Data Breaker

Another tsunami of important new electronic-music releases has crashed against my hard drive and desk. Let’s check out five that may pique your peak-time listening habits.

Blixaboy, Kliks & Politiks (Astroblaque, www.astroblaque.com): Formerly of space-rock groups Mazinga Phaser and the Falcon Project, Dallas producer Blixaboy (aka Mwanza Dover) has transitioned into future-bass music with the same adventurous brio he displayed with those bands. His rock background and love of astral jazz have benefited his work in the post-dubstep field, giving Blixaboy’s tracks more varied rhythmic range and expressive dynamics than most of his ilk. Dover’s attended the last two Decibel Festivals as a spectator. Based on the excellent, distinctive Kliks & Politiks, he should return to the next one as an artist.

Various Artists, Blow Your Head: Diplo Presents Dubstep (Mad Decent, www.maddecent.com): Global-beat gadfly Diplo curates a 16-track dubstep comp that mostly highlights the genre’s bombastic, brutal side, although cuts by Untold, Benga, James Blake, and Rudi Zygadlo tilt things toward more nuanced, stranger sound design and rhythmic legerdemain. As a latecomer’s overview to the genre circa now, Blow Your Head is adequate, but recent dubstep-centric mixes by Scuba and Kode9 are superior.

Jatoma, Jatoma (Kompakt, www.kompakt.fm): Rumors abound that Jatoma consist of an established producer and two precocious teens. (Aphex Twin? Nah.) Whatever the case, Jatoma (reputedly from Denmark) are the most exciting new Kompakt act since DJ Koze. The 13 tracks on their self-titled debut album largely forgo Kompakt’s patented smooth, melodic 4/4 business for a more mischievous brand of techno full of strange melodic flourishes and odd textures rarely heard in clubland. Whoever’s behind Jatoma, keep up the fantastic work.

Public Lover, Naked Figures/Musique D’Hiver Pour L’Été (thesongsays/Telegraph, www.thesongsays.com): Ex-Seattle experimental-techno don Bruno Pronsato moved to Berlin in the mid ’00s, and his career zoomed into the stratosphere: He’s since collaborated with all sorts of badasses, toured the world, and started his own label, thesongsays. Public Lover teams Bruno with Ninca Leece, a sly vocalist/musician whose seductive utterances add a sweet coating of melody to her partner’s cheerful, soft-cushioned tech-house. Bruno reins in the weirdness (but not too much), keeps the rhythms buoyant, and the mood suavely sexy. Dim the lights and get busy, public—and private—lovers.

Seph, Alquimia (Dumb-Unit, www.dumb-unit.com): I somehow have slept on this Argentine producer, but his debut album, Alquimia, quickly woke me the fuck up to his importance. This is techno of incredible tonal finesse, timbral inventiveness, and rhythmic suppleness. It’s never been harder than right now to interestingly embellish minimal techno’s 4/4 template, but Seph has found many ways to make this oft-scorned genre sound vital. Ricardo Villalobos better watch his back: Another South American is challenging him for innovative prowess.