Dave Audé

In case you didn't know, on New Year's Eve Dave Audé achieved his most important mix to date. Sure, the producer/remixer/DJ has done his fair share of compilations for Moonshine, so another mix isn't in itself special. What's so great about this release is that it was recorded right here, on our very own Washington Avenue, at our very own Velvet, complete with crowd noise and everything. This does not sound as if it was the party to miss (whoops!). But wait -- if you did miss it, you'll have your second chance this weekend, lucky you, when Audé returns to Velvet.

He's touring to support the release of Mixed Live: Velvet St. Louis. Now, you may think that mixed discs are all the same, and you've been basically right until now. But because this was recorded live locally, it captures the DJ vibing off the reciprocating St. Louisans rather than complete strangers or studio-produced fans. With Audé behind the decks, the tracks are fresh and sex-charged. (The fifth selection has lyrics that are something like "I just wanna be fucked by you while you just wanna get fucked" -- not profound, but it has a nice ring to it.) And Velvet's in good company: Other albums in the series document shows at, oh, um, crobar in Chicago, Space in Miami and London's Turnmills.

Surprisingly, although Audé's always a big hit here in St. Louis, the LA-based DJ just barely sneaked in on BPM's fan-driven top 100 list. Maybe this mix will be the one that establishes him in music-lovers' minds -- it might also be the one that places Velvet and St. Louis more prominently on the world's house-music radar screen. Now, if we can just get Audé to trim off his not-so-cute goatee.