Kid 606

The new album from Kid 606 is a proper warning to the idle musical sponge who absorbs but never processes, who accepts that radio songs are good without wondering how they could be better. Kid 606 has tweaked Missy's knobs and taken liberties with the Bangles. On Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You, he continues the pop sampling, taking joy in destroying the comfort level mainstream music usually offers. Here, meandering ambient rivers give way to glitch reservoirs; when the dam's released, drilling, skittering beats flood the soundscape.

Kid thrusts listeners directly into a storm with "The Illness," a techno speed rush of sirens and retro beats riding alongside sci-fi noise. It's followed by the stellar tracks "Ecstasy Motherfucker," a raging dance-floor tempest with gabba/breakbeat momentum, and "Buckle Up," which (along with "Who Wah Kill Sound?") features the raga influence of U.K. dancehall MC Wayne Lonesome. Thankfully, the textured "Andy Warhol Is Dead but We Still Have Hope" and the synth-filled, ironically titled "If I Had a Happy Place This Would Be It" offer reprieves from all the hyperactivity.

With Kill Sound, the reigning king of copyright infringement has created his definitive release. Though Kid doesn't really chart new waters, he has deftly merged concepts and styles. Be afraid, sponge, be very afraid.