Scuba

There's something to be said about a musician who can put together a good DJ Kicks. Last year, Paul Rose, the lap-hopping Brit behind Scuba, pulled together a bevy of ultramodern sounds and rhythms for his pulsating DJ mix. Therefore, it would only make sense that on Personality, his third LP, Scuba utilizes this structured mixing method for another batch of original recordings. As the man behind dubstep's only true label, Hotflush Recordings, Scuba resists the urge to ride the waves of employees Mount Kimbie, Sepalcure and Joy Orbison, working off blocky beats and hip-hop-inspired samples. Keeping everything forward moving, "The Hope" and "Dsy Chn" rely on that sharp fourth beat to give them an irresistible force. Eschewing structural breakdowns or rhythmic derailments, the pop-and-lock of "July" and the guttural bass lines of "Gekko" work like idyllic backdrops to Scuba's synth and drum-machine layering. Personality comes off as expert techno done in a peculiarly conservative manner, an unadorned but sturdy tugboat floating amongst dubstep's rising tsunami.