Ill. Gates

There is something so distinctly Toronto underground (yet slick as hell) about this CD. Quick story: the Phat Conductor has been inspiring kickin' dance moves among kids at backwoods events like the Om Festival since the late '90s. Old sets encompass seamless flows of funky breaks, bounding hand drums, Missy Elliot, Eminem (via Armand Helden), even a looped sample of the secretary in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. A moniker-change to Ill. Gates brings us Autopirate. This Ottawa-born DJ/producer's debut artist album shines bright lights on new school hip-hop and South London dub-step, plus there's a superabundance of bassed-out audio that would fit right in at Ninja Tune. "Irma Vep" introduces hip-hop pro Masia One, and the only low point of this LP is that there aren't more tracks with this Singapore-born, Vancouver-raised radical female MC. Keep your ear to the ground for Ill. Gates. Autopirate is a bassed-out, instinctive tech journey.