After the intense inauguration to EXIT festival on the Thursday, courtesy of Erol Alkan and Boys Noize, the next night just couldn't come quick enough for us. Unfortunately our plans of sleeping throughout the day to clear our heads and refresh our bodies hit a snag, that being the 38 degree weather which made sleeping in or out of our oven-like Tesco's tent almost impossible. Luckily though, there was no planning needed for the nighttime. Friday's line-up conclusively decided where we would be, and would stay, for the duration of the entire night's music. Unlike most of the other days where there was at least some dilemma-causing overlap of acts, our attendance in the Dance Arena would be confirmed for at least 6 hours, beginning at 12:30 with Moderat, performing live for an hour, followed by Josh Wink for a mandatory 2 hour set and then crowned for the next three hours by Ricardo Villalobos. For us, there couldn't really be much competition in the other arenas, only Joker's set in the brilliant Happy Novi Sad Arena remotely tempted us, but in reality we were staying put.

Moderat Live @ EXIT Festival 2010 - 'Rusty Nails' from Dominic Kocur on Vimeo.

Quite frankly, we were shattered when we got to the dance arena at just gone midnight on another humid Serbian evening. The night before, the heat of the daytime, the few beers we had before we left the campsite and the undesirable journey to the festival site all contributed to a general feeling of lethargy amongst us. But we remained positive and my excitement was undiminished, especially with a line-up to die for. Up first was Moderat, the collaboration of German duo Modeselektor and Apparat. For me, this was one the main attractions for me at this year's EXIT, and one of the decisive factors in me coming. Their debut album, Moderat, is nothing short of a masterpiece. Their sound is intelligent, melodic and original, difficult to pigeon-hole but often categorised as 'Electronica'. But their sound is far more complex. There's the stylistic trademarks of Dubstep, especially in Rusty Nails, featured in the video above. It's glitchy, and could even be perceived as 'Ambient' electronica. Not only is their music excellent, but they were awarded the 'Best Live Act' of 2009 by Resident Adviser, which made their performance at EXIT even more exciting. Predictably, they performed the best from their album, I had not been aware of any new material of theirs so I looked forward to my favourites such as New Error, Rusty Nails, Seamonkey and of course, Les Grandes Marches. After the first 20 minutes or so, it became clear why their live performances are so revered. In this age of multi-laptop, space-equipment live set-ups, often with the artist hidden behind stacks of stage props etc., it was just so refreshing and uplifting to see three artists on three synthesizers, one of which (Apparat) has a mic for his occasional vocal contribution. That is it. So gloriously simple and yet their performance remained exciting and utterly compelling. The lighting and visuals were perfect, the sound was crisp and powerful. It was a truly unique set from such a unique project, and it certainly whetted our appetites for what was to come.

Almost as soon as Moderat's live set-set up was dismantled and swiftly moved aside, Josh Wink stepped up to take centre-stage behind the huge DJ table. I can't confess to be too familiar with Wink's productions, the only one I really know being the club favourite Higher State Of Consciousness, but I was more than aware of his high reputation. Chris on the other hand knew far more about him, and I was assured we were very lucky to be witnessing one of his valued sets. As the night entered it's deepest, the amazing lighting and visuals really began to create a true rave atmosphere. Wink descended into an aggressive journey of acid techno as more festival-goers began packing the dancefloor. It was a brilliantly assembled set which brimmed with all the pride and charisma of a headline slot but yet kept it's role as essentially setting-up the true main attraction. Inevitably, as the clock turned 3am and a certain bearded Chilean could be spotted popping up from beneath the table (presumably setting up his turntables), Wink decided it was time to unleash Higher State of Consciousness to devastating effect. The fuse was well and truly lit for an epic final few hours.

Ricardo Villalobos 'MDMA' @ EXIT Festival 2010 from Dominic Kocur on Vimeo.

Ricardo Villalobos is, put simply, a living legend. A techno idol, a musical genius and a lovable character. I was first introduced to him when I spontaneously decided to buy his iconic fabric 36 mix some years ago. Ever since I have been one of his loyalist followers, managing to turn Chris into a similar fan on the way. Without going into a lengthy analysis of his musical style, he produces fascinating sounds, bending the conventions of electronic music to controversial and unfamiliar grounds which naturally divides opinion. If his idiosyncratic production style is not to everyone's taste, nobody can deny he's an incredible DJ. In 2009, Resident Adviser placed him top of the pile in their respected annual Top 1oo DJs list, and it's not hard to understand why when you experience his notoriously epic sets for real. While the likes of Hawtin and many other minimal jocks are happy to use all sorts of gadgets to assist their sets, Ricardo keeps it simple. The most advanced technology you'll see him using is a pair of CDJs, otherwise it's vinyl all the way. Just a pair of decks, a mixer and one of the most creative musical minds. Sporting a typically eccentric sweater, Villalobos spun a set of hypnotic techno and groovy house sounds for well over his allotted three hours. Flawless mixing, layers of clever looping and a record collection yielding some of techno's most brilliantly obscure numbers. Of all the songs dropped, I can only say to have been familiar with the few of his own productions he decided to use. The subtle piano chords of Enfants (Chants) filtered beneath something far heavier on the other deck, the mesmeric MDMA rumbled out later, and right towards the end when the master had donned his sunglasses, his mysterious anthem Easy Lee provided aural pleasure for the plenty left grooving at almost 7am. We already loved Ricardo Villalobos, now we also loved EXIT festival.