In keeping with the theme of dancing from last week’s post, I turn this week to the Music Is My Sanctuary (MIMS) collective. Established in 2007, with their sets/mixes/playlists selected from extensive collections, they can always get me onto the dance floor, whether I am unsuspectingly listening at home or at their annual 24 hours of vinyl event. When MIMS is on the “programmation musicale” at Sans Soleil, be sure to go early to enjoy the Japanese cuisine (from Fleurs et Cadeaux upstairs), then stay for the vinyl. MIMS’ “Melodiya – une soirée jazz pour le dancefloor” at Ursa is a new discovery for me and I secretly hope it doesn’t get too popular, because there is a groove to its current, emergent form, that I think I would miss.
Since I was first introduced to MIMS in 2016, they have been at my cocktail parties and in my kitchen as I cooked up a storm for those parties. They have been with me at work and on road trips, on moving day and my birthday. They have eased me into the morning and accompanied my contemplative moods in the evening. For years, now, listening to MIMS has been like visiting with an old friend. All to say, MIMS for dancing, yes, but what they can bring to your days and nights is also much more than that.
Among my favourites of their recorded sets/mixes, if you are curious to sample: a set commissioned by the Musée des beaux-arts for a recent Basquiat exhibit and the annual spring mix (both by MIMS founder, Alexis Charpentier). This is deep love for music (in particular on vinyl) from a true connoisseur. And, no question, you can hear it in every set.
a few words ... from Montréal 