Zomby

After five years of warping dubstep into ever wilder and woollier shapes, London's Hyperdub label -- home to artists like Burial, Zomby and label head Kode9 -- releases a sprawling compendium of counterintuitive bass explorations. Running from lo-fi and video game bleepery to digital lovers' rock, the double-disc comp encapsulates half a decade of dance music on the peripheries -- and suggests plenty of evolutionary possibilities for the years to come.

Dubstep is 21st-century head music adapted for the body, cross-wiring the sub-bass
psychedelia of dub reggae with the restlessness of jungle and garage. The Hyperdub label
reps the genre's experimental side, and this two-CD anthology, split between signature and
unreleased material, is a perfect primer. Melancholic visionary Burial and the eclectic label
chief Kode9 are the "stars," but acts like Darkstar, whose sad-robot bounce "Nee... More >