Live Review: Hot Chip DJs, Matthew Dear, Teen Girls

Oh Hello! seems to be a little more spacious tonight with the main stage cleared for extended lounging. The fact there's barely a body in a venue doesn't hide the fact either. We take advantage of the deserted bar, round up with ease and nod heads to Teen Girls. Only one-half of the duo is manning the wheels tonight, but the sole instigator, Lachlan Matheson, holds strong with thick slabs of beat, getting deeper and more earthy than most Valley club DJs care to, without forgetting the power of a good hook of course. His pitch control wanders a bit track to track, but otherwise he makes a fist of his support slot before Hot Chip DJs wander behind the glass curtain a quarter short of midnight.

The lauded London quintet are being represented on this blow-in visit by multi-instrumentalist Al Doyle and frontman Alexis Taylor, with the pair trading moves on the decks, though Doyle seems to be predominantly steering the set. Things get plenty ravey for the first hour while an okay if still underwhelming crowd do their best to out-fool each other, with some of the dance moves thrown around holding plenty more humour than style. It's getting late, punters are smiling, energised, but let's be honest – most of us polishing tile are jonesing for a bit of Hot Chip flavour, even if it's only one bite. Joyously, the two Als come to the party, accommodating our desires with One Life Stand, and although the mixing into the song is pretty much a train wreck, it's awesome to see Alexis on the microphone providing live vocals while Al D gives the guts of the track a little extra bass kick. They then make good on a radio promise by dropping an untitled new cut, before rounding out a brilliant closing trifecta with the hypnotic Flutes, the rotating bass groove turning over and over until it finally gets comfortable and lays to rest.

While this has been happening Matthew Dear has been sharking around – it's hard to miss that bleach-white smile and his now-impossibly styled head of hair, devoid of the falling curls we once knew – and after patiently waiting in the wings for a half-hour or so the American gets the handshake/hug handover and we're away on our final journey for tonight. Like Hot Chip, Dear is best known for his avant-garde approach to dance music, but like Hot Chip DJs tonight, Dear chooses to takes us down a path more pumping. Sure, the apex of this evening's party has already passed; however, the 35-year-old still gives us plenty of reasons to remain in motion.