Canada’s premier DJ, the indefatigable MC Mario, returns with a scorching new summer mix compilation, featuring hot ’n’ heavy club hits from Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Taio Cruz, Tiësto, Alexandra Stan, Inna, and many more.

To find out how to win your copy of MC MARIO SUMMER ANTHEMS 2011, visit bpm:tv on Facebook. Contest closes Monday July 25.

Visit MC Mario’s Web site and Facebook page.

Click here to buy MC MARIO SUMMER ANTHEMS 2011

Track Listing:

Inna, Sun Is Up – Play & Win Extended Mix

Alexandra Stan, Mr. Saxobeat – Extended Version

Merlin Miles & MC Mario feat. Les Boys, It’s Forever (Sax Bomb) – Hugo Boss and Steve Watt Extended Radio Remix

Jennifer Lopez, On The Floor- Club Edit

Robert Abigail vs DJ Rebel feat. The Gibson Brothers, Cuba

Lucenzo feat. Big Ali, Vem Dancar Kuduro – Club Edit

Marco Calliari, Bella Ciao – Montreal House Mafia Novella Remix

Lady Gaga, Born This Way – Manhattan Clique Remix Radio Edit

Mischa Daniels feat. J-Son, Where You Wanna Go – Original Radio Edit

Taio Cruz feat. Kylie Minogue, Higher – Wideboys Radio Edit

Simon Cattaneo & Alex Gardini feat. Regina, We Will Rock You – Original Mix

Laidback Luke & Steve Aoki & Lil Jon, Turbulence

Dev feat. The Cataracs, Bass Down Low – Static Revenger Remix

MC Mario feat. Rosette, I’m Ready – 8 Barz Remix

MC Mario & Datdude feat. Danyka, Come 2 Me 2011 – Flashmixerz Remix

Karl Wolf feat. Kardinal Offishall, Ghetto Love – Greg Stainer UGP Extended Remix

Tiesto & Marcel Woods, Don’t Ditch – Original Mix

Check it out! Summer’s finally here in full force, and bpm:tv’s Scott Willats is serving up another edition of his SCOTT’S SELECTIONS podcast hot off the grill — bigger and badder than before!

Check below for the track listing. And stay tuned: Scott’s working on a special WEMF edition of the podcast — coming soon!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD

Mord Fustang – Lick the Rainbow

Dada Life – Fight Club is Closed (F.O.O.L Remix)

David Guetta featuring Taio Cruz and Ludacris - Little Bad Girl

Ryan Enzed – FTCA

DJ Vadim and The Eclectic – Toot Toot (Zeds Dead Remix)

AfroWhitey - Ridin (Ed Solo Remix)

SebastiAn - Yes

Lenny Kravitz – Let Love Rule (Justice Remix)

Scott Willats can be seen on bpm Spotlight, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 pm ET. Check out his Tumblr HERE and his SoundCloud HERE.

Destiny Event Productions proudly presents the return of WEMF, one of North America’s premier electronic music festivals, August 12-14 in the picturesque hills of South Algonquin, Ontario, overlooking beautiful Algonquin Park.

Continuing to build upon WEMF’s incredible success, the 15th annual edition of the festival promises to be bigger and better than ever. This year’s headliners include RUSKO, CALVIN HARRIS, SKRILLEX, INFECTED MUSHROOM, ANDY C and NOISIA. For the full lineup, check out the WEMF Web site.

bpm:tv is proud to sponsor WEMF. And we want to send you and a friend to the festival! Visit us on Facebook to find out how to enter. Contest closes Friday, July 29.

For more information and updates on WEMF 2011, go HERE, or HERE.

Take a look at our new gallery of photographs from the documentary SHAMBHALA, airing this coming Monday & Thursday (July 11 & 14) at 11 pm ET. The hour-long film is a journey behind the scenes of the Shambhala Music Festival in British Columbia — one of the world’s wildest and most unconventional electronic music events.

Click here to see the photos.

Like the Electronica Facebook Fan Page

What you’re about to read is long but I felt I needed to share. My Month in Review has changed to The Drop, which will feature my opinions on what’s happening within your EMDS. I’ll still include my Video of The Month and Upcoming Event sections.

Pride Toronto 2011 was truly the Pride of my life. In 2009 and 2010 I hosted the Central stage — but nothing was as exciting as hosting not one but three Pride events this year.

All costumes/outfits I wore were courtesy of Stag Shop. All gift bags were supplied by my sponsors and affiliates: bpm:tv, Stag Shop, 519 Church, Cinelli Hair, City Sun Tanning Studio and Scenester Magazine.

Where The Wild Things Are

On July 1, I hosted Pride Toronto’s One World – Where the Wild Things Are charity event was for The 519 on Church Street, a community centre offering more than 250 programs within the LGBTTQ community. It was put on by the infamous Divers/Cité crew from Montreal.

I interviewed Deko-ze dressed as a white bird, and the lovely Ticky Ty dressed in her wildness. I then interviewed Jojo Flores for Scenester Channel on a residential street beside his limo, which he quickly left in en route to the airport. He’s so amazing — in person and on deck!

Also on deck were Addy, Greg Gow, and Shawn Riker. We attracted more than 7,000 people surpassing Pride’s total attendance on July 1.

There’s nothing like dancing outside under the stars to great music, dressed as a bumble bee and feeling perfectly comfortable.

Dirty Disco

On Sunday July 3 I hosted Pride Toronto’s Dirty Disco Collective at the Labatt’s South Stage, the largest and most popular stage of the festival (sponsored by Bud Light).

At one moment, standing on stage in front of approximately 2,000 people, I remember saying to myself, “Holy shit girl! You’re on this stage!” I’m so thankful for this experience, and to all who came and experienced Dirty Disco.

Costume number one for the event was a fascinator with a matching PVC black and red dress. For costume number two, I wore fishnet stockings with PVC shorts and tank top underneath a silver sequined cloak draping to my feet, where I sported silver-sequined six-inch boots.

I opened the stage, introducing Lady Blacktronica, followed by Neill MacLeod, Chiclet, TK, and Don Berns, a.k.a. Dr. Trance.

My Scenester crew Adele Desloges and Jayson Brown shot the whole event for Scenester Channel, capturing the DJs listed above, as well as Robb G, Deko-ze, CoCo Cognac Brown, Jelo, Addy and Sydney Blu. I was assisted by my crew Lauren Tully, Erin Keating, and Samhouse, who will post a review in Scenester Magazine later this month.

Tom Stephan a.k.a. Superchumbo

The last leg of my Pride tour was on Monday July 4 hosting Deko-ze Presents: Pride Edition of Come Get Your Fcukin’ Beats with Tom Stephan (Superchumbo) at CZ.

I didn’t pay no mind to the four bicycle cops who came in with their flashlights a-blazing due to a noise complaint, which was sorted and the party carried on — but not before the crowd cheered in unison as the police left.

Stephan had me dancing non-stop for four hours! I only took breaks to use the loo. I enjoyed his set, but his multiple build-ups didn’t deliver come the breakdowns. And he only teased us with one line of “Dirty Filthy,” and didn’t drop this infamous track of his. Nonetheless, he dropped bomb after bomb and delivered different and joyful sounds.

Deko-ze, Sumation, Josh Karmin, Neill MacLeod, Nick Bertossi, and Rochester’s Jon Herbert delivered beats that were fresh to my ears. My aching thighs and feet were proof of their musical workout.

Pride of My Life

Read why Pride has always been a part of my life in Poppycock! on GayGuideToronto.com.

Miss Raquel – Woman of the Hour – GGT

“Here’s the thing: We know it’s mildly incestuous to crown our own pot-stirring blogger Miss Raquel (Poppycock!) our latest Woman of the Hour, but we have a thing for conscientious women who work hard, devotedly, and with a spirit that is broad and fierce. The indefatigable TV host, writer, web and club queen took time to put pen to our TMI Questionnaire.”

Read Miss Raquel – Woman of the Hour on GGT

Video Pick of the Month

Tiësto featuring Maxi Jazz, Dance4Life (Black Hole Recordings)

Scenester Channel

DJ interviews and event coverage: Yoji, Paul Oakenfold, The Scumfrog, Flipside and more. Have a look and subscribe!

Upcoming Event

Friday July 15

The Timewriter (8Bit, Plastic City, Germany) / With Matt Coleridge

Fabricated 2-Year Anniversary

Cover: $10 in advance at gettickets.ca. More at the door.

Doors: 10pm / 19+

Stone Lounge, 783 College Street (Below Revival), Toronto, ON

See You on the Dancefloor!

Miss Raquel

Some souvenirs of this past Canada Day weekend. Hope yours was a good one!

(Thanks to bpm:tv’s Drew Turato for the pics!)

If it’s not here, then it doesn’t matter. bpm:tv presents its ridiculously comprehensive, link-tastic roundup of July’s most important new dance and electronic music releases.

Clams Casino, Rainforest
Pegged by Rolling Stone as an “Artist to Watch,” New Jersey beatmaker Clams Casino (a.k.a. 24-year-old Mike Volpe) releases a debut EP showcasing his moody, heart-tugging blend of hip-hop rhythms and distorted, emotive vocal samples. (Week of July 4)

Dave.i.d, Response
Secretive south London artist Dave.i.d issues his debut album, an unclassifiable gene-splicing of rock and electronic, on the !K7 label. If you’re only going to buy one album this year that was recorded “inside a 10-foot-by-10-foot wooden cube,” then make it this one. (Week of July 4)

Cocoon Heroes Mixed By Adam Beyer & Dorian Paic
Techno power players Adam Beyer and Dorian Paic team up on this two-disc mix celebrating the Cocoon summer series at Ibiza’s famed Amnesia club. (Week of July 4)

Eleven Years Cocoon Recordings – Selected Remix Works
Frankfurt techno imprint Cocoon Recordings issues its first full-length remix collection, featuring tracks by Dinky, Joel Mull, Guy Gerber and Extrawelt. (Week of July 4)

Emptyset, Demiurge
Merging UK bass and avant-techno, Bristol-based duo Emptyset (a.k.a. Paul Purgas and James Ginzburg) serve up their second long-player on the Subtext label. (Week of July 4)

Five Years of Cargo Edition
Leipzig minimal house label Cargo Edition celebrates its wood anniversary with a double-disc compilation featuring the likes of Ekkohuas, Markus Schatz, label founder Matthias Tanzmann and Minimono. (Week of July 4)

Horse Meat Disco 3
Fresh from their appearance at Glastonbury, London DJ foursome Horse Meat Disco deliver up their third mix compilation, a two-disc set of “sweaty, no-nonsense disco” that brings together favourites old (Claudja Barry, Sylvester, Salsoul Orchestra) and new (Todd Terje, Dimitri From Paris) for the all-night party of your Studio 54 fantasies.” (Week of July 4)

Motor City Drum Ensemble, DJ KiCKS
Stuttgart-based house music maestro Motor City Drum Ensemble (a.k.a. Danilo Plessow) incorporates everything from Sun Ra to Aphex Twin in this latest edition of !K7‘s DJ KiCKS mix series. (Week of July 4)

Rival Consoles, Kid Velo
A purveyor of what his label, Erased Tapes, is pleased to call “cinematic dance music for the more discerning dance floors” (can a floor discern?), Leicester’s Rival Consoles (a.k.a. Ryan Lee West) continues to brew his uncategorizable blend of “hard-hitting beats and catchy acid melodies” on this sophomore release. (Week of July 4)

SebastiAn, Total
Already acclaimed for his remixes on behalf of Daft Punk, Uffie, Cut Copy and Klaxons, French electro artist SebastiAn drops his debut long-player on Ed Banger Records, with contributions from the likes of M.I.A., Gaspard Augé from Justice, and others. (Week of July 4)

Samiyam, Sam Baker’s Album
L.A. glitch-hopper and Flying Lotus collaborator Samiyam (a.k.a. the eponymous Sam Baker) follows up his 2008 debut, Rap Beats Vol. 1, with this new release on the Brainfeeder label. (Week of July 4)

Kate Simko, Lights Out
Midwestern minimal house and techno producer Kate Simko draws heavily on the classic Chicago sound in this eagerly anticipated debut long-player. (Week of July 4)

The Sorry Entertainers, Local Jet Set
Berlin duo The Sorry Entertainers (a.k.a. DJ Lotti and Raz Ohara) find a happy meeting place between club music and pop on their debut long-player for Apparat‘s label Shitkatapult. (Week of July 4)

Tiger & Woods, Through The Green
Enigmatic DJ and production duo Tiger & Woods, whose self-released white label 12-inches have caused quite a stir in the last year, offer up their first official release, showcasing the team’s trademark slo-mo disco edits. (Week of July 4)

A Taste of Kandi Summer 2011
It wouldn’t be summer without a mix compilation from the relentless UK house label and “lifestyle brand” Hed Kandi. This hot-weather collection features contributions from Robbie Rivera, Mancini, Jonni Black, Kitten & The Hip, Patrick Hagenaar and others. (Week of July 11)

Cascada, Original Me
Evacuate the dance floor — here come chart-topping German electro-poppers Cascada with a brand new studio effort that includes their latest hit, the not-at-all-influenced-by-Katy-Perry “San Francisco.” (Week of July 11)

Erasure, Circus & Wonderland
Influential Eighties synth-pop stars and LGBT icons Erasure (Vince Clarke and Andy Bell) celebrate their heyday with deluxe editions of these two classic albums. Incidentally, Erasure’s triumphant “Tomorrow’s World” tour will be landing at Toronto’s Sound Academy on September 11 of this year. (Week of July 11)

Get Darker Presents This Is Dubstep 2011
Deftly splitting the difference between “popular” and “credible,” this 40-track collection is a dubstep state-of-the-union, with tracks from Chase & Status, Coki, Flux Pavilion, Above & Beyond, Breakage, Skream and many more. (Week of July 11)

Juno Reactor, Inside the Reactor
Juno Reactor, an ever-shifting British ensemble that performs “a cinematic fusion of electronic, orchestral and global music” under the leadership of Ben Watkins, has assembled a collection of remixes featuring efforts by MIDIval PunditZ, Ace Ventura, Thomas P Heckmann and Bombay Dub Orchestra. (Week of July 11)

Thunderball, 12 Mile High Remixed
Acclaimed for their ability to shift seamlessly from breakbeat to drum’n'bass to dub and downtempo, veteran Washington, D.C. trio and self-proclaimed “Ambassadors of Style” Thunderball (Rob Myers, Steve Raskin and Sid Barcelona) remix their 2010 album 12 Mile High in this new release. (Week of July 11)

Trance Essentials 2011
The first volume of Armada Music‘s new Trance Essentials series is a virtual who’s who of the genre, featuring tracks from A-listers like Armin van Buuren, Tiësto, Above & Beyond, Ferry Corsten, Markus Schulz, Hardwell and Paul Oakenfold. (Week of July 11)

Zomby, Dedication
Having laid low since his debut long-player Where Were U In ‘92? caused a stir in 2008, elusive Brit dubstepper Zomby returns with his long-awaited follow-up on 4AD. (Week of July 11)

The Chaenge, Rebellion
Veteran techno DJ Mijk van Dijk and singer/producer Florian Schirmacher team up as The Chaenge to explore their shared love of Eighties funk and new wave. The debut release from the German duo includes a cover of “Dance Electric,” a 1985 André Cymone single written by Prince. (Week of July 18)

Chus + Ceballos, Back on Tracks Vol. 2
The latest mix compilation from renowned Spanish DJ duo Chus + Ceballos is a cool summer cocktail showcasing the blend of electronic and tribal elements that defines distinctive Iberian sound. (Week of July 18)

Markus Schulz Presents Dakota – Thoughts Become Things II
German trance superstar Markus Schulz issues his second album under the name Dakota, a studio alter ego that allows him to explore different sounds and styles. Advance word says listeners can expect to hear hints of everything from industrial to Donna Summer. (Week of July 18)

Pierre LX, Out 1
Born in Paris, raised in Brazil (where he learned to play keyboard) and now based in London, Pierre LX draws on classic electro, dubstep and techno for his debut long-player. All of the album’s tracks were recorded as continuous live takes in the young DJ’s home studio. (Week of July 18)

Running Trax 3
Lace up your trainers and hit the trail: Ministry of Sound has assembled a three-disc compilation designed to serve as the perfect warmup-to-cooldown soundtrack to your daily jog or workout, with cardio-stimulating contributions from the likes of Calvin Harris, Wynter Gordon, Armand Van Helden, Martin Solveig, Afrojack, Aviici and Eric Prydz. (Week of July 18)

Allure, Kiss From the Past
Dutch A-lister Tiësto resurrects his Allure alias and returns to his roots with a trance-centric new release that boasts contributions from JES, Emma Hewitt, Christian Burns, Jeza & Kate Miles, Henrik B and Showtek, among others. (Week of July 25)

Basement Jaxx vs Metropole Orkest
If you’ve ever wondered how Basement Jaxx tunes would sound in orchestral arrangements — and haven’t we all? — then it’s your lucky day. On this new release, the UK house duo teams up with Holland’s Metropole Orkest, a 60-piece orchestra and 20-voice choir, to reinterpret such chart-toppers as “Red Alert,” “Hey U,” “Bingo Bango” and “Where’s Your Head At.” (Week of July 25)

Goldie, Fabriclive 58
Feeling nostalgic for the long-gone glory days of drum’n'bass? Here’s your prescription: groundbreaking Nineties junglist and Metalheadz mastermind Goldie helms the latest installment in Fabric London‘s series of essential live mixes. (Week of July 25)

Little Dragon, Ritual Union
The third studio album from electro-pop band Little Dragon finds the Swedish four-piece (fronted by singer Yukimi Nagano) toying with vintage synthesizers and old-school analogue drum machines. (Week of July 25)

No Surrender, Medicine Babies
Nearly eight years after their debut album dropped, Brooklyn electro/hip-hop outfit No Surrender return with their long-postponed follow-up, an ambitious, stylistically diverse effort that touches all the musical bases, from synth-pop to soul. TV On The Radio‘s Tunde Adebimpe, Tricky collaborator Costanza Francavilla and production team Radioclit offer their contributions. (Week of July 25)

Paul Oakenfold, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s Paul Oakenfold
On this new double-CD set, British superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold assembles a mix that recalls his Nineties excursions in Goa Trance, featuring tracks from Richard Durand, Liquid Soul, Duotekk and many more. (Week of July 25)

The Governors Ball Music Festival @ Governors Island, NYC: June 18, 2011

Reviewed by Declan O’Driscoll

Well folks, summer is here — and festival season is upon us. bpm:tv kicked it off at the Governors Ball in NYC. Governors Island is such a cool spot for a music festival: there’s something so refreshing about leaving Brooklyn by boat, with the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline in full, glorious view. Not to mention the fact that the ferry is free.

We arrived on the island just in time to see Miami Horror (pictured top left), an awesome band from Australia with a new wave pop sound. Although they weren’t headlining, they had a whole lotta fans there: I overheard one girl in the ferry lineup say she’d traveled from two states away just to see them. When they busted out their anthem “Sometimes,” the whole place went mad. Everyone sitting around me jumped up and, with their hands in the air, charged running toward the stage, shouting to their friends, “I love this song!” If you haven’t been lucky enough to hear “Sometimes” already, check it out here.

One of the great things about the Governors Ball is that it has just two stages, with no overlapping sets. So you can see every band on the lineup, just by shuttling back and forth between stages. Another great thing about this festival? A banging sound system — one of the best I’ve ever heard at an outdoor event.

After Miami Horror, we headed over to the other stage to catch People Under the Stairs, an underground hip-hop act from L.A. with an impressive ability to break the sound down to beatboxing and freestyling.

A little tip for the festival-goer: always try to stake out a spot on some high ground where you can see over people’s heads. I was lucky enough to find a nice high spot for Neon Indian (pictured top right), a chillwave band from Denton, Texas, and was glad I did: they’re a stellar act to watch on stage. The way Leanne Macomber plays those keys and shakes those shakers — trust me, you’ll want a clear view.

I’ll admit, my heart sank a little when I saw a theremin — that staple of Fifties sci-fi and horror movie soundtracks — on stage for Neon Indian’s set. The trip this archaic instrument takes you on can get to be a little much. Thankfully, front man Alan Palomo used it sparingly — and when he did, it felt like an apt addition to the band’s set, which was lean, tight and boasted a badass beat. (Besides, there are always folks in the crowd who’ve never encountered a theremin before, and whose minds are blown the first time they see and hear it.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out this YouTube video.)

Big Boi‘s set was pure, classic hip-hop:  bouncing on the beat with strict rhythm, and a wild-ass crowd shaking every little bit of their bodies. The congregation got mad and wild when Big Boi worked his way through a medley of Outkast anthems — “Two Dope Boyz,” “ATLiens,” “Me & You” and “Ms. Jackson,” to name a few. With everyone into the music and chanting along with the choruses, it was tribal shit in an urban setting.

And what’s a Big  Boi show without a little audience participation? True to form, the band hauled a whole line of hot, tanned New York girls from the audience to shake their thangs onstage, then busted into “The Way You Move” from Speakerboxx. What’s that, you ask? Is there not always one girl who bends over and obligingly shakes that ass for the insight and edification of all present? Why yes — indeed! There is, and she did.

Moving right along. My favourite parts of the set (my other favourite parts): the throwback to Queen’s immortal “We Will Rock You,” and my personal favorite Big Boi track, “Shutterbugg.”

Next up: Empire of the Sun, an Australian glam rock outfit — and I do mean glam. The production dollars that went into that show! Shiny, sparkling space-age costumes that George Clinton might have rejected as, you know, a little over the top. The audience embraced it, entering totally into the spirit and turning the dance floor into a wild masquerade of costumes and peacock-feathered masks.

Finally: Girl Talk (pictured below)! If you haven’t seen the pride of Pittsburgh, known to his mother as Gregg Gillis, then you’re depriving yourself of one of life’s great pleasures. Girl Talk puts on an incredible show, from the explosive LED and graphics displays, to  his gymnastics on and around the decks, to the 200-odd people he gets up on the stage, enjoying a big ole dance party while he lays down mashups like no other: Black Sabbath with Ludacris, Biggie Smalls with the Sex Pistols, Beastie Boys with Iggy Pop and Three 6 Mafia with Daft Punk. On and on, to keep us partying deep into the night.

All in all, a memorable day (and night). Next summer’s a long way off, but if you plan to start off your 2012 festival season with a trip to the Governors Ball, you can’t go far wrong.

Go here to download Girl Talk’s acclaimed fifth album, All Day.