by SCOTT C

So I spent yet another chunk of time this weekend doing the myspace.com rounds, looking for Montreal cats who’ve managed to make good use of what may be the promotional tool of our times. I know this may be starting to read like an ad for “Tom” and the gang, but you can actually get lost in the hours of music and characters up in there, like I have done many times over the last few months (see “seven reasons,” below).

Check out Simahlak, who just dropped a gem on ’em with the hallowed release of the double seven-inch Son of Sakuraba EP, out now on Bully Records. Nobody works harder than Sim, and when you taste the fruit on this release, you’ll know exactly what I’m on about.

Well, somebody decided to bless me with a hardcopy of A-Trak’s long overdue DVD, Sunglasses Is a Must, first mentioned here about 100 years ago. Yep, it’s done, and pretty hilarious to boot. Like a modern-day Alastair Cooke, an older, wiser, bathrobe-clad A-train walks us through his early years as a turntable prodigy, right up to his present-day duties as an integral part of Kanye West’s entourage—all captured on video. It’s really crazy, when you actually think about it, that A-Trak basically has had his entire life as a DJ committed to video, from day one. It’s all here, from the crazy prankster antics of turntable rogues the Allies, to P-Thug’s classic dance steps, to A-Trak losing his jet-lagged mind in a Chinese hotel room. You will laugh, you will cry, you will rewind. Pick it up as of March 14.

Big tings at Off the Hook (1021 Ste-Catherine W.) this Saturday, March 11, with an art show centred around Tagur’s blank-canvas shoes, which let anybody essentially design their own kicks. From 7–11 p.m., you can check out sneaks designed by both established an up-and-coming artists, as well as art from the lovely Lani Imre. Music will be provided by Metrix and DJ Skeptik, the unstoppable!

Looking down the road, we’re the first stop on the Spank Rock tour, set to roll through Montreal for an April 13 date at Main Hall. I’ve been washing dishes to their new LP Yoyoyoyoyoyo on Big Dada for a week now, and Luke Campbell would be very proud of his Baltimore stepchildren. I also caught wind that Mark de Clive Lowe, the New Zealand-born keyboard killer who brought West London broken beats to the Goods last November, may be looking at a date at the Montreal International Jazz Festival this July. Can’t confirm anything yet, but I know he’s trying to put the finishing touches on a North American summer tour right now. n

Seven reasons I’ll never mention myspace again:
1. www.myspace.com/meta4ce
2. www.myspace.com/grandtheezy
3. www.myspace.com/simahlakbeats
4. www.myspace.com/1man514
5. www.myspace.com/djlexis
6. www.myspace.com/oddeosanchez
7. www.myspace.com/euphrates

AND SO IT BEGINS... fathead@videotron.ca

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