Mental Floss

Double-Whammy Weekend – Toronto's WinterCity and Luminescence (Sat Jan 26/08)

by on Jan.25, 2008, under - Main Page -

Well, looks like it's going to be a busy weekend for me; playing two awesome events in the city.  A little late to post on the site, but consider signing up to the mailing list.

The first is Toronto's WinterCity festival from 6:-7:30pm in the Lodge with some downtempo, curving to some uptempo.  It's a large tent in Nathan Phillips Square in front of city
hall.  It's a nice family-oriented event with lots of stuff to do and
look at.   Definitely explore through the links to find out all the cool little things going on.

The second event is Luminescence put on by a bunch of folks including Newmindspace, the group responsible for a lot of great spontaneous public space events like Pillow Fight, Light Saber Battle and Capture The Flag. My set starts at 1:30am, spinning breaks.

Leave a Comment more...

First Promise Cherry Beach! (Toronto, Ontario)

by on Jun.16, 2007, under - Main Page -, Upcoming Gigs

I'm happy to be playing the first Promise Cherry Beach Sunday this coming weekend. There was some fear that they might not be able to continue but all's good.  Come out and chill in the sun!
 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

hi, David and Irving here. We’re really  happy to announce that Sunday afternoons down at Cherry Beach will be  continuing this summer for the 6th year!
     
    With the controversy at the end of last summer, all winter long we were  concerned that we had reached an end of an era. After 5 years of sweet,  mellow anarchy and community in the sun, it was frustrating to think we  wouldn’t be able to listen to music and dance in the park with friends,  family and pets.
   
    We got lots of good advice from the Kensington Car Free Sundays people  Shamez and Kelsey, Jason from Councillor Joe Pantalone’s office, Ari  from the Trinity Bellwoods Tuesday drumming group, our smart political  friend Mike Layton, the Toronto Public Space Committee, Gregory Nixon  from Live with Culture, and Kevin and Lori from NewMindSpace, and went  into action this spring to encourage local councillor Paula Fletcher to  support us.
   
    Paula understood that this Sunday gathering is fantastic on many levels  and she was very willing to throw her support behind it. We wrote up a  proposal to the City and now they’ve given us a permit and blessing to  continue. This type of fun is a viable part of great cities like New  York, Paris, Montreal and Madrid. Toronto just got way cooler.
   
    Here’s the good news:
   
    this Sunday June 17th
     
Promise Cherry Beach Sunday Afternoon Soundsystem
       

    Bring a frisbee, bring a kite, bring a handy sweater, bring a dog (only  nice dogs), bring your lover and a hammock. And pass the time on this  lazy sunny Sunday afternoon with friends and friends of friends.
   
    3 to 11pm
   
    Dan Driscoll – trip hop
    Violet – dub reggae
    Hali – house
    Orly – retro and electro
    Rollin Cash – break beats from the birthday boy – congratulations Roland!   

Freakin' on Fife – Guelph, Ontario

by on Jun.16, 2007, under - Main Page -, Upcoming Gigs

For those in Guelph, here's a nice little event out on a farm with a bunch of friends from the OM Festival.

=-=-=-=-=-=

Shoo Rabbit Crew Presents…

FREAKIN' ON FIFE
  ~ A summer solstice phenomenon ~

Saturday June 16th, 2007
  7081 Fife Road, Guelph

7pm till ???

~ With musical guests ~

Mentalfloss – consistently inconsistent (www.mentalfloss.ca)
  Mike Lambert -tripped out techno, dubbed out house (Sumkidz, Dickard & Bobert)
  Jonah K. – dark drum n' bass (Sumkidz)
  Spazzmonk – jungle/breaks (IBS, Sumkidz)
  Violet – dubby niceness (Purrpelle, Sumkidz)
  Katikata – funkhouse
  Karma – roots n' dancehall
  Pype – live
  + other special guests

~ Join us for a night of dancing under stars in the beauty of rural
  Guelph! Go for a walk in the bush, carouse in the kitchen, zone out by
  the bonfire, dance in the grass, trip out in the fields inhabited by
  zillions of crickets and frogs! Surrounded by 80 acres of soya and
  wheat fields the only addition to perfection is your precious
  presence! ~

WHAT TO BRING:
  – A tent
  – sleeping bag/blanket
  – some vegetables/fruit to donate to the kitchen
  – waterproof shoes
  – snacks
  – bugspray
  – sunscreen
  – treats to share
  – BYO Vibe : enhancements to your attitude may be available but come prepared

** Lots of room for fire dancers to play so bring your poi/staff
  Smokers: please bring a tin or film canister to dispose of your butts.
  Also, bring a bathing suit if it's hot on Sunday and we take a drive
  to a local watering hole!

**NO COVER but a small $ donation (sugg $5-$10) to cover costs of
  sound and donations to artists is appreciated and encouraged**

**PARTY INFO: 519.821.6505**

PLEASE RSVP!

DID YOU KNOW?? The fife is a simple instrument usually consisting of a
  tube with 6 finger holes,and diatonically tuned. It is made of wood,
  usually grenadilla or rosewood & sometimes bamboo.

African-American fife and drum music can be traced back to the Civil war.
  But in the hands of slaves, the stiff, formalized music used to direct
  military movements was transformed by the same African syncopations and
  poly-rhythms that eventually gave birth to jazz and blues. In a time when
  drumming by slaves was forbidden, the fife and drum was an acceptable
  outlet. Many dancers “salute” the drums with pelvic movements not unlike
  traditional dances from Africa, Haiti and the West Indies. Otha Turner was
  one of the best known African American fife players, he passed away in
  2003 at the age of 94.
  Go here to find a link to Turner's “Shimmy She Wobble”
  http://www.othaturner.com/mp3/ShimmySheWobble.mp3

MAP QUEST LINKUP:
  http://tinyurl.com/3bowjp

Directions from Toronto/Guelph
  Hwy 401 West towards Guelph
  Exit Hwy 6 North (Exit 295)
  Exit at Wellington Street (Wellington, Cambridge, Acton)
  NB: DO NOT EXIT AT THE FIRST WELLINGTON EXIT! WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE
  SIGN SAYING “WELLINGTON, CAMBRIDGE ACTON”
  Take a Left at Wellington (west – Provincial Route 7, Prov Route 24)
  Go 3 Lights on Wellington Street (you will pass a 24 Hr Tim Hortons &
  Gas Station at Imperial Road)
  Take a Right at Fife Road (NB: STREET IS NOT WELL MARKED) – Fife is
  one street past Imperial Road
  Go until 7081 Fife Road (Approx 3 miles on your left)

Leave a Comment more...

Massive DJ Mix Project – A Week’s Supply Of Floss

by on Apr.01, 2007, under - Main Page -, Mixed Music

I’m pretty bad about recording my sets whenever I play  — I usually have a recorder with me, but in the crazyness I never remember to hook it up.  A friend commented that it was   a shame that none of the stuff was archived, which got me thinking that it was about time I actually did put out a mix since it had been 7 years since November Leaf Beats.  This turned into a much bigger project called “A Week’s Worth Of Floss”, where I’m essentially attempting to own your ears for an entire week.

The mixes cover all sorts of different genres, and I’ve preened over them extensively (about 8-16 hours per mix), so toss them on your iPod and hopefully you’ll have something for every mood. I’m hoping to follow up with another 7 mixes to cover the rest of the types of music I play, but these days it’s primarily music to get people dancing like house, breaks and techno.  This set of mixes is a little more uppity as a result, and the next batch should be a bit more laid back.

If you want to find out about the next batch, consider subscribing to the mailing list or the RSS feed for the site.

 

Funky Techno - Download

TRENTEMOLLER – Polar Shift
Apendics Shfuffle – track 4
Billy Dalessandro – Come With Me
Burnski – Expresso (Maetrik remix)
Dave Clark – What was her name (LFO Remix)
Adam Beyer – Kinky
Dapeyk Solo – Take it Back
Fraktion – BNKL
Jeff Samuel – HeB GBz
Guido Schneider – Oh my buffer
Tigerskin – You want it
Alka – Mifa (John Tejada Remix)
Heinrik B – Untitled
Alexander Kowalski – Days of the liar (Joris Voom Tribalicious Mix)
Double X- Hesitant
Alexander Kowalski – Delicious
DINKY – Acid in my Fridge (Tobi Neumann Remix)

 

Drum’n'bass – May contain traces of heavy metalDownload

Massive Attack – Risingson
Beck vs. Black Cabbage – Sex Laws Are Rude
Breakbeat Era – Ultra Obscene + Roni Size – Beatbox
Roni Size – Visiting Angels
Teebee – Corpse
Ram Trilogy – Mind Overload
Bill Laswell – Nico (no-u-turn)
Drifter – She Gives Me Forever
Ed Rush and Optical – Bad Company Rmx
Nasty Habits – Liquid Fingers (Goldie Remix)
Aphrodite – Twilight (Remix)
Red – Paradise
Concord Dawn – Raining Blood
Kiko – Ronin (Feat MC. Mecha)
Cause 4 Concern – Rumors
Matrix – Sleepwalk
Photek – The Lightening
Decoder – Vapor Dub
Bad Company – Trick Of The Light
Atom – White Car

 

House & Breaks – It’s Groovy Music, BabyDownload

Leftfield – Chat of a Poor Man (Mighty Quark Remix)
Groove Armada – Chicago
Mr. Scruff – Get a Move on
DJ Gregory – Tropical Soundclash
The Stone Roses – Fools Gold (Rabbit in the Moon Remix)
Chicken Lips – He Not In (Club Mix)
Akufen – Deck The House
Cassius – Feeling For You
Fatboy Slim – Retox
Lexicon – Sexy Thang
Sarah Vaughan – Fever (Adam Freland Remix)
Martin Solveig – I’m A Good Man (Mousee T. Breakbeat Mix)
Deception – Le Tigre (DFA Mix)
Scissor Sisters – Comfortably Numb (Fatboy’s Extended Mix)
The Lose Cannons – Superstars (Boris Dlugosch & Michi Lange Vocal Mix)

 

Rock’n'Roll – Kawkin’ Out While Rawkin’ Out Download

Otis Spann – Pretty Grils Everywhere
Ellen McIlwaine – Higher Ground
Cake – You Part The Waters
The Soggy Bottom Boys – I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (radio station version)
The Birds – No Good Without You Baby
Big Sugar – I’m A Ram
Tom Petty – Runnin’ Down A Dream
The Hives – Hate To Say I Told You So
Liam Lunch – United States Of Whatever
Eagles of Death Metal – I Only Want You
Hives vs. Guess Who – Die American Woman, Alright (El Barto & Liam B.)
John Spencer Blues Explosion – Fed Up And Low Down
Primus – Jerry Was A Race Car Driver
Big Sugar – Girl Watcher
The Flies – I’m Not Your Stepping Stone
Goldfrapp vs. Normal Greenbaum & ZZ Top – Ohh La Grange In The Sky (DJ Zebra)
Placebo – Pure Morning
Eagles of Death Metal – Speaking in Tongues
The Poets – That’s The Way It’s Gotta Be

 

Breaks – Breakin’ - Download

The Smashing Pumpkins – Perfect (Perfecto Remix)
Hyper vs. The Hives – Coz I Wanna
Gorillaz- Feel Good (Boot Inc remix)
Alter Ego – Rocker (Stanton Warriors mix)
Goldfrapp – Utopia (Tim Write Remix)
Plump DJs – Plumpy Chunks
Apradan – Strut (Dub mix)
LCD Soundsystem vs. Scissor Sisters – FIlthy Inflitrator (Dunproofin`)
Stereo 8 – I Can`t Stop
The Wizeguys – Start the Commotion
Hustle Athletics – 2
Blackstreet – No Diggerty (We`re not from London remix)
Def Inc. – Acid Rock
Madonna – Frozen (Flashpoint Breaks Mix)
Ils – Requiem
Pharoahe – Oizo (Fuck Beat)
Cut N Run – King of the Bongo
Tricknologist – What time is love (K boy`s 2ci dub)
Adamski – In Tha City (Breaks mix)

 

Breaks – Breakin’ 2 – Electric Boogaloo - Download

John Creamer & Stephane K – I wish you were here (PMT Mix)
Meat Katie and Elite Force – Ju Ju
Unkle – Have you passed through this night
Unseen Force – 2 Be Your 1 (Evil 9 remix)
Adam Freeland – REality 3D
Sly Fidelity – Whole Lotta Sly
The Cult – She Sells Skantuaray
X Men vs. The Beach Boys – God Only Nose
Ils – Cherish (Freeland Mix)
False Prophit – Pixie Boot (Gouge Away)
Spincycle – Shoryuken
Radiohead  – Everything In It`s Right Place (Hybird Remix)
Hybird – Fatal Beating
Deejay Punk Roc – Blow my mind (Plump DJs remix)
Breakneck – Halfpipe
Rennie Pilgrem & Dub Species – The Sermon
Dee Kline, Nubreed, Ransom & Phil K – Bushpig
Freaq Nasty feat. Phobe One – Boomin` Back Atcha (Freq`s Nu Skool mix)
Vigi & Flip – Freak Frequency (Unbalanced mix)
Tricknologist – Groove
Krafty Kuts & C5 – Joyriders – Take It

 

Beats for Beatboxers - Download

Luke Vibert – Plug in the Head Phones
Dust Junkies – Beatbox Wash (Rinse It Remix)
T Love – QMS
Dynamic Symcopation feat Mass Influence – 2 Tha Left
Flowetry – Flowetic
Rahzel – Southern Girl
Kid Beyond – Deep Inside
A Forest Mighty Black – Everything (Freakniks Fremix)
Fatboy Slim – The Journey
DJ Shadow – WAlkie Talkie
Beyonce vs. Brainbug & Muppets – Mupp It Out (Alex H)
DJ Format – Here Comes The Fuzz
Rahzel – Rahzel vs. The Roots
Spike Jones – William Tell Overture
DJ Food – Do We
Lamb – Trans Fatty Acid (K&D Remix)

Leave a Comment more...

Harvest Festival

by on Sep.15, 2006, under - Main Page -

Hey it's that time again, and Harvest Festival is upon us, and I'm glad
to be back playing!  This year should be a bit different style for me,
though likely won't be playing any of the techno/  house / breaks I've been
doing lately.  Here's the official info:

SEPTEMBER 16th & 17th 2006

ITB : techno

  • NOAH PRED (metapath / fukhouse)
  • MIKE GIBBS (alienInFlux)
  • ERIC DOWNER (sensor / fukhouse)
  • HALI (netmusique.com)
  • TIM PATRICK (5th sun, catalyst recordings)
  • ADAM MARSHAL (minimal)
  • JAMIE KIDD (stratagem-musik, xanuradio)
  • IAN GUTHRIE (fukhouse)
  • TOM KUO (foundation music)
  • ALI BLACK (heebar, livin' large)
  • BRENDAN LAWLESS (independent lawless ent.)

ITP : downtempo & broken beats

  • SHEN – LIVE (native state, GSC)
  • PRIMAL – LIVE (drum collective)
  • YOSHI & CHIE – LIVE (kaminari)
  • KINDER ATOM – LIVE (nice & smooth)
  • MARZ (BLA)
  • ANDREW McCALLUM (mentalfloss)
  • CHOCOLATE & PATRICK ROOTS (scratchfree)
  • LEX & REW (legion of green men)
  • GABOR (IBS productions)
  • DMS (baselinestudios.com) :: guelph
  • AIA (listenableMusic.com)
  • OWEN (psyence project)
  • ROLLIN CASH (sumkidz / hotpierecords.com)
  • NATE WIZE (dubmatix.com)

ITT : trance

  • BASILISK (ektoplazm / metamystiks)
  • LEXICON (metamystiks)
  • YEB (coldgroove.ca, bla)
  • QUIVERING VIRIGN (coldgroove.ca, bla)
  • TENZIN (techsafari) :: montreal
  • REPTILIAN (geomagnetics records) :: ottawa
  • PLAN B (shakti collective)
  • SEB (mandala sound) :: montreal
  • decorations by JULIEN (coldgroove.ca)

ZERO GRAVITY CIRCUS PERFORMANCE

We have a stunning new addition to this year's Harvest Festival – an
aerial circus show! This Toronto-based performance group creates shows
for events all across North America and around the world. They have
built themselves into an important hub of activity in that realm and
any incredible new performer that comes to Toronto ends up at Zero
Gravity with their talent. Zero Gravity will be holding a special
Harvest version of their regular Lunacy Cabaret. They will be erecting
their steel acrobat rigging near the pyramid and you can expect
sweeping aerial dancers, breakdancers, jugglers and acrobatics. Their
show will lead up to the lighting of the bonfire. We are so lucky and
looking forward to this part of the festival.
ADVANCE MEMBERSHIP

$46 + canned food donation at the gate

Toronto

  • Shanti Baba (546 Queen St. W)
  • Odyssey (557 Queen St. W)
  • Moog Audio (442 Queen St. W)
  • 2thebeat (S/E corner Queen & Spadina)
  • SpyLab (247 Queen St. W)
  • White Lodge (4 St. Patrick)
  • Style Bomb (676 Yonge St.)
  • Play De Record (357A Yonge St.)


Kitchener

  • Shakedown Street (276 King St. W)


Guelph

  • Baseline Records (31 Wyndham St.)

Hamilton

  • Cottage 13 (224 King St. W)

Oshawa

  • Velvet Elvis (221 King St. E)

Peterborough

  • The Spill Coffee Bar (414 George St. N)
WEB

http://harvestfestival.org

CONTACT

INFO info@harvestfestival.org

* * ABSOLUTELY NO GLASS, PETS OR FIREWORKS (it’s a working farm)
**  NO ARRIVALS BEFORE 2PM SATURDAY  **

1 Comment more...

Black Light Activists – Critical Mass at Boa Redux /w Koxbox

by on Dec.22, 2004, under - Main Page -, Upcoming Gigs

imageI'm
a bit slow on the draw, but this was a wicked event I had a chance to
play at with Gabor last week in the massive club Boa-Redux in Toronto.  Boa is a converted
dinner theater and has apparently one of the top 3 sound systems in
North America.  Much fun had by all.  If anyone has any photos please post some links as comments!

Here's the lineup:

CRITICAL
MASS


KOXBOX *live Solstice
Records-Denmark

DJ's

Frank'e –
Koxbox
Yeb – Cold Groove Rec,
BLA
Quivering Virgin-
BLA
Jarek, BLA
Sketi- BLA

 

DECO
Artists

SEVERYN-
NYC
more

 

In the Broken Beats
Lounge

Rollin Cash – SumKidz/Om
Festival/Just Cause
Jonah K –
SumKidz/Gnome
Aria –
Semiotik
Gabor vs. Mental
Floss

 
Location:

BOA Redux
270 Spadina
Ave
(1 Block S. of
Dundas)

 

Info:

Doors@ 12
$20 in adv
$25 before 2 more
after
Out of town $20 with
ID
R.O.A.R.

 
Available(soon)@:

Shanti Baba –
546 Queen St
W
Metropolis Records – 160
Spadina
2The Beat – 161
Spadina

www.blacklightactivists.ca
blacklightactivists@hotmail.com
www.boa-redux.com
info@boa-redux.com

Leave a Comment more...

Motorola Talkabout T6220's

by on Jul.04, 2004, under - Main Page -, Technology Lust

[Google Search]

I should really write something about these radios I picked up, because
they rock so hardcore.  I needed something that could get my
attention while I was near loud sound stages at music festivals, and
the Motorola Talkabout T6220 had a vibration feature, so it quickly
went to the top of my list.  I got two, then bought two more –
they're that good.  Aside from the vibration system, there's a
bunch of other nice features that came with it.

Some of  the good points:

  • 2 mile/4km range
  • 560 channels built on the FRS standard (14channels X 40 subchannels)
  • Vibration paging (very useful for music festivals)
  • Rugged enough for events like Burning Man (desert, talcom-powder like dust)
  • Can pick up emergency bad weather broadcasts, and the walkie will automatically switch over to them
  • “Privacy Codes” that scramble your transmissions, but sound really cool when you start to mix-and-match the codes between radios
  • Sexy red backlight that isn't too bright in dark situations
  • Can remain silent until you page/vibrate the other party

1 Comment more...