Quarantine Streams Montreal Vol 2 | Pandemic Boogaloo

Thanks so much for the enthusiastic response to last week’s column of quarantine streams Montreal! In this week’s edition, we have a few quarantine themed mixes, some new dub releases for 4/20, the launch of a new streaming network and as always, fresh new live streams to spice up your weekend!

1. DJ MAUS STREAMING FUNDRAISER FOR MONTREAL NATIVE WOMEN’S SHELTER

Maus has been a key player in the Montreal scene since the late ’90s, shaking up minds and dance floors with her uniquely creative approach to electronic music. Touring the world led to her sound evolving away from drum n bass and into a mixture of dub, disco and soul-influenced house and techno music that she is famous for today. She has been producing her own music in 2002 and remixed for cold wave pioneers Trisomnie 21 and house legend Dennis Ferrer.

Maus is a regular at Piknic Electronik and has been booked by most major festivals including Montreal International Jazz Festival, and Montreal En Lumières. In 2018 she founded her jewelry line Waxx Design. Her pieces are elegant and edgy, much like herself!

For the Quarantine she created a live stream segment called Danse (no) Contact hosted by We Love it Here. She performs at 5PM every second Sunday. The theme for this Sunday’s set is “Back to Nature” to honour Mother Earth through music. She is preparing a deep, tribal, dubby, organic House and Techno set to share good vibes from her home and connect online with the people who love her music.

With this in mind, the event was created to also be a fundraiser for Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, a nonprofit that helps First Nations and Métis women and their children find refuge and rebuild their lives in security and peace. You can watch the stream on TWITCH. You can make a donation here.

2. DR DRAW

Dr. Draw is a Moscow born electric violinist and composer who combines rock, classical, world music and electronica with incredible passion and creativity. He performed internationally in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and at high profile international events like the opening of the Westfield World Trade Center 9/11 and with the Gypsy Kings in Mexico. Superstars such as John Legend, Mariah Carey, Shaggy, 2 Cellos, and Drake have had him as an opening act.

He composed music for the Canadian National Ballet School’s project Sharing Dance. He assisted in the scoring of several films and the BBC documentary, ‘Death on the I-95’. A  prolific producer, Dr Draw has released six solo albums and an album as Tokka with long-time musical partner Acote. A collaboration with Canadian Beatboxing Champion Scott Jackson resulted in the creation of project Nemesis. Their sound ranges anywhere from Middle-Eastern influenced folk-music, to old school hip hop, to Mongolian chant. They performed on Parliament Hill for Canada’s 150th celebrations, at the Montreal Grand Prix, and for the Toronto Raptors’ infamous 2019, game 7 buzzer beater’s half-time show.

You can catch Dr Draw’s insanely entertaining live streams on Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 PM on his Facebook. His musical skills and stage presence are next level! Check out his hot new single Acquaviva released this week.

3. SWEET DADDY LUV CREATES A QUARANTINE MIX

In the 1990s pretty much every single rave in Montreal had DJ Luv spinning in the Chill Out room. Which led to a 12-year stint helping to run seminal record label Ninja Tune‘s North American operations (as well as their sub-labels Big Dada and Counter Records).

Co-founder of Jazz Amnesty Sound System with DJ Andy Williams. In the midst of all this activity, he has DJ’ed, performed live, and spread luv all over North America, Europe, and Australia.

DJ Luv has amassed one of the biggest record collections in North America, currently over 20,000 records. One of the most prolific producers of DJ mixes! His website DJLuvsRecords features 380 mixes. It’s a surreal trip getting lost in his musical rabbit hole! The latest one inspired by the quarantine: Music For Empty Discoteques:

“Ever since the clubs closed down it has been eerily quiet on dance floors around the globe. There have been rumours of folks hearing strange sounds and groove inducing rumblings emanating from many clubs that have been in lockdown for weeks. There is speculation that sound systems have spontaneously been turning on, trying to mimic the music they used to play through scraps of misremembered sounds and rhythmic patterns. In an attempt to lure us back to the dance floor.”

4. DJ GUAPO’S LOVE SONGS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

Now it’s my turn to spread some musical love during the quarantine! Shameless self-promotion mode engaged as I switch to the third person! Producer since 1994 & DJ since 1997, DJ Guapo caresses you like a tropical breeze as he takes you on a sonic journey through Glitch Hop, Ghetto Funk, Afro Latin House, Chillstep, Indian Raga, Dub, Downtempo and DnB.

DJ Guapo performed at local festivals like the Montreal Jazz Festival, Eclipse, Bal En Blanc, Good Vibes, Timeless, and Just For Laughs. He performed over a dozen times at the S.A.T. including in the Satosphere Dome as he is part of the S.A.T. Mix Sessions collective. He was the Musical Coordinator for Jean Paul Gaultier’s Pinkarnaval and performed for 20,000 spectators in a DJ booth shaped like a giant stiletto shoe!

Internationally he has been featured on four albums by world beat pioneers Suns of Arqa from Manchester, the first band to combine classical Indian Raga with Dub Reggae back in 1979. He performed twice with them at the legendary Glastonbury Festival (U.K), a massive three day outdoor festival in Avalon with 180,000 spectators. At the Telerama Dub Festival (Paris) they co-headlined with Adrian Sherwood.

For the Mayan Apocalypse of 2012, Guapo started a Chillout DJ mix series called Love Songs for the End of the World. The concept was to create a Soundtrack to the Apocalypse for a pair of lovers who are seizing one last moment of beauty and meaning. A burst of romance for the End of Days. When the quarantine hit it was clearly time to release a new mix in this series. Musically it features heartbreaking vocal melodies marinated with dreamy synth-pop textures, downtempo chillstep beats, and heavy sub bass.

Ignore social distancing, snuggle up close with your lover and enjoy the nuclear fireworks as the world explodes. Try to smile through the tears as you listen to LOVE SONGS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD VOLUME 3 : QUARANTINE DREAMS.

5. SPENDING THE SWEETEST SUNDAYS WITH CLAIRE

Claire held residencies at Laika and Salon Daomé and created conceptual late-night soirées with Blackbox Montreal. She is also a composer who performs machine-based hardware sets. She has released vinyl records on labels Conceptual, Monoclap and Ice Wax, and has digital releases on Archipel, Park Recordings and others. Her latest EP was released on the Hushlamb label in March 2020.

6. ALICIA HUSH MAKES FUNKY FREE RANGE MUSIC

Alicia Hush is an Ontario born and Montreal based producer catching ears and hearts with the energetic expression in her minimal house music. Her live performances are bouncy affairs that stimulate both brain and body. Her badass barrage of heavy bassline and silly vocals takes you from the deep and dark to the silly and carefree. Her music has been released on labels such as Archipel (Montreal), Siteholder Records (Montreal/Chicago), Cynosure Records (Berlin), Klangscheiben Records (Berlin), Drifted Records (London), Fasten Musique (Japan).

In 2014 she launched the Hushlamb Label Project which she runs out of Montreal with Sarah Lamb. The latest release is Dance of the Unicorn, a 3 track EP by Claire with a remix by Alicia Hush. Her releases and live sets have earned her an enthusiastic worldwide following and festival bookings in Honduras, Mexico, Germany and Italy.

With Sarah Lamb they have done a podcast for seven years and the Hushlamb Free Range Show on CKUT 90.3 FM. The next broadcast is Wednesday, April 29 from 22h-00h on CKUT 90.3 FM. Her next live stream is on Cooper Radio Sunday, April 26th at 18:00. Expect a set of stripped-down dance floor goodies!

7. BLAZE UP YOUR 4/20 W/ NEW DUB RELEASES ON SVAHA SOUND

The second release is the single Ganga Man Dub by The Red Strikes Twins, a Northern steppers duo, and the No.1 best-selling dub reggae artists in the USA. This is Svaha Sound Records first-ever vinyl release and it sold out in pre-orders. The single is also available in digital format on their Bandcamp.

8. DEEP & AFRO

I recently discovered the FB page Deep & Afro and it is very impressive! The page admin dedicates himself to sharing the best Afro House live streams from all around the world and regularly features local artists! They produce monthly Signature Events & help promotes  events such as BeDanced, The Journey etc… The page also provides info about the industry: Djs, Producers, Dancers, Events, Festivals, Labels, Promoters & what not…

Every day they share new live quarantine streams Montreal on Facebook. You can also check out their Deep & Afro Global Website.

 

9. SPEAKER PHREAKERS BASSIX CREW LAUNCH NEW STREAMING PLATFORM

MTL Bassix was formed in 2011 by a group of friends united by their passion for building DIY sound systems for bass-heavy electronic music. The team began as DJ’s, producers, techs and sound engineers throwing renegade-style parties with their custom-built sound system. By 2017 they had built a massive sound system for large outdoor events and were providing and provide sound reinforcement for all types of events from bar nights to warehouse parties.

They began collaborating with crews like Musik Me Luv and Conscious Wave on professional bass music events and festivals while collaborating with like-minded promoters to bring international artists to Montreal.  Which led to the Bassix Me Luv stage at The Timeless Festival. Many world-renowned bass music DJs and artists now played on a MTL’s Bassix rig: Matt The Alien, Krafty Kuts, Vivek, Sleeper, Hyroglifics, Kaiju, Thelem, Sam Binga, DJ Madd, Ben Coda and Mr Bill.

Frustrated with the technical limitations of the major live-streaming platforms, they built their own servers so that the collective could perform at the sound quality their sound system delivers. A few weeks ago they launched the BassiXtream. In last week’s column we featured Dave Dialect’s set for them.

MTL Bassix have two live stream events planned this weekend to make up for the 4/20 Rave they were organizing that was canceled due to quarantine. On Friday it starts at 16:30pm and will feature sets by Pyrotrich, LockOut, Pikan-t, SasQ, Aphotik, Kid Kleaver, Narko and Wally. Sunday’s start time and lineup is still to be announced.

10. DJ SARCASTIC LEVELS UP

DJ Sarcastic founded Level 4 Productions in 2000. This former music critic and veteran of the local DJ and promotion scene, Sarcastic has always refused to pigeonhole himself in any one musical genre, instead drawing influences from a wide range of artists and styles. On any given day you might find Sarcastic playing guitar and writing songs; recording a DJ set of techno, folk, hip hop or jazz; or producing electronic music in a home studio.

Sarcastic’s music draws on esoteric themes and often gravitates towards messages of social import. Using a blend of samples and live music, he attempts to make something new from the old. His original productions have been described as “uneasy listening” and “weirdo techno at its finest”.

With partner DJ In Your Face, Sarcastic performs regularly at Montreal’s Acid Dreams events, usually hosted by Le Ritz PDB. In the self-isolation era Sarcastic has turned to online streaming. Currently, he streams vinyl-only sets at 10 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays via his Facebook. His original music can be purchased on his Bandcamp. On Friday he and DJ InYourFace will be a performing for the Acid Streams Virtual Dance Party.

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In closing, let me update you about some of the artists profiled last week!

– Martha Wainwright’s next performance of Chanter sur les Balcons is on Thursday April 23rd at 7:30 pm. This week, Martha’s guest Mike O’Brien will perform “Jolie Louise” by Daniel Lanois and “Grampa Was a Carpenter” by John Prine. The live stream link will be posted at 7:25 PM EST in the “Discussion” section of the FB event. This event is produced by Pop Montreal and Ursa.

– Dave Dialect‘s next performance will be Wednesday April 22nd at 8:00 pm-9:30 pm on the Bassix website. He played a vinyl set of old breaks, house and techno.

– MightyKat is continuing her mission to raise funds to feed Montreal families hit hard by the economics of the quarantine. You can donate here. Her live streams are always on Fridays at 7 pm and you can watch on Twitch.