The transition from the sprawling, identity-challenged Parklife festival (my most vivid memory from 2012 is Tame Impala being drowned out by Nero’s wubs from the main stage) into the more refined, ostensibly “IDM” Listen Out format was largely a success in 2013, burdened slightly by the inescapable truth that dance music just doesn’t work that well before sundown. But the strength of last year’s after-dark closing acts – Just Blaze, TNGHT and a well-timed booking of Disclosure – was enough to vindicate the experience as a whole.
This year’s lineup stood as a testament to Australian talent from a cross-section of capital cities – Sydney boy made good Flume topping the bill, followed by Melburnian Chet Faker, and rising heavyweight contender Ta-ku represented Perth.
Opening the 909 Stage (the smaller of the two stages, with a superior, solid timesheet) was Adelaide MC Tkay Maidza, proving to be a consummate festival performer. The bombast of beyond-ludicrous dubstep drops was a giddying joy, somehow a filthy-bass cover of Violent Soho’s Covered In Chrome worked a treat. The feelgood festival anthem Uh-Huh provided a high benchmark for the remainder of the day, followed by Brontosaurus, replete with backup dancers in dino onesies.
The super-seriousness of Scottish outfit Young Fathers was a little hard to swallow, delivering a stylistic blend that diverges somewhere between WU LYF and Death Grips, with a touch of TV On The Radio for good measure. The deadpan delivery wasn’t exactly conducive with a dance festival setting, but there were moments of R&B indulgence that managed to resonate fully. Special marks to vocalist/synth wizard G Hastings for getting in on Halloween early with his ‘Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade’ costume.
Claustrophobia began to seep in as a crush swelled for Shlohmo’s set, leading to a momentary fear that the grounds might be a tad over capacity. Turns out it was just a dissonance in scheduling leading to a more populace smaller stage. Shlohmo’s performance was fairly subdued for the most part, its wooziness more fitting for an AM equivalent in the club. The payoff came in the form of Let It Go, the highlight from the recent collab EP with Jeremih instigating goosebumps aplenty, despite the pleasant heat.
Energy levels rose with Ta-ku, bringing his producer acumen into the live setting with crowd-pleasing aplomb, proving the second most hip hop accentuated set of the day behind Schoolboy Q.
Duo Snakehips provided a perfunctory, breezy ease into sunset, the weight of the crowd shifting towards Chet Faker to provide ample dancefloor space. I caught a glimpse of Chet Faker mugging like an affable dork front of stage to No Diggity. If I don’t get it by now, I guess I never will.
Festival sets by hip hop acts tend to wane if they exceed the 20-minute mark, but Schoolboy Q managed to carry the crowd for around double that length, rationing his hits, Collard Greens and Man of the Year being the biggest, with good measure. Plus a run-through of Black Hippy cohort Kendrick Lamar’s m.A.A.d City was a treat.
Behind an elaborate projection, producer Zhu opened with his biggest track, the deep-house-lite Faded. And with that, I was off to see Four Tet, who provided intricate and enticing grooves, occasionally punctuated by room for air/applause.
Closing out the main stage, ur boi Flume engaged in a humble victory lap, embellishing his breakthrough LP hits with their rap-enabled mixtape equivalents, dropping his remixes of Disclosure and Lorde with ease, sipping chardonnay in between bangerz. “It’s been a big year,” Flumey understated, “but it wouldn’t have happened without you motherfuckers right here. This is where it started.”
BY LACHLAN KANONIUK
Loved: Flume.
Hated: The dearth of female artists on the bill. It’s 2014 Listen Out, getcha shit together.
Drank: Not enough to give me the courage to forage for cans to claim a dollar rebate.
