by RAF KATIGBAK

It's MUTEK this weekend and Montreal's busier than Uncle's Day at a whorehouse, so, as Mr. T would say, let's cut the jibba-jabba and get right to the on- and off-festival to-do list - fool!

Actually, if it's jibba-jabba you want, then MUTEK's got plenty of it in the form of their morning and afternoon conferences taking place this Thursday and Friday at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. If listening and dancing to electronic music all night long just isn't enough for you, then why not sit down and hear people talk about things like "validating the future of artistic appropriation" and "the space between peripheral and emerging new markets in electronic music." Of course, my own submission for a panel discussion, "The Use of Under_scores and cReaTive cApiTalizAtion: The Scourge of Electronic Music Artist Names," has once again been roundly ignored.

Le Placard is the nomadic festival within a festival that features over 60 fringe-music artists over the three days of MUTEK. Highlights include Montreal's Tim Hecker and David Kristian's pedal steel Malamutant project. Other must-sees will be China's FM3 and the über-maximumosity of German/French/Mexican noise artists Chlorgeschlecht.

Imitation might be the highest form of flattery in some circles, but for a music festival, it seems that if you've got rival off-festivals that diss your fest, you've really made it. Sometimes (like in the case of mega-fests like Barcelona's Sonar), the off-fest activities are actually more fun then the festival proper, but whether Go My Odd's Off-MUTEK (www.offmutek.ca) party will be one of those remains to be seen. All I know is, if you're looking for intense head-fuck breakcore, head to 111 Roy E. at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 3.

Also this Friday, DJ Axel Klein promises "no rave music" at Bacci (4205 St-Denis), where he and special guests like Tipsy T, Y::Not, Sarcastic vs. Sebastian Prelar and Deepspace spin everything from electro to booty to funky house and breaks. Six dollars at the door.

Saturday night, UK prodigy John B will be hitting Gravity for a huge, hardsteppin' drum & bass party care of the IDJ crew. Also on the bill will be DJs Galaksy, Axionfigga, Sase One and local female up 'n' comer DJ Rue, among others.

Speaking of female DJs, this Sunday, Blue Dog hosts the second installment of WOW (Women on Wax), with DJs Cyan and Jasmine and special guest DJ Lynne T, whose band Lesbians on Ecstasy has returned from Europe unchafed and triumphant (I wish I could say the same about my buttless leather chaps).

Next Monday, be sure to wish the Inbeat crew (DJs Phil Larochelle, Dr. Love and Philgood) a happy birthday at Kunta Lounge as each of them celebrate their dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory existence as Geminis. It's free!

Of course, tonight, DJ Bliss will also be celebrating as he returns to Blizzarts' Thursday nights after a nine-month hiatus. Mish Mash is his free, weekly, anything-goes shindig with DJ Johnny Jungle, and as always, it's a night of forgotten hits and the new ish. Be there!

I PITY THE FOOL WHO DON'T LIKE DISCUSSING NEW INITIATIVES FOR THE DIGITAL ERA! Diskoakimbo@sympatico.ca

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