Blondes

The venue for the XLR8R party at SXSW was a basement bar kitted out just with a DJ booth with decks -- but admittedly some killer bassy speakers -- so Blondes had to set up on a fold-up table in front of the booth for their live set with keyboard, microKORG, MPCs and huge array of pedals and controllers. It created a health and safety inspector's nightmare with a tangle of leads trailing onto the dance floor and de facto passageway, making somewhat of a spectacle before Blondes had even started, much to the chagrin of DJ Total Freedom who did an awesome job of warming up the crowd. The Brooklyn duo got straight down to business with "Business." During their 40-minute set, they played just four slightly extended versions of tracks from their recent self-titled compilation, ending with the track "Pleasure," their synth-heavy brand of dubby house-influenced electronica coming across like a warehouse rave version of Emeralds. It all added up to a great show, highlighting one of the many modern electronic acts pushing the boundary of the esoteric and the danceable.