School’s out for a month. So here’s my chance to publicly apologize to Ellis for his beastly undertaking of the blog for the last 3 weeks or so with a few posts of my own. While the rest of the guys are currently still incapacitated by the demands of finals, allow me to lay down my thoughts on some interesting happenings around our city, as well as some awesome tracks.

A while back, I talked to you guys about a Swedish House Mafia documentary called “Take One”. I just finished watching the movie and it has got me so pumped for dancing, drinking and flat-out house peppered with some dominating basslines. The film is just awesome. I may be speaking with some heavy bias, but it basically tells the story of Axwell, Ingrosso and Angello from the Winter Music Festival in 2009 to the one in 2010 and their ascension to the throne of house supremacy. What’s not to love? It gives the audience a more personal look at the three, and clearly shows that Axwell is the most successful, Ingrosso is a lot more talented than you would think and Steve Angello is a badass. And a f***ing asshole. He owns a Ferrari, Range Rovers, Audis, Porsches (yes, those are all plural) and most likely lots of other gadgets and he did not choose to show in the flick. He uses the Swedish language barrier to talk behind people’s backs, insulting them constantly. Although this is somewhat entertaining, it gives him the flair of a closet douchebag.

Speaking of Steve Angello, as Ellis mentioned in one of his previous posts, the Swede was in Montreal on November 19th. Idiot that I am, I had not bought my fellow writer a ticket to the show, like he so often does for me, and this caused some confusion. To make a long story short, scalpers were scarce and consequently, so was Ellis, who headed to 1234 to see Ashley Wallbridge. Pretty good trade-off, wouldn't you say? In fact, there were 4 elite DJs in Montreal on that night: Angello, Wallbridge, Sean Tyas and tech master Richie Hawtin.

The Telus Theater was, needless to say, filled to the brim with hungry, party-starved Montrealers looking to let loose. And they didn’t waste any time. Within the first minutes of screams and fist-pumps, a few girls had already climbed onto their friends shoulders and taken their shirts off. This fleshy gesture was ignored by most, as all eyes were locked on Angello as he proceeded to mix “One” with “Destination Unknown” and “We Are Your Friends” with his newest track, “Rave N’ Roll”. The show hit a climax when he unleashed a mix of “Bromance” and “Dynamik”. That’s when I lost it. If you’ve ever been to a live show, I’m sure you’ve experienced the following: you’re jumping up and down in a sea of strangers and your ears realize that what they hear is perfect. That solitary bead of sweat runs down your face, you close your eyes, a chill travels through your entire body, you become unaware of your fellow partisans stepping on your footwear, your extremities tremble uncontrollably, your arms shoot into the air, the room slows down and the only thing audible is the sound of the DJ. You don’t hear the music, you experience, feel it. Angello followed with the songs you expect to hear at his shows, such as “KNAS”, “Leave the World Behind”, “Tivoli”, etc. The show was great, more than worth the 30$. Here’s his latest along with my favorite from the night and an older one that I can guarantee was the motivation behind Afrojack’s “Pacha on Acid”.

Steve Angello – Rave 'n’ Roll (Original Mix)

Tim Berg & Michael Woods – Bromance Dynamik (Axwell Mashup)

Steve Angello – Teasing Mr Charlie (Original Mix)

The night did not end there. I met up with Ellis and we headed over to Circus Afterhours to see Sean Tyas. I had not heard much from him other than his “Sanctuary” remix. I was expecting some calm, melodic trance and was surprised when he started. He pumped out track after track of powerful, rugged bass coupled with enchanting melodies. Saying it was the most energetic trance I've ever experienced is an understatement. The harmony of high BPMs, loud bass, and swift melody made for an excellent close to an excellent night. Here’s a remix of a Tiësto classic that was a highlight of his set.

Tiësto – Suburban Train (Sean Tyas Dirty Mix)

Time for an anecdote. Anyone listen to Trance Around the World? Above & Beyond are podcast masters and the 350th edition of their prestigious radio show took place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California. The trio ran a contest for the special occasion in which participants had to share their interesting ways of listening to the show. I entered the competition, saying I would attach a souped up megaphone to the roof of my car and drive around downtown while blaring the music for all to hear. I was chosen as one of the finalists. Problem is, at the time of this post, I was sitting at home listening to the podcast while writing. Yup, I lied to Above & Beyond. The winner receives some professional audio gear and and gets to meet the DJs. I wonder what I’ll say if I win… The set list for their Palladium show was Boom Jinx, Jaytech, Cosmic Gate, Above & Beyond and Super8 & Tab; if you haven’t yet, this is as good a time as ever to subscribe to the podcast.

Lets end with some more tracks. This first song is by a duo I have never heard of, which boggles my mind since this tune is so good.

Matisse & Sadko – Hi Scandinavia! (Original Mix)

Next, here are 2 more mashups from Armin. The first one was shown to me by Ellis and only furthers proof of his great taste in music. You might recognize both songs from the second tune. “The Great Escape” was featured in a Gareth Emery mashup that was previously posted on the blog and “Right Back” is the second track in Ferry Corsten’s Bal en Blanc set that Fred posted a while back.

Armin van Buuren vs. Jochen Miller – In & Out of Connection (Armin van Buuren Mashup)

Rank 1 & Jochen Miller vs. Yuri Kane – The Right Escape (Armin van Buuren Mashup)

Afrojack has been sustaining Wall Recordings on his own. The Dutch house prodigy has released track after track that all have been received by the public with open arms. His tunes have completely overshadowed those of his label mates. Here is his latest.

Afrojack – Replica (Original Mix)

I posted Noisia’s “Alpha Centauri” a while back and I am proud to say that it is one of my most downloaded songs. Recently, Datsik and Excision released a great remix of the tune, replacing the drum & bass with a genuine dubstep feel.

Noisia – Alpha Centauri (Excision & Datsik Remix)

Some things to look forward to:

- Fred has been in touch with Chris Lake and The Hawt will soon get an exclusive interview with the English DJ as well as a detailed review of his great set at La Mouche.

- The writers will be teaming up to browse the full scope of 2010’s releases to decide which tracks stand atop as the best of this past year.

- A well-deserved Ellis rest.