by RAF KATIGBAK

This Saturday, four young crews compete for your hard-earned rave dollar with a selection of all-night dance parties. Over at the beautiful Bain Mathieu space at 2915 Ontario E., it's Lucky Luke II, an electro, techno and trance all-nighter with DJ Mini vs. G'Obrien and some cats named DJ Flappy et l'Incroyable Mulk - info at 973-4348. On the harder tip, check out BeatFreak Productions' Remembrance party with Belgium's AirWave and DJs SIN and Indica (268-7799). For an intimate shindig (roughly a 100-person capacity), Just B will be throwing their first Tranceformerz party (not to be confused with Ottawa's Tranceformerz events) and will feature Banging Mark, Candela, Franky Mass and Cid K. - e-mail trancefromerz@justb.ca for the lowdown. And finally, for the really psychically inclined, try and check out Voyage Astral with DJs Woolf, Catherine, Tad and Pink. The only catch is that these guys are so underground, they don't even have contact info or a phone number to call, but hopefully all those years of taking Acid and E together have paid off and you can just call upon the power of PLUR to astrally project yourself there.

DJ Bliss continues to rep quality beats while bigging up local talent with his Apesh!t nights at Blizzarts. Tonight, April 1, Bliss welcomes Montreal's drum & bass diplomat and breakbeat bad boy Sase One for a rare live performance of mindwarping, ass-destroying breaks. Cover is four at the door.

Speaking of ass destroying, tonight drop by the Medley for Cure-osity, a benefit show to help the Jewish General Hospital and the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada promote awareness of colon cancer as the leading killer of non-smokers in Canada. While the Scandinavian origin of '80s cover headliners Fantasy is rather dubious, there's no doubting their party-rocking ability. So why not head on down and dance the night away for a good cause?

IDM nerds (myself included) can finally blow their collective musical load this Sunday as drill & bass icon Squarepusher returns to Montreal. Club Soda will be ground zero for his low-end, guttural, rhythmic assault and extended freakout bass solos. Tix are still available so get 'em while you can!

This Monday, April 5, Blue Dog's weekly Mr. Nemo's Beats & Cheese Revue celebrates six months of hip hop, funk, reggae, '80s, classic rock, electro, some cheese and "whatever" with popcorn, movies and a full cheese plate! If you're looking for a fun place to do some drinkin' and conversin', you've found it!

Another free show at the Maison de la Culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (3755 Botrel) this Friday - local electronic musician and Intr_version Records tycoon Mitchell Akiyama takes the stage. Seating is limited so make sure you get your passes in advance (call 872-2157 for details).

What are you waiting for? Pledge to CKUT already! Diskoakimbo@sympatico.ca

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