Summer seems long gone and we are all fearing another terrible winter weather forecast… but Montreal is a safe place to be when the weather is playing tricks on you. Strong from its crawling diverse local scenes of artists and labels, there’s always a bell ringing or a bass rolling, in the “city of a hundred steeples”.  This wonderful scene puts its heart and sweat into delivering events that will bring the sun back in the sky and the warmth in our beating hearts and dancing feet.

OCTOV, a local collective gathering various DJs and producers, has become an active player in the city’s techno/rave and immersive experience scene. The music collective, born of friendship and passion for the rave scene 4 years ago, has since been delivering unique events, gathering DJ producers and visual artists from different backgrounds and origins in unconventional places, to create unique magical 360 sensorial experiences. Dancers have been gathering in growing numbers to attend the collective’s events, as the team brings the raving spirit of the 90s back to life in a crude yet dolled up manner.

By choosing abandoned hangars and deserted industrial barracks, the OCTOV team wants to recreate a unique experience with an underground feel that flawlessly merges with their events’ upbeat techno signature. Their last event, at Warehouse 500 featuring no other than the Rotterdam based DJ & producer Bas Mooy, illustrates their ability to build up truly amazing events, awakening the electronic/techno music roots and atmosphere for the sole pleasure of our senses.

Talking about some OG vibe, let me introduce you without further ado to their their next big booking, the one you have been waiting for, or will be waiting for after reading this (I can be very persuasive): label owner and Parisian based DJ Anetha.

When you own a label named Blocaus you kinda nail your colours to the mast, but the French young lady is capable of producing a broad range of genres : strongly inspired by the 90s Berlin scene, her music is powerful, upbeat and energetic with an ear for acid lines and groovy bass. Pretty new to the electronic music scene, she has been extremely active in the past year taking control of renowned venues all around Europe and having the privilege to perform at  Berghain in Berlin. The young lady has some energy to spare, and she is not afraid of taking huge venues, imposing her style and wicked rythmes to the greatest pleasure of an ever dancing crowd. Her Boiler Room event in Amsterdam gives you a good hint of what she’s is capable of delivering on stage and will give you a feel of the tremendous energy she transmits through her music.

Capable and willing to explore different genre as she sails through her musical journey, her pieces show influence from acid techno to progressive and melodic house coupled with a signature deep bassline that works as a backbone for most of her gigs.

Her most famous hit, Acid Train [Anagram], which you already might have heard, brings back the basics of what made techno what it is, in the cold metallic surrounding of a hangar, crowds of energic souls, raving for the sake of it.

On the same page her Absolution remix by Klara for Unum Records really is an ode to the 90’s with a very modern twist, that brings us back this almost nostalgic feeling of when techno sounded like it was molded in the hot fusing heart of the Earth.

With the Blocaus Series hit Miyuki & Patrizia from her Bionic Romance EP, she broadens her music landscape allying her signature acid techno style with a more melodic twist added by a tubular sounding synthesizer : the kind of result you could  get at A B2B session featuring Nina Kraviz and Oonah Dahl (not that this has any chance of happening but you get it, it’s for the image).

As a last piece, and after listening to most of her creations, my attention was retained by her appearance on Slam radio’s channel. She presents an extensive mix that gives an authentic picture of her style and progression. Lowering the tempo at the beginning of the mix (growingly increasing to match usual techno beats), she plays with sharp metallic sounds and a heavy driven bass that she blends in the most peculiar, yet alluring way. A mix where all her influences clash in a constructed  and progressive way to deliver a three-sixty bass massage. Part of a movement bringing back the techno that we love, Anetha, in a similar style as Nina Kraviz, is playing her role in re-shaping the electronic music scene with her unique  techno acid vibe.

A set, brought by OCTOV, that surely will bring heat and sweat in between those hangar walls for the time of a night (and a morning for the most resilient of you). Before Anetha, the organizers will welcome no other than German artist Hector Oaks, a prolific DJ of the German and European underground techno scene. True historian of the rave era, the German sound engineer took over the European scene gaining his first credits in Madrid’s underground parties to finally relocate in Berlin where he embraced the city’s techno identity and kickstarted his career as a DJ. His passion for music pairs with his high technicity to present something that might sound like an eclectic mix of genre at first sight, but really is a well curated mix of vinyls gems.

His energy and style are representative of his native Berlin scene. Oaks seeks for connections in his music, not only with genre but also by allying vibes and styles, to produce truly enjoyable progressive techno sets. Witnessing these two DJs in the same night is a gift for every techno lovers; for the little story, one of Athena’s Amsterdam Boiler Room’s craziest moments was when she dropped Hector’s  banger hit “All this Was Fire” (seriously check out minute 38, it’s worth it).

So, is this piece, featuring hard groove primitivism and outer space instruments, the link between the two artists  that OCTOV is bringing back through this event ? It probably is, and we are glad they are bringing it because it’s going to be something stellar!

For all these reasons, and they seem pretty legitimate to me, this show is not to be missed (here’s the link to their event, tickets are selling fast)! So let’s all forget about the cold months to come and shine again in the darkness of a hangar, through music and dance, love and passion.

Article by Ivan Pallu de Beaupuy