2017 Juno Nominees

It's that time of year again, and the Junos (Canada's Music Awards) have released their list of nominees. As per usual I'll break down the categories relevant to this blog: Dance Recording of the Year and Electronic Album of the Year. As a reminder last years winners were: Keys N Krates for "Save Me" with Katy B, and Pomo for The Other Day. Now to this years nominees...

Note: As with my Grammys post (here) I'll give my two cents, write-in a nominee, and place bets on who should win from those nominations and who will actually win, but as usual, I'm probably wrong.

• Adventure Club - Limitless (ft. Delaney Jane)
• Bit Funk - Off The Ground (ft. Shae Jacobs)
• Jacques Greene - You Can't Deny
• Shaun Frank - Let You Get Away (ft. Ashe)
• Zeds Dead - Northern Lights

At first glance this is a formidable and worthy list of nominees, but upon closer inspection one of these is not like the others. Zeds Dead Northern Lights is not a track, it's an album, and that's not what this category is. It's meant to be a single recording. Ironically this isn't the first time the Junos have made a mistake with this category. Just last year they nominated Kaytranada's "At All" only to eventually discover that it was released outside the eligibility period.

I wondered if this was perhaps just a typo on this image, but after checking their website (here) it confirms the mistaken nomination. All of this isn't to say Zeds Dead are not deserving of a nomination, as tracks like "Too Young," "Stardust" or "Blame" could easily fill that spot. But enough of the Junos' error and onto the four obvious inclusions.

It's hard to believe that Delaney Jane is just getting her first Juno nod, since she seems to be on just about every chart topper in the past two plus years. But I guess it's fitting that she breaks through with "Limitless" as that's just what her career trajectory is. I'm so excited that both Bit Funk and Jacques Greene are on this shortlist, as I've been a fan of both for quite sometime. While Bit Funk's track is more typical of popular dance music at the movement, with its bouncy deep house vibes, Jacques Greene's is atypical, making it a genius return to the scene after months of silence. The heart palpitations I get whenever I hear "You Can't Deny" is what makes this my pick for winner. Last but not least, is Shaun Frank's latest in a long list of hits "Let You Get Away." This may be the most obvious nod, as Frank has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely respected producers in the world, crafting not just his own bangers, but working with The Chainsmokers among others. Whether it be "Let You Get Away," "La La Land" or "Heaven" you had to know Shaun Frank was going to make this list.

Who Should Win: Jacques Greene

Who Will Win: Shaun Frank

My Write-In Nomination: Pusher - Clear (ft. Mothica)

• A Tribe Called Red - We Are The Halluci Nation
• Bob Moses - Days Gone By
• Harrison - Checkpoint Titanium
• Holy Fuck - Congrats
• Kaytranada - 99.9%

Between the obvious cultural importance and undeniable quality of A Tribe Called Red's album, this was a lock to be included. The long list of collaborators only further propel the trio's unique sound and style into an unparalleled piece of art. As Joseph Boyden says in "Before," "You guys got pull, you do. People listen to you, you know they do." We Are The Halluci Nation certainly puts A Tribe Called Red on the forefront. Bob Moses, who are also nominated for Breakthrough Group of the Year, absolutely stormed onto the stage. Days Gone By received a slew of scary good remixes, but none of that would've been possible without their thoughtfully crafted original productions. As soon as I heard Harrison's Checkpoint Titanium I was blown away, even though it's nothing like his early chiptune tracks that I first fell for. It's a cohesive collection of thought-provoking productions, with an awesome set of collaborators, from Ryan Hemsworth to Clairmont The Second and Allie. Holy Fuck's triumphant return Congrats, their first release since 2010, is everything you've come to love about their furious style, only more omni-directional. It shows off their production prowess and contrasting wild/refined sides. Then of course comes the heavyweight of the category, Kaytranda's criticcally renowned album 99.9%. Already taking home the coveted Polaris Music Prize, it has to be the favourite to win, and deservingly so, it truly is an awe inspiring work of art.

Who Should Win: Kaytranada

Who Will Win: A Tribe Called Red

My Write-In Nomination: Zeds Dead - Northern Lights

The Junos take place April 1st and 2nd in Ottawa at the Canadian Tire Centre, watch them on CTV.

Relive Mad Decent Block Party (Review)

As you ought to now know I have finished my life as host of Enlightenment For Your Ears, on CFBU 103.7 FM, and it couldn't have come at a better time. This being the first Friday following my massive grand finale show, I was allowed the freedom to attend one of the most highly anticipated shows in Toronto EDM history, the second annual Mad Decent Block Party. I can honestly say that it was entirely excellent despite what many would call a sub par line-up (especially when compared to other MDBPs around North America) as a result of the date coinciding with the biggest EDM festival the world has to offer, Tomorrowland happening simultaneously in Belgium. This for me was the reason we didn't get the likes of Dillon Francis, Baauer, Flosstradamus and many other brilliant Mad Decent members, again despite fact this I would called the 2013 Toronto version of the MDBP a huge success. With this post it is my intention to showcase the great local and Canadian talents that were present, as well as allow those of you who unfortunately missed out on this great event, to enjoy much of the music that was played and which has become ear-worms for myself. In the next paragraphs I will make my way though the lineup of those played and highlight tracks that I feel deserve a second look. Unfortunately, for those who are interested in Riff Raff and El Dusty, I have nothing substantive to say as I was not as interested in these acts and cannot accurately comment as to what they performed. Let us now dive into the first act I was mentally present and prepared for.

***Please make me aware of any links that may be wrong or have been downed, Thank You!***

THUGLI:

If you are a fan of EFYE you will immediately recognize this duo as local Torontonians Pat Drastik and Tom Wrecks. I am outwardly a huge fan and supporter of these two and despite being essentially the first act of the day put on an amazing set, which showcased a number of their own productions as well as some brilliant scratching skills. Many kudos to them for kicking off the day and preparing us for the massiveness to come. Below is a list of tracks (and links so you can listen to what) I can recall from their set:

• What Happened mixed into Marble Floors
• Their remix of Send It Up mixed into what I believe was the Caked Up Remix of Tom Ford mixed into their finale track Listen Up

Please follow and support Thugli on Twitter Soundcloud Facebook

A TRIBE CALLED RED:
Fans of EFYE may not be familiar with this brilliant trio hailing from Ottawa, made up of DJ NDN, DJ Shub and Bear Witness. I too had only heard of this group without having heard their music, and boy was I in for a pleasant surprise. These three as ATCR decribe their sound as Powwow-Step, which if you are a fan of EFYE you might want to imagine Dillon Francis with elements of First Nations music, particularly vocal chanting and drumming. Their music would work perfectly at a bonfire rave; it is perfect to lose yourself to music. I was so impressed with these three, as perhaps I ought to be as a result of there being three member allowing for more scratching, crowd involvement and more all around quality mixing and DJing. Not only was this set mind blowing for all of the thousand or so that were there early enough, but for someone of my specific age and generation, ATCR included some easter eggs from both their and my childhood. Absolutely brilliant mixing and sampling of the Sesame Street theme as well as the Reading Rainbow (as seen similarly HERE when they played in Detroit earlier this year). Once again below find those tracks I can clearly recall:

• Sesame Street theme mixed into Star Wars (Ookay Remix)
• Reading Rainbow theme mixed into Crowd Control mixed into Make It Bun Dem mixed into Weh Dem A Harlem
• Electric PowWow Drum
• Native Puppy Love
• Their finale track their remix of Red Skin Girl

Please follow and support A Tribe Called Red on Twitter Soundcloud Facebook

GRANDTHEFT:

Again fans of EFYE will be very familiar with this great local Torontonian talent who rounded out three Canadian artists in a row, and played one of the greatest sets I have ever witnessed and perhaps one of the greatest sets Toronto has ever seen; I simply cannot say enough positive about this talent, his showmanship and producer-ship. I am so proud to be living in the same city and this genius and am so lucky to be alive at a time when he has begun his rise into worldwide stardom (deservedly so). If you follow music at all I'm sure you are aware of the twerking phenomenon happening throughout North America headed by the likes of Diplo, the don of Mad Decent, and championed by worldwide idol Miley Cyrus (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C). Grandtheft has intelligently latched his star to the likes of the twerk and more specifically Miley's twerking in his most recent collaboration with Skratch Bastid entitled Miley; he even had someone dressed in a bunny suit, clearly referencing Miley first twerking video (see exhibit A above). Yet again it is time to make reference to the tracks he played out (at least to my recollection):

• He opened the set with his Not In Love (Edit) mixed into Get Based mixed into New Slaves (DJ Snake Remix)
• His aforementioned collab Miley mixed into a forthcoming collab with Hedspin
• All Bird Everything
• A forthcoming collab with Diplo mixed into Higher mixed into Higher Ground (Lazee Remix)
• Simon Says (ETC!ETC! & Brillz Bootleg) mixed into WHO mixed into his remix of Treat Me Right mixed into his collab remix with Major Lazer The Fog
• Bugatti (Heroes X Villains Remix)
• His remix of Tuna Melt
• Heads Will Roll (Kid Kamillion Edit) mixed into his finale track, his collab remix with Diplo Sweet Nothing

Please follow and support Grandtheft on Twitter Soundcloud Facebook

ZEDS DEAD:
This Torontonian duo followed Riff Raff and while I generally find their dubstep sound almost offensive to the ears I was again pleasantly surprised come the end of their set. To the best of my knowledge their set started with nearly all dubstep and this threw me off as for the most part MDBP was almost entirely a trap show. By the end of their set they had successful changed my cynical mind through featuring some great Canadian classics as well as some of their own originals from their past. Here we go again:

• Joyenergizer (Dirty Dutch Visionaire Remix)
• Bootleg Fireworks (The Rebirth) mixed into Ratchet
• Rumble In The Jungle
• Breathe (Zeds Dead Remix) mixed into what I believe was the Trypt Remix of I Love It mixed into Bless Di Nation (Torro Torro Remix) mixed into Asphyxiation mixed into Boneless mixed into No Good
• Their remix of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
• A mashup of Flux Pavilion & Jimi Hendrix Blow The Purple Haze
• Coffee Break

Please follow and support Zeds Dead on Twitter Soundcloud Facebook

MAJOR LAZER:

The much anticipated main event of the evening was thoroughly enjoyable from a musical standpoint although I must admit I was quite disappointed in the entirely absent DJing. It seemed as though each and every song was either cut short or spun back. The set was one of the most choppy set I've ever witnessed and were it not the case that I love nearly every Major Lazer track I would have been entirely disappointed. I understand that Diplo, Jillonaire & Walshy Fire were the headlining act for each stop of the tour (which would be quite tedious) and that they were missing out on Tomorrowland to play a much smaller set in Toronto, I can rationalize why they merely wanted to have fun and get the crowd involved, yet I feel that we ought to have had a better chance to hear some of their tracks played out in their entirety and as a DJ I would have really appreciated witnessing some true DJing skills. Nonetheless here is what I heard:

• Rihanna Stay (Major Lazer Remix) mixed into Mashup The Dance
• The Lion mixed into Differentology (Major Lazer Remix) mixed into a forthcoming Major Lazer RDX track
• Original Don (Luminox Remix) vs (Flosstradamus Remix) mixed into Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) which was cut at the drop in favour of Tom Ford (D78 Remix)
• Get Free to Rum & Redbull
• Get Busy mixed into Murder She Wrote mixed into Bubble Butt
• Express Yourself mixed into Jump Around mixed into Bumaye mixed into Pon De Floor
• Cannonball (Carnage & Victor Niglio Remix)
• Higher Ground mixed into Can't Hold Us (Major Lazer Remix)
• Get Free (Andy C Remix)

Please follow and support Major Lazer on Twitter Soundcloud Facebook

In conclusion I am very happy with the money spent in comparison to the previous event (Digital Dreams) and the fact that I was able to catch nearly the entire Block Party, although it wasn't much of a Block Party being that it was situated directly between the GO tracks and the Gardiner, yet that didn't end up being much of a deterrent. The venue was actually quite good and I thoroughly enjoyed not being surrounded by alcohol drinkers thus able to stay more clean and not sticky although I cannot say the same for my feet which ended up looking more like hooves than anything else by the end of the night; those who wore shoes didn't have this problem so I guess I only have myself to blame. Finally I'd grade this version of the Mad Decent Block Party as better than decent, it gets a solid A in my books with many pleasant surprises, all in all a great time!

Once again I urge you to stay tuned to this webpage in anticipation of the posting of DJ Dano Bordie's brilliant 40 minute EFYE review mix from the Grand Finale of EFYE. Follow myself @OggieJames and the Bordie Bros @BordieBros

Thanks For Reading! Oggie Out!