One of Canada's most vibrant cities for electronic music is more vital than ever, in large part due to its storied history.

for my money drake underground and the outdoor promise parties are the best sounding in the city. Guvernment is no good soundwise. Wrongbar i`ve heard mixed things about but have only been dissapointed by it. Footwork i have actually yet to go but i hear good things. Architextures at augusta house i find depends on the week. And the last time i went into neutral in kensington it was a surprisingly good sounding set-up. Oh yeh, for dubstep Thymeless on college might be small, but on wednesday nights the sound system kills it.

Also there are often underground parties that might be off the radar but feature major talent. I`ve heard some of the best DJ sets of my life under bridges and in warehouses around the city, by guys who are only famous to about 100 people.

+1 on the underground / lesser known parties

Footwork has a pretty horrible layout, and each of the three times I went, the DJs weren't that great, either.

Wrongbar was fun - it's not particularly outstanding within itself (good, nice location, etc), but they do have consistently good bookings.

The Supermarket in Kensington isn't really a club (a nice big 'bar' with a dancefloor) but they do have interesting stuff from time to time - managed to catch Floating Points there last summer.

Didn't know Thymeless had dubstep nights, will check it out when(ever) I get back to lovely Toronto.

"Impactful"?

Rubbish, what a timeout guide. Go up (montreal) or down (detroit) the road for a real scene. The only good remnant left in Toronto is unfortunately, as stated, the tribe mssg board.

Toronto was a stronghold for Trance in the early/mid '00s but my last visits there have really shown a diversity.

I hope for nothing but the best for a truly multicultural and fun town.

See you in a few months.

I spent a year there; although I went to some OK nights, and the Cherry Beach daytime parties were good fun, overall I found it quite dead, enthusiasm amongst some crowds for the music was non-existent. A weekend trip away down to Detroit for DEMF was the highlight of my 12 months in that part of the world, the atmosphere just blew even the best night I'd had in Toronto well out of the water.

The above piece does mention the local scene sprouting, but any 'indepth' article I read about the TO scene in Now or Eye Weekly in 2008 was saying the exact same thing. The problem with TO is that because its such a bland mishmash of styles and cultures, it ends up being nothing distinctive. For a city of its size, with such supposed cultural capital, it hasnt spawned any sort of electronic musical innovation whatsoever.

TO's (and Canada's) musical innovation and success can be found more in the indie/noise/drone end of things - Constellation Records (actually from MTL) for example. That end of things probably doesnt appeal to most RA readers, but its a distinctive indigenous sound, something that Toronto never produced for electronic music. Many local DJs and producers, as soon as they get a bit of success, leave town and go to Berlin, they're not bothered staying in a city that just isnt interested.

Here's an article from the Mutek site on all the Canadians who left for Europe:
www.mutek.org/en/blog/285-canadian-x's
(and bear in mind that most of the artists mentioned there would have developed in Montreal, not Toronto, and that the article is from Mutek, an excellent electronic music festival... something that Toronto is also lacking in)

Footworks weekly lineups make me painfully jealous when in comparison to whats happening on the west coast. Although i must say i've never been there so i cant comment on the quality of the club and crowd. When it comes to electronic music though, my best experiences have been when i've found myself in a setting that creates or evokes a sense of community among it's patrons. Doesn't matter how good the DJ or venue, when the majority of people are there to take drugs and are not there because of the music, the night will be inevitably shit. So after having said all this, i imagine the best electronic parties in Toronto are the unadvertised ones where only the supper passionate of fans know about...As probably is the case in any city

you lost me at "the bars stop serving at 2am..."
; )

I was wondering how this article would have read had it been written by an electronic music tourist from outside of the country, rather someone employed directly by the industry in this city - and thanks to dublinstep, now I know.

While Denise does a fine job of paying just homage to this city's many pioneering venues, producers and DJs, from my 25+ year vantage of Toronto's dance music nightlife, this city didn't grow up, it regressed. While most pivotal major centres around the world that formed the warehouse and rave scenes of the 80s and 90s simply ran with it, working with (or around) local government, evolving into massive arena events like Awakenings and the myriad multi-day festivals which draw tens of thousands of revelers, Toronto buckled under myopic, small-town-minded political pressure that resulted in the quashing of the rave scene under law, which was soon followed by a wave of unchecked residential development that swept the downtown core. It should then come as no surprise that the now neighbouring thousands of new condo residents and the municipal councillors who represent them are unabashedly hostile toward both existing venues and any potential new ones. The end result has been a terrible watering-down and division of Toronto's formerly diverse and cohesive nightlife experience, with the city's once-thriving warehouse scene being pushed nearly entirely back into the clubs.

Nowadays, a typical club night out in Toronto consists of middling soundsystems (can't piss off the neighbours, y'know), small venues which can't handle the capacity of patrons (leaving room on the dancefloor for little more than grinding up against everyone else and/or dancing being interrupted by people pushing/stumbling their way through the crowd), homogenized, uninspired audiences who seem to have little sense of the rich dance music history of their own city and an inflexible roster of international talent who largely tend to bring their B-game to the booth. And as mentioned, the 3 a.m. closure of most bars and clubs in the city means that patrons tend to show up at midnight, drink furiously for two hours and then leave as soon as the bar becomes dry at 2:45. This leads to opening and closing DJs playing at lounge volume levels to a near-empty room; akin to waiting two hours for a hand-job and then being told that post-orgasm, you have to leave immediately.

On the festival tip, while WEMF may be Toronto-organized, it has always been held at a remote venue, hours from the city proper. Denise also failed to mention the quiet cancellation of our one local, corporate-sponsored mishmash of an annual electronic music festival - the rather bland, directionless and under-attended Beats, Breaks and Culture Festival that was held at the Harbourfront Centre. Not much more needs to be said when revealing that the main stage for this event didn't even feature a proper dancefloor - just seating.

Of course, speak of any of this to your average local electronic music fan, and you'll be met with the ubiquitous mantras of Toronto "everything's fine!" groupspeak - you're wrong, you should be thankful for what we do have, and the dreaded you're just jaded and living in the past. If that's the case, then why did the Adam Marshalls, Jeremy Caulfields, et al first move their operations to considerably more culturally diverse Canuck neighbour Montreal and then to Berlin? Why then is it necessary to make the 4 hour drive to Detroit to hear proper Techno in a dark room, with stacks of subs lining the walls and abundant floorspace to actually dance, when the DJs from this city (and their Chicago counterparts) used to be booked to play here on a regular basis? We had our Berghain/Stereo/Womb/Smart Bar/Fabric in Industry Nightclub (which now houses a Shoppers Drug Mart and guess what?...condos!), and while venues such as System Soundbar did indeed make a commendable effort to fill those shoes, nothing similar has ever stepped up to take its place.

The iDance rallies held in Toronto in 2000/2001 were supposed to be a signal to those in power that the DJs and dancers in this city weren't just going to roll over and comply with the new draconian and knee-jerk laws being enacted as a backlash against a booming industry that drew tens of thousands to the city every weekend and employed many Torontonians well beyond the confines of nightclub walls. Instead, they became its death knell. While some may present this city as a shining bastion of dance music culture, there are others who enviously peruse lineups in other metropolises, wondering what the hell happened here.

well said bluntworks, nice read

Haha, just like Toronto to slag itself even when given a chance in the spotlight. True, it will never be what it was and might have developed differently if politicians and promoters had sense and guts to work together. Toronto is no Berlin or London but my own experiences lets me think Toronto is holding its own just fine, even in talking with DJs and producer friends in MTL, NYC, Chicago or Detroit.

One of the main reasons for artists to move out of Toronto (that I've talked to) is not because of Toronto itself but the unsustainable North American market in general. Its not easy to tour in Europe based in North America unless you belong in the highest demand bracket of DJs. The market for music and clubbing are both bigger in Europe and its easier to set up shop and to travel around. Plus Berlin is still relatively cheap to live in (which I can't say about Toronto). So it makes sense to go if you want to make a career out of it.

Lighten up and have faith people, then maybe we can actually build something. There's certainly no lack of talent in this city even with the Toronto expats in Berlin.

Yeah Stuart is spot on.

Toronto has had a great dance music history, and thankfully there are some people who care enough to put in the effort here to make sure it has a relevant future.

Although I really liked living there for 4months in 2007 the parties where never that great. I've been to the Guv a couple of times but the crowds never really exploded. Iiked the Mod club when Trentemoller was playing though.

Basicsoulunit: Fair enough, but why is each event in Toronto, with few exceptions, a let down? Why does a simple house-party put on by Mr. Bluntworks to celebrate a birthday by getting a few DJs to play in his living room beat a night out in our lovely city?

Even when Carl Craig came to Footwork, he didn't seem to care about the crowd and brought his B-game, as Bluntworks put it. DJ Assault played well at Nocturne, but the sound-system put a damper on the night (I even heard of a DJ having to use one turntable due to technical issues one night!).

Most of the artists brought to town sound the same. Granted, they are reasonably popular, so that might just be personal tastes talking... but it's all just the same super-polished minimal that seems to lack a lot of soul, in my humblest of opinions. No Berghain-style sounds... no Tresor-style sounds... no heavier techno... no wonkier techno (has Neil Landstrumm ever been to Toronto? Probably not since Industry, if ever)... what about some funky Detroit house like Al Ester...? Nope, just the Beatport top-40 artists whose aim seems to be a set that sounds like a single, two-hour track with the same formula of a breakdown, build-up, sound wash, and then anti-climax with the same minimal sound... ("much ado about nothing").

Noteable exceptions in the last few years: Cari Lekebusch actually played some harder techno in 2008 or so (and Terence Kissner played a great opening set), and the crowd loved it! Was Cari booked to return? Nope... Jeff Mills played some heavier stuff in 2009, and kept the floor moving... no return. Alexi Delano and Tony Rohr played good sets a few Halloweens ago... one of the better sets was Substance & Vainqueur doing a back-to-back DJ set in Drake's Underground... Promise's Dirty Motor parties are probably the best, most reliable parties in Toronto.

But even then, it took going to Detroit and Berlin to hear sets where I couldn't wipe the smile off my face and actually had the music MOVE me. There were sets I've not just heard or danced to, but EXPERIENCED, and I can't find that in Toronto. No interesting techno... no techno that takes you to a different place...

Basement of Tresor with James Ruskin (even the opening DJ blew me away)... DJ T-1000 rocking it at DEMF this year... Adam X ripping it up in some seedy club in Detroit at an afterparty... I don't do drugs, yet those experiences took me to a different place where I could feel the music and it affected me. I have tried in vain to find something like that in Toronto, but the closest I got was when Substance and/or Vainqueur dropped Maurizio's M5 for a few minutes (REAL minimal), and all my other Toronto highlights ranged from good to great, but never amazing.

Sadly, I wasn't around for Toronto in its heyday. Maybe I would have experienced something amazing then. Hopefully I can experience something amazing in Toronto before too long.

...

Upside: at least there are a few parties a year I can go to and enjoy a good booty-shaking. Promise has some good events... there are a handful of reliable DJs within the city... and of course Mr. Bluntworks' little celebrations for a handful of friends. ;-) Aside from that, maybe some promoters will notice that bringing in some heavy techno hitters tends to pull a good crowd and keep them there for the night... and maybe they'll do it again.

Lots of good stuff happening in the city these days - even if it's on a smaller lever or different level and nice to see DB do a write up on it all.

Fun to be back in the city - I think the same things that ppl in Toronto say about the city and the scene here in general can be said or applied to just about anywhere (ie: no local support for the locals, "insert your fave rant here" etc etc)

Sure its' a different place than other dance centers like Berlin, NY and London and it will never be those type of cites for a number of reasons (culture, demographics etc etc) but its still a cool spot to live in and make music.

For me, the fun and energy has always been at smaller events no matter where Ive lived and worked so TO is no different in that regard.

Coming back after years away, its nice to see that TO is sorta growing into it's own skin finally.

As far as people moving away, it just was the reality again for a number of reasons even a few years ago - nice to see dance labels picking up (hopefully) where great labels and TO peeps like the Stickmen et al etc left off years ago.

Also the cats who moved to Montreal I feel had already honed their crafts in Toronto and arrived in their new destinations ready to hit the ground running and just were able to slot into those various other scenes - for whatever reasons timing etc etc that made things work and click. For some perspective, some of the key players in Godspeed were originally from TO and played in local bands in TO "back in the day" for ages. I think that just sorta put Canada in public eye for a number reasons and so ofcourse that focus shifted to the rest of the talent - as it really wasn't like that before them - even though Dance producers and DJs had great international reputations.


There are some things in the thread that are true but its just "horses for courses" I guess - it can be a tough scene to crack - but that's just Canada in general in someways - not trying to deny it or make excuses for it - just saying there is good in cold hard criticism too. I know that frustration can certainly get the best of me at times.

Anyways just some random thoughts - sorry they're so disjointed but just throwing in my 2 cents.

Re: DJ Assault played well at Nocturne, but the sound-system put a damper on the night (I even heard of a DJ having to use one turntable due to technical issues one night!).

When my friend Eliot Taub (Ulysses/Neurotic Drum Band) brought Assault to NY ages ago, he played on a sunken, rusted tug boat - ok it was a good party! but still lol - not the most optimal set up - I think scenes and crowds make the best of a given situation.

Some of my fave sets have been hearing Hell or Harv in NY in less that optimal situations (bar system anyone?)

That is my one critque of Toronto - its the only place Ive DJed where someone stood infront of the decks with their arms crossed lol

I mean its good to ask for quality, but c'mon - this is underground dance music, we aint no rolling stones unfort lol

Sometimes the performers give back what the crowd puts off - it takes 2 to tango as they say

Anyways Ive said 4 cents now. cheers

@malcolm33, hopefully bro. Yes agree that promoters could take more chances w bookings sometimes (maybe its the economic times?) but its still not that bad imho (for me personally Huckaby, Floating Points, Martyn, Levon Vincent, Kyle Hall, Sans Soda and more all rolled through in the last year or so, so who am I to complain?), again based on my own travel experiences. I guess everyone's experiences are different though. Also yeah would love if some Berghain/Panorama residents or more Detroit artists rolled through but that's just my own tastes, I used to complain about this myself but Toronto is Toronto and if the city isn't into that, fine. But also hopefully someone has enough guts to do it and tries, because all things have to start small and start somewhere. I've tried myself (with some help) having brought Huck, Norm Talley, Mike Clark, Alton Miller, Jeremy Ellis so lest you think I'm just talking.

I'm not saying its the perfect clubbing city but I still think Toronto has the right ingredients and potential. I know a lot of promoters put in the effort already but maybe all it takes is a bit of effort and a slight change of attitude (both from the promoter/DJs & crowds)? Away from the house/techno scene I remember the Movement parties at Roxy Blu when the locals had a strong up-for-it following playing way-out jazz, brasilian, funk etc. and when they brought guests, it was often disappointing. I think in part sometimes due to the expectations of the DJs that they had to play it safe. Anyway I've said enough, so here's hoping for a great future to the city!

...btw if anyone's complaining about the lack of deep house go support Lady Blacktronika this Thurs. http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?271648

.

attn "grass is always greener" types: you sound boring

toronto was and continues to be a great city for dance music that has not yet produced a characteristic sound.

it will.

the self-reflection by supporters in this thread just points to the fact that people here have a commitment to excellence and want to build something even better >>

'97 at what used to be the Boom Boom Room (Why don't we have rooms like this anymore?) and live at the Masonic Temple in 1998!




Mills was here last year, as part of his Something In The Sky tour.

I grew up in Vancouver and spent a number of years in Kingston before I moved to Toronto. I now live in Los Angeles. And of all those places, none compare to Toronto, despite what some people on this thread will have you believe.

It's amazing to be able to live, work and play all in the downtown of a city. Living in Kensington Market meant nothing was more than a short TTC or cab ride away. Toronto allowed me my first after hours experiences. You could go down a back alley to Footwork and see international and local talent side by side and dance until the morning. If you were really feeling it you could hit up one of the many of the illegal late night spots on Spadina or go to Comfort Zone. On special occasions you could go to a Box of Kittens or promise party at the ballet school - how great a venue is that!! Milkrun had a cool spot at the film studio over on the east side where I saw everyone from Kyle Hall to Levon Vincent and Martinez. I remember when Stacey Pullen showed up to play a free show at Cherry Beach and everyone rocked the dance party by the water all night. Everyone from James Holden to Radio Slave, Paul Kalkbrenner and Villalobos have played that city in the last couple years.

So many good times and such a great, fun city.

Completely agree with planyon!

I used to live in Toronto for a year and to compare with most of the big cities, there are still a lot of interesting events to attend.. (to name some: cherry beach; some good international djs sets @ fw ; boatcruises with some good names for ex lee foss, art department and sebastien leger this july ; comfort zone and its 24 hours event every week; sunrise sets at guv or other few good parties ; few illegal parties... etc)

Of course it's not Berlin, London etc... and it will never be.

I love Toronto and everytime I go there, I still find a lot of things to do, interesting events and I always have a LOT of fun, mostly during summer time! I would compare Toronto with Montreal, both have good different things...

Toronto is definitely one of the friendliest cities I've ever been to..........something a lot of cities can learn a lot from.......music wise it kind of let me down when I was there in April this year (whereas Perc was playing in Montreal the weekend I arrived), compared to '08 where I saw Layo and Bushwacka, Mistress Barbara and John Digweed in the space of one week .......sign of changing times, I don't know but I was really looking forward to some of the European techno sound.......maybe it was just 'off-season' but you're still not as pampered for choice as in London or Berlin where every weekend you're guaranteed either a great or up-and-coming DJ.......Still I think it has great potential because of the rave history and just the welcoming attitudes of the people there......I might be moving there in a year or so, so look forward to getting stuck into it and exploring the hidden corners of the nightlife there

I think that many people that have lived in Toronto have developed a sort of love/hate relationship. I remember there being weekends where we torn between attending many amazing events, where the next weekend we were all geared up to go out and couldn't really find much going on at all. The thing that I thought was cool was the sheer amount of venues (many that came and went in a short period of time). Name any intersection downtown and I'll mention a party that happened somewhere near there at a venue long gone.

I've been away from the city for 4 years now, it seemed that things had slowed down compared to when I was more active in going out. I have to say that I feel very optimistic for Toronto thanks to all of the local talent that has broken through recently and seems to on track to re-develope a scene in T.O.. I really never cared for the large clubs (well, maybe except Industry...and I didn't consider Roxy Blu a "large" club). It's generally been the smaller venues that have rocked the best parties with the most enthusiastic, genuine crowds. I'm sure some Torontonians here attended the free Friday events at Toi Bar? Best deal in town!

Re Toi: What, free admission to a shoebox sauna with $7 beers, not nearly enough bass (there's those pesky neighbours again!) and absolutely zero room on the dancefloor on most nights (referring to Fukhouse, as that was the only night I attended there)?

We obviously have rather differing views as to what constitutes a bargain.

"I think scenes and crowds make the best of a given situation."

Funny, I literally was thinking about this thread and had the same thought before reading your comment. One time I went to see Daniel Bell, arrived early, and some dude asked me for drugs. I said I didn't have any, but we ended up talking for five minutes... turned out he didn't know who Daniel Bell was, but was apparently a minimal fan. If crowds are just there to get high, then how can the DJ really get good feedback from the crowd if they're not really into the music?


"I guess everyone's experiences are different though. Also yeah would love if some Berghain/Panorama residents or more Detroit artists rolled through but that's just my own tastes, I used to complain about this myself but Toronto is Toronto and if the city isn't into that, fine."

See, that's what I hear from everyone... but then why does the floor stay filled all night when a DJ actually decides to bring something a little different to the decks? Those DJs I mentioned weren't afraid to play a little harder even though "Toronto is a minimal city". Add Perc to that list too. When he came in 2009, he played much harder, and everyone stayed on the dancefloor. ......but when promoters bring a beatport's-top-40-minimal DJ, half the club is talking in the back, a quarter is sitting down and watching the last quarter laboriously shuffle their feet to try in vain to get their twenty dollars worth of dancing in for the night, no matter how uninspiring the music is. ...or is that done to boost drink sales?

Toronto ISN'T a minimal city... there are people that will come out for some heavier stuff... There are people that would come out to see Landstrumm do a live set that crossed three or four genres (techno, dubstep, chicago house, and whatever else he fancied at the given moment).

People have these conceptions that Toronto "isn't into that", yet the evidence is strongly against that view (the evidence being a crowd that doesn't thin out until after that DJ has left the decks).


Mr. Bluntworks: YES! a) I was 13 in 1997. :-/ I didn't even know what techno was back then. (b) We definitely need a club like that... a dark, concrete, basic, rough room where people can dance to banging techno and house. I don't need flashing lights, lasers and $10,000 worth of interior design to make a club worth going to. Cocoon Club looked nice, but it was shit music all night long, whereas Tresor had bare concrete floor, walls and ceiling, stacks of speakers and a couple strobe lights... and AMAZING music. I'll never go back to Cocoon, but I would consider travelling to Europe with Berlin as a destination solely to go back to Tresor.

Yeah, I knew Mills came back, but he wasn't really booked for his DJing performance, but it was something else. Fact remains, he hasn't been booked as a DJ since his performance at the Time fest, even though the crowd seemed pretty full.



Furniture: I definitely went to Toi Bar for the Pawn Shop nights. While it wasn't my preferred sound, it was down-to-earth people playing music they loved. I think that was the key difference: they were playing what they loved, not what beatport said was popular or what their preconceptions of Toronto dictated they play. I swear, the next DJ I go and see, I am going to bring a little notepad and write them a note saying "DON'T PLAY IT SAFE! Play what you love, and the crowd will love it". Maybe that'll help?

It's really amazing how we've been throwing parties for over a decade, promoting one of the only Toronto DJs to ever make DJ Mag's Top 100 list, and Luke Fair doesn't even get a mention. I guess we're more even more underground than Toronto's underground. Love it!!

We're moving the next a.m., but are still going to try to make it out for a bit and will definitely see her later on in the weekend - a talent well worth supporting!

I really liked Denise Benson's piece because it talks about the formative moments and players in the history of the Toronto scene, and lets a reader who has not visited Toronto see how we got to where we are today. She does this without getting all mushy about "back in the day" times long past, or playing favorites with one thing or another.

Most importantly, the article leaves one with a hopeful feeling about the future of new electronic music in Toronto.

It is close to where I would have gone with such an article - perhaps I would have gone a tiny bit farther back; but then I am older than Denise. Otherwise, I say she nailed it.

Someone reading this from afar would get a nice snapshot of the Toronto electronic music landscape and context as well. Props to her I say!

When I work out the technical issues and do my own project on the history of the DJ / electronic music scene in Toronto, people will be able to see what this period looked like for themselves. I have over 20,000 slides and negatives I shot during the formative and peak periods of the scene 1993 -2003 of nearly every event, and plenty of notes and data as well as the TRIBE MAGAZINE columns that tracked the parties and players to correspond with the photos.

It is an enormous project and I want to do it well, so it is taking some time.

I just know that when my thing does come out, there will still be people who will say that I missed one thing or another. Oh well.

Nice work Denise!

Alex D.
Publisher
TRIBE

woah!! sick, thanks for the heads up

Denise Benson has done a great job with this, but IMO she forgot to mention an important part of Toronto's club history... OZ Nightclub (93-97) :-( For most of it's days OZ was open 5 nights a week with a very diverse set of music formats and crowds from rock to retro to house. Not many Toronto clubs can say that. We were bringing in the big name house legends like Frankie Knuckles and MURK's Oscar G & Ralph Falcon long before Industry, Guvernment, System or any of the other great venues came along. The legendary Thundergoove Sundays paved that path and gave a home to residents like Peter Tyrone and Shams, and pretty much all the city's best rocked our DJ booth at one time or another. It was the warehouse scene in a home-base, licensed nightclub. It turned the city on its head. Also, from the rave perspective, how many times did we take those Saturday night calls from the rave companies looking for a space to bring their party when the authorities shut them down. I think we gave a home to just about all of them at one point or another. Saturday night, packed house, and we would get the call around midnight. We'd shut the club a bit early, which was around 1am in those days, give the floor a quick sweep and re-open the doors 20 minutes later to the 1000 ravers lined up on Mercer Street coming from the cancelled rave. Amazing times, amazing people, and definitely an amazing part of Toronto club history.... ~si

cool - now do montreal next!!

agreed.

good piece on Toronto.

Where was TranceAddict forum from? I think eventhough many will say Trance, bull... etc..... It defenetly led people to have a space to learn more about the music.

At least I did.

Nice article!

Big ups my TO crew, Basic Soul Unit and James Duncan! Y'all are what I think about when I think about the city

My sister just moved home from toronto. She said it and the people were the most boring she ever met. Like really nice, but really boring.

Agreed one hundred percent. Anyone who thinks toronto is a minimal city was never looking to begin with. From 2003-2007 i went literally dozens of free techno parties where people were playing out the likes of james ruskin, adam x, thomas krome, ben sims, surgeon and the like while in the popular techno discourse these guys were considered wayy out of vogue. In terms of pay parties i saw Dj sets from thomas krome, adam x, frankie bones, speedy j, dave the drummer, adam beyer, (during the period where drumcode was still 140 bpm), and way more.

........Modeselektor, drop the lime, venetian snares, joel mull, shitmat, chris liebing, mount kimbie, james blake, derrick carter, infected mushroom kid 606,, every popular and and not so popular drum and bass producer in the world, derrick may, kevin saunderson, jeff mills, the books. Plus local talent like Basic soul unit (^), Greg Gow, Mateo murphy, XI, Jelo, Dekoze, kenny glasgow (who was playing every week for years before Art department struck big), Caribou, Knifehandchop, crystal castles, egyptrixx, metalogic, Phat conductor (ill gates), The Weeknd and dozens of other fantastic Dj/producers that i suspect noone here has heard of. Toronto has more then enough of a scene for anyone who's willing to look for it. Perhaps you might godforbid have to look beyond the pages of now magazine, or the RA event feed.

At first I liked this article, and I guess I still like parts, the recap of Toronto's history is great and there is no doubt there was a very rich scene at one point in time. I started raving/clubbing in 1999 and until about 2006 it was great. Then things got pretty boring, our favorite clubs closed and there wasnt anything you could rely on for a great night on a weekly basis. Thats when I left Canada altogether.

But what really bothers me about this article is that there was so much left out! Bringthebeats had been bringing in the best progressive and deep house DJs from the US and many from South America for a decade; it was a sound not being done anywhere else and it had such a loyal following for many years.

Also some very important clubs were left out like the afterhours club Boa/ Sonic. I had some legendary nights there, the one I will always remember is Danny Tengalia playing over 12 hrs there! And what about the countless parties at the Docks, including the boat parties?!

What about DJs like Luke Fair and Carlo Lio??

This article wasnt as indepth as it should have been to capture everything, but it still made me reminisce about a good period of time when Toronto had so much to offer. Im really happy that there are some people there that kept strong and kept doing what they love and are finally getting the international recognition they deserve.

then your sister hasnt met the right people! they said birds of a feather flock together, so maybe your sister is also boring!

@Santos - Carlo Lio is mentioned.

I loved the article. It's very in depth, spanning decades worth of Toronto history and speaks to it's future. I would imagine this was a difficult piece to write and no matter who would've written it there would be "but you forgot ______" complaints.

I think people like Hatiras, Robb G and Flipside deserve to be mentioned and I'm also surprised that MSTRKFT, Deadmau5 and Tranceaddict were omitted given how big their international profiles are.

Wonderful article. It really captures the history and the present of Toronto.

For everyone getting down on Toronto, and for all those who are defending it, there's certainly some common ground that we can all agree upon: Toronto loves electronic music, and we want to see it grow.

Looking at the groundswell of talent, it's clear that Toronto is entering into a bit more of a mature phase. I really tend to agree with alot of you, Toronto isn't reaching it's potential but what we have is still a world class electronic music scene, with some incredible parties (many mentioned above). I would love to see extended licences, better sound in venues, way more festival activity, ect. I think 99% of Toronto people on RA feel the same... So lets try and work on it...

and PJStyles +1 +1 +1

excellent article. coming from Buffalo, there's not too much going on out my way. the short trip north is a nice escape. I'm really glad you mentioned Sunday's Cherry Beach parties as well. Those are always a treat!

FW !!! the best soundsystem the best djs and the people wh really know about music..., Wrongar (jipsters and teenagers) they dont even have idea of whos playing.. GUV for the masses !! CZ sketchie place but theres no one after hours like this, lilys was ok now how they asking for a 20 bucks of cover ... anyway.. u will find a lot of parties on the weekend... like this =) have fun n came to Toronto and check by urself what's offering u!
drop the beats not the bombs!

GU025 still in my heart!

nice

I was expecting to see a mention of Luke Fair. Strange...

Toronto is a fantastic city for electronic music!

@PJStyles, I agree with that... and I saw Beyer play some hard stuff in 2006... when I moved here in 2008, I also saw Cari Lekebusch and then Perc play some harder stuff too... it all went over quite well, but despite me trying to keep my ear to the ground, I'm certainly not hearing about non-minimal stuff these days.

Platform, Tempo, No19, Breakandenter, Thoughtless, etc, etc, all do their thing well, but it's all along the same vein. Twonz plays some good stuff, and has some good plans for future parties (he told me he has one or two Detroit acts booked, which I am excited for), but that's about all I know of.

Where else should I be looking for techno that's on the harder end of things? Why does it seem so hard to get some great DJs from Detroit to our city, when it's only a four hour drive away? Such a tremendous source of funk there, sadly overlooked. Personally, I'd MUCH rather see John Collins or Al Ester drop some really funky stuff that might fall outside the techno umbrella than the minimal stuff that seems to be abundant here.