King Cannibal is one of the venerable Ninja Tune label's most interesting signings of recent years. The British producer (aka Zilla, aka Dylan Richards) comes garlanded with approval from Kevin Martin, Mary Anne Hobbs, Amon Tobin, Strictly Kev, and Kid606. Plus, he's remixed the Prodigy's "Take Me to the Hospital" into something resembling quality. So, attention must be paid to his 2009 debut full-length, Let the Night Roar.
Tracks like "Aragami Style" and "The Untitled" harness the infernal tempests of bass tones and crushing rhythmic impact of No U-Turn Records–style drum 'n' bass. "Murder Us" (featuring Jahcoozi) applies a glowering, bloodcurdling makeover to dancehall's usual alpha-human humidity and debauchery. "Virgo"—with female firebrand toaster Face-A-Face spitting rapid French on the mic—again injects gobs of ominous into dancehall's celebratory DNA while hewing closer to its typical up-tempo pace. "Dirt" scatters the Bug accomplice Daddy Freddy's larynx gravel over a grotesque dubstep/dancehall mutation. If there's a hell below, Daddy Freddy's bellow will be on eternal loop there. (I mean that in the nicest possible way.) "A Shining Force" is an unbelievably intense and funky dubstep concoction whose beats seem to be ripped from the earth's core. The static, stoic vein-melter "Onwards Vultures" sounds more like Throbbing Gristle than Joker. 
On a cooler (temperature-wise) note, "So... Embrace the Minimum" crosshatches throbbing dubstep with bustling minimal techno. "Colder Still," however, is the disc's only real dud, its beats clunky and vocals hammy. But if King Cannibal can capture the excitement and momentousness that pervades most of Let the Night Roar, we'll be in for a hell of a night (almost literally).
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As founder of Droid Recordings and cofounder of Droid Behavior, Drumcell (Moe Espinoza) ranks among L.A.'s most important figures in underground electronic music. He keeps it surreal on the decks with that strangely textured minimal techno (still it lives!) that manages to stay hypnotic and danceable even as myriad weirdnesses flit in from all angles. Representing San Francisco, J. Phlip (Jessica Phillippe) records for Claude VonStroke's esteemed Dirtybird label. She maintains its inclinations for quirky dance music that wobbles and bleeps in the hazy zone between house and techno, displaying a keen ear for hearty shockers and party rockers.
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Paul van Dyk is the James Michener of megaclub dance music: prolific, popular, and bland. He keeps appearing near the top of all those polls that run in DJ-centric mags you don't read and playing his flavorless prog-house/trance sets in vast venues worldwide—and you're inexplicably jealous of him.
King Cannibal, Thunderbolt Lightningstorm, Drunk Unkle perform Thurs Feb 11, Contour, 10 pm, free, 21+; Drumcell, J. Phlip, 214, Recess perform Fri Feb 12, Chop Suey, 9 pm, $12, 21+; Paul van Dyk performs Sat Feb 13, Showbox Sodo, 8 pm, $36, 21+.
