After last year's unforgettable, sleepless heatwave camping bender, the Origin family decided to tone things down a bit, choosing to have the highly anticipated dance festival in just the regular single night format. Having doors open after the first acts had already began was certainly counterintuitive, but it didn't deprive the sold out crowd from enjoying themselves. Local drum and bass duo Ekko & Sidetrack kicked things off at the hospitality stage with some 160 BPM goodness which included some of the pair's own clean and energetic production. Over at the Next Hype Stage, Canadian born Jacques Greene dabbled between alternative R&B gems and electro house jams, which included Sophie's 2013 feel good house anthem Bipp (which received a deserved top 50 finish in Resident Advisor's best tracks of the year). Jacques joyfully grooved and mouthed lyrics to tracks like his Body Party edit and Deebs' Can't Get Close edit to wrap up what turned out to be a diverse and pleasing set. Probably one of the only people to grace this earth who have actually communicated with the elusive and enigmatic Burial, the esteemed Hyperdub Records founder Kode9 was not one to miss. "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK", were the words printed across Kode9's T-shirt, tipping the hat to the label's newest recruit, DJ Rashad. Kode9 played around primarily with high energy Juke rhythms, which was to the delight of the crowd who donned some impressive traditional Chicago footwork. Over at the main stage, A$AP Rocky failed to live up to the hasty implications of his rap moniker, finally coming out to greet the excitable crowd about a half hour after he was due. More problems arose though, with an ambitious and cowardice young lad somehow managing to climb to the top of the lighting scaffolding hovering a sizeable distance above the ground. A$AP put on pause on the music to alert authorities, but the inevitable played out and gravity took its course. A$AP sent love to the freshly injured trooper who was attended to by paramedics, and finished off his set with his hedonistic party rap beat Fuckin' Problems. It seemed that all wax and no headphones was Floating Points' policy for the night, and although the sound might have been a little crisper, the beat matching suffered. His selections were admirable though, shifting between predominately house bangers and disco funk for what turned out to be a pleasant but slightly bumpy ride. Trap rap lord Wiz Khalifa made his mark on the stage, spitting (sometimes fairly clumsy) rhymes over high pitched snare and poppy synth. A fairly uninspiring performance overall from Khalifa, but a tactical retreat from your Origin-goer to the secluded Next Hype stage would prove a perhaps bold but certainly rewarding pay off. Julio Bashmore unleashed house bombshells including his own sing-a-long destroyers Au Seve and Battle For Middle You, before Dusky lead out into a slightly belated but extremely sentimental new year's countdown, with strangers and friends alike embracing to wish each other a "bloody happy new year mate". The British trance turned house duo made a powerful impression on 2014, playing a set that delicately wavered between the bright and darker off shoots of house music, which included an unknown and soon to be actively sought after remix of Midland's instantly recognisable Trace. The Origin festival may have been shorter this year, but the atmosphere of the whole event was undoubtedly maintained.
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