During the past few weeks, The Hawt has become a forum for previewing, reviewing and critiquing electronic music events in Montreal. In the spirit of consistency, this post begins with more proof towards the thrilling aspects of the city’s nightlife.

Sunday, October 17th was a special night for both Ellis and myself. Having to choose between Rusko and Laidback Luke is never an easy task. There is a reason why the Superbowl and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals are not on the same night. We decided to go our separate ways and focus and two different genres. For the purpose of this post, Ellis was kind enough to provide me with his take on the night:

“Put’Em Up Put’Em Up Put’Em Up Put’Em Up

Aight so on the same night Justin went to Laidback Luke, some friends and I went to the Just For Laughs Studio to see Rusko and, needless to say, it was insane! People fighting, hitting, pushing, swearing; everything a good dubstep concert should have. For those who haven’t seen him live, what really makes him special is that every now and then, he grabs the mic and starts either singing, shouting or whatever he feels like doing. So anyways, back to the event, Vilify (think that’s how you write it, my bad if it aint) opened for him and on top of being hot and pretty good, she’s supposedly the one that takes care of almost everything dubstep in Montreal. Rusko came on at around 1ish and by that time, my friends had already ditched me and I was all alone, but that did not make it any less awesome! He played a lot of his older tracks mixed in with a few from his new album and obviously, some crazy reworks that you’re never able to find anywhere, which just pisses you off.

Rusko – Hammertime

Doctor P – Sweet Shop (Friction vs Camo & Krooked Drumstep Remix)

The second track was a total crowd killer, literally. When you expect the Sweet Shop drop, but get this d&b style craziness instead, there is no choice but to jump around and hit people. Oh, and just as a complementary track to one I’m sure Justin will post, here’s a Wolfgang Gartner and Justice mashup.

Justice vs. Wolfgang Gartner - Illmerica Is Your Friends (Steve Camp Mashup) ”

The tone of his guest post communicates the intensity and superb entertainment of the night, two things that have become synonymous with a live Rusko concert. Coincidentally, I would use the same attributes to qualify the show I attended. Although Laidback Luke performed at Electric Zoo, we were only able to watch him from the line for the Above & Beyond signing. Owning a t-shirt signed by two of the members of one of the greatest DJ trios is a privilege, but as I would soon learn, it cannot be compared to watching a true master of house music.

The event was held at club Muzique, a relatively new addition to the Montreal scenery. Even though it was meant to be 21+, I was able to enter with my name on the guest list (more on this later). The crowd erupted when Luke made his entrance and the cheering did not stop until 3 a.m. As I am sure that most of you have noticed, electronic music has undergone a slight metamorphosis lately. The lines between genres are being blurred and it is becoming much more difficult to classify tracks. Laidback is an exception to this rule. Every mix he played was pure house, something that became very evident when considering his song choices. Two of my favorite moments of the night were when he played the Congorock remix of “One” and when he mixed Till’ Tonight with Miami to Ibiza. Another fantastic moment occured near the end of the night, when he payed his respects to his music’s ancestor, disco. He gave Axel F the moans from Pon de Floor and quickly transitioned to MC Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This”. As far as his own tracks are concerned, Laidback Luke also played his popular remix of Robbie Rivera’s “Rock the Disco”. Here are two tunes from the soiree, as well as his newest bootleg.

Jay-Z ft. Swizz Beats - On To The Next One (Laidback Luke Bootleg)

Swedish House Mafia - One (Congorock Remix)

Robbie Rivera - Rock The Disco (Laidback Luke Edit)

Lets fast forward to this past Tuesday, October the 26th. The stage was set for another evening at Muzique, this one to celebrate the club’s one-year anniversary. The owners invited all of their resident DJs to open for Avicii, the night’s main act. Just like Laidback Luke, the event was meant to be 21+, so I called Muzique and asked to add Ellis, as well as myself to the guest list. Please explain to me how the following makes any sense: I was allowed to enter for Laidback Luke, but we were denied access for Avicii. As far as I know, the rules for both nights are identical; 21+, but 19+ with guest list. Even Ellis’ skills in the art of persuasion could not convince the bouncer to let us is, although he did not try long enough to get any results. The look he gave us let us know it was time to go. I can only hope the young Swede comes back to Montreal some time in the near future. Here is a remix of his from Tiësto’s “Kaleidoscope Remixed”.

Tiësto ft. CC Sheffield - Escape Me (Avicii Remix)

Enough with the events, here are a few new tracks that I have been dying to share with you for a while.

As Ellis correctly predicted in his guest post, the mashup he posted is an excellent complement to this next song. Ever since this artist was first discussed on The Hawt, he has been in constant rise, touring around the world while collaborating with huge producers and putting his own spin on the popular Electro House subgenre. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him at the Electric Zoo festival, where he put on an absolute beast of a performance. This tune has garnered lots of attention, earning the support of Laidback Luke and Gareth Emery. Here is the newest release from Wolfgang Gartner, a song that will certainly be featured on his upcoming artist album, due sometime early in 2011.

Wolfgang Gartner - Illmerica (Extended Mix)

As Fred pointed out in his previous post, we’ve been slacking when it comes to dubstep. Although pickings have been slim, I do have a brand new one that will surely make you crave more deep synths and the overall dirty sound most of you have come to love. This is latest Borgore track. I’ve got to give a shout out to Gotta Dance Dirty; they have an amazing blog, go check it out if you haven’t already.

Borgore - Sex Instructions Dub

This next one has been sitting in Beatport’s Electro House top 10 for quite some time. When I posted about Hey Today!’s “Toasted” back in early June, I honestly believed they were a lower-tier, underground German duo. However, their latest remix of Tiga’s “You Gonna Want Me” has shot them into the spotlight and displayed the innovation they impose onto their music. I really enjoy listening to this track, especially from the 3:40 mark, where they divert from the tune’s core beat. Instead, they put an electro sound onto Tiga’s techno beat. Its different, but it sounds really good.

Tiga - You Gonna Want Me (Hey Today! Remix)

Last Thursday, the new Gareth Emery podcast finally appeared on iTunes, an arrival that had been overdue for a long time. The songs played were great, but two caught my ear as being better than the rest. The first is from MEM, who came along with a very impressive trance track. It is called Forza and as Gareth later explained, the tune had been killing it for him in his recent sets. The second is from fellow Canadian Adam K, a progressive DJ from Toronto. Remember how I wrote that the lines between genres were being blurred? This song is a perfect example. Its slow tempo and relaxing melody give it a few trance aspects, but do not be fooled; this is progressive house.

MEM - Forza

Do not think that I’m strictly posting songs from the podcast. With the exception of the Adam K track, I’ve had these tunes in my library for a while. Gareth and I must have the same taste in music.

To finish off this large post, lets take a look at DJ Mag’s rankings of the top 100 DJs.

To start off, congratulations to Armin van Buuren for his fourth consecutive year as the world’s #1 DJ. I really was not expecting this, I rather thought that Above & Beyond, Markus Schulz or Ferry Corsten would take the crown. To be frank, very little of the top ten made any sense to me. I respect David Guetta as a DJ and I think he produces great music, but there is no way that he should be ranked higher than any of the previously mentioned. Most of you already know about the true producers behind some of his biggest hits like “When Love Takes Over”. He acts as a cheap ad campaign, giving them credit in the fine print at the bottom of the screen. According to Fred and Ellis, who attended his set at last year’s Bal en Blanc, he is awful live and the radio-like music he emits makes him sound like an amateur.

Placing immediately after Guetta were Tiësto, Deadmau5 and Above & Beyond, who respectively grabbed the 3, 4 and 5 positions. Deadmau5’s jump up 2 spots was also a surprise. His album was great, be he somehow seemed to disappear during the rest of the year. His single with Chris Lake, “I Said”, was and still is awful. “Some Chords” and “Animal Rights” do not warrant a number 4 spot. The Canadian is due for a new album release in December of 2010, one he will call 4x4=12. Here is the tracklist.

1. "Some Chords"
2. "Sofi Needs a Ladder" (You Need A Ladder with vocals)
3. "City In Florida"
4. "Bad Selection"
5. "Animal Rights"
6. "I Said (Michael Woods Remix)"
7. "Cthulhu Sleeps"
8. "Right This Second"
9. "Raise Your Weapon"
10. "One Trick Pony"
11. "Everything Before"

One thing I am happy to see is that Axwell wraps up the top 10. In fact, all members of the Swedish House Mafia are in the top 20 and the trio itself places at #23. The DJ Mag vote is supposed to be an attempt to represent each DJ’s success during the course of the year. In this capacity, Swedish House Mafia should, without a doubt, be the #1 DJ. Their incredible summer took them to the Brixton Academy on more than one occasion and they also earned themselves a residency at Motel Masquerade in Ibiza, the party capital of the world. The film documenting their tumultuous 2010 will be coming out in the next month, so keep posted as it will surely be very entertaining. Check out the trailer here.

Unfortunately, DJ Mag’s voting method is highly flawed. Simply telling the magazine which DJs you like is not a valid measure of skill, hard work or innovation. Inside the method itself lies the biases of evaluation without numerical values. It is no longer a judgement on who is the best, but merely a popularity contest, a vote for class president, if you will. This year’s vote saw a large crowd of North Americans and therefore, whoever spent the most time on the radio waves or on their North American tour received an automatic bid. It is a shame to see the poll be reduced to such an infantile compilation of voices from uneducated, stubborn fans who want to see the one artist they know in the rankings. Notable additions were those of Afrojack, Avicii, Arty and Dada Life while unacceptable descents were those of Above & Beyond, Sander van Doorn, Cosmic Gate and Lange. Regardless of the results, go check out the bios from your favourite artists, some of which are quite funny. For example, Sebastian Ingrosso claims that he is best known for “fucking clubs in the pussy”.