Quarantine Streams | The Best Montreal LIVE Music
What to do in our fair city now that we are all shut in with festivals cancelled and clubs closed? Local musicians and DJ’s are leading the fight for your right to party with live performances directly from their home studios! And some are getting really weird with it, turning the isolation craziness into art!! Thank the Gods! So in this new installment for Best Kept Montreal I will share my favourite local music quarantine streams to entertain and help us through this difficult time.
1) MARTHA WAINWRIGHT
Pop Montreal and Ursa are presenting an interactive initiative to unite Montreal in these complicated times. Inspired by the Leonard Cohen quote “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in“, the immensely talented Martha Wainwright has created a series of 5 concerts to gather the city together on our balconies. The concept is to maintain a safe distance apart while we sing together in unison to lift our spirits.
One must assume you are already familiar with Martha Wainwright and her family of accomplished musicians. She is the daughter of Kate McGarrigle & Loudon Wainwright III and her brother is Rufus Wainwright. Martha has released seven critically acclaimed full length albums and several EP’s. She has toured the world many times and collaborated with musicians such as Courtney Love & Beth Orton. She acted in the Martin Scorsese film “Aviator” and in the HBO TV series “Olive Kitteridge“.
The 4th edition of this sing along concert series takes place Wednesday April 15th @ 7:30PM EST and will feature performances by Martha Wainwright and her guest Frannie Holder (of the bands Random Recipe and Dear Criminal). Frannie will sing “Pendant Que Les Champs Brûlent” by Niagara and “Roads” by Portishead.
The link to the live stream of their performance will be posted to their Facebook page at 7:25PM. They invite the entire city (and the world) to join them! The final two concerts in the series will be on April 21st and 28th. Here is the previous concert where Li’l Andy sang “I lost my baby” by Jean Leloup, “The Partisan” by Leonard Cohen and “Angel from Montgomery” by John Prine. Martha sang passionate versions of “La Vie En Rose” by Edith Piaf and “So Long Maryanne” by Leonard Cohen.
2) MIGHTYKAT IS FEEDING OUR SOULS (AND OUR BODIES)
Now it’s time for my favorite Montreal DJ! For over 20 years her sets always entice me to kick ass on the dancefloor! Mighty Kat’s unique sound bridges eclectic house and the funkier side of techno. She has conquered major festivals like BPM Festival (Mexico), WMC (Miami), Black & Blue (Montreall) and Burning Man (Nevada). She performed in clubs in Berlin, Barcelona, Geneva, Paris and in Mexico. She regularly plays all across Canada and the USA. Her bookings are managed by the American-based booking Listed Agency.
This well respected local talent consistently organizes events in Montreal such as the sunset party, “Purr Club Social” at the outdoor venue Village Pied-du-Courant in summer and at other venues in the colder months. She was the Musical Director for seven editions of Quebec’s prestigious comedy awards, the “Gala Des Oliviers”, She has played alongside the legendary house music names Ricardo Villalobos, Zip, Sonja Moonear, Cassy, M.A.N.D.Y, Derrick Carter, Doc Martin etc…
Mighty Kat’s weekly live stream project has a humanitarian component to help feed Montreal during the quarantine. In partnership with Moisson Montreal, viewers can make donations here. Last week’s show raised $420 which led to providing food for 25 families who were hit hard by the shutdown. Tune in every Friday to the Purr Club Social Session on Cooper Radio from 7PM-11PM. This week’s edition will feature a special on disco! The best sound quality is on TWITCH but the stream is also live on her Facebook.
3) LATIN JAZZ BASS VIRTUOSO ALEX BELLEGARDE
One of the most prolific and talented jazz musicians in town, Alex made his name as Montreal’s top Afro Cuban bass player. He runs the Alex Bellegarde Latin Jazz Quintet, Quartet and Trio as well as the Cuban band Trabuco Habanero. He has released numerous albums of Latin Jazz and Urban Jazz. At the 2005 edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, he won the prestigious Grand Jazz Award. He has performed all over Europe, Latin America and North Africa. For 22 years he has run a weekly Tuesday Night Jam session in Montreal, first at Nyks then at Diese Onze.
I had the honour of performing with him at the Montreal Jazz Fest with his free jazz project The Ohmz Quintet and have licensed a few of his songs for films and TV shows. He and I share a long history as we have been friends since kindergarten!
During the quarantine he has dedicated himself to performing two live sets every day through his Facebook page! You can check him out at 11am and 5pm. Here is a video of yesterday’s badass performance.
4) THE SWEET SOUL OF DJ ANDY WILLIAMS
Staying on the jazzy tip, DJ Andy Williams has been serving sweet soulful grooves to the community for 38 years! He began DJ’ing in 1978 and has had a radio show on CKUT since 1993. In 2002 he started the monthly funk event and radio show The Goods with Scott C. In 2010 he started Jazz Amnesty Sound System with DJ LUV. He played at local festivals like Village Éphémère, Nuits d’Afrique and Piknic Electronik.
Andy has collaborated with popular British trip hop recording artists such as Mr Scruff and Quantic. His international touring schedule has taken him to London, Cape Town, Paris, Berlin, Bordeaux, Budapest, Frankfurt, Balantamaldi, Addis Ababa, Port Antonio, Montego Bay, L.A, San Francisco, Belize, Montenegro, Strasbourg, Budapest, Graz, Cologne, Vienna, Barcelona, Washington, New York, Copenhagen, Stockholm etc… He held Arts Residences in London, Addis Ababa, Placencia/Belize, NYC, Quebec North, & Cape Town. He taught Jazz Studies & Radio Journalism at McGill University and was invited to give guest lectures at prestigious institutions like Cornell University.
Last week Andy was the special guest on Cooper Radio and as always delivered an amazingly groovy vinyl set! You can watch the performance here.
5) AFRO LATIN DEEP HOUSE GROOVES WITH jojoflores
The hardest working DJ in Montreal, jojoflores has held down simultaneous residences in multiple cities in Canada, USA, Europe and Asia. Founder of Gotsoul Recordings, the club PEOPL and the global club night series Therapy, he has been spinning Nu Jazz, Afro House and Soulful Deep House for over 30 years!
His hard work led to being an Official DJ for Sennheiser, Pioneer Canada, Denon, Allen & Heath, and a lululemon ambassador. His corporate client list includes MAC Cosmetics, Hermès, Apple, Hugo Boss, Vanity Fair, Puma, Details Magazine, Banana Republic and Cadillac. He has headlined events with John Legend, Russell Peters, Wyclef Jean, Jody Watley, K-OS, Jazzy Jeff. In the fashion world he’s become Dsquared’s and Greta Constantine’s go-to DJ in Canada.
His YouTube channel has over 2 million views and his FB Live broadcasts reaches over 600,000 people! To help his worldwide fan base get through the quarantine, Jojo has dedicated himself to performing two sets every day at 12pm and 9m EST. You can catch his grooves here.
6) DISCO DAVE ALLISON
Dave Allison’s signature sound of slow-motion disco grooves and crossover deep house appeal has caught attention worldwide. He released original songs and reworks on his own label Editorial Records and on forty other labels such as: Ubiquity, Kolour LTD, Compost , Editorial, Disco Deviance, Whiskey Disco, Om and Midnight Riot. Dave was named Mark Farina’s #1 Producer on Soundcloud and has tracks out on Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz Editions : #6, #7 and #8. Under Dave’s alias’s Ed Wizard & Disco Double Dee he was ranked the #1 and #2 Funk R&B Artist on Beatport for both 2014 and 2015.
Dave brings a ton of energy to his live DJ performances. He has rocked dancefloors in Bali, Mexico , London, Tunisia , Jamaica and across North America from NYC to L.A , Miami , Chicago, Toronto, Philly and Vancouver. In Montreal Dave has held down numerous residencies and played dozens of elite clubs and festivals such as Stereo, Salon Daome and Piknic Electronik.
His weekly live stream is Saturdays at 1pm EST on his Twitch Channel. You can watch last week’s show and check out his archives on his Youtube Channel. His original tracks, remixes and albums are available for sale on Bandcamp and for streaming on Spotify.
7) THE SYNTH POP SENSORS OF SHEENAH KO
Based out of Montreal & Maui this singer & pianist paints feelings and atmosphere in her music. Best known as a member of the Polaris-nominated Besnard Lakes, Sheenah has also been a member of over 20 North American bands such as Bedouin Soundclash, Kevin Hearn, Little Scream, USA Out of Vietnam and Pang Attack. She has toured the world extensively. As a solo artist, Sheenah Ko‘s music takes you on an entrancing journey where you forget time and space. She creates a trippy dreamlike state of “breathing” analogue synths, raw emotional vocals and driving beats. Accompanied by contemporary dancer and choreographer, Brittney Canda, they deliver an emotionally-charged and intensely-captivating show.
The quarantine hit just as she was launching her second album Nowhere in Time. So she adapted and streamed a live performance from her home studio complete with wigs, her pet cat and an arsenal of synths. You can watch the performance here and purchase the album and merchandising here.
On Wednesday April 15th she will be interviewed on the George Strombopoulos Show (link will be added when the broadcast is available). Her next live stream performance will be done in partnership with Dave Smith Instruments (Sequential Circuits) a pioneer of MIDI and the inventor of some of the most innovative synthesizers and sequencers of the past 40 years!
8) GETTING WEIRD WITH DAVE DIALECT
Now its time for some of the mad underground geniuses getting weird with it during the quarantine! Dave Dialect has been producing and DJ’ing since the late 1990s. His music is eclectic, combining hip hop, breaks, drum n bass, techno, electro and a wickedly perverse sense of humour! His set at the Timeless Festival this summer blew my mind!
He has played raves, clubs and festivals across Canada. His early independent releases raised eyebrows with provocative titles such as “Worthless Shitbag“, “Sniff Coke Off My Dick” and “Torture Motherfucker“. But in 2009 his talent became undeniable with the release “We Takin This Back” on Planet Break Records. Dialect has since put several other tracks out on Calgary’s Breakz R Boss Records, Montreal’s Monkey Dub Recording, UK’s Nu Style Records, and Vancouver’s Bass Bong Records.
For his quarantine live streams, he has teamed up with the Bassix Network to play a weekly show. You can catch his next performance on the Bassix website on Wednesday April 22nd at 8:00pm-9:30pm. Meanwhile here is the link to last week’s masterpiece. I would warn you that it’s NSFW but we are all in quarantine so turn it the fuck up cause this shit RAWKS!
9) MACHINE TECHNO HOUSE WITH MILTON CLARK
Old school Montreal ravers will get the inside joke of this DJ’s name! From his humble beginning in 1998 as Dj Baby Dino, he made his bones with an eclectic blend of breaks, acid house, techno and trance. He first became known in Montreal for his surreal underground morning trance sets. Over the years, Milton Clark has played many of Montreal’s best bars and clubs such as the Lime Light, FouFounes Electric, Blue dog, Blizzarts, Club Saphire, the S.A.T., Circus and Stereobar / Club Stereo.He would go on to perform across Canada and at key festivals in the USA such as the Detroit Electric Movement Festival. He has played clubs in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria. Milton Clark is the raw underground electronic experience for bass heads and speaker freakers. Heavily influenced by both European and North American underground electronic, his current sound is a mashup of techno and house that has been branded the “Machine” sound…
His sets are every Saturday from 4pm to 7pm. He alternates between different stream services such as www.techno.fm/radio and radio.cloudworks.ca. The updated link is always posted on Saturday on his official facebook page.
10) HIGH HEELS PROHIBITED – NYMRA & SOFISTICATED
DJ duo Nymra & SofisticatedThe dynamic DJ duo of Nymra & Sofisticated have been friends since high school and their chemistry is apparent in their fluid B2B sets. They began DJ’ing in 2000 and quickly built a solid reputation with their deep house and groovy basslines. They have performed often at Montreal institutions like Stereo, Piknic Electronik and Igloofest.
Internationally they have rocked it in Barcelona, BPM Festival (Mexico), WMC (Miami) etc… At their successful monthly club night High Heels Prohibited at Salon Daomé, they book talented DJ’s from either the local or international scenes to perform with them. The ladies are reknowned for delivering sets full of passion and power, without any pretension.
On Saturday April 11th they were booked to perform all night long at Stereobar. The gig was cancelled due to the shutdown so instead they decided to do a live stream for their fans on Saturday the 18th. Tune in from 2PM to 6PM on their TWITCH channel. You can watch some of their previous live streams here.
11) THE ROCKPOCALYPSE! JONAS TOMALTY : FAM JAM
Every Saturday Montreal born rocker Jonas Tomalty and family unit bunkers down bringing you some sweet tunes with their Rockpocalypse jam!
Coming to you live from their family bed they will be broadcasting from the covers with wonderful song covers of their favourite artists! It’s all about love, comfort, family and simplicity. The key ingredients to a balanced life we need more than ever these days.
So this Saturday Night get in your comfies ,moomoos, birthday suits and onzies (or stay in them…) and let’s kick back for a pyjama party! The Episode 5 Bed In starts at 8PM sharp on the Jonas Tomalty wall for a Facebook Live!
As always, the show is absolutely free but, should you be feeling generous, we encourage you to donate so we can continue funding the project and contributing to our friends and fellow artists at Fondation des artistes du Québec. To contribute please follow this GoFundMe link: gf.me/u/xrguy2
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In closing, we hope you enjoyed all these links! Musicians and DJ’s have been hit hard by the quarantine with all their gigs and tours cancelled. So please support them by buying their albums / merchandise, following their social media, liking and sharing their posts! Tune in next week where I will compile the next edition of Montreal’s best music streams!
Looking for inspiration? This is a good opportunity to check out the fever-tree seminars professional tips and tricks.
