Maya Jane Coles @ The Hoxton, Toronto – April 12, 2013. Presented by Embrace & Platform
Reviewed by Gosia Mrugala
ALL PHOTOS: James Drobik
I’ve been in love with the deep house sound of UK producer/DJ Maya Jane Coles ever since I heard her Low Key EP. The title track alone was “Low Key” is all it took to get me hooked.
This is one talented and prolific young artist. In addition to the house tracks she puts out under her own name, Coles records dubstep under the alias Nocturnal Sunshine, and has teamed up with vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Lena Cullen to form the electronic dub duo She Is Danger. Little wonder Rolling Stone ranked MJC number 14 last fall on its list of the world’s 25 most influential DJs.
Coles brought her distinctive sound to The Hoxton in Toronto last Friday — and what a night it was! The lineup outside wrapped right around the building, tickets at the door sold out in a heartbeat, and the joint was quickly filled wall-to-wall. The vibe was raw and had a delicious, underground feel. Coles’ artful production and unerring musical selection had the whole crowd swaying oceanically to those sweet, deep rhythms.
Keep an eye on MJC’s touring schedule HERE, and be ready to snap up tix quick if she’s gonna be in your neighbourhood.
More photos:
Gosia Mrugala is a Toronto-based blogger and reviewer. You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.
Flume + EPROM @ The Hoxton, Toronto – April 4, 2013
Reviewed by Gosia Mrugala
Friday night, and the dance floor at The Hoxton was filling up rapidly, a crush of bodies thrumming with excitement and anticipation. You could feel it: the indefinable something in the air that says, “This is gonna be good.”
I’d be a liar if I said I had much prior familiarity with the music of Australian DJ/producer Flume or the artist who shared the bill with him, Portland, Oregon-based EPROM. But I can tell you that, after hearing them last week, I’ve rectified that situation. I couldn’t wait to start SoundClouding and Beatporting their stuff the minute I left the club.
EPROM is a techie terms that stands for erasable programmable read only memory — “a little memory chip thing,” he explained when we spoke after the show. When I asked him to describe his sound, he termed it “electronic music grafted onto rap.”
I was captivated by his set. He communicated effortlessly with the crowd, hyping them into a frenzy, and his musical selection was positively orgasmic. His passion for the job and for the music was palpable, both on stage and when we chatted later. This was his first time performing in Toronto, and when I asked for his reaction, he said: “Tonight was f*cken awesome! Super responsive crowd — everyone was giving me a really good vibe. which I feed off of when I play”
When Flume took the stage the crowd went wild, the dance floor devolving into a clusterf*ck of the musically enslaved. And the set that followed left me beyond words.
Flume describes his musical style as “experimental electronic music with a strong hip hop influence and lots of catchy melodies.” But that doesn’t do it justice. His sound that night was wonderfully grimey, with the kind of “underground” feel that is all too rare on the EDM scene nowadays. His energy, too, is awe-inspiring: when he played his track “Holding On,” the audience reaction was spine-tingling, climaxing with a burst of spontaneous applause.
Do yourself a favour and get to know these artists before they hit town again.
Special thanks to Francois and the Embrace team! Check out the Embrace Web site HERE to stay on top of upcoming events.
Some more pics from the show. All images courtesy of Embrace Presents:
Gosia Mrugala is a Toronto-based blogger and reviewer. You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.
Forged in late 2008, the alliance of DJ/producers Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso — known on this planet and throughout the universe as SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA — has become a legend in the EDM community. And last June they shocked that community with the announcement, via the SHM Web site, that the trio’s upcoming tour would be their last together.
“One Last Tour” kicked off in November and will wrap up next month, with the group’s last show is to be in Miami on March 24 at the Ultra Music Festival. Their second artist album, Until Now, is the official tour soundtrack.
Initially, Saturday February 23 was planned to be their only Toronto date. But tickets sold out so quickly that the trio decided to add a second show on the Friday — AND WHAT A SHOW IT WAS.
With the massive Rogers Centre as the chosen venue, anticipation was high. I’ll confess, thought, that I was disconcerted to encounter so many teens at the show running around and bouncing off the walls like terrifying, hell-spawned toddlers on some kind of thermonuclear sugar rush.
Yeah, I won’t pretend I was happy to hear that this would be a 16+ event. I mean, sure, every generation deserves a chance to experience music of this calibre. But if the growing commercial success of EDM has a downside, it’s this: most of the people in attendance on Friday seemed only passingly familiar with the music SHM was playing. In many cases, I’d guess, their knowledge began and ended with the mega-hit “Don’t You Worry Child.” Just to put this to the test, I tried putting some questions to few of the kindergarteners in the crowd. Sample exchange:
Me: So what do you think of Axwell as a solo producer?
Fan: Who?
So, OK. Not a capital crime. But doesn’t a great act like Swedish House Mafia deserve a great audience?
Anyway, enough on that. Back to the Swedes!
Their musical selection for the night: superb. The stage show — complete with lasers and fireworks: awe-inspiring. The sheer number of bodies crowding the floor level: insane. I moved to one of the upper levels just to marvel at the seething mass, which resembled, from above, nothing so much as an army of ants.
SHM’s connection with their fans — even the ones who couldn’t identify the trio by name — is commendable, their ability to communicate with the crowd both, vocally and musically, second to none in the genre. You couldn’t help but feel the positive vibes that filled the Rogers Centre.
As a unit, the three musketeers of EDM will be missed — but never forgotten. The iconic Swedish House Mafia name will live on. Separately, Axwell, Angello and Ingrosso, will continue their musical journeys. And they’ll carry us along with them.
They came. They raved. They loved!
Check out samples of photographer Jason Kwan’s amazing pics from the show below. And CLICK HERE to see the full photo gallery.
Gosia Mrugala is a Toronto-based blogger and reviewer. You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.
On February 1 and 2, Toronto’s EDM community set out to take back winter, braving frigid temperatures at the inaugural Brrrrr! Winter Music Festival, an outdoor electronic dance spectacle featuring live performances by Moby, Osunlade, Dubfire, Deniz Koyu and many more.
So. VELD. Wow. That was just … wow. I mean, the music and the crowd and the spectacle … it was all just … you know … wow.
Screw it. There’s no easy way to describe an incredible experience like that. You know what they say about pictures and words? If you really want to know what last weekend at VELD was like, check out the massivephoto gallery posted by fearless bpm:tv bloggeuse Gosia Mrugala.
And so the last day of the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest in Ottawa arrived. And after Saturday’s epic blowout, Sunday felt like it might be a slower day. But what should have been a bittersweet coda turned into quite the party. After these two weekends of EDM, and almost two full weeks of rock, pop, hip hop, blues and dubstep, the fest went out with a bang.
Ottawa’s BKRK (a.k.a. Paul Burke) got the late-afternoon crowd warmed up with punchy beats. Seemed as though a lot of people were still riding the high from the previous night’s Skrillex show.
Next up: Vancouver’s Felix Cartal. Did I mention what an amazing job DNA did programming the Electro Stage with a great mix of local, Canadian and international artists?
Cartal got the crowd jumping with remixes of Fedde Le Grand, Autoerotique and Laidback Luke.
Over on the Claridge Stage (the second main stage), Toronto’s The Weeknd performed. You couldn’t fail to be impressed by the number of fans who turned out, and who clearly knew the music by heart.
Considering rarely he performs, and his widely-reported reluctance to sign with a major label, it was interesting to observe his fan base: teenage girls, with a load of twentysomething guys. Curious, but it all worked.
Back to the Electro Stage for the final night — and it ended with Ultra Records star Wolfgang Gartner (a.k.a. Joey Youngman) delivering a crazy electro house set. Massive bangers and hit after hot hit. Here’s our boy Felix Cartal taking in the mayhem.
So the two Sunday nights at Bluesfest ended up being among the craziest and busiest of the festival. The tunes were the largest on these two nights: first with Chromeo on the opening weekend, and then Gartner wrapping it up on the final night. Kids losing their shit until the bitter end, until the last song was played out,
So long, Ottawa. I’ll miss the way you guys gave it your all for every act !
Almost at the of the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest, and for EDM fans in Ottawa this was to be their day. Strategically, the Electro Stage showcased hip-hop as the Full Flex Express took over the Main Stage.
An homage to the legendary 1970 Festival Express tour that sent Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead and The Band rolling across Canada by rail, the Full Flex Express packed Skrillex, Diplo, Grimes and Pretty Lights aboard a specially outfitted Via Rail train to party their way from from Toronto to Vancouver.
The set started at 6 pm with Diplo playing in 34-degree heat to about 10,000 people. He was in a chatty mood, continuously introducing his tracks on the mic and joking, “I heard Ottawa was harder than Toronto — but I had no idea how much harder!” This latter met with screams and cheers.
He dropped AC/DC to a thoroughly crazed reaction — no surprise, given, as I’ve mentioned before, Ottawa’s classic rock roots. Plus “Roxanne” by The Police with a deep Moombahton flow. The other huge anthem: “Rack City” remixed in various flavours.
Diplo felt so at home here he spent the last minutes of his set crowd-surfing, holding the mic and chatting. DJs jumping into crowd: is there any lingering doubt they’ve become our new rock stars? Nobody can touch them right now (figuratively speaking).
Meanwhile, over on the Electro Stage, Tyga was in the process of sending Ottawa’s hip-hop lovers ballistic.
I honestly had no idea that the local “heads” were so f**king nuts for the Cash Money/southern ballers style. But they lost it from the moment he hit the stage. He slammed it non-stop, and I had to duck side-stage as soon I heard the first few bars of “Rack City” — I could feel they were gearing up to lose their shit.
Elsewhere, Skrillex’s fans were busy getting ready to freak out the f**k out.
Pretty Lights was next up on the Main stage, as the crowd continued to swell. His set was orchestral and massive, punctuated with tunes like this one: “I Know The Truth.”
And finally, the main event! Skirllex brought a larger and more elaborate show than he had the previous night in Toronto. The backstage was closed due to all the pyrotechnics, lasers and whatnot, which meant no photography. So I had to sneak these …
This was a full-fledged rock concert ordeal, on a par with or bigger than what any of the week’s other main stage headliners had delivered — and the record crowd of 30,000 freaked to every minute of it.
… and FINALLY, an after party!
With the train set to depart at 2:30 am, getting to the party felt a little rushed, but once everyone got to Ritual Nightclub and settled in, the only issue I could foresee was getting all the artists to leave on time.
After Koan Sound (who are also on the train) played a dubsteppy set (including ragga jungle licks like “Special Dedication”), it was down to the Don. Skrillex, having just performed a full-on concert, played another few hours at this intimate club venue.
And the crowd was right there with him, partying on just as hard.
He gave it everything he had, sweating profusely and never letting up — even taking the photographer’s camera and snapping pics of himself with the crowd. Steadfast and dedicated, he is without question the hardest-working DJ out there right now.
And with that, the Full Flex Express left Ottawa as quickly as it had come, leaving a trail of wondrous disaster in its wake.
After going dark for a few days the Electro Stage came alive for the final weekend of the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest in Ottawa. And if you’ve been reading the recaps so far, you’ll know that the fest is definitely due for a name change, what with a lineup that includes headliners like Skrillex and metalheads Mastodon. Although perhaps distantly blues-inspired in some former lifetime, neither heavy metal nor dubstep could really be said to fit on the same bill as Howlin’ Wolf.
Toronto-based Grantdtheft was first up on the decks this Friday night. As a self-styled DJ/VJ, his forté is integrating video with his audio mixes. I thought he was doing this all in real time, and he assured me later that he was — but the real work lies in the gruelling studio process of synching video to audio. Once that’s uploaded (see “days of work”), then he mixes live as per usual.
Mad skills and loveable tunes that had the crowd singing along; hip-hop and reggae anthems and hooks like no other DJ had summoned all week. And maybe a few guilty pleasures rolled up in there as well.
A festival generally means fewer rules than a club gig, more freedom and less pressure to bring the latest and greatest. You get to play in more of a relaxed, party atmosphere. So maybe the reason I ended up hearing the remix of “Fading Like A Flower” twice in one week!
The last time I’d seen him was with Major Lazer in Toronto at Sound Academy, and this was definitely one of the sets I was looking forward to most: he seems to plays all my favourite jams, with tight technical mixes.
A natural-born musician, he also took an opportunity to chat engagingly with the crowd. Definitely one of the house -ier sets of the week, it got the ladies onto the dance floor — and the guys quickly followed suit.
Red Bull + fire extinguisher = the perfect metaphor for his set. Pulsating rhythms and beats that grip the heart. Beautiful and classic vocals co-existing peacefully with dirty, grimy bass lines to whine your waist.
Here, the boys chill offstage and catch up. These festivals give you a chance to see old friends and get to know new ones.
A-Trak, the evening’s headliner, turned in an absolutely mental set, drawing a crowd even larger than Tommy Lee and Aero’s or Paul Oakenfold’s — no small feat.
A ton of Montrealers made the two-hour drive and placed themselves strategically in the crowd to cheering with fierce Canadian pride for their hometown hero — a onetime DMC champ who has toured with the likes of Kanye West.
A-Trak’s quiet demeanour offstage belies his onstage persona: the “Big Bad Wolf.” Can you guess, by the way, which track was the banger of the night? Here’s a hint.
No question, this was the perfect way to gear up the Electro Stage for the final weekend of the festival.
Toronto’s first two-day EDM festival, Digital Dreams was exactly that: a dream. The community that came together for this event was just awe-inspiring. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, more heart-pumping beats, and more enthusiastic fellow music lovers.
Anticipation for this event was high. For weeks beforehand, just looking into store windows and seeing the Digital Dreams poster brought euphoric goose bumps. The team behind the festival was nothing short of the best. And they couldn’t have chosen a better venue for this historic EDM event than Ontario Place, a famed local landmark that opened to the public more than 40 years ago.
I wish I could have morphed into three people with a single mind and been at all the stages, experiencing each and every artist’s set. Instead I found myself running from stage to stage, trying to experience a bit of everything.
Can I pinpoint one set that I favored? In all honesty, I can’t. Every artist on the bill brought something unique and extraordinary to their performance. Still, there are a few that keep replaying in my mind.
Saturday, walking towards the Dreams Stage, feeling your mind and body pulled forward by the sounds dancing through the air, getting closer and closer to where BT (a.k.a. Brian Wayne Transeau) was rocking the crowd. A veteran of the scene for more than two decades, he knows how to keep an audience moving and cheering.
After BT’s set, Montreal-born A-Trak stepped in and quickly had the crowd under full control. Local hero JELO not only dominated the crowd during his own day-one set on the Dreams Stage, but returned later to fill in for Afrojack, who couldn’t make it for the first day due to travel delays, and once again gave a stellar performance. Meanwhile, over on the sandy dance floor at the Echo Beach Stage Hed Kandi DJs Andy Warburton and Sarah Louise gave noteworthy sets.
Back on the main stage, rising star R3hab turned in a set that people would be buzzing about for days to come. It was mind-blowing to watch the young Dutch DJ interacting with the crowd, standing up on the decks, and sharing his extraordinary passion for the music. British veteran Steve Lawler rocked the stage as one knew he would, and was followed by the equally well-traveled Canadian stalwart Richie Hawtin. Throughout the day I’d been hearing people talk excitedly about Lawler and Hawtin, and the prodigious sets from these two elder statesmen more than justified the anticipation.
The second day was a continuation of the madness. Mother Nature continued to lavish us with perfect summer weather. The bodies slowly began flooding into Ontario Place, and by 4pm the stages were absolutely swarmed. Entranced by the beat and the bass, by the ecstatic atmosphere, I couldn’t help but feel proud looking around and seeing the community that EDM creates, the shared love for the music flows through everyone. It’s so admirable to see people coming together this way to be a part of musical history.
The artist schedule for the Dreams Stage on day two was thrown off quite a bit by Afrojack’s travel mishap. He finally arrived on Sunday to give his fans the set they were eagerly awaiting — and Live Nation generously offered those fans who’d bought a single day ticket for Saturday free entrance the next day to return and see Afrojack.
Thunder Bay native Sydney Blu rocked her performance, and reminded the audience several times during her set how proud she is to be from this country.
The one set from day two that really stands out in my memory has to be Dubfire on the Echo Beach Stage. He was so hypnotizing, his musical selection so spine-tingling, he kept the crowd in a trance throughout. I have to say, every time I’ve seen him live I have been impressed; that kind of consistency is rare.
This was a weekend I spent dreaming in digital. I can’t speak for the organizers, but in my eyes the festival was an absolute success: a primo experience for the fans and music-lovers — and judging by their comments on Twitter, for the artists too. Check out some samples:
The explosive popularity that EDM has acquired in the past couple years is beyond belief. But the spectre of commercialism hovers over it now, and I pray the genre doesn’t lose it’s magic. Here’s hoping that we can look forward to more festivals and events like this that offer an opportunity for new appreciation and shine a light on some of the artists that you won’t necessarily encounter on Z103 or MTV.
Gosia Mrugala is a Toronto-based blogger and reviewer. You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.
The pulse of a distant bass grows louder as the bpm:tv danceNEWS team and I approach Ontario Place for the inaugural Digital Dreams Music Festival. We jump aboard a media golf cart for a tour of the grounds, and it quickly becomes clear that we are in the midst of one hell of a party. Thousands of people are doing their righteous best to wear as little as possible and dance until the earth shakes.
Some of dance music’s heaviest hitters are behind the decks, unleashing a relentless onslaught of beats that serve to keep energy levels high all day. I am constantly finding myself in the middle of little circle dance parties, trying to take pictures while dancing. (If any of these shots look shaky, that’s why. That’s my excuse, anyway, and I’m sticking with it.)
Afrojack, Kaskade, R3hab, Alesso — just some of the big names responsible for the persistent ringing in my ears as I write this. Sore muscles and heatstroke notwithstanding, Digital Dreams was a hell of a beautiful ride — one I plan on taking again, year after year.
Gosia Mrugala is a Toronto-based blogger and reviewer. You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.
