My good friend brought me yesterday to Mortimer Snodgrass in Old Montreal, where he showed me a T-shirt company that takes packaging to another level.

T-box from Istanbul compresses T-shirts and other apparel into tiny boxes the size of a palm. The only hitch is that you don’t know how the tee fits and can’t return it if it turns out to be the wrong size. But it’s a cool concept nonetheless.

Labelled as Montreal’s urban operator, MadeinMtl culls the best places for fashion, booze and poutine, one of Quebec’s “delicacy”.

The site also features vignettes, narrated mostly in French, on themes germane to the city’s character like the Underground City, the Montreal stairways, multiculturalism and Cinema L’Amour. I strongly recommend a visit (the MadeinMtl site of course).

Montreal has become a hotbed for electronic music in North America. Two major events are taking place later this month – Mutek and Piknic Eletronik.

A smaller version of Sonar, Mutek is a week long feast of electronic music and digital imagery. The big draw in this year’s lineup has to be Gui Boratto and Michael Mayer, who sometimes spins for free at T Bar, from Cologne-based label Kompakt.

Piknic Electronik is quite an interesting concept. It’s an all day music fest opened to families and children, at Parc Jean-Drapeau, the former site of Expo 67, whose goal is to democratise electronic music. Glad someone out there cares about our future. Maybe we should start working on our kids line.

I’m a happy camper. I got a tiny dose of Berlin action last week in Montreal. It kicked off on Tuesday for some tech house at Le Salon Daomé, a discreet, easy-to-miss bar on the second floor overlooking trendy avenue Mont-Royal, where hardcore music fans swarmed the dance floor at 1am on a weeknight until the 3am curfew.

On Saturday, I checked out a party held in an empty building 5 km north of the city centre. Booze was cheap, the people were friendly, and the DJ spinned some pretty groovy electro tunes, although I would’ve preferred if he switched halfway to a darker, meaner sound. But I guess that’ll have to wait when I return to Europe in just a few weeks.

So many choices in Montreal last week. Belgians Soulwax who released the hit track NY Lipps, a remix of Funkytown, headlined the I Love Neon party at la SAT. Bristol-based Nick Warren was in town for a smashing gig at Tribe Hyperclub. Finally, the theatre l’Olympia welcomed Paris fashion party extravaganza Don’t Tell My Booker showcasing the latest collection of Hugo Boss’s Red Label and Boy George at the decks.

So which parties did I wreck? None. I pretty much retired at home all week getting the next version of our store and our marketing plan ready. Fun times will have to wait for a few more days.