Had I not done a little homework last week, another new musical discovery and truly fantastic show at Rhino Room would have passed me by. On Saturday night I was blessed by a live music experience that I place among cherished memories of my first tastes of The Bird, Multiball and The Baggsmen (when formerly the Hive). Entropic have a beautifully understated, articulate and innovative approach to live dance music, and a new CD to match.

Having only played in Adelaide once before for the FUSE Festival last year, Entropic really had no idea what to expect from our little town. The room filled slowly, and the Entropic twin sets were appropriately pitched to listening and dancing audiences respectively. Entropic is a band of four extremely talented musicians who create works of delicious depth and acoustic warmth. From suspenseful numbers drawing inspiration from spy-genre jazz to beautifully crafted textural ambient tunes, these guys can neither deny their jazz sensibilities nor their enthusiasm for deep house and drum ‘n’ bass.

Entropic have set themselves something of a challenge. Stylistically, they produce music to appeal to the electronic music listener, but steer well clear of anything more than an amplifier, in terms of gadgetry. This decision to remain acoustic has led the band to an interesting place- one where they frequently reinterpret their instruments, embracing the peculiar percussive potential that can be found ‘under the bonnet’ of a Fender Rhodes electric piano or in the pickup of an electric guitar.

As with all dance music, it starts with the rhythm section, and Robbie and Olly (on drums and bass) are always there. It has been a long time since I saw a drummer play with such a great sense of dynamics, and it’s his ability to play with light-handed precision through the jazzier moments that makes the driving drum ‘n’ bass tracks such an impressive contrast. Olly switches between an electric bass and a tree (upright acoustic bass) and keeps basslines colourful and driving.

Here to promote their new album Factory Seconds, I wasn’t going to leave the gig empty handed. Their first song saw the band bring familiar instruments to the stage, but present them in a completely new light. Keyboardist Campbell appeared to be servicing his keyboard (rather than playing it), tapping out rhythms on its insides, while Conrad shook, scratched and tapped sounds out of his guitar. Conrad had more of his share of melodic moments too, of course. His clean jazz sound often marked the climax of a slow, progressive musical build up, as either a voice of dark mystery, or one of Summer bliss.

The Entropic team really got things cranking in the second set, and supported a healthy (and equally innovative) dancefloor for the duration of the set. Marked and moody production contributions were made throughout by DeepChild; another Australian artist who’s making waves in deep house and dub production. He also bridged the gap between sets with a set of tasty tracks, dripping with soul and sensuality. He will be releasing an album of his own stuff in March, that I’ll be listening out for.

For those with an established appetite for inventive live beats, you simply can’t look past Entropic. Their deep-house moments are reminiscent of Multiball, but unlike the said band, these guys are far more progressive within each song. Grooves aren’t set and looped here, but rather shaped and sculpted, before being cast off to a place you never expected. This band proved to be the dark horse of my weekend, and one I’ll certainly be backing at the next meet.