by RAF KATIGBAK

This week is painful. Or at least, it will be, once you get through literally dancing your ass off to the barrage of low-end that is set to wash over our fair city. Now that the booming bass of Southern hip hop is taking over commercial radio, heads may be ready for some real low end.

Not only do you have Disco D dropping party-melting hip hop, baile funk and ghettotech at Kop Shop, and original nuttah Shy FX rinsing the old-school flavours at Station C, tonight, Mix Thursdays at Saphir have decided to call in some royal reinforcement from jolly ol’ Britishland in the form of the king of booty breaks, DJ Deekline.

While some of you may not have heard of Deekline, U.K. heads and breakbeat fans have been feelin’ the cat for years now, following him from his jungle sound into the garage scene through to his current sound, booty breaks. He’s had a hit in every genre and now, with his new LP featuring vocals from DJ Assault, Yolanda, Tenor Fly, Wiley and Ivory, he’s set to push the sound well into the 2K7 (check deeklineandwizard.com for a sneak peek).

Speaking of low end, if y’all read my Shy FX interview this week, you’d know that great soundsystems in clubs like London’s Fabric played no small part in the return of the old-school jungle sound. It makes me thank the sacred gods of nightlife that Montreal has Stereo’s world-class system in our arsenal. This Friday, Stereo launches a bi-monthly party called Move, which celebrates the deep, funky side of house with Chicago’s DJ Heather and locals Max Hebert and Rob Brown. Downstairs at Stereobar, DJs Miss Molly and Dav have their own reason to celebrate, as local online house haven MTLnights.com kicks off their fourth year on the information superhighway. It’s a free event, and the first 25 people in Stereobar get a free double CD, mixed by Miss Molly and Dav. If you’d like to opt for the $25 Stereobar VIP treatment (free entry to the main room and 10 drink tickets, good before 1 a.m.), hit up mtlnights@hotmail.com

Finally, Blizzarts staple DJ Bliss has just announced that he’s moving on from his Saturday-night weekly. Co-founder of some of the Plateau’s longest-running dance-music nights, like the Grill, Chemistry and most recently Voyeur, Bliss will be having a final blowout bash this Saturday, so if Bliss has ever touched you with his music (or with anything else, for that matter), and want to show your appreciation, come check him out!

Also, keep an eye on his site, www.djbliss.net, for more gigs, including his Mind the Gap Britpop monthly at Boa—next episode, March 15.

FOLLOW YOUR BLISS... Diskoakimbo@sympatico.ca

>> Music Listings