Live Review: Jamie xx, Cliques, Dro Carey

Sydney future bass outfit Cliques threw down a set with enough textural variation that shortcomings in sound quality weren't really noticed. It was an eclectic set, full of odd shapes and tricked-out percussion sequences.

Dro Carey flies the post-dubstep flag high. His set consisted of some tech-ier dubstep sounds (think Brainfeeder or Hotflush's output), as well as some thumping instrumental hip hop that screamed out for a better speaker setup. Subsonic attacks were muted and felt weightless when they should've been rattling chest plates.

Jamie XX's meteoric success is directly related to the public's underestimated sensitivity to smart music. His set reminded us that whilst he doesn't necessarily play anything we haven't heard before, his ear is developed to the extent that he can sequence a set almost perfectly, and his talent for anticipating tonal shifts and controlling energy flows is hard to beat.

He took us through powerful deep house anthems and shuffled through skittering dubby breaks. One particularly masterful play saw him building a sequence by overlapping a slick 4/4 club pattern over a grainy tribal drumming sample, directly connecting dance music back to its very root. It may seem like a simple idea in hindsight, but that's what all genius feels like.

As with his mothership, The xx, his music tends to come from nocturnal inspirations, and it created a sensual edge to a high-energy set. A better sound setup would have made a great show truly memorable, but as it was it proved the masses are still capable of spotting real talent when it appears and gave him the reception he deserved.