The Fuzzy hype machine was in full force for the latest Killer party at The Metro, but this time around the seminal Sydney venue wasn’t quite its usual rammed-to-the-rafters self. Fair enough, they hadn’t really booked an act with as much public awareness as say Justice, or half the Parklife line up, but still it was unusual to see a Fuzzy event that wasn’t sold out months in advance. Nonetheless, Ajax warmed the crowd with his usual rapid fire style of mixing and cutting up the most popular of the new wave of electro songs, combining basslines and vocal stabs with the ease that only he can. Finishing with a delicious little Daft Punk bootleg, he let the song ride until the end before receiving warm applause from the eager crowd.

I originally had reservations about Fuzzy putting two international acts on the same bill in such a small event, particularly considering how far away from each other they are on the musical spectrum, but once Sinden started playing I forgot all about it and I remembered that I was here to get down. Luckily Sinden remembered too, as he brought along some of the tastiest new bootlegs that his scene has on offer. And what a scene he has come from, you could almost call what he and Switch and the rest of the Dubsided crew do a musical revolution. What a time to be alive folks! The whole movement in which Sinden is a part of could be traced back to a cheeky little bootleg entitled A Bit Patchy by none other than Switch, although I doubt it originated there. Musically, it seems to be a mixture between traditional hip hop (where producers would sample portions of songs to be utilised as the basis for a new song) and a cheeky “fuck you” to bland repetitive house music which up to a point populated mainstream clubs at the time. Yet the music still retains a boy like charm; a nerdy quality whereupon music technology afficiandos stand alongside dance floor munters in appreciation. But how to describe this movement. Bouncy-house, booty-house and jackin-house don’t even come close. It’s not electro, and although the sound is distinct, there is a certain unnamable quality that engages the crowd, and it’s this exact quality that makes it exceedingly hard to come up with a name. Having said that, I think I will go with “electro-booty-nerd-hop”.

Just kidding.

And Sinden certainly delivered: he was dropping all these great songs, like the DJ Shadow bootleg, some Madonna and a few other random old school tracks thrown in for good measure, but it all pulled together really well. Playing with the pace of a hip hop DJ, Sinden rarely paused to take in the revelry of the effect his latest mix had on the audience, as he was quick on the next track and pretty handy with the FX too. But as much as I wanted him to be, he just wasn’t Switch; he just didn’t play with the same enthusiasm that Switch did when he was behind a glowing screen faced with Ableton Live and a fancy-twiddly knob board. So I moved on to get a touch of fresh air until Yuksek came on.

When I think of a “live” electro act, instead of visualising Cut Copy or the Presets I am constantly reminded of Poxymusic, who went ‘live’ for a little while a few years ago, playing all the main stages with the exact same set. One could imagine loading up an iTunes playlist and playing online poker would be a lot easier to do than to actually delivering a live electronic performance (even if it is remixed samples), and for a few moments when Yuksek came onto the stage at the Metro I thought the Frenchman might be pulling a bit of the ol’ pre-mixed set action out of the sack. But I was mistaken.

Although some of the busy Metro had already left, it didn’t seem to phase the unassuming Frenchman. As he stood behind the glow of his laptop I wondered, as we all do, how he was actually creating this music, as more than once it seemed to lose synch. But the oh-so-cool Yuksek was at ease with his machines, casually leaning over and twiddling a knob, adjusting a fader or clicking a button to get back in time. All the while he crooned over the top, without even the hint of a pompous accent flowing through his words. However, when his set ended and he began his encore it was easy to understand where he was coming from, both musically and geographically; it’s a place where although there’s the ever-present danger of pretentious snobbish attitudes, they’re distinctly avoided because there’s no point being uptight when you can have fun and sing and dance and tour the world with a laptop and a mic. Booyah!

I can be a pretty obnoxious scribe at times, and this would usually be the part of the review where I stick in a guised insult due to the fact that I feel threatened by people who are better than me. But this is just impossible to do with Yuksek; with his meek stage presence and long list of talents including (but not limited to) production skills, strong voice, easy demeanor and good looks, he simply blew me right out of the water, especially when he finished with an extended super-chic version of his almost-camp-hit Sorry. And when I know that I can’t curse the man for hogging all the talent and good looks of this world, all I can do is wish I was him, and I hate that more than anything.

And so hats off to Fuzzy, for once again putting on a hell of a show. They took a gamble with the combination of two relatively unknown DJ/producers who aren’t exactly main-stage material yet, but that’s exactly what Fuzzy have the eye for: spotting talent and spreading the word to the masses. Although, how about we have an Australian producer themed Killer next time? All in all, another rockin’ event that braved some of the coldest weather that Sydney has seen for decades.