Choco blocko

>>The Taste party returns with
sweet treats both aural and oral

PEEL OUT: Orange Orange

By RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Come Friday night, you may feel torn between tearing up a dancefloor and tearing open a bag of sweets while curled up in bed. No need to choose—the return of the Taste party at SAT allows for both.

“Our signature concept is to partner with local chocolate artisans and offer free chocolate tastings to our guests throughout the evening,” says Julien Stern, Taste’s artistic director and, with his band Gloomy, a regular performer at the event. “The crowd at Taste is hard to define. You’ll find hipsters, clubbers, rockers, heteros, gays—but the chocolate, we’ve discovered, is the common denominator! The free chocolate and affordability of the event are really our effort to attract a wide range of people from different social spheres, musical interests and ages, towards this idea of democratizing the electronic music scene, which often has a very limited public.”

Local confectioners Juliette & Chocolat are handling the truffles and treats at Taste, and promise no shortage of stock. “In addition, and we’re very excited about this,” says Stern, “Juliette has agreed to set up an exclusive bar for Taste, serving chocolate cocktails, their latest house specialty! And la Cabosse d’Or is also back with their huge blocks of pure chocolate.”

Okay, but what about the beds? “We have to admit that we were inspired by the upscale New York/Miami lounge called Bed, where instead of reserving a table with friends or a date, you reserve a bed. We love the concept—it’s very luxurious, sexy, and fits well with our chocolate fixation, accentuating its sensual side a bit. Who knows how things will unfold by the end of the night! We wanted to put more work into the ambiance this year, create a more intimate vibe and further define Taste’s vision of the pleasure principle, but above all, we just want to spoil our guests, and what’s better than bedside chocolate service?”

Sugar and shocks

Well, how about this—bedside chocolate service with live accompaniment by the likes of Beast (featuring Betty Bonifassi, of Triplettes de Belleville and Champion and His G-Strings fame, and Jean-Phi Goncalves of Plaster and Afrodizz), the dirty, dangerous neo-disco of aRTIST oF tHE yEAR, the cool new duo Orange Orange (Dom Hamel of Motus 3F and Gatineau with lady friend Sabrina Bellemare on vox and Casio), and of course Gloomy, back on track after a short hiatus.

“The major development with Gloomy,” says Stern, “is that we’ve recruited a super talented drummer, Matt Toupin, who has been all over the world with Second Son, Cirque du Soleil and other projects. He brings great drive to the band. Jean-François Ouellet is also now officially on board, on saxophone, keyboard and flute, and he has really interesting ideas about composition.

“The new Gloomy is more spontaneous and more aggressive. The simple fact of having a drum kit on stage adds an element of live performance. We are also trying to use less laptop and more analog sounds with pedal effects and distortion. Lately, we’ve been really influenced by the craziness of Holy Fuck and the latest electronic sounds coming out of Europe, such as Modeselektor.”

Also on tap are a solo set by Stern on the decks—“I like to use really powerful, crunchy, funky sounds, a total antithesis to minimalist, softer trends”—and a visit from French-born, Shanghai-based DJ Jarco Weiss (“A freak,” says Stern).

The highly varied sounds at Taste are of a piece with their box-of-chocolates principle. “The idea of tasting is a good metaphor for our style of programming. We make a point of presenting very eclectic line-ups which aim not only to please but also challenge and diversify the musical tastes of newcomers and aficionados alike.”

At SAT on Friday,
May 2, 9 p.m., $15