Ed Banger / Kops Krew NYE Jumpoff at Fractal was quite a good time. Montreal is always a better option than Toronto for New Years, and when the ESB kids heard that DJ Mehdi was headlining this particular bust up, we were obliged to attend. Unforunately, by the time Mehdi took the stage, sound problems and a dwindling crowd meant that his set wasn't as well received as it would have been two hours prior. It should be noted, however, that some fresh Ed Banger material, including some unreleased Uffie tracks, managed to get a few feet back on the floor, and kept the more dedicated listeners considering possible acquisition of these valuable goods.

I'm not sure if I missed or caught Megasoid, the Sixtoo / Hadji Bakara collabo soundsystem, but I'm eagerly awaiting reports. It might just have been that I actually heard them, but was hanging out in the back and not paying attention to who was on stage. It was NYE after all. If such was the case, then I have no complaints. Judging from this clip, I figured they'd be the dark horse show stopper when I watched it earlier that day. I'm sure I'll see Megasoid in an environment where I'm less, uh, distracted by things like sexy bartenders in gold dresses and odd waves of fuzzy feelings (see more pics at rave.ca).

A surprising highlight was an unannounced coup d'etat by Omnikrom, who rocked a couple of tracks with their local friends, causing a cattle rush to the already packed stage. Ghislain Poirier's set started out quite strongly as well, but some sound problems caused a delay, and not the kind that goes "chuggachugchughchuggachuggaagagagagagaaaaaa". It's never fun to hear a club go quiet when it's still bangin', but such is life, and when you've heard banger after banger all night, a few technical failures can be forgiven.

Overall, the strength of the night was the abundance of shokcingly current selections by the locals in Peer Pressure and other party crews. My good friend Seez and I had a decent discussion concerning the brilliance of mashing up LCD Soundsystem's "45:33" with the new Timberlake stuff. When this party was on, I mean, Jayyysus, it was on.

ESB PLAYLIST 1/2/07

HOLY FUCK - Safari
!!! - All My Heroes Are Weirdos
!!! - A New Name
!!! - Sweet Life
TTC ft. Orgasmic - Paris Paris
TTC ft. Para One - Ambition
HOLY FUCK - Chicago Radio Rap Band
HOLY FUCK - Choppers
HOLY FUCK - Junglor
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - Us vs. Them
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - New York I Love You