Sometimes an unlikely match-up creates the most beautiful harmony. Though I appreciate a curated lineup within one genre, and the combination of Horse Jumper of Love’s updated shoegaze, sick Ricky Eat Acid’s eloquent trip-hop, and the serene, sunny lo-fi of Mutual Benefit provided a beautifully eclectic mix, full of warmth and sweetness. Most of my experiences at the Middle East Down have been roughly beer-soaked messes (I remember the body-squishing insanity of Of Montreal here almost a year ago only too well), but Friday night’s show was not merely civilized – it was utopian.

Horse Jumper of Love, a Jamaica Plain-based trio, balances the enveloping, heavy guitar of all my gazey favorites with creamy vocals, sprightly beats, and strong bass structure. Where too many bands try to imitate a Loveless-style fuzz and turn to muddy messes, Horse Jumper sounds fresh, clear, and cool without losing that comforting thrum. Their 30-minute set was well composed and enthusiastically received as the crowd continued to grow, starting off with “Orange Peeler,” a charismatic song the band recorded in a Spare Room sound session recently that’s well worth a click.

Ricky Eat Acid, who will be touring around the country with Mutual Benefit for the second leg of their tour, took the stage unassumingly, but played a beautiful and thoughtful set of ambient almost-dance music from his pulpit-like setup that counters a lot of the monotony I’ve come to expect from one-man electronic shows. Sweeping violin, smart sampling, and interesting rhythmic structures marked the songs, making the set attention-gripping but not obnoxious – I felt encouraged to move and nod along, but thankfully, the sense-scrambling aspects of less nuanced EDM producers was absent.

Mutual Benefit has had an incredible year, with debut album Love’s Crushing Diamond receiving near-universal acclaim on every end of the critical spectrum. The album is an exercise in subtlety and temperance – its sensitive lyrics and delicate song structures make an airy, lovely castle in the clouds. I had never seen Mutual Benefit live before Friday night, and I suppose I expected the kind of concert where everyone sits cross-legged on the floor (from what I hear, this happens often during their shows, and it sounds adorable), something I was hoping not to do at the Middle East, whose floors are less than appealing. I was pleasantly surprised, though, to find that Mutual Benefit played a pretty booming show on this stage – drums were banged without inhibition, guitar was emphatic, songs often verged on danceable! Frontman Jordan Lee’s familiar voice was perfectly clear, every word audible and confident.

“Do you guys ever think about the sound a dolphin makes? It’s like – a chortle!“ Lee said spontaneously to the crowd in between tracks. This kind of sweet dialogue between Lee and the audience continued throughout their set, which ended with everyone’s hands waving in the air. The cuteness of Mutual Benefit might be a bit hard to take if it weren’t so earnest – Lee’s sweetness, combined with the bona fide chops of himself and his fluid band of co-darlings, make Mutual Benefit a lovable band on many different fronts.

I am curious, after a protracted period of acclaim, what Mutual Benefit will do next. It is getting colder, after all – time for some new tunes to warm us all up.