Robot Koch - Death Star Droid

It seems 'wonky' is the default beat setting these days, as producers shun the 4/4 which has served electronic music so well in favour of time signatures beyond standard notation. Death Star Droid is the latest effort to shake things up, and although it worships the techno/hip-hop/dubstep triumvirate of the new syncopators, it sounds quite fresh with it. It comprises mostly woozy, cut-up samples, stop-start beats and abyssopelagic levels of bass, which actually provide an interesting contrast. It brings to mind Hudson Mohawke fed through a Jaydee filter, and works best on the bumpy, wobbly Hard to Find. People Are Strange is, indeed, a Doors cover in a modern mash-up style, but is unfortunately as successful as Will Young's version of Light My Fire. The main problem with Death Star Droid is, however, that there's not enough to keep us hooked – it sounds like an album of hip-hop instrumentals missing a vocal track. [Euan Ferguson]