Dubstep DJs may be bound by the ebb-and-flow of novelty but, thankfully, restless and omnivorous listeners can turn to folks like DJ/Rupture and Matt Shadetek, who have committed themselves to exploring the full breadth of 21st century beats and bass and beyond, reshaping these drum curiosities and swathes of rhythm-free ambiance to fit the idiosyncratic lurch-and-roll pulse of Solar Life Raft.

So while Solar Life Raft could be blurbed as a survey of post-millennial dub-inflected/influenced music, it's far too reductive to sell the mix as "for dub-heads only" just because you'll find wobbly basslines and reggae vocals. Sure, dubstep DJs might drool over certain tracks — check out Cardopusher's "Green Distorder," which opens with the most tantalizing blip of sun-hazy roots reggae before grinding into neo-jungle at half-tempo, complete with shrieking darkcore synths and bass to knot intestines. But Rupture and Shadatek turn restless when tracks get too easily genre-tagged. It's only by searching out the mutations and distant cousins and regional variations that they might, say, locate the dancehall-leaning lurch inside Gang Gang Dance's "Bebey," linking the tribal affectations of 21st-century art-rockers with unexpected digital kin worldwide.

Deeper listening on the part of DJs can turn up a wider-range of potentially… read more »