by JACK OATMON

During a frosty weekend last February, I encountered one of those situations in which you know you should do something, but you just don’t want to. It was the day after Taste II, an earlier edition of the chocolate-tasting party that you might have been at in November. Naturally, I had eaten too much junk food the night before, and was feeling a mean case of fatigue after my long Saturday shift at work. But everybody was going to Piknic des Neiges, the only Piknic Électonik of the winter. (For those of you who are just tuning in to this column, Piknic is basically an outdoor dance party at Parc Jean-Drapeau, on Île-Ste- Hélène, that happens every Sunday of the warm months. Peep it.)

I dragged myself, drooling and babbling, out of my bed, threw on whatever excuse for a snowsuit I could find (which, as I recall, comprised a bright yellow housecoat, a cheesy headband and oodles of longjohns), grabbed Mary Jane, jammed a jar of wine in my bag and plodded to the metro. Long story short, there was a ton of people, mulled wine, free inner-tubing and an incredible sound system. Somewhere in there, right around when Mini played “Zdarlight” (surely an official Montreal Techno Classic in 2006) and everyone started throwing snowballs and drunkenly hollering, there was pure, unedited hedonism.

This year, the good folks at Piknic have made the snow shindig two days long, radically expanded the musical bandwidth, moved over to the Old Port and teamed up with Igloofest to include ice sculptures, Imax and, of course, the infamous One-piece Snowsuit Competition (bust out those retro Descentes, folks.)

Day one, this Friday, Jan. 19, is a Ninja Tune vs. Bounce le Gros showdown/showcase featuring hometown heavyweights and intercontinental acts alike. Come prepared for groovy downtempo, lippy crunk, funk revivals and downtown mashups with Strictly Kev of DJ Food, Ghislain Poirier, Ghost Beard and Luv. Day two boasts Mini, Mossa, and Slimjim, as well as Parisians Nôze. You gotta watch out for Nôze, whose eccentric stage act and guttural vocals provide the perfect juxtaposition to the clean, minimal world of production from which they spring. You can’t make grunting sophisticated, no matter how hard you try. For the record, along with Modeselektor, Jackson & His Computer Band and OneSpeedBike, Nôze owned at Mutek 2006 (for my love affair, for my love affair).

For the scenesters who already know all this, you’re probably wondering, as it seems you often are, what to do after Piknic. Well, I’ll tell you. On Friday, you’ll get your chance to see an action-packed trio of local groups at Main Hall. Binary heroes 011 turn on like the Maximum Overdrive truck to run your head over, Plaza Musique meet in the middle for dreamy, ambient melodies, and Automelodi (ex-Echo Kitty), well… we don’t know what Automelodi will do. But it’ll sound German, I promise.

Tonight, Academy Club sees the first Fame Thursday with Maüs, Jason Pelletier and Clifford Brown. On Saturday night, bum-rush Club Lambi for the latest iPod Battle, with members of les Georges Leningrad and Sons of Warsaw alongside Royal Air Togo, Cherry Cola, WhyAlexWhy? and Plastik Patrik, all facing off in the drunken squared circle.

CHECK THE ’TUDE… jack.oatmon@gmail.com

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