FreQ Nasty Fabriclive.42 CD

It's getting harder and harder to keep track of the constantly shifting, splitting, and re-emerging genre distinctions in the breakbeat-based London DJ scene -- but really, would you want it any other way? It's fun not knowing exactly what's going to come next, how soon it's going to emerge, or what it's going to be called when it does. Freq Nasty has staked out a unique blend of breakbeat, dubstep, garage, and even reggaeton elements that is too wildly kaleidoscopic to be called a style. His contribution to the Fabriclive series is exactly what you'd expect from him, which is to say that each track comes across as fairly unexpected: you know it's going to be funky, you know the beats are probably going to lurch around crazily with lots of squelchy synth and frequent reggae vocal samples, but beyond that there's no telling what's going to happen. At its best, the result is thrilling: Leon Jean-Marie's "Bring It On (Rusko's Granny Smasher Remix)" and Lee "Scratch" Perry's "God Smiled (Remix)" are brilliant, as is the stagger-step groove of Epydemix's "Thunder Gutter (Dub)"." At its worst, this stuff can be just a bit tiring: Madox's "Duckalicious (Baobinga's Thugalicious Remix)" goes on a bit too long without any shift in energy or texture, and "Not in Our Name" is a tiresome political screed that starts the proceedings off on a facile and self-righteous note. But for the most part this is great stuff. ~ Rick Anderson

DJ: Freq Nasty.