Darkside

The sparse and psychedelic dance project of Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington is closing in on its final days. Perhaps that gives their last sets an additional weight, but really this could have been just another show for these guys and it still would have made this list. While most of FYF's dance acts overloaded their audiences on lights, Darkside stayed true to their name as they weaved haunting synth lines and winding guitar drifts in dim light, filling the stage with nearly as much smoke as you'd find at a Sunn O))) show. In the final moments during the stark, sprawling "Golden Arrow," the stage's center screen reflected a blinding, laser-like beam far out to the back of the arena, creating a mini-sun in a place that had lacked it all weekend. There was even more finality in the end as the duo tore the screen apart before walking off stage.

Grimes

Though Claire Boucher's set still includes the same songs we first heard on 2012's Visions, it's amazing how much Grimes has changed since that album came out. Where Grimes may have initially sounded like an artist building her own world where she played a pop star, we have seen her evolve into the very thing she was pretending to be. She comes out now with such an inspiring confidence, and blows through these same songs, which have evolved and changed in the live setting so as never to become predictable. Better yet, she now performs with a light show and choreographed dancers that turn each song into a celebration and a spectacle.

Flying Lotus

Behind a screen projecting bizarre, writhing visuals that morphed with the same fluidity as his music, Steve Ellison (aka Flying Lotus) blew through highlight after highlight from his old albums, Until The Quiet Comes, Cosmogramma, and perhaps more importantly his sophomore breakthrough, Los Angeles. That last one, of course, is named after Flying Lotus' hometown, and this performance felt like a grand homecoming as he gets ready to drop one of the most anticipated albums of the year. Early on he tossed in the cheery melody that plays when you win a battle in Final Fantasy. It felt like the perfect place for it. For a set that often feels like an attack, he was confident enough to predict his victory.

Daphni

Dan Snaith's DJ persona, Daphni, is merging closer than ever to his main project, Caribou, and in this set they occasionally overlapped. The major highlights of Caribou's new album Our Love appeared during Daphni's set, built into even more explosive club mixes. Though the rise-and-rise final 15 minutes played out like the grand finale of a fireworks show, the most exciting part came when Snaith went after his own recent "Can't Do Without You," turning what already felt like one of the most epic songs of the year into a 10-minute odyssey.

Slint

The winding walk down to the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, which housed many acts at FYF, is a strange experience. You move into the subterranean layer as the bright L.A. sunlight disappears. It grows dark, and then you move into the dimly lit arena, which is massive and abyssal. The setting gave Slint an actual sense of intimacy. Here was a space that people wouldn't stumble into accidentally, a place fans had to seek out and find. It gave songs like "Don, Aman" the silence necessary for its intensity to build, while the volcanic closer of "Good Morning Captain" used the enclosed space to build like a pressure cooker. In the final minute over the howled screams of "I MISS YOU," the crowd finally burst into a fierce mosh pit that was over nearly as soon as it began. For the rest of the weekend the arena housed electronic acts and was a warm and welcome club space, but Saturday afternoon, Slint made it terrifying.

Future Islands

When I saw Future Islands back in April at a sold-out show in New York, Sam Herring noted it was the biggest audience the Baltimore band had ever played to. Now Future Islands have truly stepped up to the sort of audience that fills up a festival main stage. Herring's presence can be big enough to leave an impact on you from far off in the distance, or deliver a one-on-one intimacy to those closer up. It's a dynamic I've only seen one other person pull off at a festival, and that was Willie Nelson. When Future Islands opened their set, Herring mentioned that it was the third time they'd played FYF, but "we're real happy to be here on the main stage." Everybody in that crowd must have felt the same way.

Todd Terje

If you don't dance during Todd Terje's DJ set, you will stand out. But don't worry, he will make you dance. Here in the arena space he moved through a set that built and built in momentum. He never let up even once as he chained together a series of space-disco epics that seemed impossible to top. It all rises and rises until everything boils over into the closing "Inspector Norse," which, like the final towering swoop on a roller coaster, we all knew was coming, but had no possible way to prepare for.

Slowdive

While the post-millennial My Blood Valentine show is a sensory overload of noise force, the newly reunited Slowdive overwhelm you with a sensuality and warmth that is unbeatable. This is a band that touched people. But how could they not when they play with such a confidence and energy, completely rewriting the actual idea of what a shoegaze band is supposed to do on stage? This was the rare instance of a band coming back together years after their career ended and actually reminding you how great they've always been. It was a performance that forced you to reevaluate the band’s already solid legacy.

Blood Orange

What happened to Dev Hynes and Samantha Urbani earlier this month is awful and terrifying, but that didn't stop Blood Orange from delivering a colossal set at FYF. Starting five minutes early -- without even a band -- Hynes ran out (still with his leg brace on) and started singing a cappella, as everyone else in his band set up and slid right into place. Not a second was wasted, but it was all performed with a laid-back ease. Hynes gave everything you could have wanted, throwing in a new angle with each song: blistering guitar solos, impeccable dance moves, choreographed backup dancers, a lovely duet with Urbani, a guest spot from collaborator Kindness. It represented the best of what a music festival should be: strikingly modern, yet part of a grand tradition, and for a brief period he made you forget there was any other band there.