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

Barney and I like to engage in heated discussions about the local house scene. And I maintain that he hasn’t heard the best of Toronto yet! So, you can imagine my glee when we (finally) got this column to showcase Toronto’s fertile musical stomping ground – because now you’ll all know.

Here’s a bit about my DJ of choice for Real Music mini-vacations. A fixture on the scene since the late ’90s, Corey Dawkins‘ got gigs peppered all over the City, and is one of those rare DJs that has managed to keep the airwaves consistently fresh and relevant. His sets transcend genre and can take dance floors from afro-latin house, to neo-soul, to R&B, and back to house again.

We’re having brunch at Fran’s and Corey says, “A DJ is kinda like a preacher speaking to a multitude of people. A preacher reaches people through words, we do it through music. And my message is all about the feeling – I want to elevate people through music”. I dig it.

Corey Dawkins’ dopetastic DJ stylings are my regular auditory fix, and when I can’t find him at the turntables, I’ve got his monthly deephouse playlists on the ipod to keep me satisfied. Feast your ears on his latest: a non-linear journey to the deep side, a special concoction for bringthebeats.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Corey Dawkins – Deephouse Session – September 2009

Download. Play. And tell me what you think.

Though we’re busting our asses to make it in this city, we’ve never really been on the pulse of the music coming from it. I could hijack this post with excuses as to why we haven’t supported talent from Toronto more, but none of them have anything to do with music, so I’ll stay on point and focus on what this should really be all about.

Miss Mo’Bliss has called me out for not being into the wicked sounds of our home town. And you know she’s right, I’m so wrapped up in music from all over the world, I don’t often enough pay attention to the cool underground locals.  So with Sam’s inspiration, aka scolding, I’ve finally been motivated to get this column started by searching out choons from three of the coolest guys I’ve ever met in the T.O. scene.

Craig Anderson is straight up a dope dude. Super genuine, musically tuned and I’ve come to realize, an awesome DJ too. From all-vinyl trips down memory lane to the funky progressive house he knows I’m a sucker for, Craig’s live studio mixes have kept me groovin’ at my desk all summer long. This August promo is loaded with tunes of today; deep, bumpy and funky.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Craig Anderson – Promo Mix – August 2009

God we miss Atif. Nights out just haven’t been the same since he left. But he did leave us with a legacy of cool club kids that we probably wouldn’t have met if it wasn’t for him. And at the top of Atif’s DJ list for me is Suhaib Rashdi.

A graphic design student at the Ontario College of Art & Design, I heard Suhaib spin at one of Atif’s after parties. By far the best I heard go off in that dining room, Suhaib’s fresh selections definitely set him apart from the Toronto norm. Add the fact he has 15 releases on Beatport, this is seriously a talent to look out for in this city. How can you not love a guy who’s favourite quote is from Willy Wonka; ‘We are the music makers. And we are the dreamers of dreams.’? Classic!

Download (left-click and unzip):
Suhaib Rashdi – Metaphors -  August 3, 2009
Suhaib Rashdi – We_re Going Nowhere – May 15, 2009

I’ll end the post with one excuse, Luke Fair. My chatter box style has come in handy from time to time, and one of those times was the day I approached Luke to tell him how cool I thought his music was. From that night on Luke’s fun, always fresh style has laid out the blue print to my best night on the dance floor, the subway, in the cubical, the gym, the car, on the patio… freakin’ everywhere. Luke knows how to play it all, as he does in his two mixes of the summer of ’09. Luke continues to get better, and with two Macedonian geniuses now nearby, buddy is gonna be bigger than ever by 2010.

Download (left-click and unzip):
Luke Fair – Porterhouse on Sirius Radio – September 2, 2009
Luke Fair – Summer Promo – July 2009