by JACK OATMON

This Friday, Nov. 17, marks the third installment of the Taste series, which is perhaps one of the most laudable examples of Montreal’s continuing attempts to reach preposterous new levels of opulence. You see, when people who like techno music are teenagers, they get their kicks by eating colourful little piles of hard candy and ecstasy cut with Ajax and baking soda, squirreling away in a damp warehouse and listening to trance tunes sped up to approximately the speed of boinking bunnies while their teeth actually rot right out of their heads. In the twenties and early thirties, however, the techno lover is a more sophisticated animal, congregating in digital-arts research centres to enjoy the finest in Belgian truffles, Swiss confections and Bolivian marching powder, to the tune of live electro acts and imported minimal, with the minor side effect of the occasional deviated septum. Totally different.

I know what you’re thinking: “Yeah, I heard about this. All-you-can-eat, gourmet chocolate and all-you-can-stand electro, all night? They probably just give out little samples and then leave you so desperate for more chocolate that you run across the street to the dépanneur, frothing at the mouth for just one succulent morsel of a Mars bar.” Fear not, however, for even if the flavour is European, the quantity is decidedly North American. So much so that at the sight of all the delicious cocoa delights last time, I went a wee bit overboard, got the bright idea to take a few for the road and ended up with a rather conspicuous stain on my trousers. Er-hem.

The menu for the evening includes offerings from Maison du Cacao, Chocolat Lulu, la Cabosse d’Or and Chocodirect, as well as performances by Mossa, the Mole, Gloomy, les Cerveaux Lents, Dandi Wind and Ark. Something about booking both Dandi Wind and Ark for the same live show tempts the wrath of the Accidental Equipment Smashing Gods. You’ll see what I mean, and at $15 advance, you might as well, because if you like chocolate as much as I do, it’s a steal. That’s at the SAT and it starts at 9:30 p.m.

Just 24 hours later, that same venue will make the giant leap from chic to hipster as Peer Pressure rolls in to kick off their new monthlies, much like Neon and Voyeur before them. For a tenner, they’ve got Aaron LaCrate in for some of those synthed-up breaks and uptempo, anthemic hip hop bangers that are oh so du jour. Locals A-Rock and Hatchmatik will set the tone with a smattering of their mash-up electro hoopla that makes the kids go wild, and Jonah’s Ear will be greasin’ the decks with that soul smooth style.

Also noteworthy is the Saboteur Ball at Sala Rossa on Friday where DJ Champion will launch his remix album, joined by numéro# live and a hefty list of guest DJs. Furthermore, Ghislain Poirier launches his self-explanatory new Thursday weekly, Relaxe le Gros, at his spiritual home, Zoobizarre.

NO BLOC PARTY FOR MONTREAL… jack.oatmon@gmail.com

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