Rug traffic by KRISTA Erik Rug was born in the '60s in Vittel, France, a city for which a natural spring water is named that, according to the French, tastes better than Evian. Rug began his DJ career in the late '80s at the legendary Locomotive club with the equally legendary Laurent Garnier. He released his first track in 1991. Between '92 and '94, he released three EPs as Waxworx on a now-defunct label called Toronto Underground from, you guessed it, Toronto. In '96 Rug became a resident at Paris' renowned Rex Club, and landed a radio show on France's number one radio station Radio Nova, which has just formed its own label called, of course, Radio Nova. Monsieur Rug has released two EPs on Paper Recordings under the pseudonym Dirty Jesus entitled (aptly) "Cut a Rug" and "Don't Fuck With My Shit," and is a monthly resident at Plastic People in Manchester, where our very own Fred Everything has also played on numerous occasions. This Thursday, February 17, Erik Rug is the guest at Fred's Vira La Derencha night at Jingxi, but Fred will be away in, of course, England, and so Dirty Jesus will play with me (that sounds a bit off, doesn't it?). At any rate, admission is $8 at the door, doors at 10 p.m. If we were to judge the popularity of a particular style of music by the number of parties taking place in the span of one week that ascribe to that particular style, then this week drum & bass would be the coolest. Kicking off the marathon week of frantic beats is VS, a drum & bass battle party where local d&b DJs will lock horns in a hand-to-hand mix-off. Judges on the night will be DNA Record's manager John (known as "the Heat"), Gary from Rotation and myself. Featured crews are the Session, Hardsteppers, Massive and Bounce. Tix are available for $12 in advance at DNA and Noize. The event takes place at the World Beat Cafe, 1592 St-Laurent. Saturday nights check out Maus' Massive night at Blizzarts, and on Sunday, February 20, Tokyo's Big Treat promises drum & bass mayhem with DJs Future Lad and Density. Free! Mondays check out Johnny Jungle and guests at Luba. Tuesday you can crawl between Angel's Easy Tuesdays and Tokyo's Bounce, and the Session is back every Wednesday with Absolut Drum & Bass at Jingxi. Finish off your six-day stretch at Angel's Levels night, Thursdays. Now that's a lot of low-end. DJ Maus has been busy girl lately. She's working on a mix CD, does Saturday nights at Blizzarts, Thursday nights at Laika, and now shares a Tuesday residency with DJ Elmo at Jingxi called i-Bass. Their guest this Tuesday, February 22, is local maven Mateo. This Friday, February 18, DJ Uzi is hosting a chick night of sorts at Jai Bar featuring the talents of Vancouver transplant DJ Renee, and Vancouver native DJ Michelle, who is part of the San Francisco Sessions Tour. $8 at the door.