The LocALe – Brad Copeland

My life is filled with many ups and downs right now. As I get on I find it difficult not to be moody. I’m sure this can be chalked up to many ‘growing up’ variables, but I know for sure the club scene is one of them. I’ve become the industry leper for not digging dark techno and commercial electro. Just the other day I told a friend I thought John Digweed’s Essential Mix was too much for me and his response was; “I wish you liked good music.”

I’m sorry but I just don’t get it anymore. I’ve been on the dance floor for Marco Corola, but that was 10 years ago and I was super jacked up. Now that I need to use my energy wisely, I hope to do it up with my head on straight. With all my senses intact, the relentlessness, aggressiveness and darkness of that Essential Mix does nothing but put me in a negative space.

I like to think I’ve evolved as a person (I probably think too much) and as a lover of house music first and foremost – a partier a very distant second – I’m hoping to find music that has progressed along with my tastes. In a mainstream sense it bothers me to hear people say they hate Madonna or U2 for updating their sound. These cougars would rather press repeat on the cookie cutter tracks of the Stones than hear Bono blaze a tight melody over an electronic groove.

I see the same in the Toronto club scene. Most of this city’s clubbers are content with the monotony of the Amigos week in and week out; the same tracks at the same pace with the same vibe each and every time. And what really swings my mood in the wrong direction is that great DJs like Brad are left with nowhere to play because Toronto dance floors are impatiently yearning for ‘The Hits’ or ‘Banging Dirty Beats’ and that’s definitely not what he’s in this game for.

Brad knows what it takes to make the fair-weathered dance; notes are not required. We know he could play the game better than the best of them, but what does that do for upfront music in this city? Nothing. So thank God for DJs like him and true underground promotions like Platform and Fabricated for doing what they can to preserve the forward thinking nature of EDM in Toronto.

With this encore bringthebeats mix (we loved his April promo so much we had to ask for more) Brad displays his unwavering commitment to fresh cuts and unpredictable programming. There’s absolutely nothing obvious about this music. Brad shows the majority how cool tech can be, with pace and funk, while maintaining his signature silky smooth transitions and impeccable mixing.

Another A-level offering from one of Canada’s all-time greats; somehow we gotta get this music back in the big clubs.