by RAF KATIGBAK

Despite being banned from the U.S. for five years for trying to drive to a gig in Seattle without a permit (orange alert!), Vancouver house producer Jay Tripwire shows no signs of slowing down. With a slew of his own releases jocked by big names like Seb Fontaine and H-Foundation, and gigs at London music Mecca Fabric under his belt, Tripwire's deep, dubby, tribally West Coast jams are still reaching punters the world over. Catch him this Friday, Aug. 20, with Fred Everything at Stereo. Also on Friday, Chicago's Green Velvet hits Aria for what's sure to be a weird and wonderful experience. Jack to the sound of the underground!

Recently convinced by New York's über-hip DFA label to add the "1979" to their name, Toronto duo Death From Above 1979 will be hitting El Salon with T-dot synthy-dance-punk outfit Controller.Controller this Friday. Death From Above 1979: new name, same insane bass/synth/

drum attack. Yowza!

For a synth-drum attack of a very different kind, check out the hard tech/industrial/hardcore/D&B/techno night l'Humanité this Friday at Le Chill (6511A St-Laurent, corner Beaubien). Only $7 at the door, DJs Syko (aka Psyko le Punk), NÅ, Trek, Mad K and a few surprises will be on hand. Oh, the humanity!

Finally on Friday, get gussied up and prance around Mile End Bar from 6 to 10 p.m. as Montreal's newest independent clothing store Three Monkeys celebrates the launch of their new boutique in les Cours Mont-Royal. Miguel Graça and Mike Casali will be on the hand to provide the music as designers like Lydia Lukidis and Umsteigen show off their latest custom designs on a makeshift runway.

It looks like summer rave camp is in full swing again this weekend as the ERA project tries to raise funds for Hostyn, the Czech children's camp located in a picturesque valley in Quebec's Lanaudière region. This Saturday, DJs will be spinning in three different areas from noon till noon on Sunday. On hand will be familiar names like Pheek, Milton Clark, Freeworm and Philgood as well as newcomers DJ Rue, Murdock, Intrancyve and more. Check www.eraproject.com for directions and details.

Tonight, Thursday, Aug. 19, drop by Blizzarts as local DJ/producer RadarSat-1 celebrates the launch of his brand new baby, a 12-inch on U.K.'s [k]rack-troni[k] label. For those of you not familiar, [k]rack-troni[k] was launched in the year 2000 by Birmingham-based producers Sir Real and 8-Bit Apocalypse, with the intention of focusing on releasing "imaginative and exciting" electro and breaks records. Kudos go to the young Montreal producer who's been plugging away at repping the local electro scene for a few years now. Catch him tonight as he performs live. Congratulations are also in order for Blizzarts' Thursday-night residents, who will be taking over CKUT every Friday night at 4 a.m. for some Broken Krew beats on their new weekly show.

Next Tuesday, Aug. 24, local electro act Duchess Says launches a new night, the Church of Budgerigars, over at l'Escogriffe. DJs Roméo Casio, Prions en Église and Sound Scientist will all be bringing the noise.

Didn't you hear? Friday is the new…uh, Friday. Diskoakimbo@sympatico.ca

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