Way-out west by KRISTA I'm of the belief that there is some invisible force-field occurring just west of the Rockies and stretching south to the edge of the U.S. It defines the boundary between California and the rest of North America, because San Francisco is a like a kind of intergalactic space port for all beings, carbon-based or other. This past week I took a trip back to the land of Manifest Destiny, psychedelic research labs and sourdough bread in an attempt to, A: get a tan (virtually impossible, as San Francisco's coldest weather occurs in July), and B: party (mission accomplished, as there is invariably something to do party-wise in California). My most impressive party (and DJing) experience by far was former Montrealer Jane's (a.k.a Bus Jane to you old-schoolers) "Progress" event which took place in front of City Hall on Sunday afternoon, but aside from that I managed to see and hear a "hella" great DJs. Who did I see, you ask? Guidance Records artist Kevin Yost, drum & bass's dark avengers Ed Rush and Optical, Sweden's Svek label recording artist Alexi Delano, NYC's John Selway, L.A.'s Doc Martin and Detroit's #2 turntable casanova Stacey Pullen (Derrick May is #1), to name a few. Beyond the fact that there is always some cool bigwig in town, San Francisco is just packed full of talent of its own, which makes for a healthy music market. My personal favourite reason for visiting the land of love, peace and LSD is the outdoor-during-the-day party factor. Nothing beats waking up around noon on a Sunday and stumbling on over to the park to sip beers (or whatever), listen to some tunes and boogie a little (or a lot, depending on how well Saturday night went). Granted, the San Francisco mentality isn't for everyone, as the number of people claiming to be alien messengers of love is strangely high, but I like to think that I'm a relatively spiritual person, so the "free your mind and your ass will follow" way of life works for me. I love Montreal, but I think that our little subculture could use a few more heads who view the cup as half-full rather than half-empty. >>> Here ends the new-age portion of our show. Moving on to what's happening around town, High Bar has managed to lock down one more resident (for now at least). Matteo will playing every Thursday, starting tonight, July 30. This Friday is looking like another double feature as Autechre, DJ Chantal and Derrick Carter will be at the Medley, and U.K.'s Darren Price graces the decks at Sona. The Autechre show is $17.50, Darren Price at Sona is $20. Altogether that makes $37.50--and that's just the beginning of the weekend. On Saturday you can check out a party called The Ride. The flavour for the night is all forms of breakbeat-oriented music. DJs are Jordan Dare, Rob Brown, Red Dredd, the Session crew and Manspino among others. Call the info line at 981-4520. E-mail Krista at secondnature98@hotmail.com.