Dan Deacon

Dan Deacon’s energetic electronica might not suggest it, but live, the spastic producer’s show is a fucking madhouse. The Baltimore musician’s proclivity for tossing an occasional cartoon sample between noxious bursts of white noise is infectious on record—although 2009’s Bromst places a stronger emphasis on composition than Woody Woodpecker’s cackle—but it takes on a whole other element in front of an audience: Deacon drips sheets of sweat over his noise-making gadgets, and manages to trick a subdued crowd into pulling off dance moves usually not seen outside of a drum circle.

Updated 09/13/2010