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2010 in clubland: A year in review (pg. 2)
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| The Highroller |
| quote: | Originally posted by Summerlover
You clearly don't like Trance lol.
Good review though! |
I'll leave the trance reviews to someone more qualified. :p
Markus Schulz @ The Guv in May was great though. |
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| The Highroller |
| quote: | Originally posted by She_Fitz
Best Party of the year - Get Lost during WMC |
:D
Glad to have experienced most of my favourite parties of the year with you and Bobby! |
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| Fin Finnegan |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
2010 is almost over, so it's time for the annual roundup.
At the end of 2009, I was getting pretty tired of the "same old, same old" and struggled to find music and parties that interested me. It's not that there wasn't anything interesting going on in the city, it's just that I've been going out for a long time, so it is becoming harder and harder for me to find new and interesting things related to this scene. Nonetheless, I decided to go to my first WMC this year. I didn't go out from New Years until WMC time in order to "deprive" myself, so that I could enjoy WMC to the fullest. Needless to say, WMC rekindled and supercharged my enjoyment of dance music and of the scene. I was introduced to new sounds, DJs and party atmospheres that I didn't know existed.
Although my interest was sparked again, I didn't have much of a desire to go to the big parties in Toronto this year, and opted to wait it out for big events/parties outside of the city. Therefore, it's hard for me to comment on the going-ons of the party scene in Toronto in 2010. Also, it is worth mentioning that I missed most of the parties during the crazy fall we had this year due to work, so I feel like I missed most of the year by missing those 2-3 months.
Here is a list of best/worst categories for 2010. Feel free to use some or all of these, or add your own.
Best parties in Toronto: Seth Troxler & Robag Wruhme Magda @ Cobra, Matt C @ Cherry Beach, Paco Osuna & Markus Schulz @ Guv, Platform @ Cherry Beach
Best resident: Val (The Junkies)
Best resident(s) gone international: Kenny and Johnny (Art Department)
Best sets heard in Toronto: Magda @ Cobra, Val @ Roaches vs. Junkies Oct 29 @ Footwork (I know I'm missing some here, but will add to this as people remind me with their entries)
Best Club in Toronto: Footwork
Most Disappointing party: Steve Lawler @ Circa, NYD
Best parties outside of Toronto: Get Lost @ Electric Pickle (WMC), Loco Dice vs. Luciano @ Shelborne Pool (WMC), Ben Klock @ Centre Street Social (DEMF), Red Bull Stage @ DEMF, Need I Say More @ Old Miami (DEMF), DJ Vibe @ Stereo
Best overall club: Stereo (by far)
Best DJs of 2010: Lee Foss, Magda, Matt Tolfrey, Matthew Dear, Ben Klock
Best Labels of 2010: Wolf & Lamb, Crosstown Rebels, Tigersushi, DFA, Ostgut Ton
Best Producers of 2010: Lee Foss, Tensnake
Best Podcasts: Beats in Space, Ibiza Voice, Wolf + Lamb,
Best downloaded sets: Matthew Dear @ Clinic 4 hour set, Jeremy P. Caulfield GTC podcast, Lee Foss Ibiza Voice Podcast, Droog GTC Podcast, Zev @ Sunset W+L Podcast, Reboot RA Pocast
Biggest Surprise of 2010: Excision @ Red Bull Stage, DEMF
Most Disappointing DJ of 2010: Richie Hawtin
Now that we are at the end of the year, I find my interest in going out to traditional "scene" venues and parties in Toronto has waned once again. There are lots of interesting parties and venues to check out in this city outside of this scene, so I have been doing a lot more of that lately, and hope to do more of this in 2011.
The vast majority of tech house and techno has become generic, and there are less and less DJs who are staying ahead of the curve in this genre. I notice a lot of the trend-setting DJs and groups of people of the scene checking out and playing with different sounds and parties, such as the slow-house/nu disco sound that has been gaining a lot of momentum this year.
It is also worth noting that other venues in the city such as Wrongbar are capitalizing on this shift in sound faster than other venues in the city, and may have a first-mover advantage if this sound catches on. This should have an interesting effect on the way the dance music market and different fragments of the scene in Toronto are structured, and on the balance of power between different clubs and promoting groups. |
Nice review!!!
LEE FOSS ALL THE WAY!!!! |
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| VDub |
| quote: | Originally posted by Man_Devil
Too much techno/tech-house with no personality, it all sounds the same now, so boring and monotonous.
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News flash for ya...
It was always boring and monotonous...
You were all just trending too much to notice... |
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| VDub |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
I'll leave the trance reviews to someone more qualified. :p
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Can't review a party that hasn't happened yet... |
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| Endlesswave |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
I'll leave the trance reviews to someone more qualified. :p
Markus Schulz @ The Guv in May was great though. |
So true about the Markus set. :) The company was amazing too.
I'd agree with you in terms of how the TO scene is. This year was "ok" but not mindblowing by any stretch. I keep wanting to go to more parties at places like Wrongbar or the Social etc but this year I managed to not hit up many at all. Only one or two (mostly I hit up more last year). In 2011 I will do my best to hit up more of those. Same with BoK, Milk, etc. I've never had a bad time at those and the music and people rock (so friendly, tons of hotties, no pretentiousness) with people just having a good time. :D |
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| randallpink |
Best Toronto Party: Roaches vs. Junkies @ Footy (August) & Paul Ritch @ Footwork (August)
Best Local: Kotov & Wilde
Most Disappointing Party: Villalobos @ Maison
Best Toronto Club: Footwork - best bookings out there
Best Promoter: Platform
Best Photographer: chinamon
Best DJs of 2010: Carlo Lio, 2000 & One, Sander Kleinenberg
Best Labels of 2010: Hotfingers, Starlight, Great stuff Recordings, Mar186, Stereo Productions
Best Producers of 2010: Manuel De La Mare, Stimming, Stefano Noferini, Carlo Lio, Oxia |
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| Man_Devil |
| quote: | Originally posted by VDub
News flash for ya...
It was always boring and monotonous...
You were all just trending too much to notice... |
I agree it was always monotonous... it was just more fun to listen to when it was a new sound. |
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| kotsy |
| little early to pick best party what with addy @ zone and nightmare before christmas still to come :p |
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| Cribby |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
The vast majority of tech house and techno has become generic, and there are less and less DJs who are staying ahead of the curve in this genre. |
This. Great read Graham. I like the idea of an annual summary rather the traditional "5 best parties." Here's my take:
2009 for me was the best year of my professional partying career. I finally had the privilege to experience WMC for the first time, and as a result enjoyed it better than I had anticipated. Also, 2009 was my favourite year for DEMF, and there was also the long-awaited reopening of Stereo during Labour weekend which was epic. And then there was the opening of Cobra, which set a the standards high for Thursday parties. Boat cruises were one of the only downsides of the year, as they became intolerable after all the issues including earlier arrivals and late departures.
Surprisingly, 2010 didn't live up to 2009 overall, as most parties in Toronto were flops, and the same old venues were getting too predictable with the parties; going out was more of a chore most of the time. It's partly because I'm becoming a tiny bit jaded as I've been doing this for 5 years. (I know it's not as long as most, but I'm getting bored!) And as Graham mentioned, tech house.. or what I like to call Toronto Tech House has become way too generic, and I find that most talent in Toronto are from the same cookie tray.. it's been a few years that this musical convention has been popular.. time for something refreshing! Unfortunately Circa closed this year, and that was also a factor in the way I feel about 2010 because it gave us less options. Most of my memorable parties were outside Toronto but I'd like that to change for 2011..
On the plus side, 2010 had some of the best parties I've ever been to that have made my top 10 list, none of which were in 2009. Boat cruises have also improved, as promoters are starting to listen to our needs which is awesome.
I decided to add a few categories as I thought they were important to me and discarded the ones I had no input for:
Best parties in Toronto: LOVEMusic @ The Sound Academy, Bounce By The Lake (all of them), Omid16B and Demi cruise, Labour of Love
Best Summer patios/bars/parties: Keating Channel Pub
Best resident: Nitin
Best sets heard in Toronto: Satoshi Tomiie @ Sound Academy, Satoshi Tomiie @ Footwork (May), Digweed @ Kool Haus, Add2basket & Luke Fair, Demi & Omid16B @ boat, Sasha @ TIL,
Best PA in Toronto: Stephan Bodzin
Best Club in Toronto: N/A
Most Disappointing party: Ricardo Villalobos @ Maison
Best parties/sets outside of Toronto: Old Miami, Magda @ DEMF, Danny Tenaglia @ Stereo (Augusst) (Party of the year and party of my life), DJ Vibe @ Stereo,
Best overall club: Stereo
Best DJs of 2010: Danny Tenaglia, Satoshi Tomiie, John Digweed, Magda
Best Labels of 2010: Bedrock, M-nus, Cocoon, Crosstown Rebels, Systematic Recordings, Drumcode,
Best Producers of 2010: Slam, Guy J, Gui Boratto, Layo & Bushwacka, Resey Robot, Denis A,
Biggest Surprise of 2010: Ricardo Villalobos playing in Toronto
Most Disappointing DJ of 2010: Danny Howells
2011 in Toronto could have lots of potential given that deep and progressive house have drawn more of a crowd. There's also Abode and Maison that just recently opened.. perhaps they'll flourish in the new year. ;)
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| The Highroller |
| quote: | Originally posted by Cribby
Most Disappointing DJ of 2010: Danny Howells
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Really? He was stellar both times I saw him in Miami, and that set from the Vancouver Olympics is one of the best of the year IMO. |
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| Cribby |
| quote: | Originally posted by The Highroller
Really? He was stellar both times I saw him in Miami, and that set from the Vancouver Olympics is one of the best of the year IMO. |
I had a hard time choosing between him and Paco. Howells @ Stereo was the only time I've been to Stereo where I did not enjoy the music. He was playing borderline industrial sounding music.. and then dig deeper a few months ago was such a big disappointment. He's lost it for me. |
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