The first time we hit one of Mansion‘s sweaty dim sum restaurant Happy Endings parties, we were struck by how much they reminded us of Toronto’s underground party heydays in the mid-90s.
It wasn’t just the unconventional venue and the pounding bass: a big part of what makes them special is the crowd itself. Thuggy dudes prop up the wall while art fags dance their asses off a few feet away, and veteran partiers smile with nostalgia next to kids barely out of high school.
The music at their events, however, is definitely of this moment, even if many of the DJs aren’t shy about dropping the occasional rave reference. Their Machinedrum party was easily one of the highlights of a mostly dismal CMW this year, and February’s appearance by Kingdom proved that Rick Ross bangers and gay house make more sense together than anyone could have predicted.
Unlike back in the old rave days, there aren’t a lot of genre rules at Mansion parties, but this Saturday’s bash marks a return to their original mandate of exploring some of the outer edges of dancehall and soca.
Long-time NOW favourites like Bonjay’s Pho (who played the first Happy Endings party) and Montreal soca/techno visionary Poirier are on the bill, alongside a live set by Munich dancehall-inspired weirdos Schlachthofbronx.
We considered posting Schlachthofbronx‘s technical rider to give you an idea of what to expect (for example, they require space on the table to put their air horns), but instead we’ve obtained an exclusive recording of a recent live radio broadcast they did in Germany. Modern bass music at its best.
Setlist:
imaginary cities – marry the sea (schlachthofbronx edit)
ricardo villalobos – easy lee (schlachthofbronx editedit)
supercat – request the style (schlachthofbronx edit)
high voltage humans – heated hearts (schlachthofbronx remix)
busy signal – i just wanna fuck (schlachthofbronx edit)
schlachthofbronx – nasty bass ft spoek mathambo & bigspace
popcaan – partyshot (schlachthofbronx edit)
cham ft “o” – tun up (schlachthofbronx edit)
leftside ft mystik – phat punany remix (schlachthofbronx edit)
schlachthofbronx – carimbo
schlachthofbronx – yuh mumma
schlachthofbronx – dickie riddim ft warrior queen
vybz kartel – half on a baby (schlachthofbronx remix)
reggie stepper – cu oonuh (schlachthofbronx edit)
schlachthofbronx – waistline
schlachthofbronx – agwaso
schlachthofbronx – slowine
schlachthofbronx – one hand ft puppetmastaz & doubla j
schlachthofbronx – that g-string track
schlachthofbronx – everyday of the week ft dj assault
ll cool j – doin it (schlachthofbronx edit)