As Sydney Festival 2009 drew to a close, the full-house sign glimmered on the commanding walls of Hyde Park Barracks. Having pulsated with every type of sound imaginable for three weeks, it was an appropriate gesture with which to farewell Beck’s Festival Bar for another year. Those lucky enough to have tickets to the Mad Racket bash scurried through the cast-iron gates, leaving a throng of less-fortunate punters loitering outside.

In 1998, Mad Racket was born out of a frustration with the clichéd club scene that engulfed Sydney. Four diverse DJs joined forces to create a night where they and their friends could relax and have fun. Most importantly, the Mad Racket crew established a music policy: there was strictly no policy. Venturing beyond the familiar surrounds of Marrickville Bowling Club, the Racketeers had a special guest to be subjected to their liberal guidelines for the night – LA-based producer Daedelus.

In recent years Daedelus (aka Alfred Weisberg-Roberts) has established himself as one of LA’s most daring and prolific artists. Daedelus chops and splices incongruous acoustic sounds into astonishing works of contemporary resonance. Drawing from sources as diverse as hip hop, rave and jazz then layering them with electronic hooks and quirky vocal samples, there are no imitators to the Californian’s richly textured style.

Toe-tapping on the pebbled courtyard ceased. The crowd converged inside the Beck’s tent. The air was rife with anticipation. The Hrs:Mins:Secs ticked slowly by. The atmosphere awaited one man. On cue, LA’s genre-mashing beatsmith strolled onstage. Complete with muttonchops and a Victorian-era suit, the eccentric Daedelus looked up and smiled. “I’m playing for you guys,” he said. “He looks like Willy Wonka!” my friend laughed. And with the press of a button the venue was engulfed by the whimsical sound of the Willy Wonka Theme. My friend burst into joyous laughter – the party had started.

Daedelus’s live show focuses on his use of – œThe Box’ – a custom-built minimalist sample trigger device connected to his Powerbook which represents his Showtunes-era samples as lights whizzing across the unit’s wood-paneled display. The flow of oddly disjointed video-clips splashing the large screen behind him also added to the eccentric nature of his performance.

If the Willy Wonka Theme drew the crowd in, the mash-up of Imogen Heap and Daft Punk that followed delivered the killer blow. The ensuing set covered much of Daedelus’s most recent work Love To Make Music To. Featuring Michael Jackson, Make It So was given a powerful boost in the live setting. Crowd favourite Fair Weather Friends raised many eyebrows with its youthful female vocal stating “when the weather gets warm, we get the same things on our minds as boys do.” With the weather warm, many males in attendance could only hope such lyrics were true.

With My Beau, Daedelus headed into the territory of sleek R&B. Although not just any R&B – mid-90s urban radio R&B. The heavy electro sounds of Hrs:Mins:Secs were heard as the sample of Stardust’s Music Sounds Better With You teased the crowd like girls in warm weather. As the beat subsided Daedelus asked the audience, “Do we have a vocalist in the house?” Wearing a baseball-cap MC N’fa jumped onstage and delivered live vocals to Twist The Kids – an extra treat for the already enthralled audience.

Shortly after N’fa skipped offstage, the old school breaks and thundering ravey basslines stopped. With little more than a smile and a wave the whirlwind that had been Daedelus was gone. The screams of the crowd forced him back behind – œThe Box’. “Do you guys want one more?” he enquired. “Faster or slower?” The crowd’s unified response was met with a pumping electro beat. A spasmodic and disjointed song followed before Daedelus smiled and waved once more, this time leaving for good.

The sounds of the Mad Racket DJs drifted through the night air as I left Beck’s Festival Bar for the last time this year. Daedelus’s breathtaking set was a fitting end to Sydney’s city-wide three week party. Bring on Sydney Festival 2010!