SMS for Location, Vol 4

Montréal has been at the forefront of club culture in Canada for some time now: from multi-arts practice in Ausgang Plaza and L’Axe du Mal to Bar Datcha in the famed Mile End district, opened in conjunction with Thomas Von Party’s Multi Culti label.

Moonshine are a collective centred around African diasporic club practice in Montréal, and their local parties have recently gained international recognition. Headed up by Canadian-Congolese musician Pierre Kwenders and designer Hervé Kalongo, their latest mixtape, SMS for Location, Vol 4, features a diverse array of collaborators, capturing what makes their club nights so special. Its opener, ‘Ginseng’, enlists Bamao Yendé from Paris’ Cergy district for a heady slice of dance-floor hedonism, while ‘Onward’ calls upon Soulection’s Sango and Georgia Anne Muldrow for a killer contribution. Even when it veers into more standard clubland territory, the mixtape still packs a punch. ‘Cria’ from São Paulo production duo Deekapz is straight out the Todd Edwards songbook, but its skippy drums and catchy vocoder line bring it right up-to-date. A few of the later contributions don’t quite hit it off, but for a 20-track album, the overall quality is a testament to the label’s vitality and vision.