by RAF KATIGBAK

Montreal's Nuit Blanche went off without a hitch on Saturday, and hopefully many of you took advantage of the myriad late-night activities. While being completely shitfaced at the MMFA at 4 a.m. was certainly an experience unto itself ("This performance piece is either a stark reminder of the urgency to address today's geo-political concerns, or it's just some drunk guy puking"), the place to be Saturday night was definitely the SAT, where Piknik Electronique and Mutek joined forces to throw a sold-out, all-night event of deep techno and minimal house. The night culminated in a local laptop supergroup performance featuring Akufen, Deadbeat, Stephen Beaupré, Egg, Vincent Lemieux, the Mole, Pheek and Soundshaper.

Speaking of Mutek, all you techno heads can mark "call in sick" in big red letters on your calendar from June 2 to 6 as Montreal's hottest electronic music festival has just announced their dates. While the line-up is still yet to be officially announced, one guest will certainly be none other than Richie Hawtin, who will be performing live under his Plastikman guise as part of his series of CTRL events. (CTRL is Hawtin's concept that gives the performer full command of the environment, from sound and visuals to lights and smoke machines - sort of a Wizard of Oz meets Tron type thing. Keep checking Mutek.ca for details.)

Of course, with their plethora of top-notch after-hours clubs, Montrealers are no strangers to all-night parties. But it's with a heavy heart that 514 has just announced the closing of the legendary Sona. Apparently, after an eight-year stint and "careful consideration and market analysis," 514 productions decided it was time to call it quits for Sona - though they will continue doing one-off events. While it's no secret that their move to a huge mall complex hurt their "underground image" (for some reason, an important factor for punters), it's also no secret that Sona provided some of the best live shows and DJ sets I have ever experienced. Good times.

This Saturday, March 6, Alain Vinet will be launching his new residency at Montreal's newest house mecca Gravity with the first of his monthly 10-hour Mouvement sets. Those of you familiar with his four-year Mouvement run at Stereo can expect the same deep and jackin' musical journey.

On Friday, March 5, over at the SAT, local minimal techno label Epsilonlab hosts guests from the German net-label Thinner. Expect live sets by Paul Keeley, Jason Corder and Dennis De Santis as well as Final Scratch performances by Epsilonlab's Mateo Murphy and Éloi Brunelle. VJs Pillow, Mr. Edgar, Euterke, les Passagers and Cameron will deliver the goods on the visual front. Sixteen dollars gets you in.

On Wednesday, March 10, as part of the Mix_session series of events over at the SAT, the Plastic Tactics event will see DJs Cyan and Melon and live performers naw and Billy the Kid hook up with VJs Fluid and Ladyroll for an evening of AV exploration. Also on Wednesday, on the house tip, check out DeepJ Max's new weekly Hump at Stereobar. For a taste of Hump, DeepJ Max will be dropping wax on Friday night at Club Velvet, where ex-Sona DJ Joubin will keep the fires burning. Over at O Patro Vys on Friday, join DJ Mark MacLeod and special guest Pfreud as they celebrate five years of Melt parties.

I'm melting! Diskoakimbo@sympatico.ca

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