Basic beats by KRISTA I think that we can all agree that the sound of the moment is big beat. I asked DJ Ram, Montreal's resident big beat aficionado, to explain the current craze to me: "This music is mindless, but fun. It's get-drunk-and-party music," says Ram. "I go to London a couple of times a year, and every time I see Fatboy Slim or someone like that they're always pissed drunk and going off, and so is everyone else in the club." Big beat's popularity stems from the fact that not everyone who goes to a club wants to be cerebrally challenged by the music. "All those guys (Fatboy Slim, DeeJay Punk Roc, etc...) know the music's kind of a joke, but it's easy and catchy," continues Ram. "That's what's so appealing about it." DJ Ram's first album, entitled The East Infection, is due out this April. This Friday, March 5, Ram plays Sona's Beats & Bass party along with drinking buddies DeeJay Punk-Roc, Lo Fi Allstars, Dub Pistols and the slightly more intelligent Grooverider and Fabio. $20 at the door. Bottoms up! Also, this Saturday, March 6, at Sona, local man of few words DJ Mateo celebrates the release of his Cascade EP, out now on local label Haute Couture. Despite his reserved nature, Mateo is quite an explosive guy--much like the funky disco-oriented tracks he produces. And he's a bit of a womanizer too... $20 at the door. Next Wednesday, March 10, The Progression Sessions Tour featuring LTJ Bukem, Intense, Blame and MC DRS rolls into town for an all night d&b Session at Sona. Local Session regulars Jordan Dare, Double A & Twist say this is a special one-off event and that they'll be back at Jai bar the week after, but I think moving it to Sona permanently might not be such a bad idea... The Brass Knuckles crew (Fridays @ Blizzarts) moves into Jai on the night the Session boys are out. Somebody call Judge Judy! There may be two separate Bal en Blanc events this year, as the two promotional groups who have collaborated to put it on since 1995 have broken up. Les Productions Playground and 514 Productions are currently in the throes of a court battle to decide who owns the Bal en Blanc name. 514 have already booked CEPSUM for the April 4 event, and Playground claim to have booked the Olympic Stadium. Now the two teams are playing that DJ-tug-of-war game over Danny Tenaglia. Yawn. Watch this space for updates. What's with the Asian theme? First there was Tokyo, then Jingxi, and now there's a China club. China, located at 4910 St-Laurent, is open Wednesday through Saturday and has Luc Raymond, Stephane Cocke, Sebastien Joanette and XL. On Friday, March 5, Jai bar celebrates its one-year anniversary with DJs Uzi, Patrick Dream and Double A & Twist. $7 at the door. The celebration continues at Jai on Saturday morning with the first annual Tea Party featuring more music and healthy refreshments. Sunglasses not included.