Innovative use of mustard flavored the diverse sounds of Localsfest 2007 on Saturday.

Three diverse acts — hip-hop trio Tykooonz, electronica-classical band One Hand Loves the Other and condiment-wielding dance rockers Judi Chicago — brought the freshest music of Atlanta to a crowd of about 60 Emory students and local music fans at WMRE’s annual event.

Dance band to the extreme Judi Chicago likes to improvise with whatever materials are available. At the first floor of the DUC, in the Emory Faculty Dining Room, the materials at hand were a few stray canisters of condiments which were squirted and smeared onto the duo’s pale, tattoo-strewn limbs.

“We like to cram as much fun as possible into our performances,” wrote Ben Coleman of Judi Chicago in an e-mail to the Wheel. “Moving around to music is fun. Babies like doing it, because they aren’t worried about looking cool. We’re like big, mustardy babies.”

Opening the show was Tykooonz, a hip-hop trio originally from all over the country but brought together in Atlanta.

Charles N. Charge, from Chicago, jittered across the floor with attitude and humor. Cannon hails from Los Angeles and was laid-back in an afro. Amat the Great of Memphis, Tenn., sported red-rimmed aviators throughout their set.

Charles explained to the crowd how cool Amat really was:

“I’m burning up in my jacket but he keeps his hoodie on,” he said. “That’s the definition of cool.”

The crowd had difficulty warming up, and the awkward, undefined space between the performers and audience didn’t help. Undeterred by the initially tepid reception, the rhyming trifecta cracked jokes and ruthlessly plugged their web site, tykooonz.com.

The group’s wit eventually won over the crowd, and later in the set, they received requests and loud applause.

WMRE program director and College sophomore Misch Flombaum explained that Mammals, the band originally slated for the opening slot, simply didn’t show. At the last minute, quick-thinking College freshman Liam Greenamyre, a WMRE DJ, called up Tykooonz. Flombaum said she thought the hip-hop group was a better complement to the lineup than she could have expected, adding the diversity WMRE looks for in its events.

Judi Chicago commanded the show next. A two-man outfit of Coleman and Travis Thatcher, they opened with the crowd-gyrating song “Mad Ape.”

The lads donned naught but little trunks, displaying maximum leg. Coleman flaunted a tsunami motif on his, whereas Thatcher opted for a more minimalist look, with a solid yellow pair of trunks.

Although both half-naked monkey men explored the space with childlike abandon, Coleman took it to extremes. One moment he was rocking aloft an amp, his head poking through a ceiling tile. The next he was splayed out on the carpet, still playing guitar and singing into a microphone lying on the ground, a horizontal rock star.

I even found myself in the line of fire at one point, face to face with Coleman as he emerged from under a table. I danced it off. He quietly said “thanks” a bit apologetically before traipsing off elsewhere.

Between songs, Coleman, originally of London, delivered deadpan readings of miscellaneous advertisements and the weekly schedule of student-run WMRE.

Ross Politi, 26, named Judi Chicago as his favorite of the night. He came from Cabbagetown to support his fellow Atlanta musicians, and found Judi, “pleasing to the dancing people.” A bit of an understatement perhaps, as a majority of the crowd was moving and shaking to Judi Chicago’s blend of live guitar and canned disco beats.

After the insanity of the scantily-clad twosome, the beats-meets-strings band One Hand Loves the Other took the stage.

The soothing cello and spot-on, soaring vocals of Lou Rodriguez kept the crowd in a gentle sway, save for a very danceable cut from its new remix album, One Hand Loves the Remix, and a playful cover of A-Ha’s “Take on Me.” Rodriguez prefaced the cover by saying, “It’s an ’80s one-hit wonder, so you’ll probably know it.”

Another standout song was “Tortoise,” from the band’s eponymous debut album released earlier this year.

The electronic beats and classical instrumentation blended more coherently live than on records.

Frontman Rodriguez moved uninhibitedly to the music, obviously invested in his sound.

The other members — Mary Knight on cello, Mikey Johnson on beats and Nancy Shim (’06C) on piano and flute — were more composed and reserved, but smiled throughout. The pleasure the musicians took in performing together was infectious.

The sole light source, white Christmas lights strung behind the performers, cast a warm glow on the graceful curves of Knight’s cello and Shim’s slender fingers. The delicate electropop provided a sweet note to end the night.

— Contact Bridget Riley