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" Thinks wishing your pets could talk is all fun until... you remember what you did in front of your pet!"

T.T.

A PIKNIC FOR THE COURSE!

Photo: Jasmin Le Blanc

No matter which way you look at it, Ile Ste-Hélène practically sank under the weight of all the Formula Électronik Grand Piknic action this past weekend. Right, so they tell us that the Grand Prix may have been the main attraction at Parc Jean Drapeau right up until Hamilton’s big win, but even he was looking in the direction of The Calder the moment Ostrich dropped the needle and the first beats of the afternoon began to round the track. It was just that kind of Piknic: a ton of Formula One fans dancing to house music, revving Ferrari engines and high-fiving the smell of exhaust. Our regulars had to be armed with patience to stay on the island, but all the teeth-grinding at big, hairy Formula One men was worth the trouble.

You see, it was a nice day, and now that summer’s almost officially here, that’s back to being a bit of a rarity around these parts. Also, no one could argue with the music. There was Ostrich, making tech-house funky again. And there were our British friends Giles Smith and James Priestley, founders of London’s Secretsundaze parties, which is basically how they say Piknic Électronik in British. They burned the techno oil with a fortifying dash of classics to make it smell good. To make the day even more memorable, a big group of theatrical Fringe Fest folk showed up and got all expressive, turning moments of this fifth Piknic into scenes from Brazil. Those good-looking thespians stretched and swung parts we didn’t even know we had, and somewhere in all that gyration we think we even saw a hula-hoop! Desert came courtesy of Vincent Lemieux, who took us all into a vortex of micro-house from which we’re only just emerging.

So, until next Sunday when we open The Calder to NROTB, Noyl, Beat Concierge and Dirtyphonics, we’ll be getting our sea legs back and dreaming of those dancing actors.

Photo album - 33MAG

RETURN OF THE PIKNIC @ FRINGE

What’s better than walking up St. Laurent Blvd on a magnificent Saturday afternoon, getting to the corner of Rachel, and realizing that there’s a Piknic underway some 10 km north and one day before where you thought it would be, right in the heart of the Parc des Ameriques? Not much, we tell you. Well, that’s just what happened to a bunch of people this past Saturday, who found their arm sand legs spontaneously under the direction of DJs Elio Krass, The Endless and Dorobo. Luckily no one got hurt and the Fringe crowds are all bedroom dancers anyhow, so by having our Piknic up there we really just gave them an excuse to live out fantasies they’d been dreaming up for years.

Photos here


THIS WEEK: JUNE 20 PIKNIC

On deck this week: a breakbeat shakedown! Noyl gets us scratched with a crate of hip-hop, NROTB jack it with a punch of explosive electro, and Dirtyphonics trip the tempo for a dueling DJ’s and MC session of drum n’ bass, dubstep, and cranked hip-hop. The STM Stage is back with an extra dollop of the drum n’ bass courtesy of Beat Concierge, so bring your gold teeth and come dance like it’s 1996 all over again.

LINE-UP IN DETAIL

2 pm : NOYL (Ca)

5 pm : NROTB (Ca)

8 pm : DIRTYPHONICS (Fr)

STM STAGE

BEAT CONCIERGE, with :

3 pm : GOLGO 13

5 pm : GENERIC

5 pm : QUBIQ.MC

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE 2010 PROGRAM

Our calendar is almost complete. The STM stage has added new guests Scott C, Basement Maxxx, Des cailloux et du carbone and Dorobo. On September 6^th, German label Bpitch Control is coming over to celebrate Labour Day at Parc Jean-Drapeau, with a line-up featuring Kiki, Ellen Allien and Sascha Funke. Last year, Sascha delivered one of our favourite sets, and this year he’s promised to outdo last week’s Paul Kalkbrenner set, which for us was like a visit from Jesus. Busy Tones gets the ball rolling that day. So make sure to combs your mullets that weekend, because you’ve got a date with a hot afternoon party!

September 4th : Toddla-T (Uk), Shuttle (Us), Steinski (Us), Ghostbeard (Ca), Beat Market (Ca)

STM Stage : Dorobo (Ca), Nimalan Yoganathan (Ca)

September 5th : Misstress Barbara (Ca), Carlo Lio (Ca), Hakim Guelmi (Ca)

STM Stage : Scott C. (Ca), Recepteurz (Ca)

September 6th : Oxia (Fr), Kiki (De), Sascha Funke & Ellen Allien (De), Busy Tones (Ca)

STM Stage: MMDM (Ca)

September 26th : Josh Wink (Us), Vincent Gauvin (Ca), X-Cube (Ca)

STM Stage : Basement Maxxx (Ca), Des cailloux et du carbone (Ca)

WE’RE CELEBRATING QUEBEC…. IN VANCOUVER!

They tell us that out in British Columbia no one celebrates St. Jean-Baptiste Day. We here at Piknic Électronik think it’s sad that English Canada refuses to embrace the pleasures of two long weekends in a row, so we’ve decided to take matters into our own hands. We’re setting up a Piknic right in the heart of Stanley Park on June 24^th, from 5pm to 10:30pm. Afterward, a team of Vancouverite DJs take over till 1am.

On the bill:

5 pm : FM RADIO GODS (Ca)

7 pm : ORANGE ORANGE (Ca)

9 pm : DAFLUKE (Ca)

MUTEK TOP 10 - BY MARIRI

1 - Jon Hopkins - Nocturne 2 / Métropolis

2 - Matmos - A/Visions 1

3 - Brandt Brauer Frick - Nocturne 5 / SAT

4 - Ikonika - Nocturne 3 / SAT

5 - Minilogue - Piknic 1

6 - Orphx - Nocturne 3 / Club Soda

7 - San Proper - Piknic 2 / Métropolis

8 - Bowly - Nocturne 2 / SAVOY

9 - Move D - Nocturne 4 / Métropolis

10 - Jacek - Nocturne 3 / Club Soda

The Piknic team