by JACK OATMON

This being the weekend of la fête nationale, St-Jean Baptiste Day, there are about 96 gajillion shindigs going on. I’ve taken the liberty of jotting down a few surefire selections, just so that you don’t find yourself running around in circles screaming, “Ou est l’hostie d’party?!”

Tonight, Thursday, June 22, you can witness the sharp styles of mouthy little such ’n’ such Lady Sovereign at le Spectrum. She’ll be opening for the Streets, who is the main reason any of us hip hop-loving Canucks have ever heard of grime. While the downhill crawl of his albums seems to have recently turned into an all-out run, I’d wager a pretty penny that the live show hasn’t suffered too much. That night, you might also wanna drop by le Petit Campus to check out Cut Throat Republic, which is glammy in a kinda New Order-ish way, only much more evil.

Friday night, get down at the Kitsuné edition of I Love Neon. Kitsuné’s last sampler was the first place I heard recordings of Digitalism and Hot Chip, both of whom I now adore. Their second sampler is out this week, so you might want to grab a copy if you get the chance. The DJs are Kitsuné members Masaya Kuroki and Gildas Loaec, who play some neato, bizarro electro. They’ll be alongside Jordan Dare and Cajuan. Neon’s also got a beer garden and fashion show going on earlier, so get your stunners on, grab your little green bag and hop down to the SAT. I’m going to lean on the likelihood of the night being a total dress-up/mash-up and sport my flask and my new short-shorts and soccer socks. Show some leg, you know? Friday’s an easy choice.

For Saturday, June 24, I present you with a tougher decision. Do you slip into Mile End Bar for the un-hyped appearance of Boys Noize, known guru of indie rock techno remixes? Or, do you go see Epsilonlab’s off-to-Love-Parade blowout fundraiser at the SAT? For what it’s worth, I can’t think of a much more prestigious venue for an electronic artist than downtown Berlin’s famous procession of all things gay, queer, straight, musical and in-between. You might not have the cash to get to Berlin, but for a tenner, plus whatever you want to donate to the cause, you can catch no less than 20 of Montreal’s hottest DJs here at home. That money goes to helping send Eloi Brunelle, the Autist, Paul Keeley and Pheek off to the land of techno and wurst, to represent Canada’s electronic scene (congrats, guys!). What’s more, if you’re one of the first 500 to email the words “love parade” to sharethelove@radar.net, you’ll get the full, visual, inside spread of what happens at the parade in July, via the net. You can get tickets and info at www.noctambules.tv/, which, if you don’t already know, is a fine spot to find out what’s up in the 514.

GROOVE EN MASSE… jack.oatmon@gmail.com

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