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Cracking Eggs
Friday night, the guys behind Terra threw an impromptu party for hot Montreal laptop duo Egg at Volume Lounge . They were in town for a multimedia art event at Harbourfront the next day and were eager to play. Unfortunately, there was no time for word to spread, and only a handful of people attended. Despite the meagre crowd, Egg pumped out a great set, flirting shamelessly with house within their glitchy minimal techno framework. They’ve been associated with the Montreal minimal scene and were one of the buzz acts at last year’s Mutek Festival, but that connection is misleading – they’re far funkier than the majority of the acts pumping out slice-and-dice techno.
Make a point of catching them when they come back to town to do a proper gig. Put them in front of a crowd and they should have no trouble getting people moving.
Open Source opens up
After a brief hiatus, the monthly Open Source party started up again a little while ago in a new home at Cocktail Molotov . The concept is simple: the audience is the DJ, and members are invited to bring three songs on any medium, from cassette tape to iPod to vinyl. As long as you get there early enough to sign up, you’re free to be as self-indulgent with your mini DJ set as you want to be.
Although the evening’s organized by Wabi‘s Alan Webb , surprisingly, most of the music last Thursday was rock-oriented, with very little techno. Guilty pleasures are popular, interspersed with odd obscurities and unreleased homemade tracks. It’s kind of like hanging out in a bar with the best jukebox ever, and way more fun than it sounds.
Santa Cruz stops cruising
Santa Cruz , the indie rock dance party disguised as a singles night, is officially over (or at least on indefinite hiatus) as of last Friday. As the party was winding down, we arrived at Lee’s Palace to get the dirt from Tyler Clark Burke . “I’m just getting tired of everyone thinking of me mainly as this crazy party girl,” she admits. “There’s more to me than that.”
Santa Cruz always seemed more like a high-concept art installation than a normal party anyway, so it won’t be too surprising if artist Burke gets the itch in the future to put together another series of events. In the meantime, we’ll have to be satisfied with the memories.
Intact Social scene
Saturday night after my own gig at the Drake , I stopped in briefly at the Social , a brand new dance bar underneath Spin Gallery. The space still looks a little raw, but there was a good crowd out and nice vibes all around. The music policy is geared to eclectic open-format DJs, and the venue plays host to the official after-party for the MIA and LCD Soundsystem gig Saturday (May 21)at the Opera House.
Expect a sweaty good time if you manage to get in.
