Live Review: Xiu Xiu, Absolute Boys, Rites Wild

With some mildly unnervingly field recordings serenading Goodgod's spinning mirror balls, Rites Wild took the floor and proceeded to weave intoxicating, pulsing kosmische musik like the soundtrack to a dystopian analogue future. Her long and spacious tracks delivered immersive and engaging results with dancing and droning synth lines over pseudo-industrial rhythms.

The post-punk-imbued pop music of Absolute Boys was quite the revelation with creative and dub-heavy bass, an inventive drummer who played without crash cymbals and often one stick, while the guitarist coaxed soft billowing textures and slashing shards of echoing noise almost simultaneously. Heavily indebted to PiL, dub, post-rock and pop music akin to Wild Beasts, Absolute Boys were captivating.

By the time Jamie Stewart took the stage, the crowd numbered no more than 100 but made up for it by crowding in close on all sides, creating a womb-like performance space for Stewart and his Xiu Xiu percussive partner Angela Seo. Amid a sea of pedals, synths, slingshots, guitar and drums, the duo played a set best described as avant-garde. At the centre of Stewart's music lies a sense of catharsis, obsession and expunging of demons. He impressively switched from twinkling, delicate sounds to blood curdling intensity (I Luv Abortion) with a necessary balance that avoided overkill of either extreme. Seo's playing across a range of percussive instruments was essential and added many subtle layers to the duo's sound. Though Xiu Xiu have shifted from a guitar-based approach to a more eclectic and detailed form, it was still Stewart's intensity that drove the music but also gave the show a sense of detachment. The world of Xiu Xiu is fascinating to observe, but not one that you would want to be part of.