Music truly transcends borders; in electronic music more than any other style without a doubt. Nobody I know outside the scene has developed global connections like we have in the underground. It’s amazing that we’ve developed relations with people from all over the globe; most of whom we’ve never even spoken to face to face.

It’s the common ground of funky melody and deep bass that instantly makes an artist our friend. It’s listening to a set and realizing that the person who compiled it actually ‘gets it’. It’s when you know, that they know it should be heading somewhere and you have enough trust to allow this relative stranger take you there. That’s a bond as strong as I’ve ever known.

Gabriel Sordo was the one who formally introduced us to Luis Caparroso, one half of the legendary Columbian duo Liluca, alongside Farid Char Yidi. But it was through both Ricky Ryan and Luke Fair that we first heard of these genius music makers.

See I don’t know anything when it comes to production or individual tracks. I’m one of those guys that reference a tune by “the twenty-fifth minute of the Summer Promo” or “the second track on the Balance.” I most enjoy music in the flow of a compilation, so I’m left to pry info on the best producers from guys like Luke and Ricky and on multiple occasions the name Liluca has come up in conversation.

Thank God it has because I feel like we’ve hit the jackpot scoring a set from these two. In the game together since 1998, Luis and Faird are production heroes to many our favourite DJs including Tom Morgan, Desyn Masiello and Add2Basket. As live performers Liluca’s held residencies at clubs Gotica, Cha Cha and Cinema in their hometown of Bogotá and have appeared at the Summer Dance Festival and Ultra Music Festival in Cartagena.

They’ve traveled for gigs in Mexico and Guatemala and will be making their second appearance at the WMC in Miami aboard the Sunrise at The Bay cruise headlined by SOS, Paolo Mojo and Jody Wisternoff. It’s going to be amazing to strike Liluca’s name off the list of artists we love but have yet to meet in person. It’s one of the things we’re most looking forward to at this year’s conference.

The word that first comes to mind when describing this exclusive is “crisp”. The beats, the mixing and the programming are so tight they’re “crisp”. It moves from ambient techno to pure house to pure techno and mid way there are some massive floor-filling bombs. There’s hip hop influence and smooth groovy progressive house. It’s surely one of the most eclectic mixes we’ve hosted and absolutely one of the best. You’re in for a treat with Liluca’s debut on bringthebeats.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Liluca – bringthebeats – March 2010

I know we’re sounding like a dirty CD going on and on about these young South American upstarts spinning and producing unbelievably mature house sounds. But the world will never stop talking about the football skills and slick styles of the people of this region, so neither will we when it comes to the underground.

I was full on into the high school party scene when Leonardo Tou was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1989 (okay now I’ve seriously aged myself… ugh). At the incredibly raw age of eight, Leo was learning piano and guitar and being influenced by seminal acts of the ages including Pink Floyd, Joy Division and Brian Eno.

By 16 his electronic arousal was in full bloom through productions supported by Satoshi Tomiie, Jimmy Van M and Hernan Cattaneo… an absolute prodigy indeed. Over time other superstars of our scene including Eelke Kleijn, Demi and Chloe Harris have regularly played out Leonardo Tou tunes on highly respected labels such as Avangardia, Fat&Blind and In4mation Records.

As a DJ he’s travelled throughout Argentina, from Buenos Aires to Rosario and Cordoba, as well as international gigs in Uruguay and Chile. His promos have been heard all over the internet airwaves with features on Proton Radio, Digitally Imported, friskyRadio and Danceradio in Greece. All of these accomplishments before he’s even legally able to order a drink in the USA… it boggles my mind!

This exclusive mix is true to the style description in his bio, the first I’ve ever read with the aid of Google Translate I might add. It’s a dynamic groove meant to surprise with originality, absolutely without monotony. It’s a fusion of house and techno; I feel a little tribal influence as well. From start to finish its deep and soooo smooth. It’s a mix for the connoisseur, serious music from a seriously talented dude.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Leonardo Tou – bringthebeats – February 2010

Strictly for the love of music. Strictly for the love. A brother from South America has recently used this slogan for his newly launched website. It’s also the best description we can offer for the Toronto talent known as irGo.

The man behind the HouseAddict brand, irGO is known throughout the Toronto scene for not only this global community, but for his participation within the local party circuit, as well as on the internet airwaves. irGO’s well rounded musical taste, developed from roots in rock & roll, jazz, reggae, and celtic, has seen him in the booth for equally eclectic electronic events, from the tribal infused JaXx HouZe series to his most recent deep house endeavour with Jimpster’s Freerange Records.

irGO’s Podcast is the most active cast we’ve ever heard from a Toronto DJ and is how we first caught on to this super nice guy and the ultra cool music he spins. His incredibly positive vibe is captured within the voiceovers heard throughout each installment, as he spins deep groovy tech-house, live and it seems sometimes on the fly. The results are compilations that are often personal, coming straight from the heart and soul of someone who just really digs house music.

It’s this true spirit the underground that has inspired us to ask irGO to be a part of our INTIMATE & UNDERGROUND series at Toika. He’ll be spinning alongside Luke Fair for a pre Miami bash on March 19th and will hopefully host some HouseAddict versions in the spring or summer. It seems like a match made in club heaven for our two crews.

Download irGO’s most recent podcast below and be sure to subscribe on iTunes or PodOmatic. Also stop by Stone Lounge (Revival lower level) this Friday night, February 19th to get a taste of what we’ll here next month when irGO performs alongside Steve Mack and Matt Coleridge. It’s always good times at Fabricated and as always, it’s FREE!!

Download (left-click and unzip):
irGO’s Fabricated in February’cast

It’s really important to have a local base when trying to push a sound in a city. We know this all too well as we’ve struggled to find a Toronto talent that is in tune with what we’re into and that can help lure more bodies to the dance floor.

But even outside of our own parties, it’s vital we have promoter allies that love the same tunes we do. The more our beats are heard, the greater the thirst will be for what we offer. That’s why we thank God the Fabricated guys are back in the game.

DJs Steve Mack and Matt Coleridge and scene good guy Roberto Ramasar have all been in the club scene for many years. Steve and Matt were part of the Solution crew alongside Luke Fair in the early part of the millennium. Berto, a good ole Brantford boy like me, became a regular face in the crowd around the same time.

After some time in and out of Toronto’s club world, the trio’s returned with a vengeance over the past six months promoting a monthly at Stone Lounge inside the lower level of Revival on College Street West. Aptly named after Steve’s obsession with the UK’s marquee underground venue, Fabricated has featured a who’s who list of the city’s top progressive and tech house talents. However on Boxing Day, they stepped it up a few notches securing an extra special guest appearance from international superstar, the UK’s Neil Quigley.

The bringthebeats crew were spellbound throughout two incredible performances for our EXPOSED weekly a couple years back, and once again we were amazed by this unreal musician at this holiday jam. The crowd was right, the venue was tight and Neil laid down a super smooth set of deep, groovy tech house that had the entire room in a frenzy well beyond the Stone Lounge’s regular hours of operation.

It was one of the events of the year for us and the recorded set is a reminder of how amazing this party really was. Thanks to the guys for adding some much needed life into Toronto’s underground and thanks to Neil for allowing these stellar beats to ride the internet airwaves. See you all again on February 19th for the next installment of Fabricated.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Neil Quigley – Live at Fabricated, Toronto – December 26, 2009 – Part 1
Neil Quigley – Live at Fabricated, Toronto – December 26, 2009 – Part 2
Neil Quigley – Live at Fabricated, Toronto – December 26, 2009 – Part 3

It’s no coincidence that our favourite DJs end up being the ones that promote their music with the sole purpose of having it heard. There’s no strings attached in their messages, just beautiful house music coming from a like-minded ally. I guess as you get on in the scene, approach becomes as important as presentation.

From our initial introduction, till the moment he delivered this exclusive, Pedro Bueno has been a picture perfect portrait of our vibe. The initial discovery was made through the wonders of internet radio, as our good friend Lonnie Bynch, who’s currently hanging in the Far East, caught a segment of his Dirty Kitchen show on Proton Radio. She immediately heard the sound and knew he’d be ideal for our style. Lonnie chatted with Pedro, loved his spirit and passed on his deets to us. Before we could touch base, he sent some music, and then some more, and the relationship was born.

Not so oddly enough, Pedro hails from South America, where he’s one of the hottest talents in the Brazilian club scene. His debut original production “Timmy’s Song” was signed to Ricky Ryan’s Avangardia and he’s recently founded his own label, Fat&Blind Records with his mates Bruno Conti and Junior Paiva. Pedro’s joined by the likes of the The Timewriter, Terry Lee Brown Jr., Sultan, Lucas Abadi, Hernan Cerbello and a host of other amazing artists on Up Front Sounds DJ Management roster and has scored a residency for the Audiochic Project at Wish Club in São Paulo.

His sound is self-proclaimed as deep, funky disco to progressive house, we couldn’t have wrote it up better ourselves; literally music for bringthebeats’ ears. So without further adieu, here’s Pedro Bueno’s btb debut…

Download (left-click and unzip):
Pedro Bueno – bringthebeats – January 2010

It’s very rare that we post back to back pieces on any DJ; I don’t think we ever have if we’re not promoting a party at the time. However, this is a special case; with extraordinary music from a talent we haven’t been able to get enough of over the past several years.

Naveen G has made it easy for us to jump right back on the band wagon following his Resonant Vibes entry. This two part composition, Volume 3 in the Retrofuture Disco series, is so unique from anything else; it will always stand on its own as something that is accessible to all and promotable for us at any time.

And like the class artist Naveen is, he’s taken care of the description on his own:

“It’s been almost nine months since the last volume, as it’s taken a while to really put together something that could be called a successor to the last two volumes. And as such, with any project of this sort, it’s gonna evolve and change.

So it’s now finally done, and may sound like a bit of a different beast compared to the prior installments, venturing further into cosmic era sounds that sound like the future as imagined in 1984 and even more into the indie dance sounds that draw in all those people who never imagined liking “dance music” before.

This project is all about letting go of our preconceptions, reservations and biases and just enjoying some silly, irreverent music that makes us all think of a time when this whole thing was far less serious about itself. I think it captures that feeling of when we all first got into this scene, before we started to over analyze and put things into little boxes and separate ourselves even more from each other.

It reminds me of the no-nonsense feel-good party vibe that we all wish would come around more often. The kind of mix you could play for your friends who think that we’re all a bunch of too-cool-for-school “underground” music lovers and that will keep them asking for more.

Or at least that’s what I hoped to achieve with it. This one meanders a bit more to the left and the right but I think it still hits home, so put it on loud, think of some warm weather and rock out some air-keytar in your living room, then send it to your friends and let me know what you think.

Or just dismiss it as pop sounding crap and return listening to “that other stuff” I fill your mailboxes with….

Enjoy, Naveen.”

Download (left-click and unzip):
Naveen G – The Retrofuture Disco Vol 3 – Part 1
Naveen G – The Retrofuture Disco Vol 3 – Part 2

There are a lot of one trick pony’s in today’s music scene. So many acts have a take it or leave it attitude; “Here’s what I dig, and that’s all you’re gonna get.” That’s why when you’re listening to someone like Naveen G ; you know what’s going down is something truly unique and special.

I personally can’t say that I enjoy everything Naveen puts out. He sometimes caters to a side of the scene that I’ve always had a difficult time connecting to. Some of the Darker Shades he experiments with, I just can’t see through. However those sounds are just a fraction of what this multi-dimensional talent offers to the all-around underground.

Naveen has provided us with several mixes over the years. Each one has had a btb flare to the point you know he’s compiled the promo with our tastes in mind. He knows our audience and makes the appropriate adjustments to ensure that he can make that ever so important connection to what we love. This is something we very much appreciate and is why we respect Naveen as an artist and person so much.

This month’s Darker Shades installment on Proton Radio showcases the Naveen G genius to a tee. He touches upon a vast array of electronic styles creating a mix that is distinctively his own and true to the Darker Shades brand. It’s no surprise that he’s received a lot of positive feedback and that the mix has been submitted to Resonant Vibes for its Mix Cycle 005 competition … it’s that cool.

We’re hosting the promo below so that you can judge for yourself, either a thumbs up or whatever the other option is. We believe it’s as quality a mix as you’ll hear today and definitely worthy of creating an account for a very cool site. Support an amazing talent and a super cool guy, left-click and unzip and then give this stellar mix your seal of approval.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Naveen G – Sub Zero To Plain Zero – January 2010

Not many can say they’ve done what they love for a living for as long as Luke Fair has been a DJ. He’s definitely been on an incredible run throughout the past decade. In that time, as many have veered off their initial path in either search of success or because of it, Luke has remained a steady force in front of the dance floor, spinning the tunes HE digs the most.

With three successful compilations to his name (In House We Trust 3 [Yoshitoshi], Original Series: OS_0.3 [Bedrock] and Balance 011 [EQ]), a super impressive production resume, and a gigging schedule on par with most full time musicians in the world today, it’s safe to say the Luke Fair story, is one of success. He’s one of the originators of our little niche and remains one of its leaders. Right now his style may not be the most popular in the biz, but Luke’s one of the few that can say it’s his.

To us, he’s an underground legend, and in large part that can be credited to his seemingly infinite number of promo and live mixes. With an inordinate amount of space dedicated to his music, it would be impossible for us to choose only our favourite five. So to commemorate our first ever New Year’s Eve with Luke in town, we’ve past the task onto him.

Here, in chronological order, is Luke Fair’s Top 5 All-Time Luke Fair Promos. For the long standing fans, prepare for a funky melodic trip down memory lane. For the new crew, here’s what you’ll be pissed you missed.

The legend began with the Spring Promo; a mix of a lot of firsts for us as well as Luke. This was the first of many promo sets we sent to Mercuryserver to include in their Special Downloads section. MS has since grown to be the top messageboard for anything progressive house and we like to think Luke has had a big hand in putting them on the map. The mix was also timed for release around bringthebeats’ first trip to the WMC. As you can tell by the summery vibe, it was the perfect sound for South Beach.

“My first proper studio mix and the one that really gave me a boost. Some very special tracks in that one that are attached to some great memories.”

Download (left-click and unzip):
Luke Fair – Spring Promo Mix – March 2004

It’s funny; this live set from Villa Gesell in Argentina is one that we always kind of resented a bit. But in the end we soooo appreciate what it represents. Earlier that holiday season Luke played a stellar Boxing Day event at Footwork, a party none of us will ever forget for its killer energy and Luke’s mastery at using it to enhance his own performance. We begged and pleaded for him to release that set, but when this Argentinean gig game around, he decided this was the one he needed to put out… and understandably so.

“A crazy night with my crazy friends from crazy Argentina. Great times before, during and after the club.”

Download (left-click and unzip):
Luke Fair – Live @ Villa Gesell, Argentina – January 17, 2006 – 01
Luke Fair – Live @ Villa Gesell, Argentina – January 17, 2006 – 02
Luke Fair – Live @ Villa Gesell, Argentina – January 17, 2006 – 03

I honestly can’t think of a set of Luke’s that better represents what he can do to a dance floor on a consistent basis. This was the time when our scene was ruling the roost on this side of the pond and in much of the world for that matter. Luke had tons of groovy, melodic gems AND big dirty, digital bombs at his disposal. For me personally, this was about the end of my long, extended nights on the dance floor. I’m not sure if this is because I became more entrenched in promotions or if it’s because the nights just don’t sound this hardcore anymore.

“The night wasn’t packed by any means, but the people that were there made it a great night. The mix turned out much better than I expected when I heard it after.”

Download (left-click and unzip):
Luke Fair – Club Seven – Barranquilla, Colombia – Dec. 28, 2007 – 01
Luke Fair – Club Seven – Barranquilla, Colombia – Dec. 28, 2007 – 02

This mix was made to support bringthebeats’ last trip to the WMC. To this day we still have pressed copies we use to lure newcomers into what’s going down in our underground. Again, a promo tailor made for the sexiness of South Beach and one that turned out to be very accessible to a mainstream audience.

“I hadn’t released a mix in ages, so it was due! I was really happy with how it turned out.”

Download (left-click and unzip):
Luke Fair – bringthebeats – March 2008

Of course we have to end with something fresh, because we’re all still proponents that the music itself continues to get better and better as the years pass by. It’s inevitable that funky, groovy, emotional house will soon return to the foreground, and when it does, artists like Luke who have held their ground and stayed true to their sound, will continue to rise in the ranks. And the new breed’s like the ‘Out To Lunch boys who hosted this mix and have used Luke’s talent as inspiration for their own, will be the ones to watch out for while we bring our scene back to prominence.

“One of my personal favourites, beginning to end.”

Download (left-click and unzip):
Luke Fair – Bed and Breakfast on Proton Radio – November 12, 2009

Erik (balErik) Molthe is one of the top DJ / producers in the Oslo underground… and he is on a crazy roll right now!

Production wise, he and his partner Vadim Yershov have had their track ‘Bella Mona’ signed to the legendary tech-house label, Plastic City.  And the duo’s set to release several major bombs on Discoteca Music next year, including floor filler originals, ‘Dirty Dubbin’ and ‘Do Your Dance’.

As a DJ, balErik is truly becoming international by submitting the award-winning promo for December’s ‘We Love Space Sundays – Freshblood Contest’.  His impeccable track selection and mixing have been brought to the foreground with this stellar promo inspired by a gig at Club Stay in New York this past September – a party that many of our Toronto crew were at and said was incredibly sick!

It’s a consistent, steady trek of super fresh and underground house and techno.  Towards the end of the playlist you’ll find a spectacular original mash-up of Robert Babciz’s ‘Dark Flower’ (Joris Voorn remix) and Inner City’s ‘Good Love’. It’s a perfect example of the high level of creativity we’re dealing with here.

If this is reminiscent of what’s going down in Ibiza right now, then I’m starting to regret not ever being there.  This is a real good one bro, congratulations.

Download (left-click and unzip):
balErik – New York Underground – October 10, 2009

With every passing year it becomes clearer; there is only one region in the world I could call home outside of Toronto. I’d say 75% of everything I love is in South America. Musically, whether it’s in Argentina, Brazil, Columbia or Peru, it’s the sexy grooves that are keeping the floor moving and quite frankly, this movement is something we can’t stop trying to be a part of.

Many, many times we’ve wracked our brains as to how we can get closer to the likes of Ricky Ryan, Lucas Abadi, Paul Trelles and Felipe Callado. Some dudes sit around day dreaming about woman. I’m always thinking about how we can get Toronto to support the DJs we dig.

I listen to the music and see the visuals coming from South American parties and it breaks my heart to know that North America doesn’t have such big love for the funky, more stylish stuff. Damn, the first time I met Lucas it was among 3000 plus at a Luke Fair-only headlined event in Buenos Aires. I’ll develop an ulcer trying to get 5% of those numbers on New Year’s Eve.

But right now it’s the nature of our scene to bang it out, so us old schoolers will just have to wait it out. Damn, we’re in the Obama years now, we’ve got to bring the soul back sometime soon, no? Haven’t we had enough of the Bush-like aggression by now? Sooner or later clubbers will put their bumpers away and remember why we were on the dance floor anyway. I’m counting on it.

Until then we’re left to satisfy our tastes through mp3s. But let me tell you, when I listen to these, I hear something I totally can not believe… techno! In Ricky’s a bit deeper and subdued, but in Lucas’ the tech is pretty full on. Both have managed to incorporate what’s hot today with the groovier house sounds of our roots; creating a hybrid of the two and somehow making the aggressiveness way more accessible than it’s ever been.

All three mixes prove how well rounded these two are and further my assumption that once properly introduced to our city, all of our South American brothers will become Tdot superstars.

Download (left-click and unzip):
ricky ryan – bringthebeats.com@LIMA – DECEMBER 2009 – PART 1
ricky ryan – bringthebeats.com@LIMA – DECEMBER 2009 – PART 2

Download (left-click and unzip):
Lucas Abadi – Promo Mix – December 2009

Since I’ve been working in the scene more I’ve been lucky enough to receive a lot of emails from really nice people with really great music inside. This is how I was introduced to Jacob Henry. I could sense from his first email that Jacob was genuine, so I’ve paid close attention to everything he’s sent and I’ve taken the time to listen to all of his sets.

Jacob fell in love with house music after listening to music from acts such as Chicane, BT and Robert Miles. He is now DJing his own style of very melodic house, which he showcases on his radio show ‘Silk Royal Showcase’ which airs every third Tuesday of the month on Proton Radio.

On top of DJing he is a producer and a label manager for Silk Royal Records, which is focused on giving the dance floor atmospheric, yet energetic house music. Recent releases such as those from PROFF and Solarity do just that, so I expect to hear a lot of great new stuff from Silk Royal in the future!

Jacob has put together a very smooth set representative of his melodic sound. Turn it on and turn it up; I think you’ll enjoy it!

Download (left-click and unzip):
Jacob Henry – bringthebeats – December 2009

I’m now a married man and can finally concentrate on some music again. While preparing for our big day, we let a lot of great music slip by the site. All these phenomenal sets definitely kept us rolling over the past four months; we just couldn’t find the time to pass them on. But better late than never, so here’s some of our favs from the past four months:

Add2Basket has become an elite DJ / producer for us over the past two years. In a time where the popular music of the day is dark and methodical, Andrew continues to champion the funky melodies, and we are soooooo appreciative of that. This series has turned out to be something very special as Volume’s 3&4 are just as spectacular as Volumes 1&2.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Add2Basket – everything you always wanted to know about MUSIC but were afraid to ask – Volume 3
Add2Basket – everything you always wanted to know about MUSIC but were afraid to ask – Volume 4

Paul Trelles is another guy elevating his status by keeping it smooth and groovy. As I’ve said over and over again, I am amazed that Paul is as young as he is because his music is so beyond his years. Let’s face it; our preferred sound isn’t being embraced by the younger cats on the dance floor, at least not around here; it makes me love South America even more that our tunes are penetrating the market at such an early age. And now that Paul is spending more time with Ricky Ryan, this dude is destined for stardom in the not so far off future.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Paul Trelles – bringthebeats – October 2009

In 2010 we’re going to begin to concentrate even more of our content on the little niche that we like to believe we’ve helped carve out of the global scene. Deep funky progressive house is definitely what we love most and is what we’re going to support almost exclusively moving forward. Felipe Callado is a prime example of an artist we want to dedicate our promotion to. This set is a little less clubby than the mixes we’ve hosted of his in the past, displaying the incredible range this fresh talent already possesses. We chilled to this one quite a bit in Belize, a perfect setting for the sexiness of the selections.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Felipe Callado – Cromarti Records Radio Show – November 2009

And last but certainly not least we have this fantastic promo from NYC’s Shlomi B. This could be my favorite promo mix of the fall season. It’s been a constant for all of our gatherings, after parties and trips on the TTC. When playing, people always ask what we’re listening to and subsequently request the file. I’ve been putting them off promising that we’ll have it up on the site soon, and now we finally do.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Shlomi B – Promo Mix – September 2009