by George McIntire

After 12 nights and 165 acts, the 2015 Noise Pop Festival anointed electronic alchemists Caribou and Koreless to conduct its closing ceremonies at The Fillmore Monday night. Though a huge departure from The Fillmore’s rock and roll roots, Koreless and Caribou were received with equal adoration and awe as the great bands of yesteryear featured all over the storied venue's walls.

The only opener of the night, Scottish electronic producer Lewis Roberts, a.k.a. Koreless, went out before the crowd armed only with a laptop and a sequencer/drum pad. His entire set was one uninterrupted soundscape of blips, whirling buzzes, spacey compositions, and other sounds from a world far, far away. Koreless is best absorbed with your eyes closed so you can visualize your interpretation of the world his sound creates. And when Koreless’ audio journey came to an end, it hit the crowd like a finger snap at the end of hypnosis.

Dressed in all-white against a backdrop of flashing blue and red lights, Caribou came out strong with an extended dance version of their smashing hit track “Our Love.” As soon as the crowd could tell this track would be much a different one from what they’ve previously heard, excitement came to a head. And then the jock jam-like synths dropped accompanied by a reinforced drum beat kicked in and all hell broke loose. “Our Love” features the best of the 80's and early 90's House music, an imperative call to the dance floor like firemen responding to a fire, and jolting house synths that induce pensive looks on your face. Eschewing the unspoken rule of starting small and easy proved Caribou weren’t messing around.

Though Caribou are undoubtedly an electronic band, at times it’s difficult to discern whether or not they’re “dance” music. The crowd seemed split on this issue as well, some went to the sides to find space to express themselves while others seem content with head-bobbing. Their varied aesthetic in their evokes the genre of “Intelligent Dance Music,” the idea of really well-crafted music that you can move to. And this set the tone for the rest of the set as they fluctuate from spacey less structured sounds to swaying grooves accompanied by rhythmic instruments. “Silver” recalled the get lost in your head atmosphere from Koreless with its wavy and futuristic keyboards. “All I Ever Need” oozed with dance mystique that evoked the type of atmosphere you’d expect from an illegal warehouse rave in the middle of nowhere. And to top it at all off, Caribou ended their show and Noise Pop with the aptly named “Can’t Do Without You,” a track that’s essentially a collage of traits heard on Caribou’s catalog.

All previous Noise Pop coverage on SFist.