How Can I Help You?

   Do you remember the electro boom of 2008? Do you miss it? Do you remember dancing to blaring synthesizers until your heart gave out? You remember. Before Crookers’ remix of Kid Cudi’s “Day and Night” shifted electronic dance music into mainstream popularity, you loved the freedom of being in the company of that many fun-loving people only seen at raves and large music festivals. But those days are gone now. And they were taken from us. I swore to whatever club god that exists wearing a well tailored Yves Saint Laurent royal blue suit and Cole Haan shoes, that if I heard about finding love in a hopeless place again, I would District of Columbia snipe the next kid wearing an Affliction tee (and don’t care how ironic he was wearing it). Do not misconstrue my displeasure’s placement, Rihanna is dope, but the formulaic taste of popular music has soured many of their beloved genre from rock and roll, to hip hop, and lately dance music. If you can not taste it, you should have asked your jaded disc jockey friend why he seemed wrought with malcontent while he played and you had such a good time. Look around, look around. The consumer landscape of club music has changed like the cast of every post apocalyptic Mad Max film. How can a feel-good excitement party be created in the wake of such disappointment?

Slowed has covertly but not quietly rejuvenated the ideas of a good party played with good dance music. Its residents Lucie Tic and Torro Torro created a frolicking, bouncing, smiling monthly child with the help of other local talent and notable international DJs such as Dave Nada, Uproot Andy and Dillion Francis. They do it from a genuine place having been stalwarts of the scene for years. The early Moombah remixes of Torro Torro tracks by Billy the Gent showed Yo Ev and Mikey Digits something uniquely intuitive. Many house songs can be surprisingly enjoyable from anywhere between 108 to 112 beats per minute. And while Moombahton is peppered throughout the song selection, it was not the prime musical directive; slowing the tempo was. That was where there’s gold Jerry, GOLD. For example, Hip Hop in the form of trap house is now also reliving elements of drawling lyrics over screwed samples. Slowed has found a singularity in the hodgepodge of club songs making its audience far reaching and well satisfied all at the same time.

Most are sold on the party’s consistency since moving to Wrongbar, which will always be a cool venue as long as it is owned and curated by Nasty Nav. Underdog and Le Dew It & Co. are all promotional mainstays of Toronto’s Queen West scene, both throwing quality events separately. Add the event promotion juggernaut Embrace, and you will be wowed by their out of town bookings, making the ingredients for an affair worthy of the memories and what you felt in 2008.