The one expression that is habitually utilised to describe Hermitude’s break-beats is ‘progressive hip hop’. Sure, their unique sound may be innovative and individual. But in many ways they are retrogressive, reminiscent of hip hop’s forefathers, with their instrumental bias, eclectic sampling and (above all else) their central focus on that master of music, the DJ.

On Friday night at Beach Road Hotel in Bondi, the weekly Dust Tones party exploded with a standout DJ set by Hermitude (comprised of the Blue Mountains duo Luke Dubs and Elgusto), as well as a masterfully skilled warm-up act by DJ MX (who spins for Roots Manuva and Extended Players, among others).

Feeding greedy punters their much-needed musical lifeblood, DJ MX gradually transformed lukewarm water into bushfire heat with a combination of mainstream rap hits (from superstars like Cypress Hill, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and Gangstarr), funky jazz and soulful R&B. Essentially, he was laying the red carpet for those retrogressive renegades, Hermitude.

Labelling them ‘retrogressive’ is no insult. Their live act severs itself from contemporary hip hop performance structures, which rely so heavily on the MC. By removing live vocalists from their set, Hermitude crowns the DJ as king. Just like Grandmaster Flash and his Bronx block parties in 1970s New York, these technical genies behind the decks enraptured every spectator with down-tempo yet energetic beats, non-stop scratching, seamless sonic manipulation, and constant interaction with the crowd (a task generally reserved for rappers).

Their equipment may have been considerably more advanced than Grandmaster Flash’s two turntables and a mixer (Hermitude employed a Serato Scratch Live, MPC1000, Nord Stage and Korg MS2000 synths, as well as a Microkorg that has been modified into a key-tar), but the underlying principle remained in tact: the DJ pumps the sound system with aural elixir, so the DJ deserves undivided attention.

The beats were brazenly inventive, departing from tried and tested hip hop bass-lines and immersing the spectators in eclectic combinations of sound, frequently utilising samples which Hermitude have personally composed through their own instrumental experimentation.

This method, while innovative, simultaneously harks back to hip hop’s fabled genesis, where first wave pioneers like Afrika Bambaataa and second generation warriors like Run DMC fashioned breaks from the entire spectrum of musical genres (often re-creating particular rhythms instrumentally). The solitary criterion was a pulsating dance floor.

At one moment Hermitude fans were grinding rhythmically to hauntingly beautiful piano-based soul, then suddenly the hip hop duo were juggling between a spooky Super-Mario/haunted-house backing beat and a dark, bongo-heavy, reggae-based track that was interspersed with high-pitched industrial ‘bleeps’.

As such, the majority of the performance was a flawless transition between breaks with little regard for musical boundaries, but this was also interspersed with more recognisable Hermitude tracks. For instance, the local hit Your Call, from their Tracks album (with vocals by Urthboy and Alana Stone), was received with maniacal hoots from the writhing crowd.

The overall structure of the performance and the positioning and repetition of each break (interwoven, of course, with full length tracks) demonstrated the well-honed crowd manipulation skills of Luke Dubs and Elgusto. The beginning of the act consisted fundamentally of short un-looped breaks, which served to hype the crowd into seething climax; then, once the pair had settled into the set, their eccentric yet highly danceable samples became repetitious, teasing the crowd towards a final crescendo.

Friday night Dust Tones parties at Beach Road Hotel are now a stalwart element of Sydney’s thriving hip hop landscape. If superb acts like DJ MX and Hermitude continue to grace their stage, they might have to get a bigger dance floor. Let’s just hope they don’t start charging entrance fees!