Stay Sane with These Live DJ Mixes on YouTube
I don’t know about you, but I feel 22 years deep in this gosh-darn lock down. In my city, bars are tentatively reopening, but we’re still light-years away from having a live show, let alone an overcrowded dance party. Not one to feel sorry for myself, though, I’ve chosen to turn my own frown upside down with some live DJ sets found on YouTube. You should see me in my room, dancing with a sincerity that isn’t more or less heartbreaking than Ryan Gosling hooking up with a hologram in that scene from Blade Runner 2049.
Honey Dijon - Sugar Mountain 2018
This set has over 5 million views, so I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground when I say it’s some of the most contagious DJ-ing out there. Honey Dijon bends genres expertly, folding effortlessly world beats and vintage disco into techno. The Melbourne crowd is loving it, understandably. There’s even a goofy guy in a half-shirt dancing in the front row. What more can you ask for?
Kaytranada - Boiler Room Montreal 2013
Since moving out of Montreal, I find myself coming back to Kaytra’s 2013 Boiler Room set whenever I feel homesick. Of course, the music is bumpin’, covering everything from local’s well-kept secret Kenlo to Bel Biv DeVoe, but beyond that it’s a fascinating document of a sometimes cringe-worthy club scene. I love to get lost in the viewer’s comments, dissecting the party-goers’ interactions behind the DJ table, as if they were ants in an ant farm. A true classic.
Project Pablo - Piknic Électronik 2019
Speaking of Montreal, Piknic Électronik is a weekly dance music festival held on an island on the south side of the bilingual city. Conceived as an after-after-party in the early 00s, these affordable, all-ages shows gather everything from cool families with young children to out-of-their-minds ravers still on a high from the night before. The ambiance is always friendly, euphoric, perfect. There are many sets from that event available online, but why not check out this performance by local mastermind Project Pablo.
HAAi - AVA Festival 2019
HAAi crushed it last year in Belfast, offering some relentless techno, plenty of mechanical grooves and a whole bunch of introverted charisma. This video peeks when a woman falls face first over the guard rail (she seems fine though, so I think it’s ok to laugh…) Can you imagine this was going on about a year ago? Doesn’t it seem like science fiction utopia at this point?
Hot Since 82 - Live from CODA, Toronto 2018
CODA is one of the most consistent clubs in Toronto (that one and Bambi’s are a few of the venues I sorely miss at the moment, but that’s a subject for another post.) Hot Since 82 brought the classic Chicago tech-house vibes with his set in the most Canadian of all cities. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go cry in the shower for the next 45 minutes while I contemplate why I wasn’t there that night.
Ross From Friends - Streaming From Isolation 2020
Alright, I can be the bigger man and admit that mixes from isolation - while they are in NO WAY, shape or form as enjoyable as real DJ sets - are still pretty dope. Case and point, this digital salutation from lo-fi house’s very own DJ and dream dinner guest Ross From Friends. This flawless session is intersected with hipsters dancing clumsily around the world while streaming this thing live, which is so endearing and touching that - goddammit - I need to go back in the shower, curl up in the fetal position and cry some more. See you guys in a year, when clubs open up again. I’ll be the guy in a bathrobe looking like a prune.