For the sheer variety, quality, and quantity of its releases, Oakland's Tigerbeat6 Records is leaps and bounds beyond its American competitors. Headed by one of the busiest and most talented men in electronic show biz, 24-year-old Miguel Depedro (AKA Kid606), the label aggressively thrusts its acts onto the road punk-rock-style. The current Paws Across America tour boasts the imprint's best lineup yet. Swede Dwayne Sodahberk saturates his inventively funky beat programming with caustic noise bursts; Barcelona-based DJ /rupture (AKA Jace Clayton) uses three turntables to juxtapose incongruous musical styles, forming heretofore unheard fusions; and the stylistically omnivorous Kid606 drives crowds mental with action-packed sound-atomizing on two laptops and a Kaoss Pad.

The mission of this T6 tour, besides "getting Sodahberk laid," is "to rearrange the sonic DNA of the American mind," according to /rupture. For Kid606, it's all about getting in a van with friends, a powerful sound system, and "a massive subwoofer." DJ /rupture vows that the show will bring "raw audio newness, with heaps of bass."

Earlier this month, though, the tour nearly got tragically truncated. "On route to Denver, a drunk driver rear-ended us on the highway, going about 115 mph," says /rupture. "He destroyed the back of our van and left about 80 of my rare records scattered across a half-mile stretch of the New Mexico highway (he gave everybody whiplash, as well). He was a hit-and-run case, too, making things even worse."

"We had to do a crazy Frankenstein body-shop mod on the back of [the van], as to get it actually fixed would have taken like four days, which is a lot longer than we can stay in Santa Fe," says Kid606. Let's hope the vehicle holds up over the long road trips; and we pray /rupture can replace some of that shattered vinyl before he hits Seattle. Talk about a tragic loss....

Because Tigerbeat6 artists cross so many generic boundaries (and time zones), I ask what sort of audiences recent shows have been attracting.

"Our crowds tend to bisect scenes," says /rupture. "We work at the point where those hipster categories fray at the edges and weird things slip in." 606 adds: "Yeah, [we're seeing] a lot more indie rock fools; you normally can tell by the haircuts, but everything's been meshing together these days. I like the ex-raver kids."

Finally, o great seers, what's the future of electronic music?

"The future of electronic music is analog music, acoustic music, laptop-type musicians incorporating 'real' instruments and musicians and vocalists into their compositions," /rupture forecasts. "Just for the record, Miguel does not agree with this at all." Kid606: "Sadly, I predict a lot of new genres, but few new ideas." DAVE SEGAL

Kid606 with DJ /rupture, Dwayne Sodahberk, Kremlin DJs, Wed Aug 27 at Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $10 adv, $12 door.

segal@thestranger.com