Tyler "T-Bone" Stadius

While the lines between techno and house get blurred on Tyler “T-Bone” Stadius’s latest mix, the results are a little more innovative than the usual tech-house hybrid of minimal beats and disco bpms. Perhaps it’s a West Coast thing, but many of the artists featured here (hailing from all over Canada, but dominantly from west of Ontario) push their tracks with warm chords, funky bass and melodic soul. Their grooves are deep and even introspective, but also maintain a pulse that’s necessary for the floor. Stadius starts the set off with Ben Nevile’s moody “Designer Drugs” and picks up momentum with upbeat, anthemic tracks like Gavin Froome’s “Skunks,” F.S.P.’s “Aka Dub” and Déjà vu’s “Sex In The Dark.” The latter of those drops in with a bass grind that’s twitchy and infectious and takes the mix into the euphoria of Peter Hecher’s “Electric,” Mike Shannon’s “Tunji’s Code” and Sunkissed’s primal dub-out, “Direction.” There might be something to be appreciated on each track, but Stadius mixes them to sound like mutations of a single instrumental theme. His DJing is also so smooth that there aren’t enough disruptions or digressions, which for some ears might make this sound monotonous. But for others, it’s a journey into deep grooves that are pushing the barrier for the world tech-house community.