Nocturnal
emissions
>> Slow
Mondays Bleu Nuit nights are a softcore score
by RAF KATIGBAK
When
you ask someone on the street to name symbols of Canadian culture, there
are a few that are bound to come up. Hockey, beer, maple syrup and the
loonie. When it comes to the Quebec experience, its hockey, beer,
maple syrup and poutine. But theres one other defining symbol
unique to Quebec culture, one whose name is usually uttered in hushed
tones and giggles throughout every high school and brasserie alike.
That name is Bleu Nuit.
I recently had a chance to catch up with DJ Y.R.D.M. and Murad, who
shared their feelings on why, once a month, they transform their regular
and eclectic Slow Monday gig at Blizzarts into a pleasantly debaucherous
evening named and inspired by this homegrown institution, the weekly
Euro-softcore showcase on TQS.
Even though its a French program, explains Murad,
host and promoter the almost two-year-old Slow Mondays, its
a place where anglophone and francophone culture meet. Since Ive
told people about my love for Bleu Nuit, everyone, French and English,
has told me the same anecdote. They would be young, watching Bleu Nuit,
which is in French, and they would have the remote control on the last
channel so that when their parents would come in, they would quickly
flash to Saturday Night Live, which is in English. Language doesnt
matter with porn and with comedy, two things that were providing
on this night. Its interesting and funny but its also kinda
sexy and saucy. There are probably very few phrases in English or Frenchand
this is also so Montrealthat are as widely recognized in this
city as Bleu Nuit. Everyone knows what it is. And theres
a good reason for it.
On a more personal level, Murad is more than happy to share the origins
of his long-time love affair with the show, which still airs around
midnight on TQS. When I first moved here seven years ago, I ended
up moving to the corner of St. Jacques and butt-fuck nowhere with no
friends and nothing to do. Saturday nights I would watch the Canucks
on TV, call home crying, and watch Bleu Nuit. It was at least one redeeming
thing about Montreal for me. He adds, A lot has changed
since then. But the love for Bleu Nuit has never faded.
Squiggle and
jiggle
Musically,
Bleu Nuit is eclectic to say the least. Guests, who have included Dr.
Love, DJ Maus, Christelle and Soul Sista, play anything from French
crooners like Aznavour and Gainsbourg to Barry White and Marvin Gaye.
Anything goesanything sexy, that is. Visuals for the night are
much like the original program, usually projections of softcore erotica
classics, from Emmanuelle (starring the inexplicably alluring Sylvia
Kristel) and Lady Chatterleys Lover to the slightly more racy
The Story of O. Theyre a far cry from todays graphic, almost
clinical, silicone-injected fuck flicksa fact that suits Murad
just fine. Have you ever been in the situation where youre
watching TV and you flick to channels you dont get and you see
sort of this negative and its kind of squiggly but you catch it
for the few seconds? That kind of suggestive thing is better for me.
Resident DJ Y.R.D.M. adds, The more subtle about things you are,
the more you let the imagination go, the more your senses are moved.
Theres no way youre gonna come to Bleu Nuit and not
leave feeling better about music, better about Montreal and better about
yourself, says Murad, Theres nowhere that people are
more attractive on a Monday night than in that red lighting, with that
music playing. Its just downright saucy. If you had a little pheromone
counter and an endorphin counter, these would be, for the amount of
people in there, above average. I dont know if nine months later
well say we were responsible for a certain child being born or
not, but
7
Catch the
always interesting Slow Mondays every week at Blizzarts, and the next
Bleu Nuit on May 27
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