moving he didn’t lose them.
But the layout of the bar needs to be rethought. The lighting on the lower level, where most of the bass is as well as the most floor space, is too bright for dancing. As a result, most of the crowd end up trying to dance around the furniture on the darker upper level.
dukes impress
Techno-centric art/design/music collective Wabi celebrated three years of art-techno parties with a late-night blowout bash at Aria’s back-alley loft space last Friday.
Dave Cooper and Matrix, both behind-the-scenes figures in Toronto’s deep techno scene, were Wabi’s musical guests. When playing together on four decks, they were a bit messy and unfocused — the exuberant Cooper tended to dominate, while Matrix seemed frustrated by a badly bouncing turntable on his side of the booth.
While the vibe was a bit strange in the early part of the evening, it improved later as more techno fans came by after other parties in the area had ended.
Much-buzzed-about local DJ team the Dukes stopped by after their gig at the djshows.com party to play a surprise set of bouncy, funky electro-tech-house to the 5 am crowd . While KF and @m have only been playing together for two years, they’ve already turned more than a few heads with their mixing skills and unpredictable selections. Definitely ones to watch out for if you enjoy upbeat genre-bending techno.
minimal risk
Hearing minimal techno at Una Mas last Friday was not as weird as you’d think.
After all, the Pixelate party was exploring the connections between deep house and deep techno, and there is a growing segment of the clubbing scene interested in the two sides of underground dance music.
Algorithm was a good choice as headliner — his take on minimal is looser, funkier and more organic than most click house. Years of experience have made him one of Canada’s most skilled DJs, and the dance floor responded accordingly.
asher’s beats
Phil Asher rocked the Movement party last Friday, throwing down a soulful set of deep house, broken beat and disco.
The broken beats he dropped sounded great on a big system, but tended to clear the floor a bit. The genre needs a big hit to introduce these rhythms to the larger dance-music audience. While not as spastic as experimental d ‘n’ b, the fractured rhythms are still a big departure from the regular pulse of house music and require a different style of dancing.
power shortage
Analog celebrated one year of parties that highlight hometown house heroes last Saturday at the Mockingbird with Inside The Boogie Box.
Unfortunately, the power kept going out throughout the night. Promoters should remember to make sure their soundman listens to the manager when setting up a big system in a building with old wiring. The crowd that did stay through the technical problems were there to boogie, and the Analog crew and guest Mr. Kicks delivered the beats to keep them happy.
benjaminb@nowtoronto.com
Pulse
