by JACK OATMON

How much time do I spend out at parties? Golly gee, quite a bit. I find I’m usually one of two people at a gig. I’m either sitting at a table in a dimly lit corner by myself, observing and fretting about the general state of the world and the environment, or I’m right up front spilling wine on myself and dancing the soles off my skate shoes. The best nights are usually the ones where I’m so excited about the music that I don’t even end up meeting anyone or bothering to swill a brew. So, for the approval of the party people at large, here are, in no particular order, my top three picks for electronic parties I went to in the past year, the ones where I boogied so hard that people probably wondered if I was on drugs or had gone mad: Wighnomy Brothers at la Nuit Électronique at Station C in February, Piknic des neiges at Parc Jean-Drapeau (we started an epic snowball fight at that one), also in February, and Neon Loves Paris with Digitalism on New Years at the SAT.

As a precursor to next week’s Ghostly International party, Toronto’s Solvent will be at Piknic on Sunday, dealing out melancholy synth-pop grooves that just make you want to dress up in a silver Kraftwerk jumpsuit with beveled powerboots and hug your keyboard. Seriously. Also on Sunday, Panic! at the Disco are at Metropolis, though I find myself wishing that Panic! could just magically be Tommie Sunshine remixing Panic! instead. Peep it: www.myspace.com/tommiesunshine.

A Dog Day Afternoon hits the Old Port on Monday, July 17. Like the Al Pacino flick of the same title, it will probably be blessed with moments of gripping action, while plagued by too much security and mediocre performances. Although I’m a bit skeptical about some of the draconian entry regulations, such as a ban on cameras and bottles of water, I could almost go out just to see the Electric Six and Holy Fuck. E6 have got something raw and wicked going on that’s somewhat reminiscent of earlier Detroit rock bands, both in attitude and danceability.

Following that, get your teaches from Peaches at Metropolis on Wednesday, July 19. Also on Wednesday, Thomas Von Party’s new weekly, Stunt, is at Lola Lounge. Sounds like there’ll be some sweet guests and events going on there in the near future. More to come on that. This Friday sees the Frogland breaks night at Kunta Lounge go from monthly to weekly. Damn straight. There’s a free BBQ, so get your burgers and breakbeats for a fiver. Also on Friday, Los Angeles’ wacky Sea Otter will be beeping and squeeking and, uhhh, eating fish alongside Bliss and Keith Rocka at Boa. No cover on that.

Me? My mommy’s coming to town to visit this week, so I’ll be cruising around the Plateau, drinking lattes, checking out art galleries and talking about politics. Yay!

GWAR GWAR GWAR! jack.oatmon@gmail.com

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