One of the sites we check regularly for bulletins from the cutting edge of EDM is Resident Advisor. So our patriotic hearts were all aflutter today when we saw that RA had posted this lengthy article on Toronto’s club scene.

The piece, by veteran local DJ Denise Benson, delves into the history of electronic music in the city, from the early 1980s through the rise and fall of the rave scene of the late 1990s to the current renaissance exemplified by groundbreaking acts like Egyptrixx, Crystal Castles, Art Department and Austra. It also includes interviews with prominent scenesters like Kenny Glasgow and Wrongbar‘s Nav Sangha, surveys the best of the current local hotspots, and offers out-of-town clubbers some helpful tips about late-night dining (Sneaky Dee’s!) and Toronto’s charmingly antiquated liquor laws. You should definitely read the whole thing here.

Lots to agree (and disagree) with — but one point that caught our attention is the way the city’s multicultural patchwork is mirrored in its diversity of EDM sounds and scenes:

“The cultural diversity plays a big factor in the way scenes developed here,” states Nav Sangha, DJ and owner of underground dance club/hub Wrongbar. “Drum & bass, house, dancehall and reggae—all of those scenes merged and influenced one another in many ways. You’ll see DJs hopping from scene to scene. There’s a great amount of diversity that may exist in some American cities, but here a lot of scenes and communities are more integrated. I think Toronto is extremely important where the North American market is concerned and it’s only just in the last five years or so that I really feel like it’s being recognized as such,” emphasizes Sangha. “Everyone is turning the pages on the history books and realizing what an important role this city played.”